PEOPLE
The main inhabitants of the Sub Division,the Garos, are one of the three major tribes of the state of Meghalaya. They occupy a large area of the state comprising of five districts, namely West Garo Hills, East Garo Hills, South West Garo Hills, North Garo Hills and South Garo Hills. Garos also occupy certain areas which fall under the nearby states of Assam and Tripura. There are also a considerable number of Garos in Bangladesh as well. It is believed that the Garos originally descended from the Indo- Tibetan race and once occupied a place called Torua in the province of Tibet.
The Garos call themselves Achiks and have a number of sub tribes such as the Ambeng, Atong, Awe, Megam, Ruga, Chisak, Matabeng etc. However, with the passage of time, and progress in development and education, the differences between these separate sub tribes have ceased to exist, and all Garos prefer to call themselves Achiks, without any reference to their specific sub tribe. The Garos are also traditionally an agrarian community whose survival and livelihood depends entirely on agriculture.
Garos are a matrilineal society, in which descent is traced through the females. They are also matrilocal, in which domicile after marriage is with the wife's family.
The other tribes that inhabit parts of the Sub-Division are the Koch,Bodos,Rabhas and Hajongs. There is also a considerable population of people from other parts of the country and minorities who reside mostly in the plain areas of the Sub-Division.
LOCATION
Dadenggre Sub-Division is one of the 4 sub-divisions of the state of Meghalaya. It came into existence on August 17, 1982. It is located at the extreme north-western part of Meghalaya and has its borders with Goalpara and Dhubri districts of Assam to the north and west respectively, with other parts of West Garo Hills to the south-east, South West Garo Hills, East Garo Hills and North Garo Hills. It is well connected by road to other parts of Garo Hills, and isapproximately 54 kms from the district headquarters of West Garo Hills, Tura. To lend momentum to the developmental activities in this administrative unit, three community development blocks have been created, namely, Dadenggre, Selsella and Tikrikilla Development Blocks.
TOPOGRAPHY
The physical surface of Dadenggre is made up of dissected hills, peneplain-like valleys and flood plains. The flood plains occupy the parts along the fringes of the sub-division bordering Assam. The atmospheric condition is of a humid sub-tropical character, and the average rainfall received ranges from 3200- 3800 mm, with the months of June and July registering the highest amount of rainfall. The soil is acidic, andthe non-acidic fine-grained soil is found only along the narrow stretch along the banks of the river Brahmaprutra and its tributaries.
The three notable rivers of the sub-division are Ringgi, Ditti and Jinjiram. Apart from these two rivers, there are numerous creeks, rivulets and streams across the Sub-Division.
ECONOMY
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Dadenggre sub-division. In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named West Garo Hills as one of the country's 250 most backward districts.
Dadenggiri is the now the only sub-division in the district of West Garo Hills. Its agro-climate and micro-variation in pedological properties offer suitable conditions for the growth of a wide variety of edible and utility crops, and a few financially viable ones.
The traditionally cultivated crops are winter potato, spring paddy, rapeseed and mustard, tobacco, winter paddy, soyabean, sweet potato, cotton, ginger, chillies, sesamum, wheat, gram, pulses, pea, cow pea, lentil, sugarcane, linseed, turmeric, areca nut, citrus fruits (Khasi Mandarin and Assam Lemon), finger millet, foxtail millet, pearl millet, jhum paddy, autumn paddy, jute, mesta, banana, tapioca, papaya, maize and pine apples. Due to the vagaries associated with cashew plants,farmers are now gradually shifting towards growing rubber which has proved to be comparatively more profitable.