Assam ɔxɔm

Assam is the eastern most sentinel of India endowed with enchanting and picturesque natural beauty. The State is adorned with beautiful lush covers of greenery, a chain of hills and rivers mainly the Brahmaputra and the Barak. It has been the living place of various races, tribes and ethnic groups since time immemorial. The dynamics of synthesis and assimilation of the races make Assam glorified and rich.

There are several opinions to the origin of the name “Assam”. In the ancient Sanskrit literature both the names ‘Pragjyotisha’ and ‘Kamrupa’ were used as designation for ancient Assam. The name ‘Aham’ or ‘Asom’ was probably given by the Ahoms who came to Assam in 1228 A.D. Even though the origin is ambiguous but it is believed that the modern name Assam is itself an anglicization.

The Ahom’s entered Assam fully assimilated and ruled for nearly 600 years. The period of Ahom rule is a glorious chapter in the history of Assam. The Ahom dynasty was established by Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai Mountains. It is between 13th and 19th century that several tribal communities also came into the historical forefront of Assam. Kacharis, Chutias and Koch were the prominent tribal groups that were found in the medieval times of Assam. The rule of this dynasty ended with the Burmese invasion of Assam and the subsequent annexation by the British East India Company following the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. The British emperor took charge of the state and thus begun the colonial era of Assam.

Assam lost much of its territory to new states that emerged from within its borders. The British annexed Cachar in 1832 and Jaintia Hills in 1835. In 1874, Assam became a separate province with Shillong as its capital. Sylhet was merged with East Bengal on partition of India. With the partition and independence of India in 1947, the district of Sylhet (excluding the Karimganj subdivision) was ceded to Pakistan (the eastern portion of which later became Bangladesh).

However, like all other states of India, Assam was also involved in various freedom movements. With the enthusiastic participation of many courageous activists Assam, Assam became a constituent state of India in 1950. It saw further reduction of its area when Dewangiri in North Kamrupa was ceded to Bhutan in 1951. The capital of Assam was formerly Shillong (now the capital of Meghalaya), and later shifted to Dispur, a suburb of Guwahati, in 1972. The States of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram got their own separate states.

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Assam is the eastern most sentinel of India endowed with enchanting and picturesque natural beauty. The State is adorned with beautiful lush covers of greenery, a chain of hills and rivers mainly the Brahmaputra and the Barak. It has been the living place of various races, tribes and ethnic groups since time immemorial. The dynamics of synthesis and assimilation of the races make Assam glorified a…  (read more)

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