Cooch Behar State is a state of India, part of the British Empire. It is located south of Bhutan, bordered on the north, south and west by the province of Bengal and on the east by the province of Assam.
The princely state of Cooch Behar was formed when the Kamata Kingdom under the Koch dynasty split following the death of Nara Narayan in 1586. The eastern portion, Koch Hajo, was soon absorbed by Ahom. The western portion, Koch Bihar, although nominally independent became a vassal state in turn of the Mughal Empire, of Bhutan, the British East India Company, and of the British Raj. It acceded to the Empire Act in 1938, and Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan ceded full ruling powers to the state government in 1949.