BRIEF HISTORY OF ASSAM

One can trace the annals of Assam to the days of yore.

TOPOGRAPHICAL EXPANSE

Assam in particular and the north-eastern region in general falls on the foothills of the Himalayan ranges fall in the tropical region.

Assam is known as the land of the red river (the Brahmaputra) and the blue hills.

The color of the Brahmaputra River is red in color whereas the color of the hills surrounding the state of Assam is blue.

The topographical extant of Assam includes two expansive river valleys, undulating plains, and the hills.

Incidentally, there are two topographical divisions of Assam, viz., the Cachar hills and the Karbi Anglong hills besides the plain river valley areas of the Barak and the Brahmaputra rivers.

Mother Nature has gifted Assam with bounties. For example, you will find rich human, natural and mineral resources.

There are three main rivers besides their numerous tributaries. The three rivers are the Brahmaputra, the Barak and the Kushiyara.

The majority of the Assamese people reside in the two river valleys of the state.

The longest and the largest river of the state is the Brahmaputra. This river has a drainage area of approximately 935,500 sq km.

The rivers systems crisscrossing the area along with the monsoon rains have determined that the occupation of the majority of the Assamese people is agriculture.

MINERAL RESOURCES

Assam has lots of mineral resources. The Assam valley has large deposits of natural gas and crude oil besides limestone and coal.

For instance, the oldest oil refinery in the subcontinent – Digboi – is in Assam. Then, there is a rich natural resource of black diamond – coal – at Lido in upper Assam.

FOREST RESOURCES

The state of north-eastern state of Assam has a verdant tropical forest cover. In fact, the forest resources cover a third of the total geographical area of the state.

The forests are habitats of exotic flora and fauna. There are many sanctuaries that have seasonal avian tourists from foreign countries.

Among the forest produces of Assam are firewood fuel – a considerable portion of the household within the state – lac (the primary raw material for shellac), bamboo, timber, and jute besides many types of plants that serve as medicinal raw materials.

Notably, two-thirds of the 74 species of bamboo serve as cash crops.

ANCIENT TIMES

In fact, the oldest extant treatise of the human race – the Vedas – mentions the region of the erstwhile undivided Assam as Pragjyotishpura which literally means the ‘city of eastern lights’.

It has also been stated in the Vedas that Pragjyotishpura was inhabited by the ‘Kiratas’ or the ‘asuras’ or those people who were not of the Aryan race. Most of the sons of the soil or tribes now inhabiting the entire North East are believed to be the descendents of the Kiratas.

These treatises further mention Kirata king Narakasura as the founder of Pragjyotishpura.

The Vedas also mention the geographical extent of Pragjyotishpura as extending from the northern Himalayan foothills to the southern Bay of Bengal.

MEDIEVAL TIMES

In the Middle Ages, Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang refers to this region as Kamrupa. Hiuen Tsang also mentions the name of the king of Kamrupa as Bhaskaravarman.

ADVENT OF THE AHOMS

It was in the 13th century that major incident took place in the political arena of the region ruled by many chieftains of various tribes. This was the advent of the Ahoms – a martial agrarian Shan race from China – in 1228.

The Ahoms are the longest reigning dynasty in Asia. This dynasty ruled the state for more than 600 years. The reason why this single dynasty had such a along innings is in itself a matter of research. Obviously, it speaks volumes about the political maturity of the Ahom administration.

This band of hardy warriors under the leadership of Tai Ahom leader Sukafa crossed the Patkai ranges and entered North East part of India.

According to one theory, the Tai Ahoms did not have any women with them. Sukafa adopted a two-pronged strategy to build relationships with the myriad of tribes in this region. The astute leader followed the path of war and marital relationship to build bridges.

Sukafa never dominated the defeated chieftains. Instead, he followed the path of reconciliation whereby the chieftain regained total control of his earlier domain. The chieftain gratefully offered his daughter or a female member of his royalty in marriage to the Sukafa or the general of the Ahom army. The chieftain even agreed to pay a monthly tax to the Ahom king. In this way, the base for a pragmatic economic administrative base was also laid during the Ahom regime.

This set the broader base for the Ahom kingdom. Another significant aspect of this political wisdom is that Sukafa obviated any possibility of the indigenous tribes raising the banner of revolt at any point of time.

Moreover, there was a amity among the tribes.
 
However as it happens with any long serving dynasty, it happened with the Ahom dynasty.

Internecine and sibling rivalry among the members of the royal family and certain amount of subdued discontent over religious, social and other aspects magnified.

The Burmese carried out deadly incursions into the Ahom kingdom taking advantage of this situation.

This further weakened the ruling regime to such an extent that a member of the Ahom royalty had to seek the help of the British regime then ruling in the major parts of India.

The British army defeated the Burmese and annexed Assam by subterfuge accor4ding to the treaty of Yandaboo signed only between the Burmese and the British administrations.

This was a deliberate attempt on the part of the British Government to reap the optimum benefits from the troubled political affairs in Assam. No Ahom royalty was taken into confidence while signing the agreement. Hence, the case history of undivided Assam becoming a part of the British empire is itself a subject of research.

Nonetheless, the British rule in Assam was both a boon and bane. During the British tenure, Assam witnessed many developments in the socio-economic and industrial spheres. There are, however, many negative aspects to these developments.