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I do not introduce the Asam hill and border tribes as the aborigines of that province, but have rather endeavoured to show that its colonization, as a branch of the Aryan family, dates from a very remote period. It is probable that the hill people of Lower Asam, now known as Garos and Kasias, were earlier settlers, for we find them holding and isolated position, as if the Aryan invasion pushing in like a wedge had cut them off from communication with the parent northern nations, (And it is very remarkable that it is through them, especially through the Kasias, that the connection between the Lohitic tribes and the aborigines of the Gangetic provinces is most clearly traced.) but otherwise the plains of Assam appear to have been unoccupied, and to the Aryans may be ascribed the honor of first peopling them. |
