About the Subject

Assamese is recognized as one of the 22 official languages of India and is listed in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution. With a rich literary heritage and a history of notable works, translations, and philosophical writings, Assamese holds a prominent place in Indian literature. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) allows Assamese as an optional subject for the Civil Services Examination.

For those who have studied Assamese as a part of their academic curriculum or who have grown up speaking the language, the Assamese optional subject may be a good choice. The exams will be written in the Assamese script, and candidates are encouraged to review the UPSC Assamese Optional Booklist for more information.

This article offers a comprehensive overview of the UPSC Assamese Optional Syllabus and provides access to a downloadable syllabus PDF. The UPSC Mains exam includes two papers on the optional subject, each worth 250 marks for a total of 500 marks. These two optional papers form a part of the UPSC Mains Examination, which takes place after the IAS Preliminary exam.

Assamese Optional Paper 1

Section A

Language

• History of the origin and development of the Assamese Language — its position among the Indo-Aryan language — periods in its history.
• Development of Assamese prose.
• Vowels and consonants of the Assamese Language — Rules of phonetic changes with stress on Assamese coming down from Old Indo-Aryan.
• Assamese vocabulary — and its sources.
• Morphology of the language — conjugation — enclitic definitives and pleonastic suffixes.
• Dialectical divergences — the Standard colloquial and the Kamrupi dialect in particular.
• Assamese script — its evolution through the ages till 19th century A.D.

Section B

Literary Criticism and Literary History

• Principles of literary criticism up to New criticism.
• Different literary genres.
• Development of literary forms in Assamese.
• Development of literary criticism in Assamese.
• Periods of the literary history of Assam from the earliest beginnings, i.e. from the period of the charyyageeta with their socio-cultural background : the proto Assamese Pre-Sankaradeva — Sankaradeva — Post-Sankaradeva — Modern period (from the coming of the Britishers) — Post-Independence period. Special emphasis is to be given on the Vaisnavite period, the gonaki and the post-independence periods.

Assamese Optional Paper 2

This paper will require first-hand reading of the texts prescribed and will be designed to test the candidate's critical ability.

Section A

• Râmâyana (Ayodhyâ Kânda) — by Madhava Kandali only
• Pârijât-Harana — by Sankaradeva
• Râsakrîdâ — by Sankaradeva (From Kirtana Ghosa)
• Bârgeet — by Madhavadeva
• Râjasûya — by Madhavadeva
• Kathâ-Bhâgavata (Books I and II) — by Baikurthanath Bhattacharyya
• Gurucarit-Kathâ (Sankaradeva's Part only) — ed. by Maheswar Neog

Section B

• Mor Jeevan Soñwaran — by Lakshminath Bezbaroa
• Kripâbar Borbaruâr Kakatar Topola — by Lakshminath Bezbaroa
• Pratimâ — by Chandra Kumar Agarwalla
• Gâonburhâ — by Padmanath Gohain Barua
• Manomatî — by Rajanikanta Bordoloi
• Purani Asamîyâ Sâhitya — by Banikanta Kakati
• Kârengar Ligirî — by Jyotiprasad Agarwalla
• Jeevanar Bâtat — by Bina Barva (Birinchi Kumar Barua)
• Mrityunjoy — by Birendrakumar Bhattacharyya
• Samrât — by Navakanta Barua

List of Optional Subjects in UPSC

• Agriculture
• Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
• Anthropology
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Commerce and Accountancy
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering
• Geography
• Geology
• History
• Law
• Management
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medical Science
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political Science & International Relations
• Psychology
• Public Administration
• Sociology
• Statistics
• Zoology