North-East of India was one political entity named Assam before the rest of the states were carved out of it. The entire North-East of India has been a pot of amalgamation of diiferent cultures and ethnic groups coming and settling here.

Earliest mention of this region was by the Chinese explorer, Chang Kien, in 100 B.C. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea and Ptolemy's Geography also suggest the same. The Australoids or the pre-Dravidians were the earliest inhabitants of this state. Huen Tsang, the great Chinese traveler, visited this region in the 7th century.

Assam was a founding state of the Union of India in 1947. At that time, the state comprised the whole of the North-East region. Subsequently, a number of other north eastern states were carved out of Assam, starting with Nagaland in 1963 and ending with Arunachal Pradesh in 1972.