Assam /əˈsæm/ (Assamese: অসম) also, rarely,
Assam Valley and formerly
the Assam Province (British India), is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country. Assam was one of the original provinces of the
British ruled Indian sub-continent and among the original provinces of present day
India,
having a legislature that dates back to 1937. However, present day
Assam has undergone numerous territory alignment changes, with its state
map being altered more than any other province's. Known for exquisite
natural resources,
geography and its important role in
India's freedom struggle; Assam has its capital as
Dispur, an especialized city circuit region located on the inside its largest
metropolis,
Guwahati.
Assam is particularly famous for its natural beauty. The landscape includes
tea gardens, the river
Brahmaputra, and many historical
monuments and
temples.
Swami Vivekananda once said that, "next only to
Kashmir, Assam is the most beautiful place in India A state with an abundance of
forest, Assam also has five
national parks, around half a dozen other
wildlife sanctuaries, and is home to two-thirds of the population of the unique
one-horned rhino. When it comes to
wildlife, Assam too has successfully conserved the one-horned
Indian rhinoceros
from near extinction, along with the tiger and numerous species of
birds, and it provides one of the last wild habitats for the
Asian elephant. It is becoming an increasingly popular destination for
wildlife tourism, and
Kaziranga and
Manas are both
World Heritage Sites.
Another aspect that separates Assam from the rest of Indian states is the rich composite culture of the state.
Assamese
constitute the majority of the state's population but the state has
over two dozen other big and small tribal groups with many of them
having their own
language,
writing system, dance forms and
traditions.
Etymology
The Kamarupa kingdom disintegrated into smaller kingdoms. Subsequently one of them, the
Kingdom of Assam
(1228–1826), became dominant and the region came to be named after that
kingdom. The current academic consensus for "Āsām, Āsam and Acam , as
evidenced by Satyendra Nath Sarma's paraphrasing Banikanta Kakati, is
that the name is indigenous and associated with the medieval invading
tribe which later applied to land they ruled.
Sanskrit word "Asama" was later applied by Aryans to said land referring to its geology
.
"While the Shan invaders called themselves Tai, they came to be
referred to as Āsām, Āsam and sometimes as Acam by the indigenous people
of the country. The modern Assamese word Āhom by which the Tai people
are known is derived from Āsām or Āsam. The epithet applied to the Shan
conquerors was subsequently transferred to the country over which they
ruled and thus the name Kāmarūpa was replaced by Āsām, which ultimately
took the Sanskritized form Asama, meaning 'unequaled, peerless or uneven'."
The earliest recorded use of the name is from the 16th century which was one among many variants that originated natively. Europeans picked up this name in the 17th century initially as
Assam(Dutch),
Acham (English), or
Assen (French) and which settled very quickly to the current spelling
Assam.
The medieval kingdom, then the British province and finally the Indian
state came to be known as Assam when written in alphabets derived from
the
Latin alphabet. In the colonial and post-colonial period, the name
Ahom derived from Āsām or Āsam (see quote above), denoted a community connected with the original invaders and the Kingdom of Assam came to be referred to as
Ahom kingdom.
The academic consensus is that current name "Assam" is based on the
English word Assam
by which the British rulers referred to the tract covered by the
Brahmaputra valley and its adjoining areas ruled by erstwhile Kamarupa.
The named Assam applied to most of
North East India
including Brahmaputra and Barak river valleys, hills of Arunachal
Pradesh (NEFA), Mizoram (Lushai Hills), Nagaland (Naga Hills) and
Meghalaya (Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills. Assam was known as Asama after 15th century till arrival of British.
The medieval native name was "Asama" derived from Sanskrit meaning
unequal as referring to its geology which is equal mix of river valleys
and hills. The British province after 1838 and the Indian state after 1947 came to be known as
Assam.
Different scholars forwarded their view in this regard. Some of them are as below.
Banikanta Kakati's view regarding etymology of current official name and official language of state is as follows:-
The word Assamese is an English one. built on the same
principle as Cingalese, Canarese etc. It is based on the English word
Assam.
Satyendranath Sarma says:-
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language of India,
spoken by nearly eight millions of people inhabiting mostly the
Brahmaputra valley of Assam. The word Assamese is an English formation
built on the same principle as Simhalese or Canarese etc. It is based on
the English word Assam by which the British rulers referred to the
tract covered by the Brahmaputra valley and its adjoining areas. But the
people call their country Asama and their language Asamiya.
For the many theories on the origin of the name, see the main article
Etymology of Assam. On 27 February 2006, the
Government of Assam started a process to change the name of the state to
Asom or
Axom due to foreign origin of the name and in line of Indianisation of names of states and cities of the country. It created controversy and has been opposed by the few people and political organizations
Geography and Climate
Geomorphic studies conclude that the Brahmaputra, the life-line of
Assam is an antecedent river, older than the Himalayas. The river with
steep
gorges and rapids in
Arunachal Pradesh entering Assam, becomes a
braided river
(at times 10 mi/16 km wide) and with tributaries, creates a flood plain
(Brahmaputra Valley: 50–60 mi/80–100 km wide, 600 mi/1000 km long). The hills of
Karbi Anglong,
North Cachar
and those in and close to Guwahati (also Khasi-Garo Hills) now eroded
and dissected are originally parts of the South Indian Plateau system. In the south, the
Barak originating in the Barail Range (Assam-Nagaland border) flows through the
Cachar district with a 25–30 miles (40–50 km) wide valley and enters Bangladesh with the name Surma.
Assam is endowed with
petroleum, natural gas, coal,
limestone and other minor minerals such as
magnetic quartzite,
kaolin,
sillimanites,
clay and
feldspar. A small quantity of iron ore is available in western districts.
Discovered in 1889, all the major petroleum-gas reserves are in Upper
parts. A recent USGS estimate shows 399 million barrels (63,400,000 m
3) of oil, 1,178 billion cubic feet (3.34
×1010 m
3) of gas and 67 million barrels (10,700,000 m
3) of natural gas liquids in the Assam Geologic Province
.
With the “Tropical Monsoon Rainforest Climate”, Assam is temperate
(summer max. at 95–100 °F or 35–38 °C and winter min. at 43–46 °F or 6–8
°C) and experiences heavy rainfall and high humidity.The climate is characterized by heavy monsoon downpours reducing summer
temperatures and affecting foggy nights and mornings in winters.
Thunderstorms known as
Bordoicila
are frequent during the afternoons. Spring (Mar–Apr) and Autumn
(Sept–Oct) are usually pleasant with moderate rainfall and temperature.
Flora and Fauna
Assam is one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world and consists of tropical rainforests, deciduous forests, riverine
grasslands,
bamboo orchards and numerous
wetland ecosystems; Many are now protected as national parks and reserved forests. The
Kaziranga, home of the rare
Indian Rhinoceros, and
Manas are two UNESCO
World Heritage Sites in Assam. The state is the last refuge for numerous other endangered species such as the
Golden Langur (Presbetis geei),
White-winged Wood Duck or
Deohanh (Cairina scutulata),
Bengal Florican,
Black-breasted Parrotbill,
Pygmy Hog,
Greater Adjutant and so on. Some other endangered species with significant population in Assam are the tiger, elephant,
Hoolock gibbon,
Jerdon's Babbler and so on to name a few. For the State Bird, the White-winged Wood Duck, Assam is a globally important area. Assam is also known for
orchids. The state has the largest population of the Wild Water Buffalo in the world The state also has the highest diversity of birds in India with around 820 species. With subspecies the number is as high as 946. The mammal diversity in Assam is also high with around 190 species
The region is prone to natural disasters with annual floods and
frequent mild earthquakes. Strong earthquakes are rare; three of which
were recorded in 1869, 1897 (8.1 on the
Richter scale); and in 1950 (8.6).
