Assam

Assam – The land of blue hills, green valleys and the mighty Brahmaputra is one of the most accessible North-Eastern States of India. Guwahati (Dispur) is the capital city of Assam and is regarded as the gateway to North-East India. The State is synonymous with incredible natural beauty and greenery, rich wildlife and picturesque tea gardens. Assam has total 33 Districts: Biswanath, Baksa, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Charaideo, Chirang, Dhubri, Dima Hassao, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Darrang, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Jorhat, Karbi Anglong East, Karbi Anglong West, Karimganj, Kamrup Metro, Kamrup, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, South Salmara-Mankachar, Tinsukia, Udalguri. The largest city of Assam is Guwahati and other important cities and towns are Silchar, Tezpur, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, etc.

About Assam

Information About Assam
Established	26 January 1950
Area	78,438 km2
Density	400/km2
Total Population (2011)	31,205,576
Males Population	15939443
Females Population	15266133
Districts	33
Capital	Dispur
Largest City	Guwahati
High Court	Gauhati High Court
Rivers	Brahmaputra
Forests & National Park	Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park
Languages	Assamese
State Animal	One horned rhinoceros
State Bird	White-winged wood duck
State Tree	Rhynchostylis retusa
State Flower	Dipterocarpus macrocarpus
Literacy Rate (2011)	73.18%
Females per 1000 males	954
Lok Sabha constituencies	14
Assembly constituency	126
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Official Website	www.assam.gov.in

History

The name of this State “Assam” was earlier known as Kamrupa or Pragjyotishpura during the ancient times. But the name “Asham” or”Assam” was used by the Mughals and British respectively. Moreover, historians also mentioned that this region has been named after the powerful rulers “Ahoms” who ruled Assam. Assam and its adjoining areas have traces of Stone Age civilization. Moreover, Assam also has its mentioned in the Kalika Purana and Mahabharata since this is the place believed to be the land of the Asuras and demon where the legendary last King Narakasur was killed by Lord Krishna. During the ancient times Assam was ruled by the dynasties of Gupta Empire, Varmanas, Mlechchhas and Kamrupa Palas. During the medieval times it was ruled buy Ahoms, Sutiya, Koch and Kacharis but the most dominant among them was the mighty Ahoms. The Mughals could never capture Assam since they were repeatedly defeated by the Ahom rulers. Finally, during the British Rule this region went to the hands of colonial rule of British. Assam province was formed in 1912.

Geography

The geographical background of Assam consists of 6 physiographic divisions: The Northern Himalayas (Eastern Hills), The Northern Plains (Brahmaputra plain) and Deccan Plateau (Karbi Anglong). Due to the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak River, Assam is divided into two valleys- the Brahmaputra Valley and the Barak Valley. Most of the time this State has cooler climate and gets lots of rainfall and primarily Assam has the climate of tropical monsoon rainforest. Every year during the rainy season water level of Brahmaputra and other rivers goes up causing severe floods and fatalities caused by the rivers overflowing. The total area of this State is 78,438 sq. km. Assam has a rich population of various flora and fauna and its forests consists of tropical rain forests, deciduous forests, riverine grasslands, bamboo orchards and wetlands. All these are protected in form of national parks, sanctuaries and other reserved forests. The fauna of Assam consists of the incredible endangered one-horned rhinos, Bengal tigers, Asiatic elephants, hoolock gibbon, capped langurs, Ganges river dolphins and sharks, Burmese python, white-winged wood duck, wild water buffalo, etc.

Demographics

According to the Census 2011, Assam has a population of 31,205,576. Population of Assam increased greatly during the mid 1950’s because it saw migration of various peoples from other parts of India as well as Bangladesh (East Pakistan) migration.

Economy

Agriculture and oil are the Assam’s economic giants while more than 50 % of total tea production of India is produced by the tea gardens of Assam. Rice, Jute and tea are the main crops produced in Assam. Oil production in Assam consists of about a quarter of India’s oil reserves. Moreover Assam generates income from sectors like agriculture and farming, tea production, tourism, oil production, timber, silk production and weaving. Assam also has economic shares from its industries including Assam Oil Company Limited, Oil India, Chemical fertilizer plants, Paper mills at Jagiroad, Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd. Township Area Panchgram and Jogighopa, sugar mills at Barua Bamun Gaon, Chargola, Kampur, Cement plant at Bokajan and Badarpur, cosmetics plant of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) at Doom Dooma, Herbal and Pharma plants of Emami and Patanjali. Moreover, there are other industries such as jute mill, textile and yarn mills, Assam silk and silk mills and other handicrafts industries.

Transportation

The state owned Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) operates fleet of 585 bus services within Assam and adjoining states. Deluxe buses, mini buses both AC/Non-AC ply within the city and adjoining rural areas. Cities and towns of Assam also include transportation in forms of private cabs, autos and rickshaws. In Assam there is extensive network of rails and this falls under the category of Frontier Railway zone (NFR) with its main headquarters in Maligaon (Guwahati). Moreover, NFR also has its headquarters in Alipurduar, Katihar, Lumding, Rangiya and Tinsukia divisions. Guwahati the capital city of Assam has trains connecting Guwahati to other States of India. Since Assam is the main gateway to North-East India it also has 6 airports – Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport of Guwahati serves international destinations. Mohanbari Airport, Lilabari Airport, Salonibari Airport, Rowriah Airport and Kumbhirgram Airport serve as domestic airports.

Sports

Assam is the land known for its sports loving people where both traditional and contemporary sports are loved and played by the Assamese people here. Enthusiastic Assamese youngsters play traditional games like Dor (Running), Tarual Khel (Fencing), Kaar khel (Archery), Rosi Tona (Rope Pulling), Hatur (Swiming), Nau Khel (Boat Racing), Hoi Kobadi (Kabaddi), etc. Apart from this adventure sports like river rafting, boat racing, angling, para sailing and mountaineering are also encouraged here. Contemporary sports like cricket, football, badminton, archery, boxing and other Olympic games are played here by the youths. Assam has its own sports association which extensively works for the development sports. These are Assam Olympic Association, Guwahati Sports Association, Assam Badminton Association, JKA Shotokan Karatedo India, Assam Football Association and Assam Cricket Association. Assam also has its own cricket team and football team which are known as North East United Football Club which is owned and operated by Bollywood actor John Abraham and I-League club, Shillong Lajong. Some of the noted sports personalities of Assam are Dipankar Bhattacharjee (Badminton), Jayanta Talukdar (Archery), Shiva Thapa (Boxing), Monalisha Baruah (Table Tennis) and Holicharan Nazary (Football). Indira Gandhi Stadium and Nehru Stadium are the important stadiums in Assam located in Guwahati. Moreover, there are also other stadiums for outdoor and indoor sports located in parts of Assam.

Tourism

Assam has attracted visitors from different parts of India and also enthusiastic tourists around the world for its wildlife, cultural, and historical destinations. Some of the important destinations to spot Assam’s wildlife especially the One-horned Rhino are Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Orang National Park, Nameri National Park, Majuli, jatinga, etc. Historical and Religious destination of Assam includes the famous Shakti Peeth – Maa Khamakhya Temple, Vishnu Dol, Shiva Dol, Tezpur, Rang Ghar and Kareng Ghar of Ahoms, Mayong, Madan Kamdev, Sualkuchi, Satras and many more on the tourism list of Assam.

Culture

Assam has a rich cultural history which is hybrid and assimilated of various cultural groups. The lines kings and dynasties have enriched the rich heritage of Assam with its unique contribution and developments. A renewed Hindu culture called Vaishnava movement led by Shrimanta Shankardeva provided a new dimension to Assamese culture. This movement established social institutions like Namghars and Satras and also contributed a lot of development to language, literature, performing and fine arts. Assam celebrates various festivals and Bihu is the main festival celebrated with great enthusiasm with Bihu dance, authentic food and merriment. Assam celebrated four types of Bihu i.e. Magh, Bhogali, Rongali and Kati. Assam is also known as the land of silk and various types of silk are produced from Muga and Eri silk. Sualkuchi is known as the Silk Capital of Assam where almost every people are weavers weaving beautiful mekhela chadors, Assam silk and Muga sarees and other attires. Other traditional handicrafts produced here are Gamoocha, Japis (traditional hats), clay, wood and bamboo products. Assam is also rich in music and regional films and other performing arts. Noted personalities influencing the entertainment industry of Assam are Late Bhupen Hazarika, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Bishnuprasad Rabha, Parvati Prasad Baruwa, Zubeen Garg, Angaraag Mahanta, etc.

Literacy and Education

In 2011 Census, the literacy rate in the state was 73.18%. The male literacy rate was 78.81% and the female literacy rate was 67.27%. The education sector of Assam is excellent and is developing very quickly at an advanced level. Assam has various government and private schools which are administered by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Indian School Certificate (ISC) syllabuses. Assam has some of the best Universities of India namely Tezpur University (Tezpur), Gauhati University (Guwahati), Assam University (Silchar), Assam Agricultural University (Jorhat), Dibrugarh University (Dibrugarh), Indian Institute of Technology (Guwahati), Indian Statistical Institute (Tezpur), National Institute of Technology (Silchar), Silchar Medical College and Hospital (Silchar), Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (Guwahati), Assam engineering College (Guwahati), Jorhat Engineering College (Jorhat) and many more esteemed educational institutes and colleges.

Health and Health Care

Assam has some of the best hospitals in its cities of Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Dispur and Nagaon. These are International Hospital (Apollo), Nemcare Hospital, Hauhati Medical College, Shankar Netralaya, Dispur Polyclinic, East Point Hospital, J.J.Memorial Diagnostics & Hospital P Ltd, and many more advanced hospitals and clinics.

Assam Districts List

S.N.	District Name	Code Name	Headquarter Name
1	Baksa	BK	Mushalpur
2	Barpeta	BP	Barpeta
3	Biswanath	BS	Biswanath Chariali
4	Bongaigaon	BO	Bongaigaon
5	Cachar	CA	Silchar
6	Charaideo	CD	Sonari
7	Chirang	CH	Kajalgaon
8	Darrang	DR	Mangaldai
9	Dhemaji	DM	Dhemaji
10	Dhubri	DU	Dhubri
11	Dibrugarh	DI	Dibrugarh
12	Goalpara	GP	Goalpara
13	Golaghat	GG	Golaghat
14	Hailakandi	HA	Hailakandi
15	Hojai	HJ	Sankardev Nagar
16	Jorhat	JO	Jorhat
17	Kamrup Metropolitan	KM	Guwahati
18	Kamrup	KU	Amingaon
19	Karbi Anglong	KG	Diphu
20	Karimganj	KR	Karimganj
21	Kokrajhar	KJ	Kokrajhar
22	Lakhimpur	LA	North Lakhimpur
23	Majuli	MJ	Garamur
24	Morigaon	MA	Morigaon
25	Nagaon	NN	Nagaon
26	Nalbari	NB	Nalbari
27	Dima Hasao	NC	Haflong
28	Sivasagar	SV	Sivasagar
29	Sonitpur	ST	Tezpur
30	South Salmara-Mankachar	SM	Hatsingimari
31	Tinsukia	TI	Tinsukia
32	Udalguri	UD	Udalguri
33	West Karbi Anglong	WK	Hamren