The Muslim Immigration in Assam: An Overview

The Muslims have a history of more than seven and a half century in Assam. For over four hundred and fifty years they tried conquer the Brahmaputra valley but failed. In course of their invasions, captive mercenaries and others settled in small members and could little influence the existing population. The Ahom kings also invited some Muslim professionals. Barak-Surma valley consisting of Sylhet and Cachar districts had since Akbar's time been in Muslim dominion and came under Assam administration in 1874. Partition of Bengal and creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam province brought the Muslims and the Assamese to a closer contact. Again, the early years of 20th century witnessed the beginning of an altogether different phenomenon of extremely far reaching consequences. The vast cultivatable wastelands attracted a large, scale of Muslim farmers of the neighbouring regions. Basically economic in character, immigration soon became an administrative and social issue. But the colonial Government encouraged immigration as a matter of practical politics. The steady stream of agricultural immigrants from adjoining districts of Bengal and Bihar started to come to Assam, most of whom were the Muslims. They settled permanently with their families mainly on the vast cultivable wastelands lying in the riverine belt of the Lower and central districts of the valley namely Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang and Nowgong.