Assamese Literature

About this optional

Assamese Literature is one of the optional subjects of the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination: the notice offers the literature of any one of a list of languages as an optional subject, and Assamese is one of them. A candidate chooses one optional subject from the Commission's list, and it is examined in two papers: Paper VI (Optional Subject Paper 1) and Paper VII (Optional Subject Paper 2) of the Main Examination. Both papers are counted for merit. See UPSC Mains: Optional Subject (two papers) for the full list of optional subjects.

• Questions are of the conventional (essay) type.
• The two papers carry 500 of the 1,750 marks of the written part; the written marks and the Personality Test (275 marks) together decide the final ranking.
• The scope of the optional papers is broadly of the honours degree level: higher than the bachelor's degree and lower than the master's degree.
• Language of answers: the syllabus says, for both papers, that answers must be written in Assamese. The notice adds, for every literature optional, that a candidate may be required to answer some or all of the questions in the language concerned, and that questions not required to be answered in a specific language are answered in the medium the candidate has chosen for the Essay, General Studies and optional papers.
• Script: the notice prescribes the Assamese script for Assamese.
• The rule that question papers are set in Hindi and English only does not apply to the literature papers.

Paper I

The official syllabus of Assamese Literature Paper I, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

[Answers must be written in Assamese]

Section A: Language

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

Section B: Literary Criticism and Literary History

• (a) Principles of literary criticism up to New criticism.
• (b) Different literary genres.
• (c) Development of literary forms in Assamese.
• (d) Development of literary criticism in Assamese.
• (e) 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.

Paper II

The official syllabus of Assamese Literature Paper II, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

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

[Answers must be written in Assamese]

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

Overlaps with General Studies

• General Studies I: Indian culture (literature as an art form). The Vaisnavite period of Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva, which the syllabus singles out, is the Assamese part of the Bhakti tradition, and the charyyageeta are among the earliest literature of eastern India.
• Prelims General Studies Paper I: the cultural history of India, including the Bhakti movement in different regions.
• Essay: examples from Assamese literature and society for essays on culture, language and regional identity.

Source: UPSC Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE, 4 February 2026 (Civil Services Examination, 2026), Appendix I, Section III, Part B, PDF. Last checked 11 November 2026.