Guwahati, July 20: Assam today fondly recalled American Baptist missionary Miles Bronson who gifted the state the first Assamese-English dictionary and the first Assamese newspaper.

Today was the 205th birth anniversary of Bronson who arrived in Assam in 1838. He worked for the Assamese language and fought for its re-introduction in schools and offices after the British had replaced it by Bengali in 1836.

A programme was organised by social organisation Hitakalpa here. Writer Aziz Ul Haque, columnist Bipul Sarma and head of the Assamese department, Gauhati University, Upen Rabha Hakasam were present.

"Before his death in the US in 1883, Bronson had said that his soul was in Assam. From this, we can assume how deeply he was involved in the state," Haque said.

Bronson had tried to convince the British government that Assamese and Bengali were different languages and Assamese was not only spoken in Assam but was also used as a link language among different communities of the Northeast, he added.

"Bronson dreamt of a greater Assamese community, taking together all communities in the region," said Haque.

Bronson not only learnt Assamese but also languages of different communities such as Nocte, Wancho, Mising, Garo and Khamti. He prepared a catechism book in Nocte published in 1839.

The Baptist missionary arrived in Sadiya on July 8, 1838.

After staying in Sadiya there for almost a year, he left for Jaipur in Dibrugrah district of Assam where he opened a school. He also set up a school at Namsang, also in Upper Assam.

In 1846, Bronson along with American missionaries Nathan Brown and Oliver Cutter published the first Assamese newspaper, Arunodoi, with Hemchandra Barua as its editor.

"Bronson is best described by writer Troilokya Bhattacharjya in his book Xansi Pator Puthi which deals with the period between 1836 and 1872 when the British had replaced Assamese by Bengali in schools and offices," Sarma said. "Bronson had written books in 13 languages. He laid emphasis on how to use local words. For long he fought to establish that Assamese is a different language from Bengali," he said.

#The president of Hitakalpa, Bani Vikram Sarma, requested Asam Sahitya Sabha and AASU to acquaint people in the state about Bronson's contribution. He appealed to the Assam government to set up a statue of Bronson. Hakasam said the state government should institute an award in his name.