Important Events of Assam History

The History of Assam and its adjoining areas dates back to the period of the stone age. Various evidence of early human settlement in Assam has been found. So, History of Assam is a vast topic and cannot be fully covered in an article.

Here, in this article, we have covered only the chronology of Important Events in Assam History (All the events are in Year (AD) - Event format.

Ancient Assam

• 350 Pushya Varman establishes the Varman dynasty in Kamarupa.

• 594 Kumar Bhaskar Varman became the king of Kamrupa.

• 636 Chinese Buddhist scholar/traveller Xuanzang visits the court of Bhaskar Varman in Kamarupa.

• 650 Kumar Bhaskar Varman Dies. End of the great Varman Dynasty.

• 655 Salasthamba establishes Mlechchha dynasty in Kamarupa.

• 900 Brahmapala establishes Pala dynasty in Kamarupa.

• 1100 End of Pala Dynasty with the fall of last king Jaypala.

Medival Assam

• 1185 Prithu establishes the Khen dynasty and the Kamata kingdom.

• 1187 Birpal establishes Chutiya kingdom in Sadiya.

• 1206 Muslims first attack Assam.

• 1228 First Ahom king Sukafa enters Assam.

• 1252 Sukafa establishes first Ahom capital in Charaideo.

• 1449 Srimanta Sankardev is born.

• 1490 First Ahom-Kachari battle.

• 1498 Alauddin Hussain Shah of Gaur removes the last Khen ruler of Kamata kingdom.

• 1515 Viswa Singha establishes Koch political power and Koch dynasty.

• 1522 Chutiya kingdom annexed to the Ahom Kingdom under Suhungmung.

• 1527 Nusrat Shah’s invasion, the first Muslim invasion of the Ahom kingdom, ends in failure.

• 1532 Turbak attacks the Ahom Kingdom, the first commander to enjoy some success.

• 1533 Turbak defeated and killed. Ahoms pursue Gaur army to Karatoya River.

• 1536 Ahoms destroy Dimapur, the capital of the Kachari kingdom.

• 1539 Ahom king establishes the capital in Garhgaon.

• 1540 Nara Narayan succeeds his father to the throne of Kamata kingdom.

• 1548 Assam witnesses a devastating earthquake.

• 1563 Chilarai occupies Ahom capital Garhgaon, ends with Koch-Ahom treaty.

• 1568 Srimanta Sankardev dies.

• 1581 Nara Narayana divides Kamata kingdom into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo (to be governed by Raghudev).

• 1587 Naranarayana of Koch dynasty dies.

• 1588 Raghudev, son of Chilarai and ruler of Koch Hajo declares independence.

• 1609 Momai Tamuli Borbarua restructures Paik system in Ahom kingdom.

• 1609 Koch Bihar becomes a Mughal vassal.

• 1613 Koch Hajo is annexed by the Mughal Empire.

• 1615 Ahom-Mughal conflicts begin.

• 1637 Bali Narayan dies of natural causes, and Koch rebellion again Mughals collapse.

• 1639 Treaty of Asurar Ali signed between the Ahom kingdom and the Mughal Empire.

• 1659 Ahoms take possession of Koch Hajo (up to Sankosh River). Koch Hajo was occupied by rulers of Koch Bihar earlier, who drove out the Mughal faujdar from Guwahati.

• 1662 Mir Jumla attacks Ahom kingdom and occupies Garhgaon, the Ahom capital.

• 1663 After Treaty of Ghilajharighat Mir Jumla returns to Dhaka, dies on the way.

• 1667 Ahoms wrest Guwahati and extend control up to Manas River; begins defence preparations.

• 1668 Mughals under Ram Singh advance up to Guwahati to retake it.

• 1671 The battle of Saraighat between Ahom and Mughals. Ahoms under general Lachit Borphukan wins.

• 1679 Laluk-sola Borphukan deserts Guwahati.

• 1681 Gadadhar Singha becomes Ahom King.

• 1682 Ahoms win the battle at Itakhuli. End of Ahom-Mughal conflicts with the Ahoms' victory.

• 1714 Rudra Singha dies, and with his death the Kachari, Jaintia etc. grand alliance to remove the Mughals from Bengal.

• 1769 First phase of Moamoria rebellion, Ahom capital falls but recaptured in April 1770.

• 1783 Ahom capital Rangpur fell the second time to Moamoria rebellion. Rebel leaders strike coins in their names.

• 1786 Third Moamoria rebellion.

• 1794 Captain Thomas Welsh restore Rangpur to Ahom king from Moamora rebels. The Ahom capital shifts to Jorhat.

• 1805 Ahoms come to terms with Sarbananda, the last Moamora rebel leader holding out in Bengmara (Tinsukia). Ahoms declare Sarbananda the Barsenapati of Matak Rajya.

• 1815 First Burmese Invasion of Assam.

• 1819 Second Burmese Invasion.

• 1821 Third Burmese Invasion.

• 1823 Tea leaves discovered in Assam.

• 1825 Crude Oil discovery in Assam.

• 1826 Treaty of Yandaboo signed between East India Company and King of Burma; end of Burmese and beginning of British occupation of Assam.

Modern Assam

• 1830 The first freedom fighter of Assam, Piyoli Phukan is hanged.

• 1837 Bangla is made the official language of Assam by British creating controversy.

• 1843 Sivasagar sees first High school of Assam.

• 1846 First Assamese magazine Orunodoi published.

• 1853 A giant asteroid strikes the Brahmaputra River.

• 1858 Famous freedom fighter Maniram Dewan is hanged.

• 1861 Phulaguri Dhawa, the first peasant uprising against British rule was repressed.

• 1865 Assam gets Telegraph and telephone connections.

• 1873 Assamese becomes official language again.

• 1874 Assam is separated from Bengal and becomes an independent state.

• 1889 First publication of Assamese magazine ‘Junaki’.

• 1894 Patharughat raijmel fired upon, villagers tortured and property confiscated.

• 1897 Assam witnesses a devasting earthquake killing thousands of people.

• 1900 Tea research center is established in Tukulai, Jorhat.

• 1901 Cotton is established in Gauhati. Asia’s first Oil refinery is established in Digboi.

• 1917 First meeting of Assam Sahitya Sabha.

• 1921 Mahatma Gandhi visits Assam.

• 1926 National Congress conference held in Pandu.

• 1942 Kanaklata and Mukunda Kakoti were gunned down by British Police.

• 1947 India gets independence. Assam becomes a state.

• 1947 First medical college is established in Dibrugarh.

• 1961 Assamese becomes the state’s official language.

• 1962 China attacks India and Assam becomes the first victim.

• 1963 Nagaland separates out from Assam.

• 1972 Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh are also separated out from Assam.

• 1974 From Shillong, the capital of Assam was shifted to Dispur.

• 1979 Assam Movement starts on demand of stopping Bangladeshi Immigrants. The presidential rule in the state.

• 1985 Assam Accord signed. End of Assam agitation.

• 1985 Asom Gana Parishad came to power in the state Assembly elections of 1985.

• 1987 Second Bridge on Brahmaputra Koliabhumura is inaugrated.

• 2011 Bhupen Hazarika dies.