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Capital
: Dispur
Area : 78,438 sq km Population : aprrox. 24,800,000
Principal Language: Assamese
Literacy Ratio: 53% No. of Districts: 24 Cities
:Guwahati, Dispur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat
No. of Bank Branches: 1137
Airports: Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tejpur, Jorhat, Silchar,
Rilabari
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'Assam'
name itself is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Asoma', meaning peerless.
The land of Assam, is in fact, peerless, judging by her exquisite natural
beauty, cultural richness and human wealth. Assam has a rich legacy
of culture and civilisation behind her. Home to different races of men
- Austric, Mongolian, Dravidian, and Aryan, who came to dwell in these
hills at different points of time. Assam has developed a composite culture
of variegated colour.
Assam, the land of hills and valleys, the land of the mighty river Brahmaputra,
the land of Mother Goddess Kamakhya, lies in the northeastern corner
of India.
Climate-Assam has four well defined seasons in a year. Summer,
monsoon, winter and spring-- these four seasons presents Assam in different
moods. The best time to visit Assam is during the winters and spring
seasons. October to April offer a mild and moderate climate. Assam is
never extremely cold or hot.
Clothing- As the climate of Assam is not very extreme, clothing
is very simple. Winters require light woolen clothes and summers can
be enjoyed in cotton attires.
This is Assam, a place which lives in different moods in different times.
Rows of ancient monuments, temples of pristine charm and ruins of a
bygone eras take you through the corridors of time. Assam has drawn
people from diverse cultures and races in different points of time.
They are the colourful people, weaving fairy tales in dresses, singing
and dancing in clouds and sunshine of pastoral life, creating art out
of life adding colour to itself.
Exotic denizens of the sylvan world add to the mystery and charm of
this weird land. Frolick of apes, graceful elephants, fluttering of
wings & singing of birds, migratory birds flying into the hills, the
majestic tiger enforcing his authority all invite you to carry back
home a little what the heaven is made of. The rhino emerges as if from
prehistory and treads the Kaziranga National park. And who can forget
lush green Tea gardens which beckon you to have a cup of fresh tea and
enjoy the enthralling music of life.
The capital of Assam, is Dispur, a suburb of Guwahati in 1972. The uneven
topography of the land, full of hills, plains and rivers might, therefore,
have contributed to her name. The Mongolian Ahom dynasty which had ruled
Assam for more than six hundred years might also be the cause for her
name.
Assam is a land with an illustrious recorded history going back to the
4th century BC. Assam was an independent kingdom throughout all of history
till the end of the first quarter of the 19th century when the British
conquered the kingdom and annexed it to British India. The current state
capital of Assam, Guwahati, known in ancient time as Pragjyotishpura
or The Eastern City of Light, was the capital of Kamrup which finds
frequent mention in the Great Hindu Epic Mahabharata and other Sanskrit
volumes and historical lores. Assam's economy is based on agriculture
and oil. Assam produces a significant part of the total tea production
of the world. Assam produces more than half of India's petroleum.
Industries :Tea, Petroleum, Handlooms, Sericulture, Cane, Bamboo, Carpentry,
Brass, Metal crafts
Crops:Rice, Jute, Tea, Cotton, Oil Seeds, Sugar-cane, Potatoes.
Assam is rich in minerals. It produces 55% of the tea produced in the
country. Petroleum products are the other major contribution of the
state.
The current political situation in Assam is unstable with United Liberation
of Asom (ULFA) fighting a low-intensity but wide-spread guerrilla warfare
for independence from India. Although the Indian military has tried
to quell the insurgents with a large presence for more than ten years,
they have been not very successful. There are other militant groups
who are seeking independence or autonomy in Assam.
There have been consistent reports of grave human rights violations
in Assam committed primarily by the Indian military. The humidity that
is brought into Assam by the southwest monsoons, which shower an average
annual rainfall of 120 inches or more on the great Brahmaputra valley
and the surrounding region, also create spectacular sunsets during most
of the year. The monsoons are Assam's life blood; creating a bio-diversity
that can compete with the equatorial rain-forests and painting the region
with a thousand shades of green.
Assam
produces almost 400 million kg tea per annum. Assam tea is famous for
its rich full bodied, bright liquor. The tea from here is best for those
who prefer a strong cup.
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