General Overview

Undivided Assam, after British colonisation, was a huge state encompassing the entire north-east, excluding the erstwhile North-East Frontier tracts (present-day Arunachal and north-eastern Nagaland), Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim and North Bengal. Since Independence, it has been progressively split up into smaller states based broadly on ethnic grouping and now consists of:

• plains of the Brahmaputra valley,

• Karbi Anglong Plateau,

• plains of the Barak Valley,

• Cachar and North Cachar Hills,

• plains of Karimganj and Hailakundi districts bordering Bangladesh,

• It is enclosed on all sides by all the other north-eastern states with the exception of Sikkim and Bangladesh. Its unique geographic location – it sits astride the Brahmaputra and Barak river valley plains and has access to all north-eastern areas within it – makes it the hub and the core of the region.

Population and Demography

Assam's population as per the 2001 census was 26,68,407. While details of the 2001 census are still not available, the 1991 census had:

1. 13% Hindus,

2. 48% Muslims,

3. 4% Christians,

4. 8% Budhists,

5. 8% Sikhs,

6. Balance undeclared

Assam's ethnic break-up is broadly:

1. Assamese of Aryan origin 9%,

2. Assamese of Ahom origin 10%,

3. Assamese Muslims (pre-1901) 6%,

4. Mongoloid tribals including Bodos 12%,

5. Manipuris 2%,

6. Nepalese 2%,

7. Tea Tribes (Adivasis) 15%,

8. Bangladeshi Muslims 22%,

9. Bangladeshi Hindus 17%,

10. Labour class from other parts of India 3%.