Assam, state in northeastern India, bordered by the nations of Bhutan and Bangladesh. Assam means "Peerless" in the ancient Ahom language.to the east by the states of Nagaland and Manipur, to the south by the states of Mizoram and Tripura, and to the west by Bangladesh and the states of Meghalaya and West Bengal. The capital of Assam is Dispur.

Its zenith under King Rudra Singh (1696-1714). Internal strife brought an invasion from Myanmar into Assam in 1817. The British eventually drove out the Myanmar invaders and made the area part of British India in 1826. By 1842 the whole Assam valley had come under British rule.

Assam's economy is rural and agricultural. Tea is cultivated in the hilly regions, and the state provides much of the tea grown in India.Other significant crops include oilseeds, peas, beans, canola (rapeseed), sugarcane, and fruits.

Major industrial towns are Guwahati, Dimapur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tezpur.

Area 30,285 square miles (78,438 square km). Population: (1991) 22,414,322.

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