Assam 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 km2 (30,285 sq mi). It is the second largest state in northeastern India by area and the largest in terms of population. 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 22-kilometre-wide (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Assamese and Boro are the official languages of Assam. Meitei (Manipuri) is the official language of Hojai district and the entirety of the Barak Valley region, while Bengali is an official language in the three districts of Barak Valley.
The Ahom or Tai-Ahom is an ethnic group from the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The members of this group are admixed descendants of the Tai people who reached the Brahmaputra valley of Assam in 1228 and the local indigenous people who joined them over the course of history. Sukaphaa, the leader of the Tai group and his 9,000 followers established the Ahom kingdom, which controlled much of the Brahmaputra Valley in modern Assam until 1826.
Boro, also called Bodo, is an ethnolinguistic group native to the state of Assam in India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across northeastern India. They are concentrated mainly in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, though Boros inhabit all other districts of Assam and Meghalaya.
Tinsukia district is one of the 34 administrative districts in the state of Assam, India. The district headquarters is located at Tinsukia city. The district occupies an area of 3790 km2.
Bodo–Kacharis is a name used by anthropologist and linguists to define a collection of ethnic groups living predominantly in the Northeast Indian states of Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya. These peoples are speakers of either Bodo–Garo languages or Assamese. Some Tibeto-Burman speakers who live closely in and around the Brahmaputra valley, such as the Mising people and Karbi people, are not considered Bodo–Kachari. Many of these peoples have formed early states in the late Medieval era of Indian history and came under varying degrees of Sanskritisation.
Nazira is a town and a municipal board in Sivasagar district in the Indian state of Assam.
Assamese cinema is the Indian film industry of Assamese language. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie Joymoti. Since then the Assamese cinema has developed a slow-paced, sensitive style. In the beginning the industry were called Jollywood, for Agarwala's Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio.
The Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam. It is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam namely - Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The main and largest city is Silchar, which seats the headquarter of Cachar district and also serves as administrative divisional office of Barak valley division. The valley is bordered by Mizoram and Tripura to the south, Bangladesh and Meghalaya to the west and Manipur to the east respectively. Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district. On 1 July 1983, Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district. In 1989 the subdivision of Hailakandi was upgraded into Hailakandi district.
Rita Chowdhury is an Indian poet and novelist who writes Assamese literature and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. She is the editor of the Assamese literary magazine Gariyoshi and a former director of the National Book Trust, India. She has been a professor and lecturer at Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam in the Political Science Department and was active in the Assam Movement in the early 1980s.
Kamal Kumar Tanti is an Assamese poet from Assam, India.
Debabrata Saikia is an Indian politician serving as the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly since 2016. He represents the Nazira constituency in the Assam Legislative Assembly since 2011. He is the son of former Chief Minister of Assam, Hiteswar Saikia and former minister in the Government of Assam, Hemoprova Saikia.
The Miya people, alternatively identified as Na-Asamiya by themselves, denote the progeny of Bengali Muslim migrants originating from the contemporary Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Rajshahi Divisions. These individuals established residence in the Brahmaputra Valley during the 20th century, coinciding with the period of British colonial rule in Assam. The migration of the Miya people was actively promoted by the Colonial British Government from the Bengal Province, spanning the years 1757 to 1942. This migratory trend persisted until the year 1947. Presently, the term "Miya" is employed as a discriminatory label.
Aimee Baruah is an Indian actress, producer, and director.
Hinduism is the dominant religion practised in the state of Assam. According to some scholars, it is home to some of the most complex and poorly understood traditions in Hinduism. People follow traditions belonging to Shaivism, Shaktism, Tantra, and an indigenous form of Vaishnavism called Ekasarana Dharma; taken together the practitioners constitute around 61% of the state population as per the 2011 Census. Hindus form a majority in 17 out of the 29 districts of Assam. By region, there is a significant diversity among the ethnic groups that profess the Hindu faith, traditions, and customs. As per as 2011 Census, In Brahmaputra valley of Assam, Hindus constitute 62% of the population, the majority being ethnic Assamese. In the autonomous Bodoland region of Assam, Hindus constitute 71.3% of the region's population, most being of the Bodo tribe. In the Barak valley region of southern Assam, Hindus constitute 50% of the region's population, most being ethnic Bengalis. The Hill Tribes of Assam, particularly the Karbi people of Karbi Anglong and Dimasa people of Dima Hasao, are mainly Animism.
Bengali Hindus are the second-largest Hindu community just after Assamese Hindus in Assam. As per as estimation research, around 6–7.5 million Bengali Hindus live in Assam as of 2011, majority of whom live in Barak Valley and a significant population also resides in Brahmaputra Valley. The Bengali Hindus are mostly native to the Barak Valley region. Assam host the second-largest Bengali Hindu population in India after West Bengal.
Dulal Manki is an Indian Assamese folk artist and musician. He is one of the traditional folk music artists from Tea-garden community of Assam. In 2021, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his contribution on music.
The population of Assam consist of tribal ethnic groups and linguistic groups such as Assamese, Bengali, Hindi speakers, Nepali and Odia speakers.
Semkhor is a 2021 Indian Dimasa-language film directed by Aimee Baruah. This was the first-ever film in the Dimasa language screened as the opening feature film of the Indian Panorama in 2021. The film depicts the life of a village lady, a mother of 14 children.
Deshi or Uzani people are an indigenous Muslim community residing mostly in Assam and other parts of eastern India. The Deshi Muslim people can be find in Meghalaya, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, Rangpur and Bogura of Bangladesh. In West Bengal and Bihar they are known as Nashya Shaikh. Deshis are Muslim converts from Koch, Mech or other indigenous communities. In July, 2022, the Government of Assam gave them recognition as an "Indigenous Assamese Muslims" community vide an Order.
Swadhin Axom is a proposed independent state in Northeast India, primarily inhabited by the Assamese people. The concept of Swadhin Axom stems from the historical and cultural distinctiveness of Assam and the desire of its people for self-determination and sovereignty. The region is currently a part of the Indian state of Assam.
