Gauhati, city in northeastern India, in Assam state. Gauhati is located on the Brahmaputra River in western Assam, near the state's southern border with Meghalaya state. It is an industrial town, important river port, and Assam's principal commercial center, trading jute, cotton, rice, and tea. Industries include vegetable-oil refining; soap and plywood manufacturing; cotton spinning and weaving; and flour milling. Gauhati was the capital of the Hindu kingdom of Kamarupa in the early 5th century AD, and it has long been a center of Hindu pilgrimage with several temples nearby, including the Kamakshya and Umananda temples. Situated in the heart of the city is the 10th-century Janardhan Temple, a Hindu temple with an image of the Buddha. The city is the seat of Gauhati University (founded in 1948). In the 19th century Gauhati was briefly under the control of Burma (now known as Myanmar); from 1826 until 1874 it was the British capital of Assam. Population (1991) 584,342.
