1.
Golaghat
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The Dhansiri, one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra passes through Golaghat and is the primary water source for its citizens. It is one of the oldest tea urban centres of Assam that has been the headquarters of the oldest subdivision for over 170 years since 1839, GMB is a historical one in terms of its age. Golaghat has the earliest post/mail service and telegraphic communication systems in Assam dating back to 1876 and it has the oldest social – literature/rhetorical congresses of Assam – the Golaghat Sahitya Sabha, of Asam Sahitya Sabha, started in 1918. The Golaghat Amateur Theatre Society, established in 1895, is one of the oldest theatre societies to uplift the dramatic and cultural activities in the state of Assam, particularly in Golaghat. The Golaghat Bar Association, established in 1891, is the one of the oldest legal societies of Assam and it is the only place in Assam to have Sports Authority of India – Sports Training Centre after Guwahati. Golaghat has played a significant role in the tea industry of Assam, the small tea growers’ movement was also started from Golaghat. The Doyang – Dhansiri valley came under the rule of Ahoms during the 16th century, prior to that, this part was ruled by the Kacharis known as Herombial. During Ahom rule this area was under Morongi – Khowa Gohain, Golaghat became the largest subdivision of Assam and comprised Dergaon and Golaghat circles. Golaghat circle was the largest among them and with only 150.10 sq. mi of area Dergaon was the smallest. During this time, Purandar Singha continued to rule with Jorhat as the capital of his territory, Upper Assam, on 18 December 1846 Jorhat was declared as a subdivision comprising certain portions of Golaghat subdivision. In 1751 certain portions of Barpathar, Sarupathar Barangi mauzas of Golaghat circle and Duarbagari of Bokakhat circle transferred to the united Mikir, Golaghat was later elevated to the position of a full-fledged district of Assam comprising an area of 3,502 sq. km on 15 August 1987. Golaghat boasts of having one of the earliest post/mail service and telegraphic communication systems, the earliest head post offices of the Assam Circle of British Assam were located in Golaghat besides Debrughur, Gouhati, Jorhat, Nowgaon, Sibsagar, Shillong and Tezpore. Much later after telegraph lines had been stretched between Calcutta and Guwahati in 1869, Golaghat got its speaking wires system in and around 1876, the telegraphic lines were stretched to connect Golaghat with Kohima, Shillong with Guwahati, Sibsagar with Nazira and Dibrugarh with Makum. In British Assam, Golaghat derived its importance chiefly because of having advanced communication systems during that time, Golaghat also has one of the oldest railway lines in Assam. Thus giving Assam direct railway communication with Chittagong and Calcutta, Golaghat is known for its notable contribution in Indias Freedom Struggle, Arts, Literature and Culture and Sports. The Golaghat Sahitya Sabha is one of the oldest congresses of Asam Sahitya Sabha, the most prominent writer of the 19th century who hailed from Golaghat was Hem Chandra Barua, the writer of first Assamese dictionary Hemkosh. Golaghat has played an important role in the field of sports in Assam, the tea centre has produced several National and International players of repute in athletics, table tennis, tennis, boxing and football. Sports Authority of India has a centre at SAI sports complex in Golaghat
2.
Assam
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Assam (English pronunciation, /əˈsæm/ listen is a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya, is one of the Seven Sister States. Geographically, Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a 22 kilometres strip of land in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, and its culture, people. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk, the first oil well in Asia was drilled here. The state has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger. It provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant, the Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism, centred around Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are World Heritage Sites. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, Assam receives more rainfall compared to most parts of India. This rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment, the precise etymology of Assam came from Ahom Dynasty. 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, in medieval times the Mughals used Asham and Kamrup, and during British colonialism, the English used Assam. Though many authors have associated the name with the 13th century Shan invaders the precise origin of the name is not clear. It was suggested by some that the Sanskrit word Asama was the root, which has been rejected by Kakati, among possible origins are Tai and Bodo. Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of settlements from all the periods of the Stone ages. The hills at the height of 1, 500–2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making. According to a text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna, narakas son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. Samudraguptas 4th century Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire, ruled by three dynasties Varmanas, Mlechchha dynasty and Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from Narakasura, an immigrant from Aryavarta, in the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels
3.
Jorhat
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Jorhat is a major urban centre of the state of Assam in India. Guwahati and Jorhat are underway to become two sunshine cities of Assam as declared by the central government and it was the last capital of the Ahom Kingdom and home to many historical monuments of Assamese culture. In the north of the district, the Brahmaputra River forms the second largest riverine island of the world, Majuli, which spreads over 924.6 square kilometres with a population of about 150,000. The island, threatened with constant erosion by the mighty and unstable Brahmaputra River, had been the place of pilgrimage of Vaishnavites since the age of the Ahom rulers. Several Sattras resembling those of medieval times are headed by Satradhikars teaching Vaishnavism, each Sattra has an unknown wealth of Vaishnavite scriptures and extensive revenue-free lands cultivated by the Bhakats of the Sattras. Jorhat was the first town of the Upper and central Assam installing electricity supply in 1923, the first aeroplane on north-eastern soil was landed in Jorhat in 1928. Jorhat Gymkhana Club is the oldest golf course in Asia and third oldest in the world, the first stadium of Assam was built in Jorhat. The worlds oldest and largest Tea Experimental Station is located in Jorhat, the first non-government college of Assam J B College was established in Jorhat. Today Jorhat is a developing city and one of the major business & commercial hubs of North-east India. The recent urban development of Jorhat has seen the rise of high cost apartments and flats with people flocking in from all parts of the state. The city also serves as the base for tourism to places such as the Kaziranga National Park. Centrally located within the state, the city depicts a vibrant Assamese township and culture, Jorhat is located at 26. 75°N94. 22°E /26.75,94.22. It has an elevation of 116 metres. In the north of the district, the Brahmaputra River forms the largest riverine island of the world, Majuli, which spreads over 924.6 square kilometres with a population of about 150,000. The island, threatened by constant erosion by the mighty and unstable Brahmaputra River, had been the place of pilgrimage of Vaishnavites since the age of the Ahom rulers. Several Satras resembling those of medieval times are headed by Satradhikars teaching Vaishnavism which was initiated by Sankardeva, each Satra has an unknown wealth of Vaishnav Scriptures and extensive revenue-free lands cultivated by the Bhakats of the Satras. The municipal area stretches to 9 square kilometres having 19 wards with a population of about 1.85 lakhs at present, the district spreads over 2,851 square kilometres and had a population of 870,000 according to a 1991 census. Population density at time was 306 persons per square kilometre
4.
Assamese people
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The Assamese people are a subgroup of the people of Assam. This subgroup is often associated with the Assamese language, the total population of Assamese speakers in Assam is nearly 13 million which makes up 48. 8% of the Assams population according to the Language census of 2001. Historically, the definition of the Assamese people has remained in a state of flux, the lack of a definition has put stumbling blocks in implementing clause 6 of the Assam Accord, an agreement signed by the activists of the Assam Movement and the Government of India in 1985. Difficulty in definition is rooted in the nature of inhabitants of the Assam state. In contrast, Lower Assam in pre–colonial times was known as Kamrup (instead of Asama, in the 16th century, the Ahom kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Acham to the Mughals, and later, to the British. In 1682, the eastern Kamrup was annexed by Ahom kingdom, Assamese was originally the local language of the Assamese Brahmins who taught Hinduism in Assam. According to Yasmin Saikia, the group now identifies as Tai–Ahom were historically seen as the Assamese people. However, the term ethnic Assamese is now associated by the Indian government at Delhi with the Assamese speaking Indo–Aryan group of Assam, the latter group is the majority people of Assam, while the Tai–Ahom people were a dominant minority during the Ahom Rule. Ahoms Assamese Brahmins Assamese Muslims History of Assam Indo-Aryan migration to Assam Jalia Kaibarta Kalitas Koch Rajbongshi Sutiya community Tribes of Assam
5.
Ahom people
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The Ahom are the descendants of the ethnic Tai people that accompanied the Tai prince into the Brahmaputra valley in 1228 and ruled the area for six centuries. The modern Ahom people and their culture are a blend of the original Tai culture. Some ethnic groups, including the Tibeto-Burman speaking Borahi people, were subsumed into the Ahom community. Members of other communities, based on their allegiance to the Ahom kingdom or the usefulness of their talents, were accepted as Ahoms, nowadays Ahoms form the largest mongoloid community of Assam and North East India. They are in majority in Upper Assam The Tibeto-Burman locals near the Ahoms gave them the name Ahom, in the early 13th century, Mong Mao was a small kingdom of Tai people, related to the Shan, in present-day Yunnan Province, Myanmar. In 1228, the Mong Mao prince Chao-lung Sukaphaa began his journey with about 9000 followers and he crossed the Patkai Hills and reached the Brahmaputra valley in 1228. He moved from place to place, searching for a seat and he decided not to attack the Morans and Borahis but befriend them instead. His depleted followers married into the Borahi and the Moran ethnic groups, the Borahis, a Tibeto-Burman people, were subsumed into the Ahom fold, though the Moran maintained their independent ethnicity. Sukaphaa established his capital at Charaideo near present-day Sivasagar in 1253, the Ahom kingdom then consolidated its power, building their kingdom for the next 600 years. The first major expansion was at the cost of the Sutiya kingdom, the expansions success was not only a result of Ahom military prowess, but also of changes in the Ahom social and political outlook. Suhungmung was the first Ahom king to adopt a Hindu name, Swarga Narayan, in 1536 the Dimasa Kacharis, known to Ahoms as Timisa, were uprooted from their capital at Dimapur. Thus by the middle of the 16th century, the Ahoms were in control of all of present-day eastern Assam, the late 17th century saw another expansion of Ahom territory. After the 1682 Battle of Itakhuli, that marked the end of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts, by bringing the various tribal groups and regions under one ruler and one governing polity the Ahoms are considered the architects of modern Assam. Ahom power declined in the half of the 18th century. In the first part of the 19th century, the Burmese army invaded their kingdom, uprooted their capital, Assam was then annexed by British India, becoming a province and then a state as the Ahom identity gradually became Assamese. The Ahom people also practice the ancient and distinct Indian religion Furalung, given the non-dogmatic nature of Indian religious traditions, an adherent may identify with both Furalung and Hinduism. Similarly, many among the Ahom people practice Buddhism as well and its usage declined during the reign of Swargadeo Rajeswar Singha, who ordered Sanskrisation. All funerals were to be practiced under the Brahmanical Hindu cremation rites, conducted by a Maithil Brahmin priest, the Tai Ahoms worship their deceased forefathers as they are the guardian deities of the house holders
6.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
7.
Quit India Movement
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The Cripps Mission had failed, and on 8 August 1942, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. The All-India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called An Orderly British Withdrawal from India, even though it was wartime, the British were prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the INC was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhis speech, most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the Viceroys Council, of the All India Muslim League, the states, the Indian Imperial Police, the British Indian Army. Many Indian businessmen profiting from heavy wartime spending did not support Quit India Movement, many students paid more attention to Subhas Chandra Bose, who was in exile and supporting the Axis Powers. The only outside support came from the Americans, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to some of the Indian demands, the Quit India campaign was effectively crushed. The British refused to grant immediate independence, saying it could happen only after the war against the Axis powers had ended, sporadic small-scale violence took place around the country and the British arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945. In terms of immediate objectives Quit India failed because of heavy-handed suppression, weak co-ordination, however, the British government realised that India was ungovernable in the long run due to the cost of World War II, and the question for postwar became how to exit gracefully and peacefully. For several weeks there was rioting and the British lost control in some parts of the country. Only the strongest measures, including the use of guns and aerial bombing. In 1992 Reserve Bank of India issue 1 Rupee Commemorative Coin to mark the Golden Jubilee of Quit India Movement, in 1939 Indian nationalists were angry that British Governor-General of India, Lord Linlithgow, had without consultation with them brought India into the war. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided, Gandhi had not supported this initiative, as he could not reconcile an endorsement for war. After the onset of the war, only a group led by Subhas Chandra Bose took any decisive action. In 1939, with the outbreak of war between Germany and Britain, India was announced to be a party to the war for being a constituent component of the British Empire. Following this declaration, the Congress Working Committee at its meeting on 10 October 1939, at the same time the resolution also stated that India could not associate herself with war unless it was consulted first. Responding to this declaration, the Viceroy issued a statement on 17 October wherein he claimed that Britain is waging a war driven by the motif to strengthen peace in the world. He also stated that after the war, the government would initiate modifications in the Act of 1935, Gandhis reaction to this statement was, the old policy of divide and rule is to continue. The Congress has asked for bread and it has got stone, According to the instructions issued by High Command, the Congress ministers were directed to resign immediately
8.
Mahatma Gandhi
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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights, the honorific Mahatma —applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa—is now used worldwide. In India, he is also called Bapu and Gandhiji and he is unofficially called the Father of the Nation. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi attempted to practise nonviolence and truth in all situations, and he lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on a charkha. He ate simple food, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest. Eventually, in August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab, eschewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to promote religious harmony, the last of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 when he was 78, also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan. Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating, among them was Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, who assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest. Mahatma Gandhis birthday,2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday and his father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi, served as the diwan of Porbandar state. The Gandhi family originated from the village of Kutiana in what was then Junagadh State, in the late 17th or early 18th century, one Lalji Gandhi moved to Porbandar and entered the service of its ruler, the Rana. In 1831, Rana Khimojiraji died suddenly and was succeeded by his 12-year-old only son, as a result, Rana Khimojirajjis widow, Rani Rupaliba, became regent for her son. She soon fell out with Uttamchand and forced him to return to his village in Junagadh. While in Junagadh, Uttamchand appeared before its Nawab and saluted him with his hand instead of his right. In 1841, Vikmatji assumed the throne and reinstated Uttamchand as his diwan, in 1847, Rana Vikmatji appointed Uttamchands son, Karamchand, as diwan after disagreeing with Uttamchand over the states maintenance of a British garrison. Although he only had an education and had previously been a clerk in the state administration
9.
Satyagraha
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Satyagraha — loosely translated as insistence on truth or holding onto truth or truth force — is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. The term satyagraha was coined and developed by Mahatma Gandhi and he deployed satyagraha in the Indian independence movement and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights. Satyagraha theory influenced Martin Luther King Jr. s and James Bevels campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, someone who practices satyagraha is a satyagrahi. The term originated in a competition in the news-sheet Indian Opinion in South Africa in 1906, mr. Maganlal Gandhi, grandson of an uncle of Gandhi came up with the word Sadagraha and won the prize. Subsequently to make it clearer, Gandhi changed it to Satyagraha, Satyagraha is a tatpuruṣa compound of the Sanskrit words satya and agraha. Satya is derived from the word “sat”, which means “being”, nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. In the context of satyagraha, Truth therefore includes a) Truth in speech, as opposed to falsehood, b) what is real, as opposed to nonexistent and c) good as opposed to evil, or bad. This was critical to Gandhi’s understanding of and faith in nonviolence, asatya, meaning untruth, also means nonexistent, and satya or truth also means that which is. If untruth does not so much as exist, its victory is out of the question, and truth being that which is, can never be destroyed. This is the doctrine of satyagraha in a nutshell, for Gandhi, satyagraha went far beyond mere passive resistance and became strength in practising non-violent methods. In his words, Truth implies love, and firmness engenders, in September 1935, a letter to P. K. Rao, Servants of India Society, Gandhi disputed the proposition that his idea of Civil Disobedience was adapted from the writings of Thoreau, the statement that I had derived my idea of civil disobedience from the writings of Thoreau is wrong. The resistance to authority in South Africa was well advanced before I got the essay of Thoreau on civil disobedience, but the movement was then known as passive resistance. As it was incomplete, I had coined the word satyagraha for the Gujarati readers, when I saw the title of Thoreau’s great essay, I began the use of his phrase to explain our struggle to the English readers. But I found that civil disobedience failed to convey the full meaning of the struggle. I therefore adopted the civil resistance. Non-violence was always a part of our struggle. Gandhi described it as follows, I have also called it love-force or soul-force, for what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other
