Origins of the nationalistic identity Assamese as a nationalistic identity was seeded when the
Ahom kingdom came under repeated attacks from the
Bengal Sultanate in the early 16th century and the people banded together under
Suhungmung (1497–1539) to resist a common enemy. The kingdom not only succeeded in resisting the invasion, but a general pursued the invaders to the Karatoya river and freed most of the
Kamrup and
Kamata regions. The process of identity formation sped up during the rule of
Pratap Singha (1603–1641) when the
Mughals began
repeated incursions from 1615 and the
Battle of Saraighat in 1671; and finally the
Battle of Itakhuli (1682 CE) when the Ahoms took direct control over western Brahmaputra valley. Many Muslim soldiers and professionals who had accompanied invading armies or immigrated peacefully since the 13th century, including those from the 16th century, were given power and eminence by the Ahom kings, and they in turn helped the Ahoms in repelling the Mughals. This was also the time when the
Assamese language progressively replaced the
Ahom language in the court and outside. As a result of the Ahom kings increasingly patronising Hinduism alongside the proselytising activities of
Ekasarana Dharma since the 16th-century—a large section of the
Bodo-Kachari peoples converted to different forms of Hinduism in the 17th-18th century and a composite Assamese identity comprising caste-Hindus, tribals and Assamese Muslims began to form. On the eve of British colonialism in the early 19th century the Assamese society consisted of the hinduised ethnic groups, the caste Hindu groups, the plain tribal groups, and the Assamese Muslims; and the expression of Assamese nationalism in the 19th/20th-century was confined to the Brahmaputra valley.
Tribe-Caste continuum Social movement due to state formations Scholars believe that with the arrival of
Indo-Aryans in Assam, there was a simultaneous
Sanskritisation and deshification processes beginning in the 5th–8th century during the reign of the
Varman dynasty of
Kamarupa;—and all Assam's kings were originally non-Indo-Aryan who were gradually Sanskritised. This enabled many of the common folks to follow the ruling classes into Sanskritisation and also bring along with them elements of their own local customs and religions.
Social movement due to Ekasarana religion The
Ekasarana dharma that emerged in the 16th century and the proselytising activities of the
Sattra institutions created a path for individuals of tribal origins to traverse the tribal-caste continuum. Tribal people could take initiation at a Sattra—and a neophyte would be called a
modahi if he still took liquor. A
modahi successively advanced to the
Sarania group (also called
saru-koch),
Koch,
Bor-Koch,
Saru-Keot,
Bor-Keot and then a
Kalita. At the end of this tribal-caste continuum were the
Brahmins and often the pontiffs of Sattra's were Brahmins called Goswamis. Some of these Goswamis were a few generations earlier
Kayasthas, and some Kayastha pontiffs were earlier tribal and low caste. It is this process by which many groups such as
Chutia, Borahi,
Moran,
Deori,
Boro peoples to become Assamese peasants, especially in Upper and Central Assam; and it was noted that some kayastha
sattradhikars were originally
Morans,
Kaibartas,
Chandalas,
Tantis and
Sankardev had himself instated
gurus from Muslim, Kaibarta,
Nagas, and
Garo communities. ==See also==