The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of peoples from the east, west and the north; the confluence of the Indo-Aryan, Austro-Asiatic and the Tibeto-Burman cultures. Politically, it has been invaded, but has never served as a vassal or a colony to an external power till the advent of the Burmese in 1821 and subsequently the British in 1826.

Prehistory

Paleolithic cultures

The earliest inhabitants of the region are assigned to the Middle Pleistocene period (781,000 to 126,000 years ago) in the Rongram valley of Garo Hills. The Paleolithic sites, which used handaxe-cleaver tools, have affinities to the Abbevillio-Acheulean culture. Other Paleolithic sites include those in the Daphabum area of Lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh which used stone tools from metamorphic rocks. The cave-based Paleolithic sites at Khangkhui in Ukhrul, Manipur, is placed in the Late Pleistocene period.

There exists evidence of a microlithic culture in the Rongram Valley of Garo Hills that lie between the neolithic layers and virgin

Neolithic cultures

Early Neolithic cultures based on the unifacially flaked hand-axe in the Garo hills have developed in line with the Hoabinhian culture, and it is conjectured that this region was the contact point for the Indian and the Southeast Asian cultures.

The Late neolithic cultures have affinities with the spread of the Mon Khmer speaking people from Malaysia and the Ayeyarwady valley and Late neolithic developments in South China. Since these cultures have been dated to 4500 BC-4000 BC, the Assam sites are dated to approximate that period.

These neolithic sites, though spread widely, are concentrated in the hills and high grounds, due possibly to the floods. These cultures performed shifting cultivation called jhum, which is still practiced by some communities in the region. Some typical sites are Daojali Hading in North Cachar hills, Sarutaru in Kamrup district and Selbagiri in the Garo Hills.

Metal age

There exists no archeological evidence of Copper-Bronze or Iron age culture in the region. This might seem as an impossibility given that corresponding cultures have been discovered in Bengal as well as Southeast Asia. It can only be conjectured that metal age sites in the region have not yet been discovered.

Megalithic cultures

Though the metal age seems to be missing in Assam, the Iron Age Megalithic culture of South India finds an echo in the rich megalithic culture in the region, which begins to appear in the first millennium BCE, and which continues till today among the Khasi and the Naga people. The affinity is with Southeast Asia. The megalithic culture was the precursor of the fertility cult and the saktism and the vajrayana Buddhism that followed.

Early evidence of political formations

Prehistoric Assam is reconstructed from epics and literature from earlier times. The earliest political entity seems to be a non-Aryan Danava dynasty with Mahiranga mentioned as the first king. This dynasty was removed by Narakasura. Naraka appears to

Ancient Assam

Main article: Kamarupa (History)

The first historical kingdom was Kamarupa, and the first historical dynasty is the one begun by Pushyavarman. According to records left behind by later kings, this dynasty drew its lineage from the Naraka kings, and is called the Varman dynasty. The Kamarupa kingdom reached the zenith of its power and glory under Bhaskarvarman. Xuanzang visited Kamarupa during his rule and left a good account. Bhaskarvarman did not have any children and this dynasty came to an end. The king was heriditary and ruled with a council of ministers. The administration seem to have been well established as evidenced from Bhaskarvarman's absence from his kingdom when he accompanied Xuanzang to attend a religious conference organized by Harsha.

After the Varman rule, Kamarupa passed into the hands of mlechchha kings, the first of whom was Salasthamba, who began his rule about 655. One of his successors, Harshavarman (725-745) is said to have ruled over Gauda, Kalinga and Kosala.

This was followed by the rule of the Pala kings, the first of whom, Brahmapala, was elected.

Medieval Assam

Just as the Kamata kingdom was forming in the west, the Ahoms entered the Brahmaputra valley from the east and established the Ahom kingdom that held sway for nearly 600 years.

This period ends with the invasion of the Ahom kingdom by the Burmese and the subsequent absorption of the kingdom into British India after the Treaty of Yandaboo.

Colonial Assam

The British were unsure of how to rule Assam profitably. In 1833, a protectorate was set up in Upper Assam to be ruled by an ertwhile Ahom king, Purandar Singha, only to be dismantled in 1838. To increase agricultural revenue, the British settled cultivators from Mymensingh that started an influx of immigrants that has continued to present times and which has had a strong impact on the politics of the 1980s.

In 1916 the Assam Association was formed by Manik Chandra Baruah, which later merged with the Indian National Congress to form its Assam branch. After the Partition of Bengal, Assam included the undivided Sylhet district. Assam protested its Group C status vociferously, and the issue was settled with a referendum in Sylhet, that narrowly voted to join East Pakistan.

Post-independence Assam