Jorhat, May 10: A photograph of Bhupen Hazarika offering a banana to a gibbon, Lakshminath Bezbaroa's hand-written letter, educationist Krishna Kanta Handiqui's voice clip - these rare collectibles and many more will be brought to the public domain by a website to be launched by a research scholar here on Thursday.
Avinibesh Sharma, who hails from Jorhat, aims to showcase Vintage Assam through his website, to bring alive the state's history and culture with archaic pictures as well as interesting and unheard of facts.
The website, www.vintageassam.com, will initially contain information from the 19th century onwards. Later, information prior to that era will be uploaded.
The website was designed by Sharma after he completed his masters in history from Delhi University two years ago.
Sharma told The Telegraph that the idea of the website came to him while doing his graduation and post-graduation in Delhi when he observed that people outside the Northeast had almost no idea about his state or even the region.
"Assam and the rest of the Northeast, known as a bio-diversity hotspot, are not known outside the region. The Northeast has a rich history and culture. It cradles the traditions and customs of so many tribes and communities. It stands witness to the glorious reign of small and big clans. Besides its rivers and hills, civilisation thrived here thousands of years ago," he said.
Because of a lack of knowledge about the region, most people from other parts of India think that Assam and its neighbouring states are socially backward and lead an uncivilised life far away from modern society, he added.
Sharma said British rulers discovered crude oil, set up tea gardens and opened coalfields in Assam in the 19th century which opened a new chapter in the state's history.
For the past two years, Sharma has been travelling across the state to collect historical and cultural facts and data. He thanked his father Niren Sharma for supporting him financially in his endeavour, which has now become a passion.
Sharma said last year he had opened a Facebook page under the name Vintage Assam to highlight the need to promote the state' history. He received an enormous response to this, with many people providing information and pictures of antiques, sites and interesting, unheard of facts.
"I have collected over 200 pictures of historical significance, letters written by famous personalities and audio clips of well-known personalities of the early 20th century. I, too, have photographed and interviewed (audio) important personalities," he said.
The website boasts of memorabilia such as Handiqui's audio interview, given just before his death in 1982, on his intellectual journey and the social conditions of tribal groups, Sharma's interview of Shaukat Ali, a well-known footballer who designed the Assam State Transport Corporation's logo (rhino) and Mahatma Gandhi's handwritten letter to Assam's freedom fighter Tayebulla (1946).
Besides, there are photographs of the Dalai Lama at Tezpur Circuit House in April 1959 after he fled Tibet and came to India for asylum, a US warplane at Jorhat airport during World War II, kerosene oil being packed at Digboi refinery during the forties of the last century, the launch of motor vehicle service between Guwahati and Shillong (now GS Road) in 1906, a piano owned by Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and a gun used by Maniram Dewan.
He appealed to the people to contribute to the site by mailing pictures of historical importance or any other archaic material to avinibesh_sharma@outlook.com.
