Assam, a state of India, is situated in between longitude 90° E & 96° E and latitude 24° N & 28° N. A land of plains and river valleys, Assam is located south of the eastern Himalayas. It covers a total area of 78,438 square kms. Assam has 3 principal regions- the Brahmaputra Valley in the north, the Barak Valley in the south and the Barail Range of hills in the south-west.

Assam is famous from the mythological era. It finds mention in epics like the Mahabharata and ancient literary works like the Puranas. In the Mahabharata age, it was known as Pragjyotish Rajya and Pragjyotishpur (present Guwahati) was its capital. It was a centre of culture of astrology. Hence the name Pragjyotish (Prag- East, Jyotish- Astrology). Pragjyotish Rajya came to be known as Kamaroopa because Kamadeva, the God of Love, who was reduced to ashes being cursed by Lord Shiva regained his bodily image (Kama- Kamadeva, Roopa- Bodily image) in this country. Bhagadatta, son of King Narakasura who ruled Pragjyotish Rajya, fought against the Pandavas and was killed in action at the hands of Arjuna (3rd Pandava). Kamaroopa gradually came to be known as Assam (Asama) from the mid of the 13th century. It is said that the name came from the Ahom conquerers who made their advent to the Brahmaputra valley in 1228 AD.