Modern Western Assam is culturally distinct region. [1] This list specifically focuses on people from Western Assam.
Assamese or Asamiya 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 of the wider region and has over 15 million native speakers according to Ethnologue.
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.
Barpeta is a major city in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located 90 kilometres (56 mi) north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is also called Satra Nagari of Assam due to the presence of various Vaishnavite Satras in the vicinity.
Nalbari is a small town in Nalbari district in the Indian state of Assam. Nalbari is also the headquarters of Nalbari District.
The Bhagavat of Sankardev is the Assamese adaptation of the Bhagavata Purana made by Srimanta Sankardev in 15th-16th century in the regions that form present-day Assam and Cooch Behar. Though the major portions of the work was transcreated by Sankardev, a few other writers from that period contributed to the remaining sections.
Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the literary works in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contemporary form and its cultural heritage and tradition. The literary heritage of the Assamese language can be traced back to the c. 9–10th century in the Charyapada, where the earliest elements of the language can be discerned.
The Assamese people are a socio-ethnic linguistic identity that has been described at various times as nationalistic or micro-nationalistic. This group is often associated with the Assamese language, the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, and Assamese people mostly live in the Brahmaputra Valley region of Assam, where they are native and constitute around 56% of the Valley's population. The use of the term precedes the name of the language or the people. It has also been used retrospectively to the people of Assam before the term "Assamese" came into use. They are an ethnically diverse group formed after centuries of assimilation of Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Indo-Aryan and Tai populations, and constitute a tribal-caste continuum—though not all Assamese people are Hindus and ethnic Assamese Muslims numbering around 42 lakh (4,200,000) constitute a significant part of this identity. The total population of Assamese speakers in Assam is nearly 15.09 million which makes up 48.38% of the population of state according to the Language census of 2011.
Prof Bhabananda Deka was a pioneer Assam economist and author who conducted novel research on the economy of the far eastern part of India. He was also a leading Indian-Assamese litterateur of the famed 'Awahon-Ramdhenu Era' of Assamese literature during the mid-20th century. He was the author of a total of 115 English and Assamese books including textbooks on a range of fifteen subjects including economics, ancient Assamese literature, philosophy, education, religion, mythology, archaeology, tribal study, poetry, drama, memoirs, civics, political science, biographies; he also edited books and journals. He also authored a variety of research papers and articles about the state of Assam, a state in the north-eastern part of India. He pioneered the writing of books on Economics in Assamese. His Assamese book Axomor Arthaneeti was the first ever research-based comprehensive book on Assam Economics, which was published for the first time in 1963. He was conferred with the honorary title of 'Asom Ratna' -- 'Jewel of Assam' by the intellectuals of Assam on 19 August 2007 at a public meet held under the presidency of Prof. (Dr) Satyendra Narayan Goswami.
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.
Bhattadeva (1558–1638), is acknowledged as the father of Assamese prose. Though Bhaktiratnakar-katha, the Assamese translation of Sankardev's Sanskrit composition Bhaktiratnakar by Gopala Charana Dwija preceded the works of Bhattadeva, Bhattadeva's prose had an influence in the development of a high and dignified style. Bhattadeva's and Gopala Charana Dvija's 16th century works are considered to be the earliest examples of prose in Indian languages. Bhattadeva's erudition in Sanskrit grammar and literature, and his command over the Bhagavata earned him the title of Bhagavata Bhattacharya.
Ananta Kandali (1540–1580) was Brahmin poet from Hajo, Kamrup district. Ananta Kandali's real name was Haricharan, but he is popularly known by his scholastic title "Ananta Kandali". His father, Ratna Pathak, was a renowned scholar and expounder of the Bhagavata at the Madhava temple.
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.
Kamrupi culture refers to the cultural norms of people of colonial Kamrup district.
Sridhara Kandali was medieval vaishnavite poet from Kamrup region of Assam. He was known for his poetry work named "Kumara Harana".
Kalapachandra Dvija was medieval litterateur from Kamrup "Ramayana Chandrika" was one of his notable work.
The Kamrupi people are a linguistic group that speak the Kamrupi dialects of Assamese and are found in the colonial Kamrup district region of Assam, India.
Rama Saraswati was 16th century poet from Kamrup, India. He was well known for translation of entire Mahabharata to Early Assamese from Sanskrit for which he is also known as Axom Byas.