Asom our Mother land

Asom amar dekh

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.

Geographically, Assam is located south of the eastern Himalayas. Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys along with the Karbi Anglong and the Dima Hasao district with an area of 30,285 square miles (78,440 km²). Assam is surrounded by six of the other Seven Sister States: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya. These states are connected to the rest of India via a narrow strip in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or "Chicken's Neck". Assam also shares international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Etymology

Assam was known as Pragjyotisha in the Mahabharata, Puranas and historically as Kamarupa (350–1140), a kingdom that ruled Assam for 800 years.

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 m³) of oil, 1,178 billion cubic feet (3.34×10¹⁰ m³) of gas and 67 million barrels (10,700,000 m³) 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).