Religions
According to the 2001 census, there are 17,296,455 Hindus, 8,240,611 Muslims, 986,589 Christians, 22,519 Sikhs, 51,029 Buddhists, 23,957 Jains and 22,999 belonging to other religious communities.[31] The latter includes Animism (Khamti, Phake, Aiton etc. communities).
[edit]Hinduism
The Hindus of Assam perform several dances to practice their devotion to their Gods. One category of them is the Sattriya Dances.
Popular forms of God in Assam are Durga, Shiva, Krishna and Narayana, although several tribes practice devotion to local deities as well.
Brahmo Samaj: Assam is the home of Kalicharan Mech, a Bodo Hindu who stopped the British Christian missionaries, spread ahimsa and vegetarianism. He was deeply influenced by the Brahmo Samaj.[32] He later became known as "Gurudev Kalicharan Brahmachari"[33]or "Guru Brahma". His principles were established as the Brahma Dharma. Perhaps his teachings can be summarized by his given phrase, "Chandrama Surya Narayans Jyoti", meaning, "the light (jyoti) from the sun is capable from dispelling darkness and taking people to Brahma (Narayans)."[34]
From the teachings of Guru Brahma, the "Bodo-Brahmas" (the Bodos of this sect) have boycotted alcohol, heavy dowry as well as meat-eating.
This sect is written by scholars to be Vedic and Upanishadic.[35] As per Vedic rituals, the priests perform Horn Yajna, which was begun by Guru Brahma to organize the Bodos.[36]
While the Bodo Christians today are laying stress on adopting a Roman script for the Bodo community, the Bodo-Brahmas prefer the traditional Bengali-Ahomi script.
Out of the 3,308,570 Assamese tribals reported in the 2001 Census, 90.7% were Hindus and 8.8% were Christians. There were also 6,267 Muslims, 5,153 Budhists and 3,574 Animists.[37]
[edit]Islam
Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in Assam with 8,240,611 persons, 31% of the Assam population. Amongst Indian provinces, Assam has the third largest proportion of Muslims – only the Unior Territory of Lakshaweep Islands and Jammu and Kashmir have a higher proportion.
The history of the indigenous Muslims of Assam is a long one, though many details are obscure, especially for the Assamese Muslims. A Brahmin priest from Kamrup (near the geographical middle of Assam) was reported to have embraced Islam around the 13th century.
Later in the 16th century, an Islamic saint Ajan Fakir Shah Miran and also known as Ghiyasuddin Auliya came from Baghdad to Assam to preach Islam in the area. The Masjid constructed by him is known as, The Pao Mecca mosque, Pao Mecca literally means one-fourth of Mecca. It is believed that the foundation of the mosque was laid upon a handful of earth brought from Mecca. The Pao-Mecca mosque was partially destroyed by a strong earthquake that occurred in 1897 and the dargah on the 750 ft. high Gaurachol hills is of Ghiyasuddin Auliya Ajan Fakir was buried on the hills of Gaurachol and hence the tomb on the hill is related to him, are considered sacrosanct not only by the Muslims but by people of other faiths as well.[38]
- Panchpeer Dargaha, Dhurbi District, Assam: It is Mazar Sharif of five Sufi Saints who accompanied Raja Ram Singh during his time of invassion to Assam. This Dargaha is the best example of religious harmony where all section of people irrespective of their religion pay visit with great respect.
- Integration of the Assamese Muslims, India.
It is likely that the Assamese Muslims, who are found primarily in the northeastern parts of the state, are descended particularly from those who embraced Islam during this earlier period. The Assamese Muslims are well integrated with the rest of Assamese society. Proud of their language and culture, Assamese Muslims have often been in positions of influence within the society of Assam and even India.
[edit]Christianity
The Bible was translated into Assamese in the year of 1819. In 1827, an attempt was made to start a Baptist church in Guwahati, but it made no permanent converts in the area. Later the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was able to make some headway in Guwahati. Although these earliest Christian missionary endeavors which were focused in the north-east of India, were in Modern Assam, the great success of Protestant missionaries in North-East India which they achieved in late 19th and the 20th Centuries, was primarily in areas such as Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya which are not part of Assam anymore.
As of 1991 only Tripura of the seven eastern states of India had a lower percentage of Christians than Assam. There were more Christians in Assam than in Mizoram even though Mizoram was the second most Christian state in India at the time.[39]
Besides the Protestants there are also Catholics. There is a Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Shillong.
According to the 2001 Census, there are a total of 986,589 Christians in Assam.[40] Out of this, 291,000 (29.5%) are tribals.[37]
[edit]Sikhism
The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev had visited Kamrup (Assam) in the 1505 as recorded in the his first visit in Purantan Janam Sakhi (the historical papers related to the visits and daily recorded activities of the Guru). Guru Nanak had met Srimanta Shankardeva(the founder of the Mahapuruxiya Dharma) as the Guru travelled from Dhaka to Assam. But no sangat or historical shrine dedicated to him survives as to date.
Ninth Guru of Sikhs Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Assam in 1668. This place is also famous for the Sikh Gurdwara Thara Sahib or Gurdwara Damdama Sahib which was constructed in memory atop the hillock place of meditation of the Guru in Dhubri, Kamrup. The historical site and places of interest of the Gurdwara are many times referred to asGurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib situated in Dhubri (Assam) by the banks of the Brahmaputra .[41] The grateful Ahom King invited Guruji to the Kamakhya shrine, where he was honoured with great respect.
In the year 1820, few hundred Sikh soldiers went to Assam at the initiative of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help Ahom rulers in a war. Their descendants are mostly concentrated in Lanka in Nagaon district of Assam.[42] Sikhs have been living in Assam for approximately two hundred years.[43]
[edit]Buddhism
The religion is practised by 51,029 persons in Assam. Among them are the Chakma and Boruas. The Chakmas of Assam are loacted mostly in Chachar and Karbi Anglong with very lesser presence in Nagaon district. Guwahati has lots of Buddhist temples, the most prominent being the Bamunimaidan Buddhist temple.
[edit]Culture and its evolution
Main article: Culture of Assam
Assamese culture is traditionally a hybrid one developed due to assimilation of ethno-cultural groups in the past. Therefore, both local elements or the local elements in Sanskritised forms are distinctly found.[44] The major milestones in evolution of Assamese culture are:
- Assimilation in the Kamarupa Kingdom for almost 700 years (under the Varmans for 300 years, Salastambhas and Palas for each 200 years).[16]
- Establishment of the Ahom dynasty in the 13th century AD and assimilation for next 600 years.[16]
- Assimilation in the Koch Kingdom (15th–16th century AD) of western Assam and Kachari Kingdom (12th–18th century AD) of central and southern Assam.[16]
- Vaishnava Movement led by Srimanta Shankardeva (Xonkordeu) and its contribution and cultural changes.Vaishanav Movement, the 15th century religio-cultural movement under the leadership of great Srimanta Sankardeva (Xonkordeu) and his disciples have provided another dimension to Assamese culture. A renewed Hinduisation in local forms took place, which was initially greatly supported by the Koch and later by the Ahom Kingdoms. The resultant social institutions such as namghar and sattra (the Vaishnav Monasteries) have become part of Assamese way life. The movement contributed greatly towards language, literature and performing and fine arts. It is also noticed that many a times, Vaishnav Movement attempted to introduce alien cultural attributes and modify the way of life of common people. Brajavali a language specially created by introducing words from other Indian languages had failed as a language but left its traces on the Assamese language. Moreover, new alien rules were also introduced changing people's food habits and other aspects of cultural life. This had a greater impact on alienation of many local ethno-cultural and political groups in the later periods.
Historically, it is not difficult to understand that on one hand, during the strong politico-economic systems under stronger dynasties, greater cultural assimilations created common attributes of Assamese culture, while on the other during smaller politico-economic systems or during political disintegration, more localised attributes were created with spatial differentiation. Time-factor for such integrations and differentiations has also played extremely important role along with the position of individual events in the entire series of sequential events.
With rich traditions, the modern culture is greatly influenced by events in the British and the Post-British Era. The language was standardised by the American Baptist Missionaries such as Nathan Brown, Dr. Miles Bronson and local pundits such as Hemchandra Barua with the form available in the Sibsagar (Sivasagar) District (the ex-nerve centre of the Ahom Kingdom). A renewed Sanskritisation was increasingly adopted for developing Assamese language and grammar. A new wave of Western and northern Indian influence was apparent in the performing arts and literature.
Increasing efforts of standardisation in the 20th century alienated the localised forms present in different areas and with the less-assimilated ethno-cultural groups (many source-cultures). However, Assamese culture in its hybrid form and nature is one of the richest, still developing and in true sense is a 'cultural system' with sub-systems. It is interesting that many source-cultures of Assamese cultural-system are still surviving either as sub-systems or as sister entities, for e.g. Bodo or Karbi or Mishing. It is important to keep the broader system closer to its roots and at the same time to focus on development of the sub-systems.
Some of the common and unique cultural traits in the region are peoples' respect towards areca-nut and betel leaves, symbolic clothes (Gamosa, Arnai, etc.), traditional silk garments and towards forefathers and elderly. Moreover, great hospitality and Bamboo culture are common.
[edit]Symbolism
Symbolism is an ancient cultural practice in Assam and is still a very important part of Assamese way of life. Various elements are being used to represent beliefs, feelings, pride, identity, etc.Tamulpan, Xorai and Gamosa are three important symbolic elements in Assamese culture. Tamulpan (the areca nut and betel leaves) or guapan (gua from kwa) are considered along with the Gamosa (a typical woven cotton or silk cloth with embroidery) as the offers of devotion, respect and friendship. The Tamulpan-tradition is an ancient one and is being followed since time-immemorial with roots in the aboriginal Austro-Asiatic culture. Xorai is a traditionally manufactured bell-metal article of great respect and is used as a container-medium while performing respectful offers. Moreover, symbolically many ethno-cultural groups use specific clothes to portray respect and pride.
There were many other symbolic elements and designs, but are now only found in literature, art, sculpture, architecture, etc. or in use today for only religious purposes. The typical designs of assamese-lion, dragon, flying-lion, etc. were used for symbolising various purposes and occasions. The archaeological sites such as the Madan Kamdev (c. 9th–10th AD) exhibits mass-scale use of lions, dragon-lions and many other figures of demons to show case power and prosperity. The Vaishnava monasteries and many other architectural sites of late medieval period also showcase use of lions and dragons for symbolic effects.
[edit]Languages
See also: Assamese language, Assamese literature, Bodo language, Sylheti language, and Bishnupriya Manipuri language
Assamese and Bodo are the major indigenous and official languages while Bengali holds official status in the three districts in the Barak Valley and is the second most widely spoken language of the state (27%).[46]
Traditionally Assamese was the language of the commons (of mixed origin – Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Prakrit) in the ancient Kamarupa and in the medieval kingdoms of Kamatapur,Kachari, Chutiya, Borahi, Ahom and Koch. Traces of the language is found in many poems by Luipa, Sarahapa, etc. in Charyapada (c.7th–8th AD). Modern dialects Kamrupi, Goalpariya, etc. are the remnant of this language. Moreover, Assamese in its traditional form was used by the ethno-cultural groups in the region as lingua-franca, which spread during the stronger kingdoms and was required for needed economic integration. Localised forms of the language still exist in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh. The form used in the upper Assam was enriched by the advent of Tai-Shans in the 13th century.
Linguistically modern Assamese traces its roots to the version developed by the American Missionaries based on the local form in practice near Sibsagar (Xiwoxagor) district. Assamese (Oxomeeya) is a rich language due to its hybrid nature with its unique characteristics of pronunciation and softness. Assamese literature is one of the richest.
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