Nestling between Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh in the north and the east, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the south and Meghalaya to its southwest, and West Bengal and Bangladesh in the west, Assam served as the unassailable kingdom of the mighty Ahoms for 600 years till the close of the First Burmese War in 1826, when it was ceded to Britain’s East India. Descendants of the Shan tribesmen, the Ahoms conquered their way through the Patkai Range starting out from the 13th century—and eventually laid hold of the entire Brahmaputra valley by defeating the Kacharis in 1540. The Ahom rulers were legendary for refusing to yield even an inch of their land to either the Mughals or the Bengal Sultans. They were also great patrons of the arts.
The topographical splendour of Assam is shared by three distinct spaces: the Brahmaputra Valley, the Surma Valley and the mountainous Assam Ranges. Legend has it that this was the site where Lord Brahma first created the stars. Simultaneously revered and feared, his son, the mighty Brahmaputra, is one of the largest rivers in the world and ranks fifth in terms of its average discharge and sediment. Down the centuries its mercurial nature has shaped the land, the lives and the culture of Assam, both as nurturer/saviour and destroyer.
The rich alluvial plains, which support dense tracts of tropical forests, paddy fields and lush tea gardens, are the capricious river’s life-giving gift to the people; yet during the incessant rains of the monsoon season, it becomes the ‘Red River’, a moniker earned from its turbulent underwater currents turning the red soil along its journey through the land causing havoc in its wake.
For its Ahom rulers Assam was “Nung Dun Chun Kham” or the “Country of Golden Gardens”, because of the rare endowment of its bounteous natural heritage. The astounding biodiversity of the Brahmaputra Valley is reflected in its fabulous botanical and faunal wealth. The bounty of Nature has made Assam the biggest producer of expensive timbers and tea in India and it’s also home to the country’s oldest oil refinery, located in Digboi.
Of its five national parks, two are designated World Natural Heritage Sites by UNESCO; in addition to this Assam is also home to 18 wildlife sanctuaries. These dense forestlands, covering about 26,832 sq km (representing 34.21% of its geographical area) are the ancient stamping grounds for 180 species of mammals, including exotic animals such as the Asiatic elephant, the endangered Great Indian one-horned rhino, the royal Bengal tiger, hoolock gibbon, golden langur, pygmy hog, hispid hare and slow loris. Its avifaunal wealth features the white-winged wood duck, one of the most endangered birds in the world, great pied hornbill and the wreathed hornbill.
Nestling by the Brahmaputra, Guwahati, whose suburb of Dispur is the state capital, is legend as Pragjyotishpur or the ‘City of Eastern Light’ founded by King Narakasur as ascribed by the epics and the Puranas. This bustling commercial and cultural hub is home to the famous Kamakhya Temple, an unmissable insight into Assam’s religious pursuits of Tantrism. At Majuli Island, the world’s largest inhabited riverine island, visitors are introduced to Assam’s unique monastic heritage, the sattras—the Vaishnavite monasteries established by Sankardeva, the 15th-century founder of the new Vaishnavite religion; one gets to also watch some of traditional performing arts in these cultural centres.
Some other prominent attractions for travellers are legendary wildlife destinations such as the UNESCO-acclaimed Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park, the Bihu festival, paramotoring in Sivasagar, the old Ahom capital, river cruises on the Brahmaputra and dolphin spotting at Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, and the silk-weaving villages.
The most accessible of the Northeastern states, Assam is well connected by air, rail and road and offers a wide range of accommodations—ranging from swanky hotels to homestays in tea estates and hotels for every budget.
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