At a glance—State Capital – Dispur. Area – 78438 square kms. Population — 26638407. 2.59% of total population of India. Male 13787799, female—12850608. Females 932 against each 1000 males. 340 persons live per square km. From 1991-2001 rate of growth of population 18.85%. Assom occupies 16th place in India in terms of population and 14th place in terms of area. Rate of literacy 64.28% Major Language Asamiya, Bengali, Hindi, and English is spoken all over the state. Per capita annual income is Rs 3179 (1989-90). Season of Tours: — October to April.
Places worthy to be toured: —- Guwahati, Manas, Kaziranga, Jorhat, Shibsagar, Dibrugarh, along with Assom, Meghalaya and Arunachal states should be clubbed together while one desirous of visiting Assom.
Assom is an old province in India. It comprises mountains, hills, rivers and forests. The existence of the province is found in many ancient books including kalipuran and Joginitantra. Then it was Pragjyotishpur—the light of east. This province was founded by Giant king Narakasur. Bhagadatta, son of king Narakasur took part in the war of the Mahabharata for the Kaurabs with his Elephant force. Era after Era, different kings ruled this province of the Terai of the Himalayas. This province was a fragmented state. It was divided into many parts and was ruled by different dynasties. In the 1228 A.D. the Shan Buddhist from Thailand conquered this province and United different parts and made it a Unified state. The Assom was a variation of the word Ahom who were Shan Buddhist from Thailand. Shibsagar was their capital town. In another opinion the word ‘Assom’ has been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘O-SAMA’ which means uneven land. However, in 18th century the Shan Buddhist king had converted to Hiduism. Upto the year 1826 the Assom remained under the rule of Ahoms.For better administration of the state, the Ahom king appointed viceroy. Badan Chandra, the last viceroy, was a power greedy person. He sought help from the Burmese. The Burmese came in and dethroned him instead of helping him. Being undone, the inept viceroy prayed help from the British. The Burmese were defeated by the British in one after another war and finally they signed a treaty with the British before leaving Assom for good in 1826. The British east India Company took the administration of Assom in their hands. The British incorporated Cachar in 1832 and jayantia hills in 1835 into Assom. In 1839 upper Assom was merged with Bengal. In 1874 under the rule of Chief Commissioner, Assom became a full fledged province. In 1905 the whole of Assom was incorporated into East Bengal with Dhaka as its capital town. However in 1911 Assom was detached from East Bangal. At the same time two parts of Bengal became unified. Even in independent India Assom was cut into pieces. In 1948 NEFA was born out of Assom. In the year 1972 NEFA became Arunachal Pradesh. Dewangiri of Assom was attached to Bhutan in 1951. In 1963 Nagaland was carved out of Assom. In 1972 Meghalaya and Mizoram states came into existence having been separated from Assom.
There are two big rivers in Assom, Brahmaputra and Barak. The Brahmaputra has come down from the Manas Sorovar in Tibet. It has 800 kms long stretch in Assom. In south Assom the Barak is the main river. By its name whole of south Assom is known as Barak valley. The river Barak has come down from the high mountain of Manipur- a province adjacent to Assom.
Assom occupies an important place in India in terms of natural wealth. Coal, limestone, petroleum, natural gas and cement are abundant in Assom. It is also wealthy in forest products. 30% of total area of Assom is covered by forest. Like that, it is also a paradise of the wild animals. The whole of the state is a natural zoo. Among listed 41 species of wild animals in India, 20 of them are found in Assom. A visitor has to go to either Kaziranga or Manas of national sanctuaries to see Rhinos, Elephants and wild Buffalos. There are paper mills in the state. The state is a land of tea gardens. Tea plantation was started in the year 1823. In the beginning laborers were brought in from China, in a short period of time laborers were brought from Nepal, Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. With the passing of time, 850 tea gardens raised their heads in the state and 55% of total production of tea comes from Assom. Assom supplies ¼ of tea of the globe. Assom tea is famous for its liquor.The biggest tea auction house of India is in Assom. Guwahati is famous in the world for CTC tea. Assom was the first to export tea to London from India. Nature has decorated Assom like an expert artist. Mountains, Rivers and forest have made Assom the paradise of tourists. Assom is rich in different tribal culture. Kamakhya is a famous place of pilgrimage. Assom is a beautiful state of famous handicrafts and handloom.Bihu is the greatest festival of Assom. Ardent worshipper of culture, the legendary king Biswa Sing introduced the agriculture related festival. So the name Bihu has come from his name Biswa. During three days stating from 13th April sowing Bihu i.g. Bohag Bihu continues, Kati Bihu i.g. harvesting festival starts from October and continues up to the whole month. Bhogali Bihu i.e. collection of crops festival starts in the month of November. But the attraction of Bhohag Bihu is splendid.Men and women of different communications mingle with one another through out cities and villages to celebrate Bohag Bihu. Cakes and other placid dishes are prepared to serve the guests and family members. This Bohag Bihu continues for a month. Bohag Bihu means entertainment and amusement. It increases the charm of touring of Assom. In spite of all these festivities there is a bone in flesh—the terrorism which has engulfed the whole state. Bloodshed is a daily affair in Assom. In lower and upper Assom Bodo Libaration Front and ULFA are active in their operations while in the North Cachar Hills Dimacha Terrorists are beheading innocent people daily. Even the work on Broad Gauge Railway line conversion has come to a stand still due to unchecked gun wielding bys Dimacha groups. Places and cities of Assom: — Guwahati: — Pragjyotishpur of ancient times has become Guwahati. Guwa means betel nut and Hati means market of betel nuts. Theses two words have made a new word – Guwahati. This city is the gate of whole of North East India. It is 55 meters above sea level on the south bank of the river Brahmaputra- the turbulent son of the Hindu God Brahma Narakasur, the king of the Giants got built this city. The scenery of the river Brahmaputra is very beautiful to look at. The highest temperature in summer is 32.2 degree Celsius and in winter it is 10 degree Celsius. The average rainfall is 160 centimeters. From 1874 to 1975 Assom’s capital had been in Shillong. After Meghalaya was born, the capital of Assom had been brought to Dispur. Then an outskirt of Guwahati, now fully amalgamated with the grater Guwahati city. Dispur has a great tourist attraction. Guwahati is the city of tea. Tea auction center is in Dispur. One can have a glance of Dispur on way to Shillong. Guwahati boasts of itself as a center of commerce and culture in the eastern India. It is fast becoming a metro. On the fringes of the city, there are N.F. RLY headquarters at pandu, the Kamakshya temple and two storey bridge over the Brahmaputra river. It is connected with entire east India by Railways, waterways and surface transport. At the heart of the city, opposite to Nehru Park, is the small Island in the middle of the river Brahmaputra which is called vasmakut. It has become the peacock Island. The Umananda Temple is in that Island, built in the year 1664. The legendary is that the Kamdev (God of Sex) was burnt to death by the anger-fire of God Shiva. One can reach the Island by Ferry or Launch. At Sukleswar jetty, Janardhan Temple is situated which was built after the Hindu and Buddhist design of architecture. It was renovated anew in the 17th century. At sunset the scenery of the Brahmaputra and that of the adjacent park is excellent to look at.
At Ambari, behind the Reserve Bank of India is Assom state Museum where one can see the past achievement of Assom. (more…)