M 



ASAM. 



AJAPH, ST. 



Kaw the Garrow Hill* a wide opening connect* the valley of Asam 

 with the plains extending along the Ganges. 



Aaam comprehends an area of about 70,000 square mile*. About 

 one-half of iu surface is occupied by the offset* of the Himalaya 

 Mountain*, which are inhabited by independent nations. Only the 

 level and in some places hilly country which extends along the banks 

 of the Brahmaputra, between 90 80' and 96 E. long., with an average 

 breadth of from 40 to 60 miles, forms what may be properly called 

 the kingdom of Asam, comprehending an area of about 24,000 

 square miles. 



The river which forms the most remarkable feature in Asam is 

 described elsewhere. [BRABXAPCTRA.] The tributary riven which 

 descend from the mountains on the north and south sides of the valley 

 are navigable in the rainy season, and for a short time afterwards, as 

 far as their courses lie in the plains. The principal among them are 

 the Noa (little) Dihing, Burl (great) Dihiug, Deyong, Dihong, and 

 Suban Shirt 



Asam though not situated within the tropics partakes of the tropical 

 climate, the seasons being distinguished by the abundance of rain, or 

 the continuance of dry weather. At the time of the inundation con- 

 sequent on the rains (June to September), the inhabited places would 

 be isolated if tfiey were not connected by causeways 8 feet high and 

 18 feet broad. These causeways are almost the only lasting monu- 

 ments of human industry in this country, but they have in the late 

 unsettled times partly gone to decay. 



The soil all over the valley, except in some hilly district*, is alluvial, 

 and the result of the annual inundations : it is exceedingly fertile. 

 Only a very small portion of this fine valley is under cultivation. But 

 since 1826 the English have undertaken to protect the inhabitants of 

 the lowlands from the incursions of the mountaineers. The chief 

 agricultural product is rice ; sesamum, wheat, barley, millet, kidney- 

 beans, pepper, ginger, turmeric, capsicum, garlic, onions, and a variety 

 of fruiU, are also grown. Cotton is cultivated to a small extent ; silk 

 ia extensively produced. Tea, sugar, tobacco, caoutchouc, betel-leaf, 

 opium, gum copal all are met with. 



Oxen and buffaloes are reared, but only for the plough, as the 

 inhabitants do not eat beef. Horses are not numerous. Sheep are 

 rare, and are covered with hair instead of wool ; there are a few goats ; 

 poultry abounds in every district The buffalo is found also iu a wild 

 state. Elephants, bears, deer, tigers, leopards, and apes are found. 

 Fish and wild ducks are everywhere plentiful. In Asam traces hare 

 been found of gold, iron, coal, salt, and garnets. 



Reports having reached the Calcutta government, relating to the 

 value of the tea-plant found in Asam, a scientific deputation was dis- 

 patched thither about the year 1836, to inquire into the subject Tea 

 plantations were subsequently established under the management of 

 Mr. Bruce, who examined the surface of the country, with a view to 

 select spots favourable to the culture. Chinese labourers were 

 engaged, and small portions of Asam tea have since been annually 

 produced. An Asam Tea Company has been formed, and the tea sent 

 to market is found to possess the customary qualities of China tea, 

 though the plants vary materially in their habits in the two countries ; 

 in Asam the tea-tree growing in bottoms and to a considerable size, 

 while in China they are generally shrubs, and grow on the sides of 

 hills. The Asam Tea Company established a steamer on the Brah- 

 maputra, from Calcutta to Asam ; and they imported Coolies from the 

 interior of India at vast expense as labourers, but it was found that 

 a more cautious expenditure of capital was necessary to the success of 

 the infant enterprise. The tea-plantations have been placed in some 

 jeopardy by the hostility of the native Asamese. 



Asam is divided into three provinces, Camroop, Asam Proper, and 

 Sadiya, of which the first occupies the western districts, from the 

 boundary of Bengal to 03* K. long. ; Asam Proper in in the mi-Mi.', 

 and extends to the junction of the Brahmaputra with the Dihong ; 

 and Sadiya lie* to the oast of it and stretches to about 98 

 E. long. Asam Proper contains the best-cultivated districts, and 

 the few places which deserve to be called towns Jorhath, the red- 

 of the i 



_j sovereign or raja, and Kungpoor, the most industrious 

 place, tiia ancient capital Oergbong being almost entirely abandoned ; 

 but these places exhibit only a collection of huU, and contain no shops, 

 the inhabitant* of the country supplying all their necessaries by 

 domestic industry. 



The Asamese, or inhabitants of the plains, appear from their physical 

 constitution, their language, and their religion to be of Hindoo extrac- 

 tion. Their religion is Brahmaniam, but many of the inhabitant* 

 belong to mixed tribes. In the parts adjacent to Bengal there are 

 many Mohammedans, but their religion has degenerated into a heathen 

 superstition. The habitations of the Autnese consist only of thatched 

 huts, with walla of bamboo-mats, and supported by posts of saul (the 

 Skorta ro6*a, a valuable timber tree), with arched roofs and mud 

 floors. Each apartment forms a separate hut In such huts arc 

 lodged the king and the nobility, as well as the poorest man in the- 

 country. The natives understand a few mechanical employments. 

 The sortnign is considered as the only proprietor of the land, and 

 the cultivator*, who are called jiykrt, hare only a temporary interest 

 For the privilege of cultivating the soil and enjoying iU fruits they 

 are bound to work four months of the year for the king, or to pay 

 him a compensation. 



The mountaineers who inhabit the ranges to the north, east, and 

 -"iitli of the valley, are mostly Rhuddists, and some of the valleys 

 occupied by them are better cultivated than the plain, chiefly perhaps 

 from not being exposed to hostile invasions. These mountaineers 

 belong to no fewer than eight different tribes, of which the most 

 powerful is subject to the Deb-Raja or sovereign of Bhotan. Among 

 one of the tribes, the A born, erery village forma a tU-mocratical republic 

 by itself, and ia governed by laws enacted by nil the inhabitants in a 

 formal meeting. 



Before Aaom was visited by Europeans, the number of its inhabit- 

 ants was thought to amount to upwards of 1,000,000 ; but now that 

 most of the districts have been surveyed, it is supposed that the 

 population i* not much more than 150,000 or 200,000. 



Asam Heems to have been for a long time under the sway of sore- 

 reigns of Hindoo origin, and to have undergone many revolutions. 

 In the 17th century the Mogul emperors of Hindustan sent a numerous 

 army to subject Asam ; but disease and other calamities frustrated the 

 design of conquest In modern times the continual discords and 

 intrigues in the royal family brought it under the dominion of the 

 Burmese, who are said to have treated the people and the sovereign 

 with much severity. The Burmese were expelled almost without a 

 struggle by the English in 1824, and obliged by the peace of 1826 to 

 leave this country and iu sovereign under the protection of the East 

 India Company. Since that period a good deal has been done by the 

 East India Company in making and repairing roads and bridges, and 

 in erecting buildings, for the purposes of the government 



The commercial intercourse of Asam, owing to the mountain range* 

 by which the valley is bounded on almost every side, seems to be 

 almost entirely confined to that with Bengal, which is not of much 

 importance. Asam exports the coarsest kinds of silk in small quantity, 

 and receives in return salt and some cotton goods made at Dacca. 



(Buchanan, Bedford, Neufville, and Wilcox, in the Aiiat ic Hetearcha ; 

 Asiatic Journal.) 



ASAPH, ST., Flintshire, North Wales, a cathedral city, parliamen- 

 tary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union in the hundred of 

 Uhiul.llan, is situated near the western extremity of the county on 

 the road from Chester to Holyhead, in 53 15' N. lat, 3 25' \V. long., 

 284 mil*" W.N.W. from Chester and 217 miles N.W. from London. 

 The population of the parliamentary borough in 1851 was 2041. 

 St Asaph ia a contributory to the Flint district of boroughs in 

 returning one member to the Imperial Parliament The living is a 

 vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of St Asaph. St Aeaph 

 Poor-Law Union contains 16 parishes, with an area of 94,241 acres, 

 and a population in 1851 of 23,658. 



St. Asaph stands on the slope of a small hill between the rivers 

 Clwyd and Elwy, of which the Clwyd is some distance eastward from 

 the city, and the Elwy (a turbulent stream, which falls into the Clwyd 

 a little farther down) is close to the western side of the city, at the 

 bottom of the grounds of the bishop's palace. St Asaph is called by 

 tli.' Welsh people Llan Elwy, or the 'Church of Elwy.' The city is 

 small, although of late years many new houses have been added, 

 especially on the west side of the town on the Holyhead road, and on 

 the north-west, where a road runs parallel to the course of the Elwy 

 towards Rhuddlan. The cathedral stands on the summit of the hill ; 

 the main street runs from the cathedral to the parish church at the 

 foot of the hill. A bridge of five arches crosses the Elwy close to the 

 church. The bishop lias a palace, large and convenient, rebuilt by 

 Bishop Bagot, who held the see about the beginning of the present 

 century, and enlarged by the late Bishop Carey. The deanery, which 

 was rebuilt by the present dean, is on the farther side of the Klwy, 

 nearly opposite the bridge. 



The cathedral is small, but plain and neat. The original structure 

 like most of the earliest churches was of wood, but was replaced by 

 a building of stone. This having been in 1282 burnt by thu English 

 in their wars with the Welsh, an attempt was made to transfer the see 

 t'l-'.iu St. Asaph, then on open and defenceless village, to Rhyddlan or 

 Khuddlan, which was fortified. The attempt failed, and in 1284 the 

 cathedral was rebuilt ; the walla of the present edifice are the same 

 which then formed part of the building. In 1402, when the cathedral 

 was burnt by Owen Olyndwr, only the walls were left standing. After 

 having lain nearly eighty years in ruins, it was restored by Bishop 

 Redman, who repaired the walls and put on a new roof. Repairs were 

 also made by Bishop Owen in the time of Charles I. ; but the predomi- 

 nance of the Puritan party put a stop to them, and subjected the 

 cathedral and its furniture to considerable injury. Further repairs 

 were made by bishops Olemham and Barrow, who successively filled 

 the see after the Restoration (especially by the latter) ; and also by 

 bishops Fleetwood (from 1708 to 1714) and Wynne (1714 to 1723). 

 The choir was rebuilt in the time of Bishop Shipley (who was bishop 

 from 1769 to 1787), out of a fund vested in the dean and chapter for 

 the purpose. The cathedral stands on the south side of the main street, 

 in a churchyard of sufficient size to afford a good view of each side. 

 It is cruciform, with a square embattled tower in the centre, having 

 a square turret staircase at the north-eastern angle. It is one of the 

 smallest of the cathedrals, being only 178 feet long, 68 feet broad, 

 including the nave and side aisles, and 60 feet high from the pavement 

 to the ceiling. The choir since it was extended during the repairs iu 

 1833 is 93 feet long. The choir and transepts hare no side aisles. 



