Abhayapuri

Tehsil Abhayapuri, District Bongaigaon, Assam, Bharat.

Abhayapuri is a small town in Bongaigaon district in the Indian state of Assam. Surrounded by natural forests and hills, it is located on the National Highway 31, about 200 km west of Guwahati. Nearest airport is at Guwahati. Abhayapuri Railway Station is managed by the North East Frontier Railways.

Since time immemorial, Koch-Rajbonshies (belong to Indo-Mongoloid ethnic group of people) have been the living in this area now known as Abhayapuri. These people are the original sons of the soil and their existence can be traced back to the "Kiratees" of pre-vedic epic age (Mahabharata). These Kiratas of dim past are also mentioned in Kalika-Purana and Yogini Tantra and also in histories written both by native and foreign scholars.
Yogis,Kalitas, Kayasthas and older Muslims are also indigenous who settled in this part of land prior to the advent of Britishers in North East Region. Some of them settled in the area centuries before the advent of Britishers. In a much later period, people from different parts of Assam migrated to Abhayapuri.

Abhayapuri was the capital of the ancient Bijni Kingdom established by the king, Raja Bijit Narayan alias Chandra Narayan in 1671. Bijit Narayan was the son of Parikshit Narayan who was the grandson of Yuvaraj Sukladhwaj alias Chilarai, a famed Koch general and the younger brother of Moharaj Nara Narayan, the great emperor of Kamata Kingdom in the 16 th century.

The people of Abhayapuri have long been known for their interest in culture and education. The 44th conference of The Asam Sahitya Sabha was held in Abhayapuri in 1977 under the presidentship of Syed Abdul Malik, a big name in the history of modern Assamese literature. The area where the conference was held is still known as Sahitya Sabha Path (Road).