Guwahati :

Assam’s oldest Muslim structures have finally found a chronicler that will recount the legends, the tales and anecdotes that went into making some of the most fascinating architectural masterpieces of the state.

Al-Ameen Welfare Society, a NGO of prominent Muslims, will come out with a book on Assam’s old mosques and dargahs next year.

The aim is to sensitise people and the government to protect and preserve these magnificent structures both in the Brahmaputra and the Barak valley.

Take Panbari masjid or Rangamati masjid, for instance. Built in the Mughal era, during the 15th or 16th century, this mosque is the oldest not only in Assam but probably also in the whole of the Northeast.

Very few know about it — with lack of maintenance robbing it of much of its glory.

The book, therefore, hopes to highlight some of these glorious structures and goad people to preserve them.

It is part of the Al-Ameen Welfare Society’s ambitious project to chronicle the history of the Muslims of Assam, complete with their cultural heritage and contributions to greater Assamese society.

Komoruzzaman Ahmed, founder president of the society, told The Telegraph that raw material for the book has been gathered and will be compiled soon.

“Our main project aims at helping the present generation of Muslims realise their ancestors’ positive role in formation of a cohesive and harmonious society in Assam. Such a realisation will also make the present generation of Muslim contribute towards building a unified society in Assam,” he said.

Muslims started settling in Assam in 1206 AD.

Ahmed said the history, heritage and contributions of Muslims to the larger Assamese society should be studied, probed and recorded.

Another book on a comprehensive study of the Islamic religious literature written in Assamese will also be published next year.

“Though Assamese literature is rich in medieval Hindu religious prose, we have so far not been able to trace any Assamese Islamic religious literature and mystic or Sufi songs like Satya Peer’s geet, Chand Sai geet and jikir and jari by Ajan Fakir. The study has made an attempt to probe if Islamic literature in Assamese existed in the mediaeval period,” he said.

Ahmed said there is also a study on contribution of Muslims in the fields of art, handicrafts, architecture, engraving, painting, music, language, food habit and items, utensil, furniture and clothes of Assamese society.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> North East > Story / by  Daulat Rahman / Guwahati – December 23rd /  Saturday – December 24th, 2011