History
Ancient and Medieval History and Literary References

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have had a long and diverse history with evidence of human settlement from all periods of the Stone Age.

Ancient Assam was known as Kamarupa and was ruled by many powerful dynasties such as the Koch Dynasty, the Varman Dynasty and the Xalostombho Dynasty. The earliest references to Arunachal Pradesh are found in the Indian epics Mahabharata, Ramayana and other Vedic legends. For more on these see http://www.nriol.com/indianparents/indian-epics.asp. Several famous characters are said to be from the region, such as Princess Rukmini, King Bhismaka and Lord Parashuram. The Dibang Valley lying to the extreme north of the state, close to the Chinese border, was the ancient kingdom of Bhismaka, where Rukmini was given in marriage to Lord Krishna. Malinithan, a small town South of Along, has strong historical links with Lord Krishna and his consort Rukmini.

The first ancestors of the tribal groups in Arunachal Pradesh migrated from Tibet during the prehistoric period, and were joined by Thai-Burmese counterparts later. Except for the northwestern parts of the state, little is known about the history of Arunachal Pradesh. The earliest recorded history is from Ahom chronicles dating from the 16th century. The 400-year-old Tawang monastery in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh provides important historical evidence of the Buddhist tribal peoples. Historically, the area had a close relationship with Tibetan people and Tibetan culture; indeed the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in Tawang.

It was two later kingdoms, however, that left the biggest impact in the region. The Ahoms, a Thai group, ruled eastern Assam for nearly 600 years (1228'1826), continuously fighting off attacks from Moghul India. The Koch, a Tibeto-Burmese tribe, established sovereignty in Central and Eastern Assam in 1510, and later extended this to Western Assam and northern Bengal. The Koch kingdom later split into two - the Western kingdom became a vassal of the Moghuls whereas the Eastern kingdom became an Ahom satellite state. The locals pronounce 'Ahom'as 'Asom', which later became the state's name, 'Assam'.

British Rule

Despite numerous invasions from the west, mostly by Muslim rulers, no western power ruled Assam until the arrival of the British around 1920. However by 1821 Ahom palace intrigue, and political turmoil due to the Moamoria rebellion, aided the expansionist Burmese ruler of Ava to invade Assam and install a puppet king. However this meant that they were now neighbours to Britain's expanding empire. The First Anglo-Burmese War ensued, in which Assam was one of the main sectors.

The war ended with the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, which saw the East India Company take control of Lower Assam. Purander Singh was installed as king of an independent Upper Assam in 1833. This arrangement only lasted until 1838 when the British annexed most of independent Assam, annexing the remainder the following year.

Modern day Arunachal Pradesh came under the loose control of Tibet and Bhutan, especially in the Northern areas. The remaining parts of the state, especially those bordering Myanmar, came under the control of the Ahom and the Assamese until its annexation by the British in 1858.

Under British administration, modern day Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya were a part of the British Indian province, the Bengal Presidency, with its capital at Calcutta. Between 1905'1912, a separate province of Eastern Bengal and Assam was established, comprising modern-day Assam and some regions of Bengal, with Dhaka as the capital.

In the early 1900s, many people from present-day Bangladesh migrated to Assam, chiefly for economic reasons. The British tea planters also imported labour from Central India to work in the estates adding to the demographic canvas, and laying the foundations for future discontent amongst the indigenous peoples. In 1913-14 the British administrator, Sir Henry McMahon, drew up the 550 mile (890 km) McMahon Line - the border between British India and Tibet - during the Simla Conference, as Britain sought to advance its line of control and establish buffer zones around its colony in South Asia. The Tibetan and British representatives at the conference agreed to the line, which ceded Tawang and other Tibetan areas to British India; however the Chinese representative refused to accept the line. The Chinese position since then has been that since China was sovereign over Tibet, the line was invalid without Chinese agreement. However, not until 1937 did the Survey of India publish a map showing it as the official boundary.

Post-British Empire / Indian Independence

The end of World War II brought about the independence of India in 1947. Until last minute negotiations Assam was set to join East Bengal (which later became Bangladesh). Instead it joined India (although it lost the predominantly Muslim area of Sylhet). As a result of the split Assam was flooded with Bengalis who preferred not to live in a Muslim country. This caused a lot of resentment and ethnic tensions in the region spiralled.

By November 1950 India unilaterally declared the McMahon Line to be the boundary with Tibet, and in 1951 forced the Tibetan administration out of the Tawang area, despite protests by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Tibet.

The issue was quiet during the next decade or so of cordial Sino-Indian relations, but erupted again during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The cause of the escalation into war is still disputed, though it centred around territorial claims to Aksai Chin (a border region between India, China and Pakistan, currently administered by China but claimed by India) and Arunachal Pradesh.

During the war, the PRC captured most of modern day Arunachal Pradesh, then known as the North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA). However, China soon declared victory and voluntarily withdrew back to the McMahon Line. The war resulted in the termination of barter trade with Tibet, though more recently the state government has shown signs it is keen to see it resumed.

Trouble in the region, however, was not limited to external factors. In the early 1960s, the Government of Assam passed legislation making the use of Assamese language compulsory. The legislation resulted in widespread protest in the Barak Valley, particularly amongst the Bengali speaking majority. Coming under intense pressure, the Government withdrew the legislation, in the hope of calming the increasingly strained relations between the various ethnic groups in the area.

Economic indexes of the region, which were above average before independence, began to fall compared to the rest of the country. This sparked the formation of separatist and militant groups, mostly along ethnic lines, and demands for autonomy and sovereignty grew. In the 1960s Nagaland separated from Assam and was accorded full statehood. The 1970s saw a sharpening of ethnic conflict in Assam, partly due to a second wave of Bengalis fleeing the war in Bangladesh. Meghalaya was formed by carving out two districts from Assam: the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and the Garo Hills. Semi-autonomous status was granted to the state in 1970, and then on 21 January 1972 full statehood was accordeded. Manipur also achieved statehood in 1972. Assam's capital was moved from Shillong in present Meghalaya to Dispur, now swallowed up by an ever-expanding Guwahati.

In the 1980s the Brahmaputra valley saw a six-year Assam Agitation that began non-violently but became increasingly violent. The movement tried to force the government to identify and deport foreigners who, the natives maintained, were illegally inundating the land from neighbouring Bangladesh and changing the demographics, gradually pushing the indigenous Assamese into a minority. The agitation ended after an accord between its leaders and the Union Government. Most of the accord remains unimplemented however, causing simmering discontent. In 1987 both Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were granted full statehood.

In November 1990, the Government of India deployed the Indian army to the region in order to counter the growth of armed secessionist groups like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). The Indian army deployment has now been institutionalised under a “Unified Command'.

More recently there have been more positive developments in the region including a thaw in relations with China, and the increased stability that resulted has benefited the region. The government in Delhi has also taken a renewed interest in the region, investing more resources and promoting the area for industry and tourism. Arunachal Pradesh was opened to tourists as recently as 1998, finally granting the outside world access to one of the last unspoilt paradises on the planet (though special permits are required in addition to an Indian visa).