istory
[edit]Pre-history
Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of human settlements from all the periods of theStone ages. The hills at the height of 1500–2000 feet (460 to 615 m) were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed doleritic basalt useful for tool-making.[16]
According to the Kalika Purana (c.17th–18th AD), written in Assam, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav followed by Hatak, Sambar, Ratna and Ghatak; Naraka removed this line of rulers and established his own Naraka dynasty. It mentions that the last of the Naraka-bhauma rulers, Narak, was slain by Krishna. Naraka's son Bhagadatta, mentioned in theMahabharata, fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinasand dwellers of the eastern coast. Later rulers of Kamarupa frequently drew their lineage from the Naraka rulers. However, there are lots of evidences to say that Mahayana Buddhism was prominent in ancient Assam. After Hi-uen Shang's visit Mahayana Buddhism came to Assam. Relics of Tezpur, Malini Than, Kamakhya and Madan Kam Dev Temple are the evidences of Mahayana Buddhism.
[edit]Ancient and medieval
Ancient Assam, known as Kamarupa was ruled by powerful dynasties: the Varmanas (c.350–650 AD), the Salstambhas (Xalostombho, c.655–900 AD) and the Kamarupa-Palas (c.900–1100 AD). In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskaravarman (c.600–650 AD), the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa-Palas), the Kamarupa tradition was somewhat extended till c.1255 AD by the Lunar I (c.1120–1185 AD) and Lunar II (c.1155–1255 AD) dynasties.[16]
Two later dynasties, the Ahoms and the Koch left larger impacts. The Ahoms, a Tai group, ruled Assam for nearly 600 years (1228–1826 AD) and the Koch, a Tibeto-Burmese, established sovereignty in c.1510 AD The Koch kingdom in western Assam and present North Bengal was at its zenith in the early reign of Naranarayana (c.1540–1587 AD). It split into two in c.1581 AD, the western part as a Moghul vassal and the eastern as an Ahom satellite state. Since c.13th AD, the nerve centre of Ahom polity was upper Assam; the kingdom was gradually extended till Karatoya River in the c.17th–18th AD It was at its zenith during the reign of Sukhrungpha or Sworgodeu Rudra Simha (c.1696–1714 AD). Among other dynasties, the Chutiyas ruled north-eastern Assam and parts of present Arunachal Pradesh and the Kacharis ruled from Dikhow River to central and southern Assam. With expansion of Ahom kingdom, by c.1520 AD the Chutiya areas were annexed and since c.1536 AD Kacharis remained only in Cachar and North Cachar more as an Ahom ally then a competing force. Despite numerous invasions, mostly by the Muslim rulers, no western power ruled Assam until the arrival of the British. The most successful invader Mir Jumla, a governor of Aurangzeb, briefly occupied Garhgaon (c.1662–63 AD), the then capital, but found it difficult to control people making guerrilla attacks on his forces, forcing them to leave. The decisive victory of the Assamese led by the great general Lachit Borphukan on the Mughals, then under command of Raja Ram Singha at Saraighat (1671) had almost ended Mughal ambitions in this region. Mughals were finally expelled in c.1682 AD from lower Assam.
[edit]British Assam
Ahom palace intrigue and political turmoil due to the Moamoria rebellion aided the Burmeseto invade Assam and install Chandra Kanta Singh as a puppet king in 1817. In 1821, Singh switched his allegiance to the British, leading the Burmese to invade again. The Burmese defeated the Assamese army in 1822, and made Assam a Burmese province under a military governor-general.[17][18] With the Burmese having reached the East India Company’s borders, the First Anglo-Burmese War ensued in 1824. The war ended under the Treaty of Yandabo[19]in 1826, with the Company taking control of Lower Assam and installing Purander Singh as king of Upper Assam in 1833. The arrangement lasted till 1838 and thereafter the British gradually annexed the entire region. Initially Assam was made a part of the Bengal Presidency, then in 1906 it was a part of Eastern Bengal and Assam province, and in 1912 it was reconstituted into a Chief Commissioners' province. In 1913, a Legislative Council and in 1937 the Assam Legislative Assembly was formed in Shillong, the erstwhile capital of the region. The British tea planters imported labour from central India adding to the demographic canvas. After few initial unsuccessful attempts to free Assam during the 1850s, the Assamese since early 20th century joined and actively supported the Indian National Congress against the British.
At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor. The Assam Province was one amongst those major eight provinces of British India. The following table lists their areas and populations (but does not include those of the dependent Native States):[20]
During the partition of Bengal (1905–1911), a new province, Assam and East Bengal was created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911,East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became: Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.[20]
Table below shows the major original provinces during British India that includes The Assam Province:
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