BRITISH COLONIAL POLICIES AND THE ORIGINS OF ASSAMESE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA

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1. Introduction 2. Indian Nationalism and Assamese Nationalist Movement
under the British Colonial Rule 3. Assam and the British Rule 4. Colonial Policy and Migration 5. Colonial Policy, Bengali Domination and Rise of Assamese 6. Socio-economic Marginalization and Assamese Nationalist Movement 7. Geographical Construction of Assam under the Colonial Rule: Implications for Assamese Nationalism Linguistic Nationalism 8. Conclusion

BRITISH COLONIAL POLICIES AND THE ORIGINS OF ASSAMESE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA

Author: Syed Imtiaz Ahmed

DOI Link: DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2006v27n3a5

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the origin of the Assamese nationalist movement in India, which can be termed as the most organized among all separatist movements in the country. The paper argues that the colonial administrative and economic policies during 19thand 20thcentury laid the basis for formation of an Assamese nationalist movement that was different in its objective and character from the Pan-Indian nationalism. The paper shows that the most distinct dimension of the Assamese nationalism vis-à-visthe pan-Indian nationalist doctrine concerned the struggle of the Assamese people against the domination of the migrant communities from other regions of British India. It also articulates how geographical construction of Assam provided the basis of nationalist agenda on part of the Assamese. The narratives of Assamese nationalism, thus, reveal the presence of the fragmentation within the idea of Indian nation during the colonial era.

BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

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