Assam
Area: 78,438 sq km.
Capital: Dispur.
Language: Assamese,(Bengali for Barak Valley).
Districts: 23
It is believed that Assam is only the anglicised version of 'Asom'—the name the Ahoms gave to the country, when they conquered it.Capital: Dispur.
Language: Assamese,(Bengali for Barak Valley).
Districts: 23
Physiography: Geographically Assam is a shadow of its former self. It has been reduced to one-third of its original size in thirty years. In the partition of India (1947) Assam lost Sylhet district, except a major portion of Karimganj sub-division, to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Out of the 27 lakh population of Sylhet, Assam retained only 7 lakh, the rest going to Pakistan. Thereafter, Assam continued to lose territory and population step by step as Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh were separated from it.
Assam, as it is today, may be divided into two important physical regions—the
Barak valley and the Brahmaputra valley.Assam is dominated by the Brahmaputra river. (length: 2900 km). Its drainage area is roughly 935,500 sq km. Rainfall, one of the highest in the world (between 178 and 305 cm), is concentrated in 4 months, June to September. The state experiences floods and droughts.
History: An ideal meeting ground for diverse races, Assam gave shelter to streams of human waves carrying with them distinct cultures and trends of civilization. Austro-Asiatics, Negritos, Dravidians, Alpines, Indo-Mongoloids, Tibeto-Burmese and Aryans penetrated into Assam through different routes and contributed in their own way towards the unique fusion of a new community which came to be known in later history as the Assamese. Assam, however, remained predominantly a land of the Tibeto-Burmese.
The vast section of the people of Assam belong either to this stock or owe their origin to the fusion of this stock with other racial groups.Assam, known in ancient lore as Kamarupa, originally included in addition to modern Assam, parts of modern Bengal and Bangla-desh.
Guwahati, the pulsating centre of Assam, is an ancient town whose history goes back to the puranic days. The city, anciently known as Pragjyotishpur, was said to have been founded by King Narakasur, who is mentioned in the puranas and epics. His son Bhagadatta led a large elephant force to the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and fell fighting on the side of the Kauravas.In the 13th century, the country was conquered by the Ahoms under Sukapha, a prince of the Shan tribe, in the upper Irravaddy Valley.
The advent of the Ahoms changed the course of Assam's history. They appointed Bharphakans (Viceroys) to rule Kamarupa and Gauhati became the capital of these Viceroys. The last of the Viceroys was Badanchandra, who in an ill-advised bid for power invited the Burmese to help him. The Burmese dislodged the Ahoms and dismissed their Viceroy, Badanchandra. The Ahoms appealed to the British for help.The British defeated the Burmese in several battles, in what has since been called the First Burmese War. With the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, the Burmese vacated Assam, leaving the British in possession. The conquered territory was placed under the administration of an Agent to the Governor General. In 1832 Cachar was annexed to Assam.
In 1835, the Jaintia Hills were made part of Assam. (Upper Assam was annexed to Bengal in 1839). In 1874 a separate province of Assam under a Chief Commissioner was created, with Shillong as capital.On the partition of Bengal in 1905, Assam was united to the eastern districts of Bengal under a Lt. Governor. From 1912 the Chief Commissionership of Assam was revived, and in 1921 a Governorship was created. On the partition of India almost the whole of the predominantly Muslim district of Sylhet was merged with East Bengal (present Bangladesh). Dewanagiri in North Kamarupa was ceded to Bhutan in 1951.In 1948, the North East Frontier Agency was separated from Assam, for security
reasons. In 1963, Nagaland was carved out of Assam as a full-fledged state. On
21st Jan. 1972, Meghalaya was cut out of Assam, as a separate state and Mizoram became a Union Territory.In 1987, Mizoram was granted statehood.
Administration: The Legislature consists of only one house—the Legislative
Assembly. The state is divided into 23 districts.
Districts
- Barpeta
- Bongaigaon
- Cachar
- Darrang
- Dhemaji
- Dhubri
- Dibrugarh
- Goalpara
- Golaghat
- Hailakandi
- Jorhat
- Kamrup
- Karbi Anglog
- Karimganj
- Kokrajhar
- Lakhimpur
- Marigaon
- Nagaon
- North Cachar Hills
- Nalbari
- Sibsagar
- Sonitpur
- Tinsukia
dolomite and natural gas.Tea is a major industry. There are nearly 750 tea plantations in the state. Assam contributes 15.6% of world's tea production and 55% of the country's tea output. Assam is first state in the countrywhere oil was struck in 1889 at Digboy.
The state has two oil refineries and the third with a petrochemical complex is under way. There is also a public sector fertilizer factory at Namrup. The Numaligarh refinery (3m. tonnes capacity, cost Rs. 2350 crore) was commissioned on July 9, 1999. Other industries are sugar, jute, silk, paper, plywood, rice and oil drilling.
Important cottage industries are handloom, sericulture, manufacture of cane and bamboo articles, carpentry, smithy and manufacture of brass utensils.
Assam is the largest producer in the world of the golden coloured 'muga' silk. There are six civil airports, at Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar, Lakhimpur
and Tezpur.
Universities:
- Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Pin: 785 013;
- Assam University, Silchar, Pin: 788 011; Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Pin: 786004;
- Guwahati University, Guwahati, Pin: 781 014;
- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Pin: 781 001;
- Tezpur University, Tezpur, Pin: 784 025.
Tourist Centres: Guwahati-Kaziranga-Sibsagar and Guwahati-Manas are two travel circuits promoted by the Union Government. Additional circuits proposed by the state:
1. Guwahati- Bhairabkunda- Orang- Bhaluking- Tezpur,
2. Guwahati-Diphu-Haflong-Silchar.
Kaziranga National Park is world famous for rhinos and elephants. Manas is another national park.In 2000, Assam reeled under the surging waters of the swollen Brahmaputra and its tributaties in 16 districts. Labels: Assam
