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102-555: The Sharchops are an Indo-Mongoloid people who migrated from Assam , Arunachal Pradesh , or possibly Burma , c. 1200 – c. 800 BC. Van Driem (1993) indicates that Sharchops are closely related to the Mönpa and that both are descendants of the indigenous Tibetic peoples (pre- Ngalop ) of Bhutan. Due to the societal prominence and political power of Dzongkha-speaking Bhutanese, however, Sharchops are marginalized in Bhutan. The Sharchops are

204-451: A 3:2 ratio, the total population of Sharchops in Bhutan is approximately 212,500. Most Sharchops speak Tshangla , a Tibeto-Burman language; fewer speak the Olekha language . They also learn the national language, Dzongkha . Because of their proximity to Northeastern India, some speak Assamese . Bodo is also known to many of them because of socio cultural and trade relations. Tshangla

306-708: A Sanskritised approach to the language in his Asamiya Bhaxar Byakaran ("Grammar of the Assamese Language") (1859, 1873). Barua's approach was adopted by the Asamiya Bhasa Unnati Sadhini Sabha (1888, "Assamese Language Development Society") that emerged in Kolkata among Assamese students led by Lakshminath Bezbaroa . The Society published a periodical Jonaki and the period of its publication, Jonaki era , saw spirited negotiations on language standardisation. What emerged at

408-730: 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

510-577: A half centuries, Sukapha and his descendants, while primarily focused on administering the kingdom, upheld their dominance in the valley through their military prowess. 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

612-577: A huge army and fleet to invade Ahom kingdom. Here 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 the guerrilla fighting resorted against the invaders. And at last no noticeable gain, negotiation started and in January 1663, Treaty of Ghilajharighat

714-455: A number of army and civil administration posts such as the Borbarua and Borphukan . Jayadhwaj Singha taking the advantage of War of succession between the sons of Shah Jahan , occupied the imperial territories up to Dhaka . Aurangzeb after becoming the emperor, appointed Mir Jumla II , to recover the lost territory. After fail negotiations. In November 1661, Mir Jumla proceeded with

816-609: A period when the Prakrit was at the cusp of differentiating into regional languages. The spirit and expressiveness of the Charyadas are today found in the folk songs called Deh-Bicarar Git . In the 12th-14th century works of Ramai Pundit ( Sunya Puran ), Boru Chandidas ( Krishna Kirtan ), Sukur Mamud ( Gopichandrar Gan ), Durllava Mullik ( Gobindachandrar Git ) and Bhavani Das ( Mainamatir Gan ) Assamese grammatical peculiarities coexist with features from Bengali language . Though

918-548: 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. The first dated mention of the region comes from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century) and Ptolemy 's Geographia (2nd century), which calls

1020-432: 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 (Central Assam) as frontier kingdoms of

1122-472: A slightly different set of "schwa deletion" rules for its modern standard and early varieties. In the modern standard / ɔ / is generally deleted in the final position unless it is (1) /w/ ( ৱ ); or (2) /j/ ( য় ) after higher vowels like /i/ ( ই ) or /u/ ( উ ); though there are a few additional exceptions. The rule for deleting the final / ɔ / was not followed in Early Assamese . The initial / ɔ /

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1224-420: A vowel length distinction, but have a wide set of back rounded vowels . In the case of Assamese, there are four back rounded vowels that contrast phonemically, as demonstrated by the minimal set: কলা kola [kɔla] ('deaf'), ক'লা kóla [kola] ('black'), কোলা kwla [kʊla] ('lap'), and কুলা kula [kula] ('winnowing fan'). The near-close near-back rounded vowel /ʊ/ is unique in this branch of

1326-458: 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. According to a late text, Kalika Purana (c. 9th–10th century CE ), the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty , which was removed by Naraka of Mithila and established

1428-537: Is a neutral blend of the eastern variety without its distinctive features. This core is further embellished with Goalpariya and Kamrupi idioms and forms. Assamese is native to Assam . It is also spoken in states of Arunachal Pradesh , Meghalaya and Nagaland . The Assamese script can be found in of present-day Burma . The Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal also has inscriptions in Assamese showing its influence in

1530-488: Is a state in northeastern India , south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of 78,438 km (30,285 sq mi). 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

1632-680: Is also spoken by the Monpa (Menba) national minority across the border in China , distributed in Mêdog , Nyingchi and Dirang . Tshangla is similar to the Kalaktang and Dirang languages spoken by the Monpa of Arunachal Pradesh , India. Sharchop peoples practice slash-and-burn and tsheri agriculture, planting dry rice crops for three or four years until the soil is exhausted and then moving on, however

1734-738: Is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam , where it is an official language. It serves as a lingua franca in parts of the Northeast India from a long time, in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland of India the Assamese language developed as a creole and pidgin language known as Nefamese and Nagamese creole which has become a lingua franca in Nagaland. It has over 15 million native speakers according to Ethnologue . Nefamese , an Assamese-based pidgin in Arunachal Pradesh ,

1836-641: Is generally assumed—which suggests that when the Indo-Aryan centers formed in the 4th–5th centuries CE, there were substantial Austroasiatic speakers that later accepted the Indo-Aryan vernacular . Based on the 7th-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang 's observations, Chatterji (1926) suggests that the Indo-Aryan vernacular differentiated itself in Kamarupa before it did in Bengal, and that these differences could be attributed to non-Indo-Aryan speakers adopting

1938-786: Is never deleted. Modern Assamese uses the Assamese script . In medieval times, the script came in three varieties: Bamuniya , Garhgaya , and Kaitheli/Lakhari , which developed from the Kamarupi script . It very closely resembles the Mithilakshar script of the Maithili language , as well as the Bengali script . There is a strong literary tradition from early times. Examples can be seen in edicts, land grants and copper plates of medieval kings. Assam had its own manuscript writing system on

2040-536: Is the closely related group of eastern dialects of Bengali (although a contrast with dental stops remains in those dialects). / r / is normally realised as [ ɹ ] or [ ɻ ] . Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of /x/ (realised as [ x ] or [ χ ] , depending on the speaker and speech register), due historically to the MIA sibilants' lenition to /x/ (initially) and /h/ (non-initially). The use of

2142-459: Is unique in the group of Indo-Aryan languages as it lacks a dental-retroflex distinction among the coronal stops as well as the lack of postalveolar affricates and fricatives. Historically, the dental and retroflex series merged into alveolar stops . This makes Assamese resemble non-Indic languages of Northeast India (such as Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan languages ). The only other language to have fronted retroflex stops into alveolars

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2244-723: The Ahom kingdom where the country was greatly depopulated and unorganised. The political rivalry between the nobles made a pathway for the Burmese to invade and weakened it more and finally leading to its annexation. The discovery of Camellia sinensis in 1834 in Assam was followed by testing in 1836–37 in London. The British allowed companies to rent land from 1839 onwards. Thereafter tea plantations proliferated in Eastern Assam, where

2346-1110: The Arabic script by Assamese Muslims . One example is Tariqul Haq Fi Bayane Nurul Haq by Zulqad Ali (1796–1891) of Sivasagar , which is one of the oldest works in modern Assamese prose. In the early 1970s, it was agreed upon that the Roman script was to be the standard writing system for Nagamese Creole . The following is a sample text in Assamese of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights : Assamese in Assamese alphabet Assamese in WRA Romanisation Assamese in SRA Romanisation Assamese in Common Romanisation Assamese in IAST Romanisation Assamese in

2448-544: The Assamese alphabet , an abugida system, from left to right, with many typographic ligatures . Assamese was designated as a classical Indian language by the Government of India on 3 October 2024 on account of its antiquity and literary traditions. Assamese originated in Old Indo-Aryan dialects, though the exact nature of its origin and growth is not clear yet. It is generally believed that Assamese and

2550-585: 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 (containing the state capital Dispur ) 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

2652-625: The Bengal Presidency , then in 1906 it was made a part of Eastern Bengal and Assam province, and in 1912 it was reconstituted into a chief commissioners' province. In 1913, a legislative council and, in 1937, the Assam Legislative Assembly, were formed in Shillong, the erstwhile capital of the region. The British tea planters imported labour from central India adding to the demographic canvas. The Assam territory

2754-648: The Bhauma dynasty . The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna . Naraka's son Bhagadatta became the king, who (it is mentioned in the Mahabharata) 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. Evidence indicates presence of civilisation in Assam around 2nd century BCE,

2856-529: 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

2958-527: 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 (c. 350–650 CE),

3060-670: The Indian National Congress against the British from the early 20th century, with Gopinath Bordoloi emerging as the preeminent nationalist leader in the Assam Congress. Bordoloi's major political rival in this time was Sir Saidullah, who was representing the Muslim League , and had the backing of the influential Muslim cleric Maulana Bhasani . The Assam Postage Circle was established by 1873 under

3162-532: The International Phonetic Alphabet Gloss Translation The Assamese language has the following characteristic morphological features: Verbs in Assamese are negated by adding /n/ before the verb, with /n/ picking up the initial vowel of the verb. For example: Assamese has a large collection of classifiers , which are used extensively for different kinds of objects, acquired from

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3264-534: The Kamatapuri lects derive from the Kamarupi dialect of Eastern Magadhi Prakrit though some authors contest a close connection of Assamese with Magadhi Prakrit. The Indo-Aryan, which appeared in the 4th–5th century in Assam, was probably spoken in the new settlements of Kamarupa —in urban centers and along the Brahmaputra river—surrounded by Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic communities. Kakati's (1941) assertion that Assamese has an Austroasiatic substrate

3366-696: The Mlechchha dynasty (c.655–900 CE) and the Kamarupa-Palas (c. 900–1100 CE), from their capitals in present-day Guwahati ( Pragjyotishpura ), Tezpur ( Haruppeswara ) and North Gauhati ( Durjaya ) respectively. All three dynasties claimed descent from Narakasura . In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskaravarman (c. 600–650 CE), the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after

3468-572: The Mughals attacked Koch Hajo and his territory up to Barnadi River were annexed in the Mughal domain. This brought the Mughals with direct contact with Ahoms. Meanwhile, Parikshit was trying to renew his friendship with Ahoms, but got captured, and died on his way to his kingdom. Later Balinarayan , a brother of Parikshit who had taken refugee under the Ahoms was made the king of Darrang in 1615 by

3570-669: The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). In November 1990, the Government of India deployed the Indian army , after which low-intensity military conflicts and political homicides have been continuing for more than a decade. In recent times, ethnically based militant groups have grown. The Panchayati Raj Act has been applied in Assam, after agitation of the communities due to the sluggish rate of development and general apathy of successive state governments towards Indigenous Assamese communities. Deadly floods hit

3672-530: The gharial , a critically endangered fish-eating crocodilian, and the pink-headed duck (which may be extinct worldwide). For the state bird, the white-winged wood duck, Assam is a globally important area. In addition to the above, there are three other National Parks in Assam namely Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Nameri National Park and the Orang National Park. Assam has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with

3774-501: The pygmy hog , tiger and numerous species of birds, and it provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant . Kaziranga and Manas are both World Heritage Sites . The state contains Sal tree forests and forest products, much depleted from earlier times. A land of high rainfall, Assam displays greenery. The Brahmaputra River tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with hydro- geomorphic environment. The state has

3876-478: The velar nasal (the English ng in sing ) extensively. While in many languages, the velar nasal is commonly restricted to preceding velar sounds, in Assamese it can occur intervocalically. This is another feature it shares with other languages of Northeast India , though in Assamese the velar nasal never occurs word-initially. Eastern Indic languages like Assamese, Bengali, Sylheti , and Odia do not have

3978-413: 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

4080-645: The 15th and subsequent centuries. In these writings the 13th/14th-century archaic forms are no longer found. Sankardev pioneered a prose-style of writing in the Ankia Naat . This was further developed by Bhattadeva who translated the Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita into Assamese prose. Bhattadev's prose was classical and restrained, with a high usage of Sanskrit forms and expressions in an Assamese syntax; and though subsequent authors tried to follow this style, it soon fell into disuse. In this writing

4182-435: The 1850s, the industry started seeing some profits. The industry saw initial growth, when in 1861, investors were allowed to own land in Assam and it saw substantial progress with the invention of new technologies and machinery for preparing processed tea during the 1870s. Despite the commercial success, tea labourers continued to be exploited, working and living under poor conditions. Fearful of greater government interference,

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4284-626: The Ahom king Pratap Singha . From 1616, onwards many battles were fought the Mughal without any tangible result, with the first Battle of Samdhara till after the last battle where the treaty was concluded 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 had also enacted the Paik system and created

4386-601: 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. 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 ,

4488-494: The Ahoms achieved no notable military achievement. During this period from, Siva Singha to Rajeswar Singha , the kingdom witnessed peace and prosperity and was significant for constructive activities and other development. In the field of religion also, Ekasarana Dharma spread all over the kingdom and started to influence all aspects of people's life. The religious heads of Vaisnavite monastery exalted great influence with royal patronage and established numerous Satras and most of

4590-522: The Assam Geologic Province. The region is prone to natural disasters like annual floods and frequent mild earthquakes. Strong earthquakes were recorded in 1869, 1897 , and 1950 . The total population of Assam was 26.66 million with 4.91 million households in 2001. Higher population concentration was recorded in the districts of Kamrup , Nagaon , Sonitpur , Barpeta , Dhubri , Darrang , and Cachar . Assam's population

4692-589: The Barak valley) is the second most populous city in Assam and an important centre of business. Other large cities include Dibrugarh , an oil and natural gas industry centre, With the tropical monsoon 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 characterised by heavy monsoon downpours reducing summer temperatures and affecting foggy nights and mornings in winters, frequent during

4794-404: The British gradually annexed the entire region. Thereafter the court language and medium of instruction in educational institutions of Assam was made Bengali , instead of Assamese. Starting from 1836 until 1873, this imposition of a foreign tongue created greater unemployment among the People of Assam and Assamese literature naturally suffered in its growth. Initially, Assam was made a part of

4896-404: The Buranjis is nearly modern with some minor differences in grammar and with a pre-modern orthography. The Assamese plural suffixes ( -bor , -hat ) and the conjunctive participles ( -gai : dharile-gai ; -hi : pale-hi , baril-hi ) become well established. The Buranjis, dealing with statecraft, was also the vehicle by which Arabic and Persian elements crept into the language in abundance. Due to

4998-408: The Chief Commissioner. With the partition of India in 1947, Assam became a constituent state of India. The Sylhet District of Assam (excluding the Karimganj subdivision) was given up to East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh. The government of India, which has the unilateral powers to change the borders of a state, divided Assam into several states beginning in 1970 within the borders of what

5100-424: The EIC officials in an intense debate in the 1850s to reinstate Assamese. Among the local personalities Anandaram Dhekial Phukan drew up an extensive catalogue of medieval Assamese literature (among other works) and pioneered the effort among the natives to reinstate Assamese in Assam. Though this effort was not immediately successful the administration eventually declared Assamese the official vernacular in 1873 on

5202-414: The Gauda-Kamarupa stage is generally accepted and partially supported by recent linguistic research, it has not been fully reconstructed. A distinctly Assamese literary form appeared first in the 13th-century in the courts of the Kamata kingdom when Hema Sarasvati composed the poem Prahlāda Carita . In the 14th-century, Madhava Kandali translated the Ramayana into Assamese ( Saptakanda Ramayana ) in

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5304-490: The Kachari and Jaintia kingdoms, and had captured their kings and forced to accept Ahom suzerainty and agreed them to pay annual tribute. Other than that, several expeditions were sent against the Miris, the Daflas, the Naga Mishmis and the Nagas of Namsung, Dayang and the Rengma Nagas during late 17th century and early 18th century. Rudra Singha had made extensive preparations for his invasion of Bengal but remained unfulfilled due to his sudden death in 1714. After Rudra Singha ,

5406-401: 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

5508-500: The Kamarupa-Palas), the Kamarupa tradition was extended to c. 1255 CE by the Lunar I (c. 1120–1185 CE) and Lunar II (c. 1155–1255 CE) dynasties. 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. 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

5610-429: 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 River . Urban centres include Guwahati , one of the 100 fastest growing cities in the world. Guwahati is also referred to as the "Gateway to the North-East India". Silchar , (in

5712-462: The accession of Gadadhar Singha , fought the final Battle of Itakhuli where the Mughals were badly defeated. And the since then the border was 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. Rudra Singha succeeded Gadadhar Singha , his reign is notable because of his military achievements and his socio-culture contributions. He had both subjugated

5814-596: The afternoons. Spring (March–April) and autumn (September–October) are usually pleasant with moderate rainfall and temperature. Assam's agriculture usually depends on the south-west monsoon rains. Every year, rivers like the Brahmaputra and Barak overflow due to heavy rainfall, causing widespread flooding across Assam. The rising water levels submerge nearby areas, washing away houses, livestock, and damaging infrastructure such as bridges, railway tracks, and roads, leading to communication breakdowns in many regions. This natural disaster also results in numerous fatalities throughout

5916-868: The bank of the Brahmaputra River , and the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary , near the border with Bhutan. The Kaziranga is a refuge for the fast-disappearing Indian one-horned rhinoceros. The state is the last refuge for numerous other endangered and threatened species including the white-winged wood duck or deohanh , Bengal florican , black-breasted parrotbill , red-headed vulture , white-rumped vulture , greater adjutant , Jerdon's babbler , rufous-necked hornbill , Bengal tiger , Asian elephant , pygmy hog , gaur , wild water buffalo , Indian hog deer , hoolock gibbon , golden langur , capped langur , barasingha , Ganges river dolphin , Barca snakehead , Ganges shark , Burmese python , brahminy river turtle , black pond turtle , Asian forest tortoise , and Assam roofed turtle . Threatened species that are extinct in Assam include

6018-415: The bark of the saanchi tree in which religious texts and chronicles were written, as opposed to the pan-Indian system of Palm leaf manuscript writing. The present-day spellings in Assamese are not necessarily phonetic. Hemkosh ( হেমকোষ [ɦɛmkʊx] ), the second Assamese dictionary, introduced spellings based on Sanskrit , which are now the standard. Assamese has also historically been written using

6120-629: The court of Mahamanikya , a Kachari king from central Assam. Though the Assamese idiom in these works is fully individualised, some archaic forms and conjunctive particles too are found. This period corresponds to the common stage of proto-Kamta and early Assamese. The emergence of Sankardev 's Ekasarana Dharma in the 15th century triggered a revival in language and literature . Sankardev produced many translated works and created new literary forms— Borgeets (songs), Ankia Naat (one-act plays)—infusing them with Brajavali idioms; and these were sustained by his followers Madhavdev and others in

6222-476: The development of Bengali to replace Persian, the language of administration in Mughal India, and maintained that Assamese was a dialect of Bengali. Amidst this loss of status the American Baptist Mission (ABM) established a press in Sibsagar in 1846 leading to publications of an Assamese periodical ( Orunodoi ), the first Assamese grammar by Nathan Brown (1846), and the first Assamese-English dictionary by Miles Bronson (1863). The ABM argued strongly with

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6324-466: The east; Meghalaya , Tripura , Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the Siliguri Corridor , a 22-kilometre-wide (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Assamese and Bodo are two of the official languages for the entire state and Meitei ( Manipuri ) is recognised as an additional official language in three districts of Barak Valley and Hojai district . in Hojai district and for

6426-401: The emergence of different styles of secular prose in medicine, astrology, arithmetic, dance, music, besides religious biographies and the archaic prose of magical charms. Most importantly this was also when Assamese developed a standardised prose in the Buranjis —documents related to the Ahom state dealing with diplomatic writings, administrative records and general history. The language of

6528-431: The end of those negotiations was a standard close to the language of the Buranjis with the Sanskritised orthography of Hemchandra Barua. As the political and commercial center moved to Guwahati in the mid-twentieth century, of which Dispur the capital of Assam is a suburb and which is situated at the border between the western and central dialect speaking regions, standard Assamese used in media and communications today

6630-647: The entire Brahmaputra valley , was called Assam (e.g. Mughals used Asham ); 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 ( Shan ). 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 (460–615 m) 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

6732-563: The estimated 1,314 orchid species found in India. Assam has 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 ) of oil, 1,178 billion cubic feet (3.34 × 10  m ) of gas and 67 million barrels (10,700,000 m ) of natural gas liquids in

6834-404: The eve of Assam becoming a Chief Commissioner's Province in 1874. In the extant medieval Assamese manuscripts the orthography was not uniform. The ABM had evolved a phonemic orthography based on a contracted set of characters. Working independently Hemchandra Barua provided an etymological orthography and his etymological dictionary, Hemkosh , was published posthumously. He also provided

6936-434: 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 by offering his two daughters and five paraganas, along with other articles as dowry to the king. The rising Koch king Biswa Singha also offered his submission, and the Ahom general Ton-Kham granted him all

7038-425: The first person future tense ending -m ( korim : "will do"; kham : "will eat") is seen for the first time. The language moved to the court of the Ahom kingdom in the seventeenth century, where it became the state language. In parallel, the proselytising Ekasarana dharma converted many Bodo-Kachari peoples and there emerged many new Assamese speakers who were speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages. This period saw

7140-569: The fragmentation of Assam. In 1961, the government of Assam passed legislation making use of the Assamese language compulsory. It was withdrawn later under pressure from Bengali speaking people in Cachar . In the 1980s the Brahmaputra valley saw a six-year Assam Agitation triggered by the discovery of a sudden rise in registered voters on electoral rolls. It tried to force the government to identify and deport foreigners illegally migrating from neighbouring Bangladesh and to provide constitutional, legislative, administrative and cultural safeguards for

7242-404: The headship of the Deputy Post Master General. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. Assam Province was one among the major eight provinces of British India. The table below shows the major original provinces during British India covering the Assam Province under the Administrative Office of

7344-546: The indigenous Assamese majority, which they felt was under threat due to the increase of migration from Bangladesh. The agitation ended after an accord (Assam Accord 1985) between its leaders and the Union Government, which remained unimplemented, causing simmering discontent. The post 1970s experienced the growth of armed separatist groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and

7446-852: The influence of the Ahom state the speech in eastern Assam took a homogeneous and standard form. The general schwa deletion that occurs in the final position of words came into use in this period. The modern period of Assamese begins with printing—the publication of the Assamese Bible in 1813 from the Serampore Mission Press . But after the British East India Company (EIC) removed the Burmese in 1826 and took complete administrative control of Assam in 1836, it filled administrative positions with people from Bengal, and introduced Bengali language in its offices, schools and courts. The EIC had earlier promoted

7548-601: The language family. But in lower Assam, ও is pronounced the same as অ' (ó): compare কোলা kwla [kóla] and মোৰ mwr [mór] . Assamese has vowel harmony . The vowels [i] and [u] cause the preceding mid vowels and the high back vowels to change to [e] and [o] and [u] respectively. Assamese is one of the few languages spoken in India which exhibit a systematic process of vowel harmony. The inherent vowel in standard Assamese, / ɔ /, follows deletion rules analogous to " schwa deletion " in other Indian languages. Assamese follows

7650-536: The language. The newly differentiated vernacular, from which Assamese eventually emerged, is evident in the Prakritisms present in the Sanskrit of the Kamarupa inscriptions . The earliest forms of Assamese in literature are found in the 9th-century Buddhist verses called Charyapada the language of which bear affinities with Assamese (as well as Bengali, Bhojpuri, Maithili and Odia) and which belongs to

7752-546: The largest ethnic group in Bhutan. The Sharchops comprise most of the population of eastern Bhutan, a country whose total population in 2010 was approximately 708,500. Although they have long been the largest single ethnic group in Bhutan, the Sharchop have been largely assimilated into the culturally and politically dominant Tibetic Ngalop culture. Together, the Ngalop, Sharchop, and tribal groups constituted up to 72 percent of

7854-556: The largest population of the wild water buffalo in the world. The state 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 the state is around 190 species. Assam is remarkably rich in Orchid species and the Foxtail orchid is the state flower of Assam. The recently established Kaziranga National Orchid and Biodiversity Park boasts more than 500 of

7956-684: The life-line of Assam, is an antecedent river older than the Himalayas, which has entrenched itself since they started rising. 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

8058-499: The lost territory. After numerous battles, finally after 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 arrest their own 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 Mughals, surrendered Guwahati without any battle. But after

8160-554: The name of Meghalaya. In 1972, Arunachal Pradesh (the North East Frontier Agency ) and Mizoram (from the Mizo Hills in the south) were separated from Assam as union territories; both became states in 1986. Since the restructuring of Assam after independence, communal tensions and violence remain. Separatist groups began forming along ethnic lines, and demands for autonomy and sovereignty grew, resulting in

8262-410: The past, it was the court language of the Ahom kingdom from the 17th century. Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages , Assamese evolved at least before the 7th century CE from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit . Its sister languages include Angika , Bengali , Bishnupriya Manipuri , Chakma , Chittagonian , Hajong , Rajbangsi , Maithili , Rohingya and Sylheti . It is written in

8364-479: The past. There is a significant Assamese-speaking diaspora worldwide. Assamese is the official language of Assam, and one of the 22 official languages recognised by the Republic of India . The Assam Secretariat functions in Assamese. The Assamese phonemic inventory consists of eight vowels , ten diphthongs , and twenty-three consonants (including two semivowels ). The Assamese phoneme inventory

8466-458: The people became their disciples. So got the Ahom court greatly came under the influence of Sakta Brahman priests and astrologers. The religious policies concluded by Phuleshwari and the persecutions of unfavored Satras, embroiled the situation more along with the pressure of Paik system in the 18th century. This finally resulted in the Moamoria rebellion (1769–1805), which greatly weakened

8568-399: The population in the late 1980s, according to official Bhutanese statistics. The 1981 census claimed that Sharchops represented 30% of the population, and Ngalops approximately 17%. The World Factbook , however, estimates that the "Bhote" Ngalop and Sharchop ethnic groups together comprise approximately 50% of Bhutan's population, at 354,200 people. Assuming Sharchops still outnumber Ngalops at

8670-575: The practice has been officially banned in Bhutan since 1969. Most of the Sharchops follow matrilineal lines in the inheritance of land and livestock. Most Sharchops follow Tibetan Buddhism with some elements of Bön , although those who live in the Duars follow Animism . Assam This is an accepted version of this page Assam ( / ə ˈ s æ m , æ ˈ s æ m / ə- SAM , a- SAM ; Assamese: [ɔ'xɔm] )

8772-517: 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

8874-495: The soil and the climate were most suitable. Problems with the imported Han Chinese labourers from China and hostility from native Assamese resulted in the migration of forced labourers from central and eastern parts of India. After initial trial and error with planting the Chinese and the Assamese-Chinese hybrid varieties, the planters later accepted the local Camellia assamica as the most suitable variety for Assam. By

8976-411: The state in 2020 and 2022 . A significant geographical aspect of Assam is that it contains three of six physiographic divisions of India – The Northern Himalayas (Eastern Hills), The Northern Plains (Brahmaputra plain) and Deccan Plateau (Karbi Anglong). As the Brahmaputra flows in Assam the climate here is cold and there is rainfall most of the month. Geomorphic studies conclude that the Brahmaputra,

9078-488: The state. 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. Assam has wildlife sanctuaries, the most prominent of which are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites -the Kaziranga National Park , on

9180-508: The tea growers formed the Indian Tea Association in 1888 to lobby to retain the status quo. The organisation was successful in this, but even after India's independence, conditions of the labourers have improved very little. In the later part of the 18th century, religious tensions and atrocities by the nobles led to the Moamoria rebellion (1769–1805), resulting in tremendous casualties of lives and property. The rebellion

9282-522: 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

9384-500: The tracts of north of Brahmaputra. However, the lost tract was soon recovered with further military expeditions. Soon after the death of Nara Narayan his kingdom, got 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 Ahoms. In 1612,

9486-411: The voiceless velar fricative is heavy in the eastern Assamese dialects and decreases progressively to the west—from Kamrupi to eastern Goalparia , and disappears completely in western Goalpariya. The change of /s/ to /h/ and then to /x/ has been attributed to Tibeto-Burman influence by Suniti Kumar Chatterjee . Assamese, Odia , and Bengali , in contrast to other Indo-Aryan languages , use

9588-527: 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. 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

9690-650: Was concluded. According to the treaty, the Ahoms had to acknowledging Mughal supremacy, ceded 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 hostage 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

9792-800: Was defeated after fierce resistance, which led to the Burmese occupation of Assam. A reign of terror was unleashed by the Burmese on the Assamese people, who fled to neighbouring kingdoms and British-ruled Bengal . The Burmese reached the East India Company 's borders, and the First Anglo-Burmese War ensued in 1824. The war ended under the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, with the Company taking control of Western Assam and installing Purandar Singha as king of Upper Assam in 1833. The arrangement lasted until 1838 and thereafter

9894-503: Was estimated at 28.67 million in 2006 and at 30.57 million in 2011 and is expected to reach 34.18  million by 2021 and 35.60 million by 2026. As per the 2011 census, the total population of Assam was 31,169,272. The total population of the state has increased from 26,638,407 to 31,169,272 in the last ten years with a growth rate of 16.93%. Assamese language Assamese ( / ˌ æ s ə ˈ m iː z / ) or Asamiya ( অসমীয়া [ɔxɔmija] )

9996-545: Was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' non-regulation province , also known as the Assam Chief-Commissionership. It was incorporated into the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 after the partition of Bengal (1905–1911) and re-established in 1912 as Assam Province . After a few initially unsuccessful attempts to gain independence for Assam during the 1850s, anti-colonial Assamese joined and actively supported

10098-458: Was shattered in the early 19th century when it failed to resist the Burmese invasions , which led to its annexation. Chutia , a Bodo-Kachari group by origin, held the regions on both the banks of Brahmaputra with its domain in the area eastwards from Vishwanath (north bank) and Buridihing (south bank), in Upper Assam and in the state of Arunachal Pradesh . It was annexed by the Ahoms in

10200-471: Was suppressed but the kingdom was severely weakened by the civil war. Political rivalry between Prime Minister Purnananda Burhagohain and Badan Chandra Borphukan , the Ahom Viceroy of Western Assam, led to an invitation to the Burmese by the latter, in turn leading to three successive Burmese invasions of Assam . The reigning monarch Chandrakanta Singha tried to check the Burmese invaders but he

10302-655: Was then Assam. In 1963, the Naga Hills district became the 16th state of India under the name of Nagaland . Part of Tuensang was added to Nagaland. In 1970, in response to the demands of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo people of the Meghalaya Plateau , the districts containing the Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills, and Garo Hills were formed into an autonomous state within Assam; in 1972 this became a separate state under

10404-570: Was used as the lingua franca till it was replaced by Hindi ; and Nagamese , an Assamese-based Creole language , continues to be widely used in Nagaland . The Kamtapuri language of Rangpur division of Bangladesh and the Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts of India is linguistically closer to Assamese, though the speakers identify with the Bengali culture and the literary language. In

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