Assam

The Assam region was gradually annexed by the East India Company following the 1st Burma War and became part of the Bengal Presidency. In 1906 a new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam was formed but in 1912 Assam became a separate province under a Chief Commissioner. Assam today is a state in north eastern India noted for its Tea Plantations and lush landscape.

Bamboo Suspension Bridge, Assam

Related articles

• Assam Districts
• Tea Plantation
• 1897 Assam earthquake
• Assam Regiment
• Assam Rifles
• Assam Valley Light Horse

Cemeteries

• BACSA publication Assam and North-East India: Christian Cemeteries and Memorials by Eileen Hewson, 2005

A comprehensive list of MIs with biographical notes, district by district, including records from churches, 1783-2003. 184pp, 5 illustrations ISBN 0 907799 82 5

This book is thought to include at least some entries from List of Inscriptions on Tombs Or Monuments in Assam published in 1902 at Shillong (120 pages) available online, refer below.

BACSA have put indexes to the majority of their cemetery books online and these indexes are free to browse. If an indexed name is of interest then application can be made to BACSA for details of the relevant burial inscription - charges apply for this service.

• List of Inscriptions on Tombs or Monuments in Assam 1902. Pdf download, PAHAR-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version. Google Books version now appears to be available full view.

Passport application records at the Assam State Archives

The Assam State Archives has a download available from its website, listing passport applications for the period 1920-32 and 1936-41. Dates of birth of the applicants are also included. Refer below.

Recommended reading

• May, Andrew - Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism: The empire of clouds in north-east India published 2012.

A review of this book by David Macadam is contained in FIBIS Journal Number 30 (Autumn 2013) page 48

External links

• Assam Wikipedia
• Assam State Archives Dispur, Guwahati Assam. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  • To access the passports application list download, select Collections/Holdings of Assam State Archives/ Assam Secretariat Records (1874-1957).
• Four Archives in Mizoram, India by Kyle Jackson, Department of History, University of Warwick, May 25, 2015. dissertationreviews.org. Mizoram is one of the seven Northeastern states of India, bordered by Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) to its east and south, Bangladesh to its west, and the states of Manipur, Assam, and Tripura to its north.
• "River Cruising in Assam" The Daily Telegraph, 19 August 2009 [retrieved 7 February, 2010], mentions Kaziranga National Park, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique natural environment.
• Kaziranga National Park Wikipedia
• "Sex and Salvation: Modelling Gender on an Indian Mission Station" by Andrew Brown-May. The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Foreign Missionary Society (WFMS) in the Khasi Hills of north-east India. From Evangelists of Empire?: Missionaries in Colonial History University of Melbourne 2008, now archived pages. The book Welsh missionaries and British imperialism: The empire of clouds in north-east India by Andrew May was published in 2012 by Manchester University Press (Studies in Imperialism), refer Recommended reading, above.
• Historical Account of British Legacy in the Naga Hills (1881-1947) by Joseph Longkumer, Phd Thesis 2011, Department of History, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth University, Pune
• The Nagas: Hill Peoples of Northeast India University of Cambridge and Yale Digital Himalaya. Includes transcriptions of historical reports, diaries etc. Retrieved 3 September 2014

Military

• "Fighting the Nagas 1832- 1880: The Naga siege of Kohima and the British attack on Khonoma) by Harry Fecitt “Harry’s Sideshows” kaiserscross.com
• "North East India and the First World War" by Pratap Chhetri February 4, 2016. The Indian Labour Corps: Lushai Labour Corps, Khasi Labour Corps, Garo Labour Corps, Naga Labour Corps, Manipur Labour Corps and enlistments from Tripura. "The Centre for Hidden Histories" [WW1]
• "The Kuki Rising 1917-1919 : Insurrection in north-eastern India and Burma" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows (kaiserscross.com)

Also called Kuki Punitive Operations.

"Breaking the spirit of the Kukis: launching the 'largest series of military operations' in the northeastern frontier of India" by Thongkholal Haokip. academia.edu. Chapter 3 from The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919: A Frontier Uprising against Imperialism during the First World War, edited by Jangkhomang Guite and Thongkholal Haokip 2019.

• "Retreat from Burma 1942: The Struggles through the Northern Passes" by Harry Fecitt “Harry's Sideshows” kaiserscross.com
• "Behind the enemy line: British-led guerrilla operations in the Indo-Burma frontier during the Second World War" by Pum Khan Pau Small Wars and Insurgencies 2019, Vol. 30:2, 307-334. academia.edu. This paper discusses the case of three ethnic communities in the Indo-Burma frontier Kachin, Naga and Zo (Kuki-Chin) and the formation of the Kachin Levies, Chin Levies, and Naga Levies.

Historical books online

• Routes in Asia. Office of Quarter Master General in India. Section 6. pt. 1. Routes in Nepaul. pt. 2. Routes in Bhutan. pt. 3. Routes in Sikhim. Pt 4. Routes in Thibet. pt. 5. Routes in Burmah. pt. 6. Routes between Assam and Burmah compiled ... by H.S. Brownrigg, Rifle Brigade. 1878 Google Books
• A Statistical Account of Assam Volume I by W W Hunter 1879 (archive.org)
  
• A Statistical Account of Assam Volume II by W W Hunter 1879 (archive.org)
  
• Assam District Gazetteers. Published 1905-1928, Volumes 1-10 by B.C. Allen, 1905-06; Volume 11 written anonymously, 1928. Supplementary volumes published c 1915.

There is a download available as a pdf file from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset as 1905 Assam District Gazetteers Vols 1 To 10 Archive.org mirror version.

The following are mainly originally from Digital Library of India, with mirror editions on Archive.org: Cachar Vol. 1, Archive.org 1905; Sylhet Vol. 2 1905, Archive.org, later reprint edition, Sylhet Supplement Archive.org 1915; Goalpara Vol.3 Archive.org 1905, Supplement to Goalpara, Archive.org 1914; Kamrup Vol. 4, Archive.org 1905; Darrang Vol. 5, Archive.org 1905, Darrang Supplement, Archive.org 1915; Nowgong Vol. 6, Archive.org 1905, Nowgong Supplement Archive.org 1915; Sibsagar Vol. 7, Archive.org 1906, Sibsagar Supplement, Archive.org 1915; Lakhimpur Vol. 8, Archive.org 1905, Lakhimpur Supplement, Archive.org 1916; Naga Hills And Manipur Vol. 9, Archive.org 1905; The Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills and the Lushai Hills Vol.10 1906 Archive.org., Volume10 Supplement 1915. British Library EAP file (Tiff images, may require a plug-in); Vol.11, Archive.org The Sadiya and Balipara Frontier Tract ? 1928.

• Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series: Eastern Bengal and Assam 1908. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. .
• The Eastern Frontier Of British India 1784-1826 by Anil Chandra Banerjee 2nd edition revised and enlarged 1946 (first published 1943) Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Memoir of the late David Scott, Esq. Agent to the Governor General, on the North- East Frontier of Bengal, and Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit in Assam 1832 Google Books
• Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India by Robert Boileau Pemberton 1835 Google Books
• Topography of Assam by John M'Cosh 1837. Google Books
• "Assam" Asiatic Journal, Volume 27-New Series September-December 1838, page 104
• ‪Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam, During a Residence of Fourteen Years‬ by John Butler 1855 Google Books
• "On an Overland Route Between Calcutta and China" by J McCosh MD, late Bengal Medical Staff Colburn’s United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal 1861 Part 2 page 50
• Page 93 Memories of Seven Campaigns: a record of thirty-five years' service in the Indian Medical Department in India, China, Egypt, and the Sudan by James Howard Thornton, Deputy Surgeon General, Indian Medical Service, late Principal Medical Officer Punjab Frontier Force. 1895 Archive.org. (The author was in the Bengal Medical Service 1856-1891). C February 1862 Thornton was appointed medical officer to the left wing of the 28th Regiment of Native Infantry, who were to proceed to Sylhet to assist in suppressing a rebellion amongst the tribes in the Khasia and Jyntia Hills in Eastern Bengal. He was subsequently transferred to 24th Regiment of Native Infantry, and remained in the Assam region to October 1868, (page 158) based at Cherra Poonjee [now Cherrapunji] in the Khasi Hills, and at Shillong.
• A fly on the wheel; or, How I helped to govern India by Lieut.-Col. Thomas H Lewin 1912. 1885 edition with illustrations. Archive.org. He arrived in India 1857, was an officer in the Army, with the Police from 1861. In 1866 he was appointed to officiate as Superintendent of Hill Tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, then permanently appointed Deputy Commissioner and Political Agent of the Hill Tracts of Chittagong. He was also appointed as a Captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, so he appears to have been "attached" as a Political Agent. Note, during this period the Chittagong Hill Tracts were part of Bengal. He retired with health issues c mid 1870s.
• Notes on the mode of capture of elephants in Assam by Archibald Campbell, Superintendent of Darjeeling 1869 Archive.org
• The Mishmee Hills : an account of a journey made in an attempt to penetrate Thibet from Assam to open new routes for commerce by T.T. Cooper 1873 Archive.org. British Library Digital Collection with possibly better images (rotatable)
• Sport in British Burmah, Assam and the Cassyah and Jyntiah Hills : with notes of sport in the hilly districts of the Northern Division, Madras Presidency ... by Lieut.-Colonel Pollok, Madras Staff Corps. (Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollok) 1879. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org
• The North-East Frontier of India (A topographical, political and military report) by Captain St John F Michell, Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department, 1973 reprint of 1883 original, may be downloaded as a pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

1883 Confidential Report (Topographical Political and Military) on the North-East Frontier of India by Michell. Pdf from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset, (if download does not display, located in Books/Indian Subcontinent). Archive.org mirror version. Note, it is not known if these digital files differ, or are in fact the identical publication.

• A Glimpse of Assam by Susan R Ward 1884 Archive.org
• My Experiences in Manipur and the Naga Hills by Major General Sir James Johnstone 1896 Archive.org. The account concerns the period 1873 to the operations in 1885-1886, at the time of the 3rd Burma War, when he retired with nearly 28 years’ service in India. Mainly he seems to have worked as a Political Agent, or similar.
• Memories Of An African Hunter With A Chapter On Eastern India by Denis D Lyell 1923 Archive.org. Missing pages 1-13. He went to a tea garden in 1894, and worked in various locations until c 1899.
• From Tonkin to India by the sources of the Irawadi, January '95-January '96 by Prince Henri D’Orleans, translated by Hamley Bent. Illustrated by G Vuillier 1898. Map Includes Upper Burma and Assam. Archive.org
• India’s North-East Frontier In the 19th Century edited by Verrier Elwin 1959. Pdf download from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download link does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1959. Archive.org mirror version. Also available Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Chapters by many different authors from the 19th century.
• Wild sports of Burma and Assam By Fitz William Thomas Pollok and W. S. Thom 1900 Archive.org
• Indian & Home Memories by Sir Henry Cotton 1910. Archive.org. He spent 35 years in the Indian Civil Service - he arrived in Calcutta in 1867 and resigned in 1902. He became Chief Commissioner for Assam in 1896 (page 226) and experienced the 1897 earthquake (page 228).
• Some Personal Experiences by Sir Bampfylde Fuller 1930 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. May also have been published in some editions as Some Personal Memories, and Some Personal Reminiscences. He passed for the Indian Civil Service in 1873 and became Chief Commissioner of Assam in 1902 (page 103). Bampfylde Fuller Wikipedia. He became first Lieutenant Governor of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam 1905 and resigned in 1906.
• The Romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir by Walter Del Mar 1906 "Containing sixty-four full page illustrations from photographs" Archive.org
• A History of Assam by Sir Edward Albert Gait 1906 Archive.org
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: Volume 4 North and North-Eastern Frontier tribes by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1907 Archive.org
  • Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: [Volume 7] Official Account of the Abor Expedition, 1911-1912 by General Staff, India published 1913, is available to download as a pdf file from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version. It is also available in a reprint edition Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Life in an Indian Outpost [Buxa Duar, North East India] by Major Gordon Casserly, Indian Army, first published c 1910. Archive.org.
• Eastern Bengal and Assam Police Manual 1911 Archive.org

• Volume 3 Reserve, Ordnance, Clothing, Guards and Escorts
• Volume 4 Court Office
• Volume 5 Inspectors and Police Stations

• The Lushei Kuki Clans by Lt.-Colonel J Shakespear [John] 1912. Published under the orders of the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Archive.org
• Bibliotheca Indosinica: Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à la péninsule indochinoise [Biblioteca Indosinica: Bibliographic dictionary of books on the Indochinese Peninsula] by Henri Cordier 1912 Archive.org. "Assam" Volume I, page 515-518, digital file page 259. Includes English publications. Contents; Index of authors; Alphabetical Index for all volumes
• The North-Eastern Frontier of India by Holdich 1912. A paper presented by Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich at a meeting of the Indian section of the Royal Society of Arts on February 8 1912. Pdf download from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.
• Report on an Exploration on the North East Frontier 1913 by Captain HT Morshead (Report 1) and Captain F M Bailey Political Department (Report 2) 1914 Archive.org. With Map, Survey of India Offices, Dehra Dun
• History of Upper Assam, Upper Burmah and North-Eastern Frontier by Leslie Waterfield Shakespear 1914 Archive.org
• In Farthest Burma: The record of an arduous journey of exploration and research through the unknown frontier territory of Burma and Tibet by Captain F Kingdon Ward, late Indian Army Reserve of Officers, attached 1/116th Mahrattas. 1921 Archive.org. With a Map. The journey took place in 1914.
• The North-East Frontier of India 1865-1914 by D P Choudhury 1978 Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Bengal and Assam, Behar and Orissa: their history, people, commerce and industrial resources by Somerset Playne and J W Bond, edited by Arnold Wright, 1917 Archive.org has a chapter on "The Province of Assam".
• History of Services of Gazetted and Other Officers Serving under the Government of Assam 1921 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Sport and Service in Assam, and Elsewhere by Lt.-Col Alban Wilson, late 1st Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles. 1924. Archive.org, mirror from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Some of the contents first appeared in the Fishing Gazette and Indian papers such as the Pioneer. Covers the period from c 1890.
• The Romance of the Indian Frontiers by Lt-Gen Sir George MacMunn, Colonel-Commandant Royal Artillery 1931 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• History of the Frontier Areas Bordering on Assam: from 1883-1941 by Sir Robert Reid 1942. Archive.org.

Years of Change in Bengal and Assam by Sir Robert Reid 1966. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Sir Robert was 36 years in the ICS 1907-1942, including the years 1937-42 as Governor of Assam. He then worked in wartime Calcutta to mid 1943.

• Forgotten Frontier by Geoffrey Tyson, published 1945. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. It is also available as a pdf download from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version. The book is about the escape of refugees from Burma in 1942 and the help provided by the tea planters of Assam in assisting the refugees from north Burma into India.
• Tour diary of Captain A. E. G. Davy, Additional Political Officer, Balipara Frontier Tract, December 1st 1944 to March 30th 1945, in connection with exploration and political work in the Dafla Hills. Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset version, pdf download - if download link does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1945. Abhilekh-patal.in version.
• Tour diaries of the Special Officer Subansiri, 1944-45 by Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf 1947 Calcutta. SOAS University of London Digital. Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset version, catalogued 1944-46, Archive.org mirror version.
• Assam Shikari. A tea planter's story of hunting and high adventure in the jungles of North East India by Frank Nicholls 1970. Archive.org, mirror from Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Nicholls (born 1889) went to India 1911 as an assistant manager to a tea estate in Assam. He retired 1952, and remained in Assam until 1963.
• Enchanted Frontiers: Sikkim, Bhutan, and India's Northeastern Borderlands by Nari Rustomji 1971. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Also available PAHAR - Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset (MCADD)(link to a pdf download). If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1971. Archive.org mirror version. An Indian born c 1918, he was educated in England, and returned, appointed to the ICS, in 1942.

Imperilled Frontiers–India’s North-Eastern Borderlands by Nari Rustomji 1983. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR - Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset (MCADD). If the download button does not display, locate under Books/Indian Subcontinent/1983.

• Industry and Industrial Arts series of Monographs. Pdf downloads, Digital Repository of GIPE Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune].
  • Monograph on the Cotton Fabrics of Assam by H F Samman 1897. Also available Archive.org.
  • Monograph on Ivory Carving in Assam by James Donald 1900
  • Monograph on the Iron and Steel Work [of Eastern Bengal and Assam]. 1907.
• Pflanzerleben in Indien kulturgeschichtliche bilder aus Assám by Oscar Flex 1873 Archive.org. German language. Extract from the book reiseliteratur-weltweit.de. German language. (page 63), Google Translate English version of the extract reiseliteratur-weltweit.de. Article with details of the book "An European's account of Assam" by Arup Kumar Dutta 5.03.12 The Telegraph (India).