The history of Assam dates back to the Vedic era when the Mongoloids or
Kiratas became the early inhabitants of this land. The present-day tribes of the Northeast are all considered to be the descendants of the
Kiratas.
Pragjyotishpura - the City of Eastern Lights - is also believed to be to be the capital of the Kiratas. Vedas - the oldest Hindu scripture, defines a land of the Kiratas stretching from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The Kirata king Narakasura is said to be the founder of Pragjyotishpura.
The records of the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang revealed that the land Pragjyotishpura was known as Kamarupa in the medieval period. Hiuen Tsang spoke of a powerful and prestigious Kamarupa under King Bhaskaravarman.
The Ahoms entered into Assam in 1228 AD. By the 15th century, the kingdoms of Ahom and Koch were established. This period witnessed a change in all spheres of life in Assam. Up to the 18th century, Ahom kingdom contributed significantly towards the development of the land, but later the Burmese took over the political authority in Assam thus invoking British intervention to subdue the Burmese.
During British period, various changes including construction of railways, introduction of tea plantation, discovery of coal and oil etc were carried out.
After India became independent in 1947, Assam was made a separate state of the Indian Union. But it witnessed several separations of its territories.
In 1948, NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) was separated. In 1963 Nagaland was separated. In 1972 Meghalaya and in 1987 Mizoram was separated from Assam.
