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INDIA

ASSAM (North East)

State Capital : DISPUR
Assam has a unique landscape with sprawling tea gardens and unending stretches of paddy fields interspersed with groves of coconut, beetle nuts, and banana trees. Its population is a confluence of streams of different races and tribes like the Austrics, the Aryans, Negroids, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Tibetans, and Mongoloid. They have enriched each other and have evolved to give a distinctive identity to the Assamese people.
Assam is located at the gateway of Northeast India, Assam is separated by Bangladesh from mainstream India. The state is bounded in the north by Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan; in the east by Nagaland, Manipur, and Burma; in the south by Bangladesh, Tripura, Mizoram, and Bangladesh; and in the west by West Bengal.
Assam can be broadly divided into three distinct physical units, the Brahmaputra Valley in the north, the Barak Valley in the narrow protruding south, and the state’s hilly region separating the two valleys. The region of Assam was mentioned by the Chinese explorer Chang Kien of having trade links with China in 100 B.C. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea and Ptolemy’s Geography also acknowledge the existence of this state before Christ. The Australoids or the pre-Dravidians were the earliest inhabitants of this state. But, it were the Mongoloids who entered the land through the eastern mountainous passes and overrun the land long before the time of the compilation of the Hindu religious literature known as the Vedas. In the Vedic literature, the state has been mentioned as the land of Kirats with Pragjyotishpur as the capital. In the epic Mahabharata, it is mentioned that the Kirats fought against the Pandavas. Huen Tsang, the great Chinese traveler, visited this region in the 7th century. At that point of time, Pragjyotishpur was known as Kamrup, which was then a strong kingdom under King Bhaskaravarman. However, after this there was a gradual decline of this region and subsequent centuries were witness to repeated onslaughts by aboriginals that reduced the power of the kingdom and led to its fragmentation. It was a time when no single power could hold sway in Assam. When the Ahoms entered Assam crossing the eastern hills in 1228, they chanced upon a period in its history when it was at its most susceptible. Among the local tribes, the Chutias and the Kacharis could offer only a semblance of resistance. The entry of Ahoms in Assam started a new beginning, and many scholars opine that the state was named after this dynasty that ruled it for six centuries. With the advent of the Ahoms, the center of power shifted from Kamrup in Lower Assam to Sibsagar in Upper Assam. The importance of Lower Assam declined sharply, except for a short period in the early 16th century when the Koch dynasty extended their western limits considerably under their illustrious king Naranarayana. The Mughal Empire was at its zenith during this time and they took it as a challenge to crush the Ahoms. They attacked the state 17 times. The last of the wars was fought near the present-day Saraighat Bridge over the river Brahmaputra in Guwahati. In this war, the Ahoms gave the Mughals a crushing defeat under the leadership of the able general Lachit Barphukan. Lachit Barphukan achieved immortality for his heroism and many anecdotes are now an integral part of the folklores of Assam. The next centuries spelled troubles for this kingdom and save for a brief intervention during the reign of king Rudrasingha, the state went on a gradual decline in the 18th century. This was the time when the Burmese attacked this state and annexed them into their empire. However, they could not hold sway on the region for long and in 1826, the British forced them to cede Assam by the Treaty of Yandaboo. With the rest of India, Assam also played an important role in the war of independence. It was declared a state under the Union of India after it achieved independence in 1947. At that time, except Manipur and Tripura, the whole of the Northeast region was called Assam. However, due to strong regional distinctions, all of them have to be carved out as separate states, starting with Nagaland in 1963 and ending with Arunachal Pradesh in 1972.
There are at least three races in Assam: the Australoids (the first race that occupied this region), the Caucasoids (who came from the west to settle in the valley formed by the Ganges and the Brahmaputra), and the Mongoloids (who came to the Northeast in a series of migrations from Southeast Asia). This regular migration of different races created two distinct ethnic groups in the state, the non-tribals or plains people who generally live in the plains, and the ethnic tribes who have mainly live in the hills. However, there is a substantial tribal population in the plains too.
The major handicrafts of the state include making furniture from cane and bamboo, hand loom weaving, jewelry making, sitalpati (or mat making), brass and bell-metal products, pottery, woodwork, and kuhila koth (or fiber weaving). People of Assam use a vast range of hand-woven fabrics with intricate designs. Local silk occupies a prominent place in the Assamese society. Traditional garments (Churia for men and Mekhela-Chador for women) are used for social and religious events. With growing impact of western culture, traditional attires have given way to western clothes and majority of the people can be seen in these clothes only. The daughter of King Banasura, Usha, was the first lasya (classic) dancer of the earth, according to Abhinaya Darpan, a Sanskrit treatise written in the second century AD. King Bana ruled Sonitpur (now Tezpur) around the time of Mahabharata. Bhomoraguri Hill near Tezpur is said to be the Natakasailya where Usha first practiced the lasya dance. Usha is also a household name in Assam because of her love affair with Lord Krishna’s grandson Anirudha.
Festivals of Assam
Rongali or Bohag Bihu is the main festival of Assam. It derives its name from the Sanskrit Vishuvam when day and night are rendered equal through the vernal equinox. People welcome the spring season and pray for a bountiful and rich harvest. This festival is celebrated in the month of Bohag (mid-April), the first month of the Assamese calendar. The exact date in the English calendar varies, but the festival normally starts from the 13th day of the month of April. Other Bihus are Bhugali Bihu (also Magh Bihu) and Kangali Bihu (also Kati Bihu)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahom