ART INTEGRATED PROJECT

ON

ASSAM

SUBMITTED BY : AKSHUNN RAGHAVENDRA

CLASS : X ROSE SUBJECT : ENGLISH
ROLL NO. : 3 TOPIC : ASAAM
SCHOOL : LITTLE FLOWER CONVENT SCHOOL,HANUMANGARH JN.,RAJASTHAN
SUBMITTED TO : JANEESH MATHEW SIR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks to my respected Teacher
Mr.Janeesh Mathew as well as our respected Principal Father Mathew,
who gave me the golden opportunity to do or attempt this wonderf;ul
project on the topic ASSAM.
I am really thankful to my Parents and guide, who have devoted their
precious time in helping me in completing my project. I would like to
specially thanks my parents who helped me a lot in finishing this project.
Thanks again to all who helped me.

INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION
2. ASSAM : LANGUAGES

3. ASSAM : ART and CULTURE

4. ASSAM : WILDLIFE
INTRODUCTION
Assam is a state in Northeastern India, situated south of the eastern Himalayas along the
Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of 78,438 km2 . 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 km. wide strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. It is also
one of the world's most populous subdivisions. Assamese is the official and most commonly
spoken language of the state, followed by Bengali, which is official in the Barak Valley and Bodo
which is official in Bodoland Territorial Region.
Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk. The state was the first site for oil drilling in Asia .
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
hydro-geomorphic environment.

Etymology
The first dated mention of the region comes from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century)
where it describes a people called Sêsatea, and the second mention comes from Ptolemy’s
Geographia (2nd century) which calls the region Kirrhadia after the Kirata population. 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 .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).

Districts of Assam :- 1. Tinsukia 2. Dibrugarh 3. Dhemaji 4. Charaideo 5. Sivasagar 6.

Lakhimpur 7. Majuli 8.Jorhat 9. Biswanath 10. Golaghat 11. Karbi Anglong East 12. Sonitpur 13. Nagaon
14. Hojai 15. Karbi Anglong West 16. Dima Hasao 17.Cachar 18. Hailakandi 19. Karimganj 20.
Morigaon 21. Udalguri 22. Darrang 23. Kamrup Metropolitan 24. Baksa 25.Nalbari 26. Kamrup 27.
Barpeta 28. Chirang 29. Bongaigaon 30. Goalpara 31. Kokrajhar 32. Dhubri 33. South Salmara –
Mankachar .

ASSAM : LANGUAGE

Assamese is the official language of the state. Additional official languages include Bengali and
Bodo . Bodo in Bodoland Territorial Council and Bengali in the three districts of Barak Valley
where Sylheti is most commonly spoken.According to the language census of 2011 in Assam, out
of a total population of around 31 million, Assamese is spoken by around half that number: 15
million. Although the number of speakers is growing, the percentage of Assam's population who
have it as a mother tongue has fallen slightly. The various Bengali dialects and closely related
languages are spoken by around 9 million people in Assam, and the portion of the population that
speaks these languages has grown slightly. Hindi is the third most-spoken language.
Traditionally, Assamese was the language of the common folk in the ancient Kamarupa kingdom
and in the medieval kingdoms of Dimasa Kachari, Borahi Kachari, Ahom and Kamata kingdoms.
Traces of the language are found in many poems by Luipa, Sarahapa, and others, in Charyapada
(c. 7th–8th century CE). Modern dialects such as Kamrupi and Goalpariya are remnants of this
language. Moreover, Assamese in its traditional form was used by the ethno-cultural groups in
the region as lingua-franca, which spread during the stronger kingdoms and was required for
economic integration. Localised forms of the language still exist in Nagaland and Arunachal
Pradesh.
Linguistically modern Assamese traces its roots to the version developed by the American
Missionaries based on the local form used near Sivasagar district. Assamese is a rich language
due to its hybrid nature and unique characteristics of pronunciation and softness. The presence of
Voicelessvelar fricative in Assamese makes it a unique among other similar Indo-Aryan
languages.
Bodo is an ancient language of Assam. Spatial distribution patterns of the ethno-cultural groups,
cultural traits and the phenomenon of naming all the major rivers in the North East Region with
Bodo-Kachari words reveal that it was the most important language in ancient times. Bodo is
now spoken largely in the Western Assam (BTAD). After years of neglect, now Bodo language is
getting attention and its literature is developing. Other native languages of Tibeto-Burman origin
and related to Bodo-Kachari are Deori, Mising, Karbi, Rabha, and Tiwa.There are approximately
5,64,000 Nepali speakers spread all over the state forming about 2.12% of Assam's total
population according to 2001 census. There are speakers of Tai languages in Assam. A total of
six Tai languages were spoken in Assam,in which 2 are now extinct, are- Tai Phake, Tai Aiton,
Khamti , Khamyang(critically endangered), Ahom(extinct) and Turung (extinct).

ASSAM :
CULTURE AND ART
Assamese Culture is traditionally a hybrid one developed due to assimilation of ethno-cultural
groups of Austric, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Tai origin in the past. Therefore, both local
elements or the local elements in Sanskritised forms are distinctly found.The major milestones in
the evolution of Assamese culture are:
 Dakhinpat Satra of Majuli

Presenting Gayan Bayan in Majuli, the Neo-Vaishnavite cultural heritage of Assam

 Assimilation in the Kamarupa Kingdom for almost 700 years (under the Varmans for 300 years,
Salastambhas and Palas for each 200 years).
 Establishment of the Chutiya dynasty in the 12th century in eastern Assam and assimilation for
next 400 years.
 Establishment of the Ahom dynasty in the 13th century CE and assimilation for next 600 years.[
 Assimilation in the Koch Kingdom (15th–16th century CE) of western Assam and Kachari
Kingdom (12th–18th century CE) of central and southern Assam.
 Vaishnava Movement led by Srimanta Shankardeva and its contribution and cultural changes.
The Vaishanava Movement, the 15th century religio-cultural movement under the leadership of
Srimanta Sankardev and his disciples have provided another dimension to Assamese culture. A
renewed Hinduisation in local forms took place, which was initially greatly supported by the
Koch and later by the Ahom Kingdoms. The resultant social institutions such as namghar and
sattra (the Vaishnav Monasteries) have become part of the Assamese way of life. The movement
contributed greatly towards language, literature, and performing and fine arts.
The modern culture has been influenced by events in the British and the post-British era. The
language was standardised by American BaptistMissionaries such as Nathan Brown, Dr. Miles
Bronson and local pundits such as Hemchandra Barua with the form available in the Sibsagar
(Sivasagar) District (the ex-nerve centre of the Ahom Kingdom).
Increasing efforts of standardisation in the 20th century alienated the localised forms present in
different areas and with the less-assimilated ethno-cultural groups (many source-cultures).
However, Assamese culture in its hybrid form and nature is one of the richest, still developing
and in true sense is a 'cultural system' with sub-systems. Many source-cultures of the Assamese
cultural-system are still surviving either as sub-systems or as sister entities, e.g. the; Bodo or
Karbi or Mishing. It is important to keep the broader system closer to its roots and at the same
time focus on development of the sub-systems.
Some of the common and unique cultural traits in the region are peoples' respect towards
areca-nut and betel leaves, symbolic (gamosa, arnai, etc.), traditional silk garments (e.g. mekhela
chador, traditional dress of Assamese women) and towards forefathers and elderly. Moreover,
great hospitality and bamboo culture are common.
The archaic Mauryan Stupas discovered in and around Goalpara district are the earliest examples
(c. 300 BCE to c. 100 CE) of ancient art and architectural works. The remains discovered in
Daparvatiya (Doporboteeya) archaeological site with a beautiful doorframe in Tezpur are
identified as the best examples of artwork in ancient Assam with influence of Sarnath School of
Art of the late Gupta period.
Painting is an ancient tradition of Assam. Xuanzang (7th century CE) mentions that among the
Kamarupa king Bhaskaravarma's gifts to Harshavardhana there were paintings and painted
objects, some of which were on Assamese silk. Many of the manuscripts such as Hastividyarnava
(A Treatise on Elephants), the Chitra Bhagawata and in the Gita Govinda from the Middle Ages
bear excellent examples of traditional paintings.
 ASSAM:
WILDLIFE
Assam is one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world and consists of tropical
rainforests,deciduous forests, riverine grasslands, bamboo orchards and numerous wetland
ecosystems; Many are now protected as national parks and reserved forests.
Assam has wildlife sanctuaries, the most prominent of which are two UNESCO World Heritage
sites-the Kaziranga National Park, on the bank of the Brahmaputra River, and the Manas Wildlife
Sanctuary, near the border with Bhutan. The Kaziranga is a refuge for the fast-disappearing
Indian one-horned rhinoceros. The state is the last refuge for numerous other endangered and
threatened species including the white-winged wood duck or deohanh, Bengal florican,
black-breasted parrotbill, red-headed vulture, white-rumped vulture, greater adjutant, Jerdon's
babbler, rufous-necked hornbill, Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, pygmy hog, gaur, wild water
buffalo, Indian hog deer, hoolock gibbon, golden langur, capped langur, barasingha, Ganges river
dolphin, Barca snakehead, Ganges shark, Burmese python, brahminy river turtle, black pond
turtle, Asian forest tortoise, and Assam roofed turtle. Threatened species that are extinct in Assam
include the gharial, a critically endangered fish-eating crocodilian, and the pink-headed duck
(which may be extinct worldwide). For the state bird, the white-winged wood duck, Assam is a
globally important area. In addition to the above, there are three other National Parks in Assam
namely Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Nameri National Park and the Orang National Park.
Assam has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the
pygmy hog, tiger and numerous species of birds, and it provides one of the last wild habitats for
the Asian elephant. Kaziranga and Manas are both World Heritage Sites. The state contains Sal
tree forests and forest products, much depleted from earlier times. A land of high rainfall, Assam
displays greenery. The Brahmaputra River tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with
hydro-geomorphic environment.The state has the largest population of the wild water buffalo in
the world. The state has the highest diversity of birds in India with around 820 species. With
subspecies the number is as high as 946.The mammal diversity in the state is around 190 species.

CONCLUSION
This project helped me a lot in gaining adequate knowledge about the
state Assam. I have completed this project after proper analysis and
research and I came to know about so many new things about Assam.
I came to know that how people live in Assam and what’s their culture
art and language. By going through their cultural history and wildlife of
Assam, I also felt about the regular and everyday or daily problems
faced by the people of Assam.
Now, I know Assam very clearly about or in terms of its culture, art
,language and wildlife.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
And, at last, I would like to say that the information illustrated here is
taken from the serch ingine Google and the website Wikipedia.

Thank You.