The word 'Assam' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Asom' meaning peerless. The land whose bewitching picture is conjured up by the name 'Assam' is in fact peerless, judged by her exquisite natural beauty, cultural richness and human wealth. Nestled in the heart of India's north-eastern region, Assam covers a territory of 78,523 square kilometers, roughly a fourth of it comprising rugged hills and the rest verdant alluvial plains. The Arunachal hills emerge along its northern limit and bend sharply at its northeastern border. Nagaland and Manipur touch the eastern boundary and the Mizorarn hills abruptly rise from its southern extreme. Bangladesh lies in the west sharing Assam's western border with Meghalaya and Tripura. The international border of the region runs in a manner which leaves only a narrow strip in the submontane region of the Himalayas as that opens out to the Indian mainland. The almond shaped valley, built mostly by aggravation work of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, is a flat plain dropping only 12 CMS per k'dometre. Eighty to hundred cologne- trees wide in the upper reaches, the valley narrows down to almost half while bye-passing the gneiss- granite projection in the mid way from the hill districts and widens again to embrace the Kopili plains. Running through another narrow passage grudgingly allowed by the Shillong plateau and the Bhutan Himalayas, the valley finally opens out to the North Bengal Plains. The very first thing one notices about the State's landscape is the immense green stillness, almost impenetrable. The beauntiful monsoon, coupled with mostly humid tropical climate, has stimulated and nurtured the luxuriant green against which the diverse flora blooms in a riot of colours. The lush green forests and the fresh running waters shelter a wide variety of the denizens of the sylvan worlds, which further deepens the aura of mystery around the frontier State.

Tracking back to the roots of Assam's history, one finds Assam to be an ancient land that figured in international trade as far back as 100 B.C. when a Chinese explorer called Chang Kien had pursued his country's trading link with this land. According to the Perilous of the Erythrean Sea, Himalayan malabathrum and silk from Assam reached Egypt and Rome in the Pre-Christian eras. Assam was also illustrated notably in Ptolemy's geography. Absence of tangible archaeological evidence has often made any probe into Assam's ancient past a difficult task. The earliest footprints found were those of Austric Aborigines who were followed by the Pre-Dravidians. From the eastern sides, several Mongoloid groups of people arrived to this land and made their abode permanently. The Vedas refer to them as 'Kiratas'. 

The present-day capital 'Guwahati' was known as 'Pragjyotishpura', the city of eastern lights. The land of Assam covered a bigger territory extending up to Nepal subsequently and came to be known as 'Kamrupa'. The 'Kalika Purana' and 'Vishnu Purana' have stated that the extent of Kamrupa's territory had a radius of 450 miles in all directions from the Kamakhya temple, located at the top of Nilachal Hills in Guwahati. According to the local faith, the earliest rulers of Pragjyotishpura belonged to the Danava dynasty, founded by Mahiranga Danava. The well-known king Narakasura, whose birth is attributed to the union of 'Vasumati' (Mother Earth) with God 'Vishnu' in his 'Varaha' incarnation. It was mentioned in the Mahabharata that Narakasura's descendant Bhagadatta participated in the 'battle of Kurukshetra' on Kaurav's side. He took a large contingent of Kirata troops and elephants with him to the battle. Bhagadatta fought gallantly and died a hero's death at the hands of 'Bhima', the second Pandava.The coming of the Ahoms across the eastern hills in 1228 was the most noteworthy turning point in Assam history.