Assam
Assam is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of. It is the second largest state in northeastern India by area and the largest in terms of population, with more than 31 million inhabitants. The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur to the east; Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Dispur is capital of Assam while Dibrugarh is the second capital. Assamese and Bodo are two of the official languages for the entire state and Meitei is recognised as an additional official language in three districts of Barak Valley and Hojai district. in Hojai district and for the Barak Valley region, alongside Bengali, which is also an official language in the Barak Valley.
The state has 35 districts with 5 divisions. Guwahati is the largest city in northeastern India. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk. The state was the first site for oil drilling in Asia. Assam is home to the one-horned Indian rhinoceros, along with the wild water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger and various species of Asiatic birds, and provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. The Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism to Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park, which are World Heritage Sites. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is famed for its feral horses. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, look green all year round. Assam receives more rainfall than most parts of India; this rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a distinctive hydro-geomorphic environment.
Etymology
The first dated mention of the region comes from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and Ptolemy's Geographia, which calls the region Kirrhadia, apparently after the Kirata population. In the classical period and up to the 12th century, the region east of the Karatoya River, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, and alternatively, Pragjyotisha. Though a western portion of Assam as a region continued to be called Kamrup, the Ahom kingdom that emerged in the east, and which came to dominate the entire Brahmaputra Valley, was called Assam ; and the British province too was called Assam. Though the precise etymology of Assam is not clear, the name Assam is associated with the Ahom people, originally called Shyam.History
Pre-history
Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of human settlement from the beginning of the Stone Age. The hills at the height of 1,500 to 2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making.Ambari site in Guwahati has revealed Shunga-Kushana era artefacts including flight of stairs and a water tank which may date from 1st century BCE and may be 2,000 years old. Experts speculate that another significant find at Ambari is Roman era Roman roulette pottery from the 2nd century BCE. Gupta explains that while Guwahati, formerly known as Pragjyotishpur in ancient times, is mentioned in epics like the Mahabharata and the Puranas, there is a lack of substantial archaeological evidence regarding its ancient history, especially before the 7th century AD.
Legend
According to a late text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danava of the Danava dynasty, which was removed by Narakasura of Mithila and established the Bhauma dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Narakasura, was slain by Krishna. Naraksura's son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. At the same time towards the east in central Assam, Asura kingdom was ruled by another line of kings.Ancient era
Evidence indicates presence of civilisation in Assam around 2nd century BCE, a rock cut stupa at Sri Surya Pahar has been dated to 200 BCE contemporary with rock cut Karle and Bhaja caves of Maharashtra. The site is located in a hilly terrain where several rock-cut shivalingas, votive stupas and the deities of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain pantheon are scattered. Samudragupta's 4th-century-CE Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire. Davaka was later absorbed by Kamarupa, which grew into a large kingdom that spanned from Karatoya River to near present Sadiya and covered the entire Brahmaputra Valley, North Bengal, parts of Bangladesh and, at times Purnea and parts of West Bengal. The kingdom was ruled by three dynasties who traced their lineage from a mleccha or Kirata Naraka; the Varmanas, the Mlechchha dynasty and the Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed descent from Narakasura. In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskaravarman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration, the Kamarupa tradition was extended to c. 1255 CE by the Lunar I and Lunar II dynasties.Medieval era
The Medieval Assam history may have started with the advent of Ahoms in the early part of the 13th century and covers their entire rule of 600 years till 1826. After the Bengal-Kamata War, the Khen dynasty ended, and Alauddin Hussain Shah issued coins in his name to be "Conqueror of Kamarup and Kamata". The medieval history of Assam is especially known for its conflict with Muslim powers under Turko-Afghan and Mughals, finally resulting in Assamese victory, however, this military glory was shattered in the early 19th century when it failed to resist the Burmese invasions, which led to its annexation.Chutia kingdom
, a Bodo-Kachari group by origin, held the regions on both the banks of Brahmaputra with its domain in the area eastwards from Vishwanath and Buridihing, in Upper Assam and in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. It was annexed by the Ahoms in the year 1524. The rivalry between the Chutias and Ahoms for the supremacy of eastern Assam led to a series of conflicts between them from the early 16th century.Kachari kingdom
The Dimasa, a Bodo-Kachari dynasty that ruled from the 13th century until 1854, controlled territories stretching from the Dikhow River to central and southern Assam, with their capital at Dimapur. By the early 17th century, with the expansion of the Ahom kingdom, the Chutia regions were annexed, and by around 1536, the Kacharis were confined to the areas of Cachar and North Cachar. At this point, they became more of an ally to the Ahoms than a rival force.Ahom kingdom
Early period
The Ahoms, a Tai group, ruled Upper Assam for almost 600 years. In the year 1228 the Tai-Ahoms came to the Brahmaputra Valley under the leadership of Sukapha along with 9,000 men from Mong Mao, a Tai state, situated in South-Western Yunnan of China, and established his kingdom in Upper Assam. In 1253, he founded the capital city in a hillock and named it Charaideo. At the time of his advent, the area was inhabited by Morans and Borahis, to the north, to the north-east was the Chutia kingdom and to the south was the Kachari kingdom and to the west on the plains were the Baro-Bhuyans.For more than two and a half centuries, Sukapha and his descendants, while primarily focused on administering the kingdom, upheld their dominance in the valley through their military prowess.
Expansion
The reign of Suhungmung marked the first massive expansion of Ahom kingdom. Besides sending a punitive expeditions against the Nagas, they fought numerous battles with the Bhuyans, Chutias, Kacharis, Turko-Afghans, and the Naras. In 1522–23 the Chutia kingdom was annexed and the captured tract was placed under the administration of Sadiya-Khowa-Gohain. After securing the eastern tract, Suhungmung than expanded his kingdom westwards through conquest and extended it till Marangi to the west of the Dhansiri River. When the Kacharis tried to regain the lost territory they were defeated and their capital Dimapur was sacked. Over the remaining part of the Kachari kingdom, a new king Detsung was placed as a tributary, but Detsung proved disloyal and revolted against the Ahoms. He was subsequently executed. A new dependent king was set up on the Kachari throne with the name of Nirbhaynarayan. Since then the Kachari kings were regarded as 'thapita sanchita' meaning - established and maintained by the Ahom rulers.Suhungmung's reign also witnessed the first Muslim-invasions of the kingdom. After a series of battle, the invaders were roundly defeated and were chased up to Karatoya River. The Sultan of Bengal, terrified by the approaching army of Suhungmung, made peace with the king.The rising Koch king Biswa Singha also offered his submission, and the Ahom general Ton-Kham granted him all the territories that were received as dowry from the Sultan of Bengal on the condition of annual tribute.
The successors of Suhungmung, Suklenmung and Sukhaamphaa, sent many expeditions against the Bhuyans and Nagas. But were significant with the wars with the Koch. During the reign of Sukhaamphaa, the Ahoms lost to a Koch army led by Chilarai and the Ahoms had to accept Koch supremacy and had to give up the tracts of north of Brahmaputra. However, the lost tract was soon recovered with further military expeditions.
Later Period
War with Mughals
Soon after the death of Nara Narayan, his kingdom was divided between the sons of Nara Narayan and Chilarai as Koch Hajo and Koch Bihar. In 1609, Laxmi Narayan king of Cooch Behar accepted the vassalage of Mughals, and the Koch Hajo king Raghudev, and later his son Parikshit, sought assistance from the Ahoms. In 1612, the Mughals attacked Koch Hajo, and his territory up to Barnadi River was annexed in the Mughal domain. This brought the Mughals into direct contact with the Ahoms. Meanwhile, Parikshit was trying to renew his friendship with the Ahoms, but was captured, and died on his way to his kingdom. Later, Balinarayan, a brother of Parikshit who had taken refugee with the Ahoms, was made the king of Darrang in 1615 by the Ahom king Pratap Singha. From 1616 onwards, many battles were fought with the Mughal without any tangible result, starting with the Battle of Samdhara. After the last battle, the treaty was established in 1639, which fixed the Asurar ali on the south bank and the Barnadi on the north bank of the Brahmaputra as the boundary between the two.Pratap Singha also enacted the Paik system and created a number of army and civil administration posts such as the Borbarua and Borphukan.
Jayadhwaj Singha took advantage of a war of succession between the sons of Shah Jahan, and occupied the imperial territories up to Dhaka. Aurangzeb, after becoming the emperor, appointed Mir Jumla II, to recover the lost territory. After failed negotiations in November 1661, Mir Jumla proceeded with a huge army and fleet to invade the Ahom kingdom. The Ahoms lost at several places, and then captured the Ahom capital Garhgaon. During the rainy season, Mir Jumla and his army suffered immeasurable hardship due to the climatic condition of the valley, in addition to the guerrilla fighting against the invaders. After no noticeable gain, negotiation started and in January 1663, the Treaty of Ghilajharighat was established. According to the treaty, the Ahoms acknowledged Mughal supremacy, ceding the territory west of the Bharali on the north bank and the Kalang on the south bank, along with a huge amount of war indemnity, and handing over the sons of the Gohains as hostages, and two Ahom princesses to the Mughal harem. Soon after the departure of Mir Jumla, Jayadhwaj Singha died and the new king Chakradhwaj Singha began preparations to overthrow Mughal supremacy and to recover the lost territory. After numerous battles, and finally the Battle of Saraighat, the Mughals were forced to retreat.
The period after 1671 was very unstable due to the rivalry among the nobles, who wanted to establish their political power and influence by placing their own choice of prince in the throne. In 1679, Laluksola Borphukan, in hopes of becoming king with the help of the Mughals, surrendered Guwahati without any battle. But after the accession of Gadadhar Singha, at the final Battle of Itakhuli, the Mughals were badly defeated. The border was then fixed at Manah on the north bank, and the Nagarbera hill on the south bank of the Brahmaputra till its annexation by the East India Company in 1826.