People following many religion and many ethnic groups of people live in the state of Assam. Broadly the population of Assam can be divided into two groups: the non-tribals and the non-tribals. The majority population of Assam comprises of non-tribal population mainly concentrated in the Brahmaputra and the Barak Valleys. The language spoken by them is Assamese. Among the non-Tribal population the majority of them are Hindus are divided into castes and sub-castes like Brahmins and Khatriyas, Vaishyas and the Sudras.
As per 1991 Census the total population of Assam was recorded as 2,24,14,322, in which nearly 20% comprises if the tribal population. The state has 16 Scheduled Castes and 23 Scheduled Tribes of which 7.40% and 12.82 % respectively constitute Assams's population. Apart from the major religions, the tribes follow animism, and nature worship. The Dimasas tribe of North Cachar Hills worship trees, mountains and rocks.
Researches have shown that huge number of non-tribal population of today were actually the tribes of yesterdays who adopted Hinduism and its culture which is called as Sanskritization by anthropologists.
The non-tribals community can be again separated on the basis of religion. After the Hindus the Muslims are the second largest group, which is followed by the Christians, Sikhs and the Buddhists.
Last Updated on 10 January 2011
