Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

is a third largest religion in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, a state of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

in the north-eastern region. The population of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

is 1,165,867 making up 3.74% of state population as of the 2011 census report, and it is also the second-fastest growing religion in Assam after Islam. The largest concentration of

can be found in

Dima Hasao District Dima Hasao district (), earlier called North Cachar Hills district, is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam. Dima Hasao district is one of the two autonomous hill distr ...

where Christian population is about 30% and

Karbi Anglong district Karbi Anglong district is one of the 34 administrative districts of Assam in India. Diphu is the administrative headquarter of the district. The district is administered by Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council according to the Sixth Schedule of the ...

where Christian population is about 16.5% as of the 2011 census report. Two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, Cabral and Cacella — the first Christian Missionaries to set foot in Assam — reached Hajo and

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

on September 26, 1626. They were en route to Tibet from Hooghly. There is no record of significant sharing of the gospel in Assam at this point. The start of sustained missionary work in Assam seems to come with the arrival of Nathan Brown along with Oliver Cutter in 1836. They previously had been Christian missionaries in Burma. They carried a printing machine with them and first arrived in Sadiya, easternmost part of Assam. They started schools in

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

and Khaamti languages and authored text books. They also started the translation of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

into Assamese. But in 1839, due to Khamti rebellions, Brown along with Cutter left for

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known as ...

, India. They kept publishing in Assamese from there. The complete translation of the New Testament was first published in 1848 as 'Amaar Traankorta Jisu Christor Natun Niyom'. In 1854, he published 'Christor Biworon and Xhubho Bartaa'. He also translated a few prayers to Assamese. Brown started the translated of Bible he was finally completed in 1903 with other missionaries efforts. Oliver Thomas Cutter was born in United States in 1811. He started his journey towards east in 1831 along with his wife Harriet Cutter. He first landed in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Myanmar) and from there he crossed

Patkai The Pat-kai (Pron:pʌtˌkaɪ) or Patkai Bum (Burmese: ''Kumon Taungdan'') are a series of mountains in the Indo-Myanmar border falling in the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Upper Burma region of Myanmar. They w ...

to reach Assam in 1836 along with Nathan Brown's family. He together with Browns started a printing press in Sadiya. They started to print books in Assamese, Khamti and Singfou language from there. They also started school and authored some text books for the schools. But due to Singfou rebellions, they were forced to leave Assam and go back to Jaipur. But they kept on publishing books from Jaipur. After few years, Cutter's family came back to Assam and this time settled down in

Sibsagar Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. S ...

. Miles Bronson came to Assam with friend Jacob Thomas in 1836. He first started his works in Sadiya, Jaipur and Naamsang. He started interacting with Naga tribes and first compiled 'East Naga' Thesaurus. According to historian Mccangie, no European after or before Bronson could get so close to Nagas. But he soon felt ill working with Nagas, so he finally came down to Nagaon via Sibsagar. In Assam, Bronson started working in both Christianism and local education. During the period from 1848 to 1851 and 1867 to 1871, he took vacation from his works and went back to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Miles Bronson was the main leader of the movement against government enforcing Bengali language as the official language in courts, school in Assam. In 1867, using Jaduram baruah's scripting, he published the first Assamese and English dictionary. The dictionary contained around 14 thousands words and published from Baptist Missionary Press, Sibsagar. This dictionary was another strong step in support of Assamese language. Bronson also started the translation of Bible to Assamese. Nidhiram Keot, the first native convert of the whole Northeastern region of India from the indigenous Keot(Kaibarta) community (an aboriginal tribe Sanskritised to a low position in the caste hierarchy), was baptised by Bronson on June 13, 1841 and took up the name Nidhi Levi Farewell.

Khasi Khasi may refer to: * Khasi people, an ethnic group of Meghalaya, India * Khasi language, a major Austroasiatic language spoken in Meghalaya, India * Khāṣi language, an Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India See also * Khasi Hills * G ...

and Garo are notable ethnic groups with a large Christian population. The

Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States is a Christian denomination in India. It has about 25,000 members. It belongs to the Lutheran World Federation. Its president is Godwin Nag. The other churches belonging to the United Evangelical ...

has an Assam diocese since 2003, which used to be the Assam Church. Among the large Bengali population of Assam, there are few Christians.

Population

Trends

Percentage of Christians in Assam by decades

Population by district

Population by Tribes

Christian population in Assam by Tribes (2011)

List of denominations

Sources *

Association of Regular Independent Churches of India Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

Assam Baptist Convention Assam Baptist Convention (ABC) is a Baptist Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, part ...

* *

Boro Baptist Church Association The Boro Baptist Church Association (BBCA) is a Baptist Christian denomination in the state of Assam ( Northeast India). Established in 1927 by the American Baptist Missionaries and later nurtured by Australian Baptist Missionary Society ABMS ( ...

* Boro Baptist Convention * Cachar Hill Tribes Presbyterian Synod *Christian Fellowship Centre *

Church of Christ (Instrumental) Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

Church of God (Anderson) Church of God is a name used by numerous denominational bodies. The largest denomination with this name is the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) Adventist Churches of God * Church of God General Conference (Church of God of the Ab ...

Kuki Christian Church The Kuki Christian Church (KCC) is an association which is part of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI). Through the NCCI, the KCC is part of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The Kuki Christian Church has a record of almost 80 bapt ...

* Karbi-Anglong Baptist Convention * Lakher Independent Evangelical Church * North Bank Christian Association * Rabha Baptist Church Union * United Pentecostal Church in India *Biateram Presbyterian Synod * Cachar Christian Association * * Holy Christ Church, Tribon North East India * Moravian Church, Binnakandi, Cachar * Christian Revival Church

References

{{Christianity in India by region Religion in Assam