Assam

Assam’s recorded history begins with the ancient kingdom of Kamarupa (c. 4th–12th century CE), centred around Pragjyotishpura (present-day Guwahati), which emerged as the first major historical state in the Brahmaputra Valley. After Kamarupa’s decline, the region saw multiple kingdoms and chieftaincies, and from 1228 the Ahom Kingdom rose to dominate Upper Assam for nearly six centuries, building a strong administrative system and leaving enduring monuments and cultural traditions.

In the early 19th century, Assam faced the Burmese invasions, and then British power entered after the Treaty of Yandabo (1826), which marked the start of colonial rule. Under the British, Assam’s economy changed rapidly with the expansion of tea plantations and new transport networks, turning the province into an important commercial frontier.

After India’s independence in 1947, Assam entered a new phase as part of the Indian Union, becoming a full state in 1950. In the decades that followed, political and administrative reorganisation reshaped the wider region as new states and districts emerged from the old Assam administrative map.