Past & Present of Assam
Assam's history goes back to the ancient times. The base of this history
can be found in Vedic literature, Tantric literature, Assamese folklore and
Buddhist literature.
However, first reference of Assam is found in the epics and the religious
legends. The Aryans belonging to the priestly (brahmin) and warrior classes
found their way into Assam in very early times. Numerous places referred in
the epics, like Mahabharata etc. are now identified with sites in this
state.
Known as 'Kamarupa' or 'Pragjyotish' in the period of the Epics, Assam is
inhabited by human civilisation since about 2000 BC. The people of Assam
consists of the migrants from Burma and China. They settled in Assam after
the mongoloid migration. Mongoloids came from Punjab through Bihar and North
Bengal. Henceforth, Assam presents a blend of Mongol-Aryan culture. It is
believed that, the early history of Assam belonged to be of the Varman
dynasty. The reign of this dynasty extended from 400 AD to 13th century.
Huien Tsang is said to have visited Assam during the rule of Kumar Bhaskar
Varman in the 7th century BC. The Ahoms are said to have ventured into Assam
in about 1228 AD. By 15th century the kingdoms of Ahom and Koch were
established. This period witnessed a change in all the sections of life in
Assam.
Ahom Kingdom weakened in the later part of the 18th century, due to
internal conflict. The Burmese ran over the political authority in Assam,
thus invoking British intervention to subdue the Burmese. After a conflict
between the Burmese and the English, peace was regained by the treaty of
Yandaboo in 1826. The British then set out to organise the administration,
transport and communication. Besides the various changes, the British
constructed the railways; introduced of tea plantation, discovered of coal
and oil etc.. All this proved fruitful to the British during the World War
II. In the post Independence period of India, Assam witnessed several
separation of territories. In 1948, NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) was separated.
In 1963 Nagaland was separated. In 1972 Meghalaya and in 1987 Mizoram.
