tailieunhanh - Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume III - South Asia - G

Bách khoa toàn thư nền nông nghiệp thế giới - Vùng Nam Á - Vần G | Garó 81 Gaiía ETHNONYM Assamese Muslims Assam is an Indian state located between 26 and 28 N and 90 and 94 E. Muslim Assamese speakers number 2 million out of a total Muslim population of about 5 million in Assam. Although the basic values of the Assamese Muslims are Islamic they share some Hindu customs and practices which are contradictory to Islamic conventions. While intermarriage with Hindus is rare many Assamese Muslims identify more strongly with other Assamese who are Hindu than with other Muslims. Their identity is inexorably connected with the Asamiya language and the region of Assam. Asamiya Asarnbe Asami the native language of the Assamese is derived from Sanskrit and is the official language of Assam State. There are two important dialects eastern and western which are very different in linguistic structure from each other. The language is rich in borrowed vocabulary from Hindi Persian Arabic English Portuguese and regional tribal languages. The language uses the Bengali script. The Asamiya-speaking Muslims of Assam developed their culture through continuous contact between Islam and native regional cultures. They have many cultural traits in common with Assamese Hindus and are less orthodox than other Indian Muslims. Assam first came into contact with Islam in 1206 when Muhammad bin Bakhtar led a military expedition to Tibet through the region. In 1532 Turbak invaded Assam with a Muslim army and was defeated by the king of the Ahoms. Those taken prisoner were settled in the region and married Assamese women losing all their Islamic culture within a few generations and adopting local customs. In the 1630s the Muslim saint Shah Milan also known as Azan Faqir opened the way for Islamic missionaries by winning the patronage of the Ahom rulers. Between 1910 and 1931 thousands of Bengali Muslim peasants from eastern Bengal now Bangladesh settled in the riverine tracts