Buranjis are a class of historical chronicles and manuscripts associated with the Ahom kingdom. There were written initially in the Ahom Language and later in the Assamese language as well. The Buranjis are an example of historical literature which is rare in India—they bear resemblance to Southeast Asian traditions of historical literature instead. The Buranjis are generally found in manuscript form, a number of these manuscripts have been compiled and published especially in the Assamese language.
Lachit Borphukan was an army general, primarily known for commanding the Ahom Army and the victory in the Battle of Saraighat (1671) that thwarted an invasion by the vastly superior Mughal Forces under the command of Ramsingh I. He died about a year later in April 1672.
The Kamakhya Temple at Nilachal hills in Guwahati, Assam is one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantric practices, dedicated to the goddess Kamakhya. The temple is the center of the Kulachara Tantra Marga and the site of the Ambubachi Mela, an annual festival that celebrates the menstruation of the goddess. Structurally, the temple is dated to the 8th-9th century with many subsequent rebuildings—and the final hybrid architecture defines a local style called Nilachal. It is also one among the oldest 4 of the 51 pithas in the Shakta tradition. An obscure place of worship for much of history it became an important pilgrimage destination, especially for those from Bengal, in the 19th century during colonial rule.
Kamakhya, a mother goddess, is a Shakta Tantric deity; considered to be the embodiment of Kama (desire), she is regarded as the goddess of desire. Her abode–Kamakhya Temple is located in the Kamarupa region of Assam, India. Originally a Kirata goddess, Residing on Nilachal hills across the banks of the Brahmaputra River, west of Guwahati in the 10th/11th century Temple rebuilt in 1565 CE, she is worshiped in a non-iconic and un-anthropomorphic form of stone shaped like yoni fed by a perennial stream. The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakti Pithas, and is one of the most important Shakta temples.
Kamarupa, an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was the first historical kingdom of Assam. The Kamrupa word first appeared in the Samudragupta Allahabad Edict before that there is no mention of existence of this word.
The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of people from the east, west, south and the north; the confluence of the Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman (Sino-Tibetan), Tai and Indo-Aryan cultures. Although invaded over the centuries, it was never a vassal or a colony to an external power until the third Burmese invasion in 1821, and, subsequently, the British ingress into Assam in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War.
Ahom–Mughal wars refers to the series of 17th-century conflicts between the Ahoms and the Mughals over the control of the Brahmaputra valley. It began soon after the eastern branch of the Kamata kingdom then under the Koch dynasty, Koch Hajo, collapsed after a sustained Mughal campaign bringing it face-to-face with the eastern Ahoms. After nearly seventy years of sustained efforts, the Mughals were finally ousted in the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682. The Mughals since then maintained interest to the region west of the Manas river via zamindars, till they were ousted from Bengal by the British about a hundred years later.
Though the precise Etymology of Assam, a state in India is unclear—there is general agreement that it is related to the Ahom people. Whatever the source of the English name, Assam is itself an anglicization.
The Baro-Bhuyans were confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. They were predominantly Bengali Muslims. The confederacies consisted of loosely independent entities, each led by a warrior chief or a landlord. The tradition of Baro-Bhuyan is peculiar to both Assam and Bengal. In Assam, this phenomenon came into prominence in the 13th century when they resisted the invasion of Ghiyasuddin Iwaj Shah and in Bengal when they resisted Mughal rule in the 16th century.
Jaapi or Japi is an Asian conical hat. It is made from tightly woven bamboo and/or cane and tokou paat a large, palm leaf. The word jaapi derives from jaap meaning a bundle of tokou leaves. In the past, plain jaapis were used by ordinary people in Assam and by farmers for protection from the sun, while ornate decorative jaapis were worn as a status symbol by the royalty and nobility. Decorative sorudoi jaapi are made with intricate cloth designs that are integrated into the weaving.
The Chutia Kingdom was a late medieval state that developed around Sadiya in present Assam and adjoining areas in Arunachal Pradesh. It extended over almost the entire region of present districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, and some parts of Dibrugarh in Assam, as well as the plains and foothills of Arunachal Pradesh. The kingdom fell around the year 1524 to the Ahom Kingdom after a series of conflicts and the capital area ruled by the Chutia rulers became the administrative domain of the office of Sadia Khowa Gohain of the Ahom kingdom.
The earliest Indo-Aryan migration to Assam is estimated to have occurred between the 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE—not earlier than 500 BCE. The earliest epigraphic record suggests that the Indo-Aryan migration began latest by the middle of the 4th century CE. They came from the Gangetic Plains into a region already inhabited by people who spoke Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman languages.
Kamrupi dialects are a group of regional dialects of Assamese, spoken in the Kamrup region. It formerly enjoyed prestige status. It is one of two western dialect groups of the Assamese language, the other being Goalpariya. Kamrupi is heterogeneous with three subdialects— Barpetia dialect, Nalbariya dialect and Palasbaria dialect.
Kamrup is the modern region situated between two rivers, the Manas and the Barnadi in Western Assam, with the same territorial extent as the Colonial and post-Colonial "Undivided Kamrup district". It was the capital region of two of the three dynasties of Kamarupa and Guwahati, the current political center of Assam, is situated here. It is characterized by its cultural artifacts.
Goalpara region, largely congruous to the historical undivided Goalpara district, is a region that is associated with the people and culture of Goalpara. It is bounded on the north by Bhutan, on the east by the Kamrup region, in the south by Meghalaya and in the west by Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Rangpur in Bangladesh. The natural landmarks are: Sankosh and Brahmaputra rivers on the west, the Manas River on the east in the north bank, and a corresponding region in the south bank; the Garo Hills in the south and Bhutan Hills in the north.
Kamapitha is one of the four Kamarupa Pithas, the geographical divisions of ancient Kamarupa. Dineshchandra Sircar points out that these divisions are not found in the Kamarupa inscriptions and that they might be fabrications from late medieval sources, such as 16th-century work Yogini Tantra gives the boundaries of Kamapitha and other three pithas, the same work which gives boundaries of ancient Kamrup kingdom as well. The eastern border of Kamarupa was the temple of the goddess Tamreshvari near present-day Sadiya
Swarnapitha is one of the four Kamarupa Pithas, the geographical divisions of ancient Kamarupa.
Saumarapitha is one of the four Kamarupa Pithas, the geographical divisions of ancient Kamarupa.
Tamreswari temple is a temple for the tribal goddess called Kecaikhati is situated about 18 km away from Sadiya in Tinsukia district, Assam, India. The temple was in the custody of non-Brahmin tribal priests called Deoris. Some remains suggest that a Chutiya king built a wall or the temple itself in the year 1442. There were four different kinds of Deori priest who looked after the temple. The Bar Bharali and the Saru Bharali collected dues of the temple and provides animals for sacrifice. The Bar Deori and the Saru Deori performs the sacrifice and sung hymns. The temple was dedicated to Kechaikhati/Pishasi, a powerful tribal deity or the Buddhist deity Tara, commonly found among different Bodo-Kachari groups. The worship of the goddess even after coming under Hindu influence was performed according to her old tribal customs.
Battle of Samdhara was the first naval battle fought between Mughals and the Ahoms in 1616
