most stubbornly outside the limits of the Mughul empire and of the Muhammadan polity in India. Indeed, although frequently overrun by Musalman armies, and its western districts annexed to the Muhammadan vice-royalty of Bengal, the province maintained an uncertain independence till its invasion by the Burmese towards the end of the last century, and its final cession to the British in 1826. A full account of its ancient kings will be found in Mr William Robinson s Assam, chap. iv. (Calcutta, 1841). It seems to have been originally included, along with the greater part of north-eastern Bengal, in the old Hindu territory of Kamn ip. Its early legends point to great religious revolutions between the rival rites of Krishna and Siva as a source of dynastic changes. Its roll of kings extends deep into pre-historic times, but the first Raja capable of identification flourished about the year 76 A.D. Kamrup, the Pragjotishpur of the ancient Hindus, was the capital of a legend ary king Narak, whose son Bhagadatta distinguished himself in the great war of the Mahabharata. On the rise of the Koch power, the kings of Kuch Behar wrested a portion of Assam from the kings of the Pal dynasty to whom it belonged. In the early part of the 13th century the Ahams or Ahoms, from northern Burmah and the Chinese frontiers, poured into the eastern districts of As sam, founded a kingdom, and held it firmly for several centuries. A tradition relates that this race of conquerors were originally let down from heaven by iron chains, and alighted in a place called Mungbingram, supposed to be in the Patkai range, in 567 A.D. Their manners, customs, religion, and language were, and for a long time continued to be, different from those of the Hindus ; but they found themselves compelled to respect the superior civilisation of this race, and slowly adopted its customs and language. The con version of their king Chuchengpha to Hinduism took place about the year 1611 A.D. and the whole Ahams of Assam gradually fol lowed his example. In mediaeval history, the Assamese were known to the Musalmau population as a warlike, predatory race, who sailed down the Brahmaputra in fleets of innumerable canoes, plundered the rich districts of the delta, and retired in safety to their forests and swamps. As the Muhammadan power consolidated itself in Bengal, repeated expeditions were sent out against these river pirates of the north-east. The physical difficulties which an in vading force had to contend with in Assam, however, prevented anything like a regular subjugation of the country ; and after repeated efforts, the Musalmdns contented themselves with occupy ing the western districts at the mouth of the Assam valley. The following details will suflice for the history of a struggle in which no great political object was attained, and which left the Assamese still the same wild and piratical people as when their fleets of canoes first sallied forth against the Bengal delta. In 1638, during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan, the Assamese descended the Brahmaputra, and pillaged the country round the city of Dacca ; they were expelled by the governor of Bengal, who retaliated upon the plunderers by ravaging Assam. During the civil wars between the sons of Shah Jahan, the king of Assam renewed his predatory incursions into Bengal ; upon the termination of the contest, Aur- angzeb determined to avenge these repeated insults, and despatched a considerable force for the regular invasion the Assamese terri tory. His general, Mir Jumla, defeated the Raja, who fled to the mountains, and most of the chiefs made their submission to the conqueror. But the rains set in with unusual violence, and Mir Jumla s army was almost annihilated by famine and sickness. Thus terminated the last expedition against Assam by the Muham- madans, whose fortunes in this country were never prosperous. A writer of the Muhammadan faith says : " Whenever an invading army has entered their territories, the Assamese have sheltered themselves in strong posts, and have distressed the enemy by stra tagems, surprises, and alarms, and by cutting off their provisions. If these means failed, they have declined a battle in the field, but have carried the peasants into the mountains, burned the grain, and left the country desert. But when the rainy season has set in upon the advancing enemy, they have watched their opportunity to make excursions and vent their rage ; the famished vaders have either become their prisoners or been put to death. In this manner powerful and numerous armies have been sunk in that whirlpool of destruction, and not a soul has escaped." The same writer states that the country was spacious, populous, and hard to be penetrated ; that it abounded in dangers ; that the paths and roads were beset with difficulties ; and that the obstacles to conquest were more than could be expressed. The inhabitants, he says, were enter prising, well-armed, and always prepared for battle. Moreover, they had lofty forts, numerously garrisoned and plentifully pro vided with warlike stores ; and the approach to them was opposed by thick and dangerous jungles, and broad and boisterous rivers. The difficulties in the way of successful invasion are of course not understated, as it was the object of the writer to exalt the prowess and perseverance of the faithful. He accounts for their temporary success by recording that "the Musalman hordes experienced the comfort of fighting for their religion, and the blessings of it reverted to the sovereignty of his just and pious majesty. " The short-lived triumph of the Musalmans might, however, have warranted a less ambitious tone. About the middle of the 17th century the chief became a convert to Hinduism. By what mode the conver sion was effected does not clearly appear, but whatever were the means employed, it seems that the decline of the country com menced about the same period. Internal dissensions, invasion, and disturbances of every kind convulsed the province, and neither prince nor people enjoyed security. Late in the 18th cen tury some interference took place on the part of the British Government, then conducted by Lord Cornwallis ; but the suc cessor of that nobleman, Sir John Shore, adopting the non-interven tion policy, withdrew the British force, and abandoned the country to its fate. Its condition encouraged the Burmese, an aggressive people, to depose the Raja, and to make Assam a dependency of Ava. The extension of their encroachments on a portion of the territory of the East India Company compelled the British Government to take decisive steps for its own protection. Hence arose the series of hostilities with Ava known in Indian history as the first Burmese war, on the termination of which by treaty in February 1826, Assam remained a British possession. In 1832 that portion of the province denominated Upper Assam was formed into an independent native state, and conferred upon Purandar Siuh, the ex-Raja of the country ; but the administration of this chief proved unsatisfactory, and in 1838 his principality was re united with the British dominions. After a period of successful administration and internal development, under the Lieutenant- Governor of Bengal, it was erected into a separate Chief-Commis- sionership in 1874.
with the great channel of the Brahmaputra (literally, the Son of Brahma) flowing down its middle, and an infinite number of tributaries and water-courses pouring into it from the mountains on either side. The Brahma putra spreads out in a sheet of water several miles broad during the rainy season, and in its course through Assam forms a number of islands in its bed. Rising in the Thibetan plateau, far to the north of the Himalayas, and skirting round their eastern passes, not far from the Yang- tse-kiang and the great river of Cambodia, it enters Assam by a series of waterfalls and rapids, amid vast boulders and accumulations of rocks. The gorge, situated in Lak- himpur district, through which the southernmost branch of the Brahmaputra enters, has from time immemorial been held in reverence by the Hindus. It is called the Brahma- kunda or Parasuramkunda ; and although the journey to it is both difficult and dangerous, it is annually visited by thousands of devotees. After a rapid course westwards down the whole length of the Assam valley, the Brahma putra turns sharply to the south, spreading itself over the alluvial districts of the Bengal delta, and, after several changes of name, ends its course of 1800 miles in the Bay of Bengal. Its first tributaries in Assam, after crossing the frontier, are the Kundil and the Digaru, flowing from the Mishmi hills on the north, and the Tengapani and Nawii Billing, which take their rise on the Sirigpho hills to the south-east. Shortly afterwards it receives the Dibang, flowing from the north-cast ; but its principal confluent is the Dihang, which, deriving its origin, under the name of the Sanpu, from a spot in the vicinity of the source of the Satlej, flows in a direction precisely opposite to that river, and traversing the table-land of Thibet, at the back of the great Himalaya range, falls into the Brahma putra in 27 48 N. lat., 9526 E. long., after a course of nearly 1000 miles. Doubts were long entertained whether the Dihang could be justly regarded as the continuation of the Sanpu ; these, however, have been gradually removed by the additional testimony of more recent notices ; and as it is now ascertained that the last-named river does not flow into the Irawadi, it appears impossible to account for its course to the sea, except by presuming it to dis charge its waters into the Brahmaputra through the channel of the Dihang. Below the confluence, the united stream flows in a south-westerly direction, forming the boundary between the districts of Lakhimpur and Darang, situated on its northern, bank, and those of Sadiyd, Sibsagar, and
ISTaogAon on the south ; and finally bisecting K^mrdp, it