ENTRY -- Contest 1: History and Culture of my place

This is my Entry for Contest 1 -- History and Culture about my place. So let's go straight into it..

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I live in Guwahati city, which is also the capital city of Assam, a state in North Eastern India. Guwahati is the Gateway to the North East.

Talking about history of my state, it's a long tale, probably I can't do much justice describing it in one single post, but as per the requirement of this contest I am gonna make long story short.

The history of Assam can be broadly divided into four phases --

• The Prehistoric Period, which is based on mythological tales related to the Hindu epics.

• The Ancient Historic Period, which has evidences in the form of rock edicts, rock and copper plate inscriptions etc.

• The Medieval Historic Period, which begins with the arrival of the Ahoms, a tribe from the Mung Mao region of Burma (now Myanmar) as early as in 1228 AD led by their king Chaolung Siu-Ka-Pha, who eventually established the Ahom dynasty in Assam, that went on to rule for 600 years until its decline in 1826 after which British colonial rule began in Assam.

^{Statue of Ahom general Lachit Barphukan who fought valiantly against Mughals. Image Credit: Author}

• The Modern Historic Period, which marks the arrival of the British East India Company and thereafter the British Crown government which dominated the entire nation of India including the state of Assam for almost two centuries until they were ousted from India in 1947 when India attained Independence.

Talking about Culture, Asaam is a hotbed of cultural diversity in North East India. As it is the Gateway to the North East, people from the all seven NE States can be found living here to earn their livelihood as well as for better opportunities. As such this place shares rich culture, language, tradition and food habits among others.

• The region is one of the designated World Heritage Sites in India.

• The state has 5 National Parks which promote tourism culture in the region. It is noteworthy that the One-horned Rhinoceros is found only in Assam and no where else in the world. It is the state's cultural symbol.

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• Talking about festivals and indigenous sports, the state of Assam celebrates the spring harvest festival Bihu as its main festival. Several indigenous games and sports like buffalo fight, egg fight have passed down through generations and bears cultural significance.

Bihu festivities Source

That's all I could think about. Thanks a lot for reading. Have a blessed weekend.