Hojai was a part of the Dimasa Kachari Kingdom in medieval times. The Dimasa Kacharies living in Hojai is known as "Hojai-Kacharies" to others. "Hojai" is one of the clans (sengphongs) of the Dimasa Tribe, probably the city "Hojai" got its name from this clan. It was made a Sub-Division on 15 august 1983 under Nagaon district.

Hojai is a town and a Municipal Board in Hojai District in the Indian state of Assam. Hojai district is one of the 5 districts of assam which was declared on 15th august, 2016 by Assam's Chief Minister. The headquarters of the district is situated at Sankardev Nagar, which is about 8 km away from the Hojai town. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood of the major population of Hojai. There is an abundance of forest-based small-scale industries like agar wood distillation units, saw mills and bamboo & cane furniture’s manufacturing units. The ethnic groups of this region depend on their traditional activities like weaving, animal rearing, etc. Hojai is also noted for its numerous ancient archaeological sites. As of 2011 Indian census, Hojai had a total population of 36,638, of which 18,762 were males and 17,876 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 3,869. The total number of literates in Hojai was 29,708, which constituted 81.1% of the population with male literacy of 83.9% and female literacy of 78.1%.