Assam
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
a British province of Farther India, having an area estimated at 18,200 square miles, and a population of 602,500 souls. It was an independent state until 1822, when it was incorporated with Burmah. In 1826 it was ceded to the English. The prevailing religion is Brahminism, which in this province has superseded Buddhism. Among the tribes which inhabit the country, the Assamese, the Khamtis, the Singphos, and the Nagas are the most important. The first mission in Assam was established by the American Baptist Union in 1837, on the invitation of Captain Jenkins, commissioner general of India for Assam. It was at first intended to embrace all the four principal tribes in the missionary operations, but insurrectionary movements in 1839 and 1842 induced them to restrict their labors to the Assamese. In 1844 the missionaries established an orphan institution at Nowgong, which numbered for several years from 50 to 75 members. In 1849 the translation of the New Testament in Assamese was completed, and printed at Sibsagar, in Assam, in 1849. There were in Assam, in 1859, 7 American and 3 native missionaries, 3 churches, 50 church-members, 1 boarding-school with 45 pupils.-Newcomb, Cyclopeadia of Missions; (Boston) Missionary Magazine, 1859, p. 276. (See India).
