Assam, Indian State
Sandwiched between the great Himalayan foothills to the north and the plateau of Meghalaya to the south, the lush valley of Assam state is dominated by the mighty Brahmaputra river.The stunning grandeur of its dense tracts of tropical forests, interspersed with emerald patchwork quilts of paddy and verdant tea gardens showcase the life giving largese of the mighty Brahmaputra. An attractive state to drive through with miles of smooth, flat roads coursing through dense forests or vibrant villages.The name ASSAM has been used for more than eight hundred years from the time the Tai people first came to Assam. the state covers an area of 30285 sq mi and is bordered by Bhutan and Bangladesh. In the mythical past, Assam was known as `Pragjyotishpur`. During the Ramayana age and the later Mahabharata age, Asaam was known as `Kamrup`. Today there are two names for Assam; the official English name ASSAM and the Assamese local name OXOM.
Let us discuss in brief how the name was evolved.
When the Shan invaders first came to Assam from upper Burma in the
thirteenth century, they called themselves as Tai, which meant glorious.
When these Tai people settled in Assam, they came to be known as
Ahom while the name of the country became known as Oxom. The prefix
`a` is used, like typical Assamese words, simply to give accent
on the sound `ch`. It is clear that the origin of the term `Acham`
or `Asam` is from the Tai people.
The name Acham or Asam was used to designate not only the ruler but also the country itself, and since then the country had been known by the name Asam by all the people outside Assam. Because of the Assamese pronunciation of the sibilants as guttural X, the names used to be pronounced as Oxom, Axam or Axom by the Assamese, dropping the S pronunciation from the original name Asam. And that was how these Tai people were eventually became known as Oxom or Axom to the local Assamese people. The name Oxom however got further phonetic transformation to Ohom and finally to Ahom. Upto the seventeenth century the name of Assam was known as Asam or Acham even inside Assam and not as Oxom. The phonetic shift from Acham to Axam or Oxom happened later. And that is how both the names emerged OXOM as pronounced and written in the Assamese language, and ASSAM as pronounced by outsiders and finally written in English by the British.
This shows that the phonetic name Asam or Acham
came first which eventually gave rise the words OXOM and AHOM. Thus
the dual names for the state as OXOM as well as ASSAM developed
in parallel, and phonetically, both the names are local Assamese
names. It is said Today the Government of Assam hurriedly made a resolution to change the name of the state to ASOM. The people are not ready to accept the new name because for the last two hundred years the name Assam gained global currency. The people are of the view that this change of name will only create chaos and confusion. The people are happy with the name Assam.
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