== History ==

{{Culture of Assam}}

The first reference to the language of Assam was found in the account of famous Chinese monk-cum-traveler [[Xuanzang]]. He visited the [[Kamarupa Kingdom]] during the reign of [[Kumar Bhaskara Varman]] of [[Varman dynasty]]. While visiting Kamrupa in seventh century, [[Xuanzang]] noted that the language of the region was slightly different from the language of Middle India ([[Magadha]]). He was able to identify the phonetic differences evident in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Asamiya Sahityar Ruprekha (10th ed.)|last=Neog|first=Maheswar|publisher=Chandra Prakash|year=2008|isbn=|location=Guwahati|pages=}}</ref> Even though systematic errors in the Sanskrit of [[Kamarupa inscriptions]] betray an [[Kamarupi Prakrit|underlying Pakrit]] in the pre-12th century period,<ref>{{Harv|Sharma|1978|pp=0.24-0.29}}</ref> scarce examples of the language exist. The ''[[Charyapada]]''s, the Buddhist ballads of 8th-10th century some of whose composers were from [[Kamarupa]] and the language of which bear strong [[Charyapada#Affinities with Assamese|affitinities with Assamese]] (besides [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]] and [[Oriya language|Oriya]]), are considered the first examples of Assamese literature. The spirit of the ''Charyapadas'' are found in later-day ''Deh-Bicaror Geet'' and other aphorisms; and some of the ragas found their way to the 15th-16th century ''[[Borgeet]]s''.<ref name="Saikia 1997 5">{{Harv|Saikia|1997|p=5}}</ref> In the 12th-14th century period the works of Ramai Pundit (''Sunya Puran''), [[Boru Chandidas]] (''[[Shreekrishna Kirtana|Krishna Kirtan]]''), Sukur Mamud (''Gopichandrar Gan''), Durllava Mullik (''Gobindachandrar Git'') and Bhavani Das (''Mainamatir Gan'') bear strong grammatical relationship to Assamese; and their expressions and their use of ''adi-rasa'' are found in the later Panchali works of Mankar and Pitambar.<ref name="Saikia 1997 5"/> These works are claimed as examples of [[Bengali literature]] as well. After this period of shared legacy, a fully differentiated Assamese literature finally emerged in the 14th century.

 

 

===Modern Era :-===

This is a period of the prose chronicles (''[[Buranji]]'') of the [[Ahom Kingdom|Ahom court]]. The Ahoms had brought with them an instinct for historical writings. In the Ahom court, historical chronicles were at first composed in their original [[Tai-Kadai language]], but when the Ahom rulers adopted Assamese as the court language, historical chronicles began to be written in Assamese. From the beginning of the 17th century onwards, court chronicles were written in large numbers. These chronicles or buranjis, as they were called by the Ahoms, broke away from the style of the religious writers. The language is essentially modern except for slight alterations in grammar and spelling.