The Resuscitation of the Assamese Language by the American Baptist Missionaries

Contents: 1. The Resuscitation of the Assamese Language by American Baptist Missionaries: A. In Memoriam: Baptist linguist: Dr. Miles Bronson (1983). B. Bronson Citation (1983). C. Bronson Papers (1983). 2. Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan: Plea for Assam and Assamese. 3. Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan. 4. Nidhi Levi Farwell. 5. A critical study on Ournodoi, the First Assamese Monthly. 6. Lexicography and American Baptist Missionaries. Appendices. 

“The American Baptist Missionaries who made Assam their field of evangelical activity, had a great role to play in the collective life of the Assamese people. It was the role of resuscitation of the Assamese Language from a ban in administrative and educational matters and its culture as a medium of modern literary exercise. As a result of the treaty of Yandaboo, concluded between the Burmese and the British rule in India on February 24, 1826, Assam slipped off into the territories of the East India Company. In 1836 the rulers passed orders that Bengali and not Assamese, would be the language of the courts and schools of Assam. None among the local gentry or community raised a voice of protest. The American Baptist Missionaries including the two linguistics, Dr. Nathan Brown (1807-1886) and Dr. Miles Bronson proselytizing in Assam realized this terrible situation as did Sri Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan. They joined forces to muster up an agitation for Assamese.

In this volume some works of Dr. Maheshwar Neog covering his little work of research Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan: Plea for Assam and Assamese, made an assessment of the strivings of the great pioneer Phukan towards the rehabilitation of the people of Assam, their language and education, their culture and polity in the new British Empire under which Phukan himself worked. Prof. Neog also compiles under the cover of this volume two important works of Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan: his “Observation on the Administrative of the Province of Assam” submitted as a memorandum to Mr. A.J. Moffat Mills and the book “A few remarks on the Assamese Language and on Vernacular Education in Assam” under the Pseudonym “A native” and published by American Baptist Mission (1885) to contradict the idea that Assamese has no literature and shows that prior to the beginning of the present century the Assamese literature was more extensive than Bengali. Unfortunately, the close collaboration between the missionaries and the only prominent Assamese prepared at that time to agitate for the replacement of Assamese was brought to an end by untimely death of Phukan.

Few essays on American Baptist Missionaries and their involvement in the language agitation in mid-nineteenth century Assam by Professor Maheshwar Neog are included along with few important studies on the subject by Rev. Dr. Frederick S. Downs, E.M. Nicola, Rev. E.M. Holmes, Rev. George Gillespie. Dimbeswar Neog focusing the background of American Baptist Missionaries involvement in things like language agitation in the second part of the volume as appendix for the benefit of the researchers and readers so that they can judge the value of American baptist’s contribution to Modern Assamese language and literature."