Political History of Assam (Set of 3 Volumes)

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This book, the first volume of the Political History of Assam, describes not only the successive stages in the establishment of the British Paramountcy over the hills and plains of Assam, but also the inevitable reaction the early but abortive attempts to shake of the foreign yoke in the North-East Frontier. The impact of western ideas in the wake of English education produced, though slowly, far reaching changes in the life of the Assamese economically, culturally and politically, these are analysed in their true perspective in this volume. The emergence of the English-educated intelligentsia and their endeavours to bring about a regeneration of their countrymen for preparing the grounds for the ultimate struggle for freedom form the subject matter of the succeeding chapters. Based on all available sources, both published and unpublished, this objective and impartial study will be of absorbing interest to scholars, admin- istrators and politicians alike.

Writing of history is a challenging task, more so when it concerns the political events of the recent past. Our emergence as a free nation is a saga of historic upheaval. Our history relating to this period does not relate to any individual or any particular group but has been made with the contribution of the entire Indian people. The leadership was thrown up by the people themselves and we had fought a historic struggle under the illustrious leadership of a host of imaginative pioneers. And yet, it is difficult and almost impossible to say who amongst them is more important and who is not. The entire people of the country had joined the historic freedom struggle and it is because of the total resistance of the whole nation that the imperialist rule foundered upon. The pages of Indian history are replete with events of glorious deeds of patriotism and sacrifice. But hundreds of patriots with numerous instances of sacrifice at far off corners of the country must have gone unnoticed and unrecorded. Therefore, the compilation and publication of a comprehensive authentic political history is a task, the national importance of which can be hardly exaggerated.

The story of freedom of India has captured the imagination of oppressed peoples all over the world. Different nations have found in our story of emergence inexhaustible sources of inspiration and some have even found our technique appropriate. This gives us an inescapable responsibility to leave behind a proper and authentic account of our story of freedom for the benefit of the posterity all over the world. It has special relevance and significance to our own people in the present stage of our march. Political liberation was not the only objective of our freedom struggle, it was but the precondition for a still more difficult struggle for economic and social liberation from all manner of exploitation. Our contemporary history has been the initiation of a significant phase of our struggle for economic liberation and social justice. Unless we can clearly project this vital aspect of our march to freedom to the younger generation, the proper perspective is bound to be lost to them and our efforts may also deviate from the correct direction.

The writing of a Political History of Assam was initiated in 1973 by the Centenary Committee, Karmavir Nabin Chandra Bardoloi and Deshabhakta Tarun Ram Phookun, but no concrete step was taken until the State government took up the project towards the close of 1975 and called on the undersigned to undertake its General Editorship. In fact as early as 1950 the Government of Assam had decided to bring out a Comprehensive History of the Freedom Movement in Assam and a department was created for the purpose. It had collected a mass of materials, both official and unofficial; but the actual writing of the volume was not taken in hand for some reason or other. We had therefore some misgivings at the initial stage as to whether it would be possible for us to take up the project; all the more, when the entire work from the search and collection of materials to the reading of the proofs will have to be done in less than a years time. We were greatly relieved when we were assured that all possible assistance will be made available to us and that the work should be done in conformity with accepted principles of historical methodology. It was also agreed that within the time limit only the first volume should be made ready for the Press and the subsequent volume or volumes in due course.

The object of the present work is to describe the main trends and developments of the Political History of Assam from 1826 to 1947 highlighting, of course, the significant role which the people of this State played in the Nationalistic movement in India. This volume starts with early British occupation followed by a period of administrative confusion, of extortions and oppressions, during which miseries of the people knew no bounds. The hopes entertained by the Assamese who hailed the advent of the British with unbounded joy were soon turned to bitter disappointment. Shorn of their power and privileges, the offical aristocracy of the former government gave vent to their bitter feelings and hostility in a number of abortive attempts to overthrow the alien government. The experiment of Ahom monarchy that was restored in Upper Assam as a sop to the discontented nobles proved a failure; and out of desperation, the latter made a further bid for power in collaboration with the mutinous sepoys; but that was also nipped in the bud. The sporadic uprisings of the frontier tribes whose independence and liberty was no less threatened with the advance of British dominion too ended in nothing, and in less than half a century the greater part of the hill tracts came under the effective control or sphere of influence of the British.

**Contents and Sample Pages**