A History of Assam

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A History of Assam by Sir Edward Gait is a pioneering historical account that remains one of the most authoritative texts on the region. First published in the early 20th century and now available in a revised second edition, the book offers a comprehensive survey of Assam's history from ancient times to the colonial period. Gait explores the political, cultural, and social developments of the region, delving into the rise and fall of powerful dynasties such as the Ahoms, the influence of neighboring kingdoms, and the impact of British rule. Drawing from a variety of sources, including chronicles, inscriptions, and oral traditions, the book provides an in-depth and well-researched narrative. It is widely regarded as an essential text for scholars, students, and general readers interested in the historical trajectory of Assam.

Sir Edward Gait was a British civil servant and historian who served in colonial India, particularly in the northeastern region. His deep interest in local history and culture led him to author A History of Assam, which remains a foundational work in the historiography of the region.

Assam is in many ways a country of exceptional interest. Hemmed in. as India is, by the sea on the south-east and south-west, and by the lofty chain of the Himalayas on the north, the only routes between it and the rest of Asia which are practicable for migration on a large scale, lie on its north-west and north-east confines. The so-called Aryans, and many later invaders, such as the Greeks, the Huns, the Pathans, and the Mughals, entered India from the north-west, while from the north-east, through Assam, have come successive hordes of immigrants from the great hive of the Mongolian race in Western China. Many of these immigrants passed on into Bengal, but in that province they have, as a rule, become merged in the earlier population. Their influence is seen in the modified physical type of the present inhabitants, who are classed by Mr. Risley as Mongolo-Dravidians, but there are very few who possess the distinctive Mongolian physiognomy or who speak Mongolian dialects. In Assam, on the other hand, although in the plains large sections of the population, like that of Bengal, arc of mixed origin, there are also numerous tribes who are almost pure Mongolians, and the examination of their affinities, in respect of physique, language, religion and social customs, with other branches of the same family forms one of the most interesting lines of enquiry open to Ethnologists.

Their religion indeed has more than a local importance, as in it is probably to be found the clue to the strange Tantrik developments, both of Hinduism and of Buddhism. The temple of Kamakhya at Gauhati is one of the most sacred shrines of the Sakta Hindus, and the whole country is famed in Hindu traditions as a land of magic and witchcraft. The old tribal beliefs are gradually being abandoned; and the way in which Hindu priests established their influence over non-Aryan chiefs and gradually drew them within their fold is repeatedly exemplified in the pages of Assam History. The various methods of conversion enumerated by Sir Alfred Lyall and Mr. Risley have all been adopted there at one time or another.

Prior to the advent of the Muhammadans the inhabitants of other parts of India had no idea of history; and our knowledge of them is limited to what can be laboriously pieced together from old inscriptions, the accounts of foreign invaders or travelers, and incidental references in religious writings. On the other hand, the Ahom conquerors of Assam had a keen historical sense, and they have given us a full and detailed account of their rule, which dates from the early part of the thirteenth century.

Another claim to notice is supplied by the circumstance that Assam was one of the few countries in India whose inhabitants beat back the tide of Mughal conquest and maintained their independence in the face of repeated attempts to subvert it. Full accounts of these invasions have come down, both from Ahom and from Muhammadan sources, and are interesting not only in themselves, but also from the light which they throw on the old methods of warfare, and from the evidence which they afford of how little superior arms, numbers and discipline can avail against difficulties of communication, inadequate supplies and an unhealthy climate.

In spite of this there is, probably, no part of India regarding whose past less is generally known. In the histories of India as a whole, Assam is barely mentioned, and only ten lines are devoted to its annals in the historical portion of. Hunter's Indian Empire. The only attempt at a connected history in English is the brief account given by Robinson-some 43 pages in all-in his Descriptive Account of Assam, published in 1841. Two histories have been published in the vernacular, one by Käsinath Tamuli Phukan in 1844, and the other by the late Rai Gunabhiram Barua Bahadur in 1884. The former deals only with the Ahoms. The latter gives also a brief account of other dynasties who formerly ruled in the Brahmaputra valley. But both are far from complete, and a mass of new material is now available.

The researches of Blochmann have thrown much light on the Muhammadan invasions of Assam, and the late Sir James Johnstone compiled from records in the Foreign Department of the Government of India a detailed narrative of the expedition of Captain Welsh to Assam in 1793 A.D., and of the causes which led up to it. When I was Sub-Divisional Officer of Mangaldai, in the Darrang District, I caused a translation to be prepared of the Bansabali, or family history, of the Darrang Rajas, which contains a great deal of information regarding the Koch dynasty, and gave an analysis of it in a paper contributed to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

In 1894, Sir Charles Lyall, K.C.S.L., who was then officiating as Chief Commissioner of Assam, pointed out that the time had come for a sustained and systematic endeavour to arrest the process of destruction of such historical manuscripts as still survived, and, at his request, I drew up a scheme for the prosecution of historical research in the Province. My proposals were accepted by the Chief Commissioner and a small grant was made to cover the necessary expenditure. In the course of the enquiries that ensued a rock inscription at Tezpur and five ancient copper-plates containing records of land grants by bygone kings were discovered; and these, with two similar copper-plates already known, give a good deal of information concerning the kings who reigned in the Brahmaputra valley between the years 800 and 1150 A.D. In Jaintia five copper-plates were found, as well as a number of coins and a historical manuscript. Manuscripts relating to the rule of the Bäro Bhuiya, the Chutiyas and the Rajas of Dimarua were also discovered and translated. With the assistance of Indian friends, a careful search was made for all references to Assam in ancient Hindu writings, such as the Jogini Tantra, the Kalika Puran and the Mahābhārat, as well as in more recent works, such as the Dipika Chand and the religious writings of the followers of Sankar Deb.

But the most important results of the enquiries were in connection with the records of Ahom rule. The Ahoms were a tribe of Shans who migrated to Assam early in the thirteenth century. They were endowed with the historical faculty in a very high degree; and their priests and leading families possessed Buranjis, or histories, which were periodically brought up to date. These were written on oblong strips of bark, and were very carefully preserved and handed down from father to son. The number still in existence is considerable, and would have been much greater but for the fact that, about a century and a half ago, one of the chief ministers of State discovered that in one of them doubts had been cast upon the purity of his descent, and used his influence with the king to cause it to be destroyed together with all others which, on examination, were found to contain statements reflecting on those in power or their near ancestors.

The more recent of these Buranjis are written in Assamese, which was gradually adopted by the Ahoms after their conversion to Hinduism, but the earlier ones are in the old tribal language, which is similar to that of other Shän tribes, and is written in a character derived from the Päli. The knowledge of it is now confined to a few old men of the Deodhai or priestly caste. When the mass of the Ahoms accepted Hinduism, the tribal priests gradually fell into disrepute; and, although they themselves long resisted the proselytizing efforts of the Brahmans, they have at last given way and have now all taken Gosains. The result is that the rising generation has been taught Assamese and not Ahom, and in a few years the knowledge of the latter language will have disappeared altogether. To rescue from oblivion the records written in it I selected an educated young Assamese, Babu Golap Chandra Barua, now a clerk in the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Lakhimpur, and gave him a committee of five Deodhais to teach him Ahom and to assist him in translating their manuscripts. The work was by no means easy; the Deodhais themselves proved far from proficient, and it was nearly three years before all the manuscripts that could be traced were translated. Having no knowledge of the Ahom language myself I have had to rely entirely on the translations made by this Assamese gentleman, but I have every confidence in the accuracy of his work. I tested his knowledge of Ahom in various ways and found it satisfactory, and the comparison of one Buranji with another has shown that they agree in a way that would be impossible if there were serious errors in the translation. I am indebted to him not only for the translations, but also for assistance in the elucidation of various questions of Ahom nomenclature and customs.

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