Assam
State
State of Assam
Kamakhya Temple Kareng Ghar in Garhgaon Rang Ghar Indian elephants in Manas National Park Majuli Island Indian rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park Assam tea garden
Emblem of Assam
Etymology: "A-ham" (Uneven) or from "Ahom"
Nickname(s):  "Land of red river and blue hills"
Motto:  Joi Aai Axom (Hail Mother Assam)[1]
Anthem: "O Mur Apunar Dekh" (O my Dearest Country)
Location of Assam in India
Coordinates: 26°08′N 91°46′E / 26.14°N 91.77°E / 26.14; 91.77
Country	India
Region	Northeast India
Before was	State of Assam
Bifurcation	21 January 1972
Formation	26 January 1950[2]
Capital	Dispur
Largest city	Guwahati
Districts	35 (5 divisions)
Government
• Body	Government of Assam
• Governor	Gulab Chand Kataria
• Chief minister	Himanta Biswa Sarma (BJP)
State Legislature	Unicameral
• Assembly	Assam Legislative Assembly (126 seats)
National Parliament	Parliament of India
• Rajya Sabha	7 seats
• Lok Sabha	14 seats
High Court	Gauhati High Court
Area
• Total	78,438 km2 (30,285 sq mi)
• Rank	16th
Dimensions
• Length	725 km (450 mi)
• Width	30 km (20 mi)
Elevation	80 m (260 ft)
Highest elevation (Cachar Hills section)	1,960 m (6,430 ft)
Lowest elevation	45 m (148 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	31,169,272
• Rank	15th
• Density	397/km2 (1,030/sq mi)
• Urban	14.1%
• Rural	85.9%
Demonym	Assamese
Language
• Official	Assamese[3] (for entire state except Barak Valley[4]) • Boro
• Additional official	Meitei (Barak Valley[a] and Hojai district)[5] • Bengali (Barak Valley)[4]
• Official script	Bengali–Assamese script (for Assamese & Bengali) • Meitei script (for Meitei) • Devanagari (for Bodo)
GDP [6]
• Total (2024-2025)	₹6.43 lakh crore (US$77 billion)
• Rank	18th
• Per capita	₹118,504 (US$1,400) (18th)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
ISO 3166 code	IN-AS
Vehicle registration	AS
HDI (2018)	0.614 Medium[7] (30th)
Literacy (2011)	72.19%[8] (26th)
Sex ratio (2011)	958 (12th)
Website	assam.gov.in
Symbols of Assam
Emblem of Assam
Song	"O Mur Apunar Dekh" (O my Dearest Country)
Foundation day	Assam Day
Bird	White-winged duck
Flower	Foxtail orchid
Fruit	Kaji Nemu
Mammal	Indian rhinoceros
Tree	Hollong
State highway mark
State highway of Assam AS SH1 -AS SH48
List of Indian state symbols
• First recognised as an administrative division on 1 April 1911, and led to the establishment of Assam Province by partitioning Province of East Bengal and Assam. • Assam was one of the original provincial divisions of British India. • Assam has had a legislature since 1937.[9]

Assam (/əˈsæm, æˈsæm/ ə-SAM, a-SAM,^[10][11] Assamese: [ɔ'xɔm] ^ⓘ) 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, with more than 31 million inhabitants. 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 state has 35 districts with 5 divisions. Guwahati (containing the state capital Dispur) is the largest city in northeastern India. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk. The state was the first site for oil drilling in Asia.^[12] Assam is home to the one-horned Indian rhinoceros, along with the wild water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger and various species of Asiatic birds, and provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. The Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism to Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park, which are World Heritage Sites. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is famed for its feral horses. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, look green all year round. Assam receives more rainfall than most parts of India; this rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a distinctive hydro-geomorphic environment.

The first dated mention of the region comes from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century) and Ptolemy's Geographia (2nd century), which calls the region Kirrhadia, apparently after the Kirata population.^[13][14] In the classical period and up to the 12th century, the region east of the Karatoya river, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, and alternatively, Pragjyotisha.^[15] Though a western portion of Assam as a region continued to be called Kamrup, the Ahom kingdom that emerged in the east, and which came to dominate the entire Brahmaputra valley, was called Assam (e.g. Mughals used Asham); and the British province too was called Assam. Though the precise etymology of Assam is not clear, the name Assam is associated with the Ahom people, originally called Shyam (Shan).^[16]

Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of human settlement from the beginning of the Stone Age. The hills at the height of 1,500 to 2,000 feet (460–615 m) were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making.^[17] Ambari site in Guwahati has revealed Shunga-Kushana era artefacts including flight of stairs and a water tank which may date from 1st century BCE and may be 2,000 years old. Experts speculate that another significant find at Ambari is Roman era Roman roulette pottery from the 2nd century BCE.^[18][19]

According to a late text, Kalika Purana (c. 9th–10th century CE), the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty, which was removed by Naraka of Mithila and established the Bhauma dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna. Naraka's son Bhagadatta became the king, who (it is mentioned in the Mahabharata) fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. At the same time towards the east in central Assam, Asura Kingdom was ruled by another line of kings.^[20]

Kamarupa kingdom at its height

Deopahar ruins

Evidence indicates presence of civilisation in Assam around 2nd century BCE, a rock cut stupa at Sri Surya Pahar has been dated to 200 BCE contemporary with rock cut Karle and Bhaja caves of Maharashtra. The site is located in a hilly terrain where several rock-cut shivalingas, votive stupas and the deities of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain pantheon are scattered.^[21] Samudragupta's 4th-century-CE Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa^[22] and Davaka (Central Assam)^[23] as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire. Davaka was later absorbed by Kamarupa, which grew into a large kingdom that spanned from Karatoya river to near present Sadiya and covered the entire Brahmaputra valley, North Bengal, parts of Bangladesh and, at times Purnea and parts of West Bengal.^[24] The kingdom was ruled by three dynasties who traced their lineage from a mleccha or Kirata Naraka; the Varmanas (c. 350–650 CE), the Mlechchha dynasty (c.655–900 CE) and the Kamarupa-Palas (c. 900–1100 CE), from their capitals in present-day Guwahati (Pragjyotishpura), Tezpur (Haruppeswara) and North Gauhati (Durjaya) respectively. All three dynasties claimed descent from Narakasura. In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskaravarman (c. 600–650 CE), the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa-Palas), the Kamarupa tradition was extended to c. 1255 CE by the Lunar I (c. 1120–1185 CE) and Lunar II (c. 1155–1255 CE) dynasties.^[17]

The Medieval Assam history may have started with the advent of Ahoms in the early part of the 13th century and covers their entire rule of 600 years till 1826. The medieval history of Assam is especially known for its conflict with Muslim powers under Turko-Afghan and Mughals, finally resulting in Assamese victory, however, this military glory was shattered in the early 19th century when it failed to resist the Burmese invasions, which led to its annexation.^[25]

Chutia, a Bodo-Kachari group by origin, held the regions on both the banks of Brahmaputra with its domain in the area eastwards from Vishwanath (north bank) and Buridihing (south bank), in Upper Assam and in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. It was annexed by the Ahoms in the year 1524. The rivalry between the Chutias and Ahoms for the supremacy of eastern Assam led to a series of conflicts between them from the early 16th century.