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Shillong

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a town of British India, in the Khasi Hills district of Eastern Bengal and Assam. It is situated in 2 5° 34' N. and 9 1 ° 53' E., on a plateau 4978 ft. above the sea, 63 m. by cartroad S. of Gauhati, on the Brahmaputra. Pop. (1901) 8384. Shillong practically dates from 1864, when the district headquarters were transferred from Cherrapunji. It was chosen as the seat of government in 1874, when the province of Assam was constituted. Every one of the public buildings and houses that quickly grew up was levelled to the ground by the great earthquake of the 12th of June 1897, but they have since been rebuilt. Cantonments are provided for a battalion of Gurkhas with two guns, and Shillong is the headquarters of the Assam brigade of the 8th division of the Northern army. There are a government high school and a training school for masters. The Welsh Presbyterian mission i; active in promoting education. Since 1905, when Dacca became the capital of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, Shillong has declined in importance; but it is still the summer residence of the government and the headquarters of the district.