Assamese literature its roots in the Eastern dialect. The modern Assamese period began with the publication of the Bible in Assamese prose by the American Baptist missionaries in 1819. The currently prevalent standard Asamiya has its roots in the Sibsagar dialect of Eastern Assam. As mentioned in Bani Kanta Kakati's "Assamese, its Formation and Development" (1941, Published by Sree Khagendra Narayan Dutta Baruah, LBS Publications, G.N. Bordoloi Road, Gauhati-1, Assam, India) – " The Missionaries made Sibsagar in Eastern Assam the centre of their activities and used the dialect of Sibsagar for their literary purposes". The American Baptist Missionaries were the first
Assamese people Assamese people The Assamese people are the indigenous people of the state of Assam. They are a physically diverse group formed after years of assimilation of Austroasiatic, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman and Tai populations. The total population of native Assamese speakers in Assam is nearly 13 million which makes up 48.8% of the population of Assam according to the "Language census of 2001". Though there is a political dispute over the definition of Assamese people in Assam, in general; the people belonging to the state of Assam along with belonging to an indigenous community of Assam and speaking the Assamese language