Guwahati: Tezpur University has been designated as the Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Assamese by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
The approval was conveyed through an Office Memorandum issued by the Language Division of the Department of Higher Education on October 1, 2026.
The Ministry has approved five Centres of Excellence dedicated to the study of classical languages. Besides Classical Assamese, the initiative covers Classical Bengali, Classical Marathi, Classical Pali and Classical Prakrit.
Under the initiative, Visva-Bharati University will host the Centre for Classical Bengali, while the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute in Pune has been selected for Classical Marathi. The Central University of Odisha will host the Centre for Classical Pali, and the Central University of Gujarat will house the Centre for Classical Prakrit.
The Centres are intended to promote academic research, digitisation, preservation and wider dissemination of the linguistic and cultural heritage associated with the respective classical languages.
The new Centre at Tezpur University builds on more than a decade of work by the institution in Assamese language, literature and culture.
The university’s Centre for Assamese Studies, established in 2011, undertook a major digitisation initiative covering around 4,000 old Assamese manuscripts and printed books. The collection includes rare sanchi-paat manuscripts, early editions of significant Assamese literary works, personal diaries and handwritten manuscripts belonging to prominent literary and cultural figures.
The Department of Assamese, established in 2019, later incorporated the facilities of the Centre for Assamese Studies.
The newly approved Centre of Excellence is expected to build on these existing academic resources and expand research into the classical dimensions of Assamese language and literature. Its areas of work are expected to include manuscript studies, textual criticism, digitisation, archival preservation, research, translation and dissemination.
Assamese was granted Classical Language status by the Government of India in October 2024, following approval by the Union Cabinet on October 3 that year.
The establishment of the Centre of Excellence at Tezpur University comes two years after Assamese received classical language status and marks another institutional initiative focused on research and preservation of the language’s literary and cultural heritage.
Prof. Amarendra Kr. Das, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Tezpur University, congratulated the university community on the development and thanked the Ministry of Education for selecting the institution to host the Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Assamese.