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Assam

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Assam, state in north-eastern India, bordered by the nations of Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The most important river in the state is the Brahmaputra, which enters in the north-east and flows in a south-westerly direction. The river is navigable from the Bay of Bengal to the city of Dibrugarh.

The state of Assam has a humid, subtropical climate with extremely heavy rainfall. Assam is subject to floods and earthquakes. Much of the state is covered with dense tropical forests of bamboo and, at higher elevations, evergreens. Common animals of Assam include the elephant, tiger, leopard, rhinoceros, and bear. The famed one-horned Indian rhinoceros is protected at the Kaziranga National Park in central Assam.

Assam is rural and agricultural. Tea is cultivated in the hilly regions, and the state provides about 15 per cent of the tea grown in the world. The valley of the Brahmaputra River is important for rice, the major food product of Assam. Other agricultural products are jute, sugar cane, cotton, oranges, and potatoes. The cultivation of silkworms is common in many areas. Forestry is valuable to the economy of Assam, and the extraction of crude oil is gaining in importance. The primary industries of Assam are textile manufacturing, cement production, and oil refining. The capital of the state is Dispur.

The Kingdom of Assam was founded in the 13th century by the Ahoms, an Asian people from Burma. Rule over Assam was contested until 1826, when the British took control. When India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, Assam was divided between the two countries, most of Assam going to India. The northern border of Assam has been insecure since 1959, when the Chinese invaded the region in the Sino-Indian War, and it ceased to be a neighbor of Pakistan with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 as a result of the third Indo-Pakistan War. During the late 1960s instability in the state increased as several tribes demanded greater political influence or independence from Assam. Partly as a result, the new state of Meghalaya and the new Union Territory of Mizoram were formed in India from Assam in the early 1970s. At the 1999 elections Congress won the majority of the 14 contested Lok Sabha seats. Area, 78,438 sq km (30,285 sq mi); population 26,638,407 (2000).


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In many ways the foremost of the seven units comprising the North-East, Assam is also more or less centrally located in the region. It is bounded by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh on the north, Nagaland and Manipur on the east, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura on the south and south-west, and Bangladesh and West Bengal on the west. The total area of the state is 78,523 square kilometers. The long and narrow Bramaputra valley, also called the Assam Valley, stretches across the state from east to west while the small Barak Valley forms its southern adjunct, the two hills districts - North Cachar and Karbi Anglong - lying in between. The population figure in 1991 census is 22,294,562.

Assam has had links with Aryan civilization and culture since ancient times. Known by the names Pragjyotisha and Kamarupa, the land finds frequent mention in ancient literature, particularly in the epics and the Puranas. Narakasura, Bhagadatta and Bhaskarvarman were kings of ancient Assam who are known to have played significant roles in the political and socio-cultural history of India. While there had been migration of hordes of Aryan settlers at different times, the indigenous population had also come under influence of Aryan religion-cultural mores and modes, giving rise in the process to a very interesting synthesis of Aryan and indigenous strains

In the medieval period, different parts of Assam were under the Chutiyas, the Barahis, the Bhuyans and other chieftains. But the later there arose two very strong ruling powers, the Ahoms of Tai-Shan affiliation originally came here as invaders but soon became completely indigenized, and their uninterrupted 600 year rule not only gave the land its present name but also played signal role in forging its social and cultural unification. The Koches played a similar role in the western parts of the land helping not only in political consolidation but also in socio-religious and artistic efflorescence

At present the bulk of the indigenous population made up of Assamese Hindus among the Indo-Mongoloid or Kirata element is visibly strong in terms of both racial strains and cultural traits, although scholars have also discerned certain Austric and Dravidian ingredients. Various tribal communities - now at different levels of acculturation, integration and assimilation vis-a-vis the Assamese Hindu society - live in the hills and plains, the chief among them being the Karbis, the Dimasa-Dacharis, the Zemi Nagas and the Kukis in the hills, and the Bodo-Kacharis, the Misings, the Rabhas, the Tiwas (Lalungs) and the Deuris in the plains. Although Saivasim and Saktism (and also Tantrism) have had strong roots here, neo-Vaishanvism with a wonderful spirit of liberalisation and synthesis was ushered in under the unique leadership of Sankardeva (1449-1568), and its influence on the population has since been both pervasive and abiding. The local Muslim population is also sizeable in proportions and their place in, and contribution to, the composite socio-cultural milieu is quite significant and considerable. While there is a small but significant Assamese Sikh community, Christianity had been adopted by a section of the local population, particularly among the tribal groups.

source: A Handbook of Folklore Material of North East India. Birendranath Datta, Nabin Chandra Sarma, Prabin Chandra Das