“Book Launch Report- Land of the Eastern Light: Assam before the Ahoms by Nabaarun Barooah”, Brhat, 01 Oct 2026.

“The book launch of Land of the Eastern Light: Assam before the Ahoms, authored by Nabaarun Barooah and published by HarperCollins, was held on 27 September 2026 at the National Museum Auditorium, New Delhi. The book, which explores the history of Assam before the rise of the Ahom dynasty, has been endorsed by former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon as “a history of Assam in antiquity that is a model of clarity and historical method.”

The event commenced before a full auditorium with a classical dance rendition of Vande Mātaram, followed by the felicitation of the Director of the National Museum. Moving away from the conventional format of a formal book launch, the programme was structured primarily as a panel discussion hosted by the author himself. In his opening remarks, Nabaarun Barooah spoke about the origins of the book, explaining that the idea was conceived approximately eight years ago following a school visit by Sanjeev Sanyal. Barooah described the work as an exploratory journey through Assam’s past rather than a conventional or “dry” historical account. A central premise of the book, as he emphasised, is that the history of Assam did not begin with the arrival of the Ahoms and that its earlier histories deserve greater attention within the larger narrative of India……….”

Read the full article at Brhat.