Assam Year Book 2023: Chapter 3 (Part III) notes, Download PDF

Welcome, prospective readers, to another chapter of the Assam Year Book 2023. In this continuous series of blogs, we aim to provide concise yet comprehensive Assam Year Book 2023 PDF chapter-wise notes. The previous chapters of the Assam Year Book 2023 PDF notes have already been covered. Click here to check out the previous chapters and download the Assam Year Book 2023 pdf notes. Chapter 3 of the Assam Year Book 2023 is divided into three sections for easy reading: Part I delves into the political history of different Assamese kingdoms; Part II concentrates on Ahom rule; and Part III covers the period from British rule to modern-day Assam. Today’s focus is on Part III of Chapter 3, i.e., British rule to the Assam Accord, and we’ll be discussing the relevant notes from Chapter 3 of the Assam Year Book 2023.

Rule of British

• During the British rule, the Pyke system was alive and posts were filled with non-Assamese, which did not go down well with people, especially the intellectuals. Thus, plans were afoot to overthrow the British and re-establish the Ahom rule.
• The first notable revolt against the British was led by Dhananjay Borgohain and Gumadhar Konwar in 1828.
• Gamadhar Konwar was sentenced to seven years in prison and Dhananjay Borgohain, who was given orders to be hanged, fled to Matak Kingdom.
• There, he, together with his sons Harakanta and Haranath, son-in-law Jeuram Dualia Baruah, Piyoli Barphukan, Rupchand, and many others, secretly set up a plan to attack Rangpur. But before they could execute the plan, Sadiya Khowa Gohain informed the British of their plans because he wanted to prove his loyalty to the British.
• Piyoli Barphukan and Jeuram Dualia Baruah were hanged to death in 1830 and the rest were expelled from the country.
• The famous revolt of 1857 found an echo in Assam under the leadership of Maniram Dewan and Piyoli Barua, who were consequently hanged in 1858.
• In 1859, Assam came under a commissioner’s rule. In 1837, the British tried to impose Bengali as the language of instruction, but failed due to vigorous opposition led by American Baptist missionaries and prominent figures like Anundoram Dhekial Phukan, Hemchandra Barua, and Gunabhiram Baruah. As a result, Assamese regained its status as the medium of instruction by 1873.
• In 1884, Jagannath Barooah formed the first such organisation and named it Sarbajanik Sabha at Jorhat.
• It was followed by Assam Association, formed by Manik Chandra Baruah
• Fighters of the period like Nabin Chandra Bordoloi, Tarun Ram Phukan, Gopinath Bordoloi, Rohini Kumar Hati Baruah, Vidyadhar Sarma, Chandranath Sarma, etc. made the association a platform for their future political careers. Later on, the Assam Association came to be recognised as the Assam branch of the Indian National Congress in 1919. In 1916, Asam Chatra Sanmilan and, in 1917, Assam Sahitya Sabha (formerly known as Sadou Asom Sahitya Sanmilani) were formed.
• 1921 is a memorableyear in the annals of Assam history because of three things, which were
  • Gandhiji’s visit to Assam
  • The strikes by Assam-Bengal train services and steamer companies caused significant unrest and
  • After a period of 63 years, i.e., in 1921, Assam passed into the hands of a governor, thus paving the way for a dual administration that lasted till 1936. The 41st session of the Indian National Congress took place in Pandu, Guwahati, in 1926. It was presided over by Srinivas Iyengar.
• In 1935, self-governance in Assam was introduced. In the elections held in 1937, although the Congress was able to secure the maximum number of seats, they were not able to get a majority. Therefore, the leader of Muslim League: Sir Sayed Muhammad Sadulla, formed the first council of ministers-after securing the approval of other parties; Subsequently, the Congress gained power, with Gopinath Bordoloi as its leader. Finally, during the second world war, the Bordoloi ministry resigned and the Sadulla ministry came back to power in 1939.
• 1942 was the year of the historic Quit India Movement, which was also popularly known as the Peoples Revolution.
• Finally, in 1945, after the end of the Second World War, the Labour Party, headed by Clement Attle, came to power in Britain. In 1946, the Cabinet Mission sat in discussion with the political leaders of India and decided on the transfer of power. The transfer, which took place on August 15, 1947, earned India its independence.

Assam After Independence

• The first governor of independent Assam was Sir Akbar Hydari and the chief minister was Gopinath Bordoloi, who laid the foundations for Gauhati University (1948), Gauhati High Court (1948), and the and the Guwahati station of All India Radio.
• Gopinath Bordoloi died in 1950 and then Bishnu Ram Medhi took over as the next chief minister of Assam. His stint was from 1950–57. The first five-year plan was started in his time, the panchayat system of governance was introduced and the agricultural sector gained more importance during his tenure.
• Bimala Prasad Chaliha was the third chief minister from 1957 to 1970. In 1958, the 66^th session of Congress was held in Jalukbari, Guwahati. The Saraighat Bridge was constructed over the Brahmaputra River (1965), and an oil refinery was established at Noonmati, Guwahati, in 1962 during his time.
• In 1959–60, the famous language revolt took place in Assam, and as a result, Assamese became the official language of the state, and Bengali also enjoyed the same status in the Cachar District of Barak Valley.
• Mohendra Mohan Choudhury assumed the mantle of chief minister in 1970. The foundations of Bongaigaon Petro-Chemicals, the paper mill at Jogighopa and the jute factory at Silghat in Nagaon were laid during his tenure.
• In 1972, Sarat Chandra Sinha came to power after Congress secured an absolute majority. In 1973,the capital was finally shifted to Guwahati from Shillong.
• 1978 witnessed in the Janata Dal coming to power in the state, and Golap Borbora succeeded Sarat Chandra Singha
• Then came Keshab Gogoi as the Chief Minister for a short stint. President’s Rule was introduced for the first time in 1979.

Assam Agitation Onwards

• During that time (1979), a mass agitation against the illegal foreign nationals staying in Assam started to take root under the leadership of the All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which was to spread all over the state on a large scale. Famous as the ‘Assam Agitation’, this agitation got support from other organisations like the Gana Sangram Parishad, Karmachari Parishad, and even many women’s organisations.
• An accord (known as the ‘Assam Accord’) to end this agitation was signed between the AASU and the Central Government headed by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in the early morning of August 15, 1985.
• After the ‘Assam Accord’ of 1985, Hiteswar Saikia Government of 1983 was dismissed and, in the election, held in December of 1985 the regional party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) constituted by the leaders of ‘Assam Agitation’, got the majority and for the first time in the history of Assam, a regional party formed the government. Prafulla Kumar Mahanta became the Chief Minister of Assam.

Assam Legislative Assembly

• The Assam Legislative Assembly came into being on the day of its first sitting on April 7, 1937, in the Assembly Chamber in Shillong, the erstwhile capital of the composite state of Assam.
• Assam, under the provisions of the India Council Act, 1861, did not have its own democratic institution but was tagged with East Bengal in 1905 and the institution was then called the ‘Legislative Council of Eastern Bengal and Assam’, which started functioning on December 18, 1906. In 1909, the Council had a strength of 40 members, out of which, Assam was allotted five seats.
• In 1912, Assam was reconstituted into a Chief Commissioners’ Province.
• In the year 1913, after Assam was granted a Legislative Council under the Government of India Act 1909, the Assam Legislative Council came into being with a strength of 34 members, of which 13 were nominated by the Chief Commissioner and 21 were elected by the people.
• The Legislative Council of Assam first met on January 6, 1913, at 11 am at Shillong, which was presided over by Sir Archdale Easle, the Chief Commissioner of Assam.
• The Government of India Act, 1935, was adopted by the British Parliament on August 2, 1935, and was implemented in 1937. The Government of India Act 1935 made provisions for a legislative assembly in each province and as a result, the legislature in Assam became bicameral. The Assam Legislative Assembly had a strength of 108 members and all of them were elected members. The strength of the legislative council (Upper House) was not less than 21 and not more than 22.
• After the partition of India, the Sylhet district of Assam was transferred to then-East Pakistan by a referendum, and the strength of the Assembly was reduced to 71.
• However, after independence, the strength of the members was again raised to 108. The bicameral Assam Legislative Assembly became unicameral with the abolition of the Assam legislative council in 1947.
• In the years that followed, Assam was truncated into several smaller states. In 1963, Nagaland came into being as a separate State With the passing of the North-Eastern (Reorganisation Areas) Act 1971 by the parliament, Meghalaya became a full-fledged state. Subsequently, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh also followed suit.
• After the creation of Meghalaya as a separate state, Shillong continued to be the joint capital of both Assam and Meghalaya.
• However, in 1972, the Government of Assam decided to shift the capital to Dispur, Guwahati
• The Assam Legislative Assembly has so far had 21 speakers since its inception.  Babu Basant Kumar Das was the first and Biswajit Daimary is the present Speaker of the 15^th Assam Legislative Assembly.

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