In Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, out of many sects of Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 people which include Brahmins , Kalitas

Kalitas of Assam

The Kalita caste of the state of Assam, North East India are a unique Hindu social group who have been a dominant caste through the ages. Assam is known for its large number of groups with their own distinctive culture. It is the cradle of twenty seven indigenous ‘tribes’ and unique in the world...

, Ahoms amongst others; the Brahmin community is comparatively small. Brahmins are found everywhere in Assam and surrounding areas. However most predominantly in Jorhat

Jorhat

Jorhat is a city of Assam in India. Jorhat was established as a new capital in the closing years of the 18th century by the declining Tunkhungia Ahom Dynasty. Jorhat, as the name signifies, was just a couple of markets . Two parallel markets namely, Chowkihat and Macharhat, lay on the eastern...

, Nalbari

Nalbari

Nalbari is a city and a municipal board in Nalbari district in the Indian state of Assam. Nalbari is headquarter of Nalbari District.-Education:...

, Barpeta

Barpeta

Barpeta is the headquarters of Barpeta district, Assam, India. The city is located about north west of Guwahati.Barpeta is renowned in the Historical map of Assam as the "Land of the Satras"...

, Goalpara

Goalpara

Goalpara is the district headquarter of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated west of Guwahati.-Etymology:The name of Goalpara is said to have originally derived from `Gwaltippika` meaning `Guwali village` or the village of the milk men. In the local dialect "para" means...

 and Darrang districts. Most of the Barooahs, Puzaris, Borthakurs, Rajkhowa, Phukan and Khounds are found in Jorhat. While the Sarma/Sharma

Sharma

Sharma Hindi शर्मा, Urdu شرمہ, ) is a name used in the Indian subcontinent mostly in Northern India as a surname or given name. As a noun in Sanskrit, Sharma has various positive connotations, such as "bliss", "happiness", "shelter", "laid back" and "protection."Sharma is a surname of brahmin...

,Chakrabarty/Chakraborty, Bhattacharjee, Goswami, Baruah etc are found in Nagaon, Nalbari, Goalpara, Dhuburi, Darrang districts and sparsely throughout Assam .

Assamese Brahmins are believed to be having their origins as far as Kannauj

Kannauj

Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...

 to Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

. Ahom King invited them to worship Goddess Ma Kamakhya

Kamakhya

Kamakhya is an important Tantric mother goddess closely identified with Kali and Maha Tripura Sundari, according to the Tantric texts that are the basis for her worship at the Kamakhya temple, a 16th century temple in the Kamrup district of Assam...

 in the Kamakhya mandir

Kamakhya Temple

The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peeth temple situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of individual temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi,...

 in Guwahati

Guwahati

Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...

 and other temples across Assam. Brahmins in Assam are same as per their faith and customs with that of any other Brahmin community across India. However, certain regional beliefs and customs may exist which may be distinct to the Brahmins in other states. Unlike Brahmins in other parts of India, they may eat non-vegetarian food which includes mostly Fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, Chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

, Mutton and Eggs

Egg (food)

Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...

. Each Brahmin family within the community belongs to a specific Gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

 (Brahmin identity surname) which is unique to a family thereby indicating their origin or the Lineage

Brahmin gotra system

The word "gotra" means "lineage" in the Sanskrit language. Among those of the Brahmin caste, gotras are reckoned patrilineally. Each gotra takes the name of a famous Rishi or sage who was the patrilineal forebearer of that clan...

. Most of the Brahmins in Assam write the conferred titles either given to them as a gift by the Ahom kings or else which they have adopted being in Assam for a long time.

(See also; List of Notable Assamese Brahmins)

A. Common surnames written by (or typical to) Assamese Brahmins are

1. Barua, Baruah, Barooah, Baroova, Borooah  or any other spellings of the same surname.

Under this there may exist middle names/titles that give the distinction of being Brahmins. Some of common middle names:

*Ram/Raam - Baruah, Barooah

*Chandra - Baruah, Barooah

*Ranjan - Baruah, Barooah

*Prasad - Baruah, Barooah

*Govind/Govinda - Baruah, Barooah

*Krisnakant/Krishnakanta - Baruah, Barooah etc..

Other similar titles in relation to Baruah which are written by Brahmins in Assam are:

1 (a) Bujar - Baruah/Barooah

1 (b) Bez - Baruah/Barooah

1 (c) Bez - Bora/Borah

1 (d) Bor/Bar - Baruah/Barooah

----
2. Acharya

Acharya

In Indian religions and society, an acharya is a guide or instructor in religious matters; founder, or leader of a sect; or a highly learned man or a title affixed to the names of learned men...

/Acharjee

3. Bhattachrjee/Bhattacharya

4. Bhagawati/Bhagwati

5. Bor/Bar - Kotoki/Katakey/Kataki

6. Bor/Bar - Pujari/Poojari/Puzari

7. Bor/Bar - Thakur/Thakore also, very rarely Borethakur/ore

8. Chakravarti/Chakraborti

10.Goswami

11. Khound

12. Kotoki, Katakey

13. Pandit

14. Pujari

Pujari

Pujari means one who does the Puja of the idol of God physically in Hindu temples as a priest. Pujaris are also called archaka. Pujaris learn and chant hymns dedicated to God, generally in Sanskrit. Pujaris are mainly drawn from the Hindu Brahmin caste.-Pujaris as counselors:Throughout India,...

/Poojari/Puzari

15. Phukan/Phookan

16. Rajkhowa

17. Sarma/Sarmah/Sharma

18. Siddhant

Siddhanta

Siddhanta, a Sanskrit term, roughly translates as the Doctrine or the Tradition. It denotes the established and accepted view of a particular school within Indian philosophy.-Hindu philosophy:...

/Siddhanta

19. Savapandit

20. Thakur

Thakur (Bengali surname)

Thakur is a Bengali surname derived from "Thakurmashai" or ‘holy sir’ for any Bengali Brahmins and also for someone of high spiritual esteem. The surname was given out of respect for any Brahmin family earlier who used to hold a different title like Kushari,Bhattacharya etc...

/Thakore

21. Pathak

Pathak

Pathak is a community of Brahmins. Pathaks have served as the Chief Justice of India and as Vice President of India. Usually a surname, Pathak is a Sanskrit word and means Reader or person who is anxious to learn and acquire knowledge...

Apart from the above, certain other surnames which are not very common such as, Changkakati, Chaliha, Khatoniar, Choudhury, Shrutikar are also written by fewer Brahmins of Assam.

B. Common Gotras of Assamese Brahmins are

Atri

Atri

This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

 - Krishnatriya

Bashistha/Vashistha

Vasistha

Vashist in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara, and the Rajpurohit / Rajguru of the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty. He was the mānasaputra of Brahma. He had in his possession the divine cow Kamadhenu, and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners...

Kondinnya

Kundina

Kundina is an ancient Indian city, named as part of Kanishka's territory in the Rabatak inscription. It is thought that is it the locality of Kaundinyapura on the Wardha River in the Amravati Division of Vidarbha, or Berar in Maharashtra, which is an archaeological site identified as a trading city...

/Kondolya

Bhadraj

Bharadwaja

Bharadwaja was one of the greatest Hindu Arya sages descendant of rishi Angirasa, whose accomplishments are detailed in the Puranas. He was one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa.Bhardwaj Rishi was father of...

/Bharadwaaj/Bhardwaj/Bharadwaj

Bhargav

Bhargava

Bhargava is a common surname in Northern India and Maharashtra, mainly around Nashik. In Maharashtra, it is pronounced as Bhargave instead of Bhargava. It is also used as a first name in parts of southern India....

Chandilya

Brahmin gotra system

The word "gotra" means "lineage" in the Sanskrit language. Among those of the Brahmin caste, gotras are reckoned patrilineally. Each gotra takes the name of a famous Rishi or sage who was the patrilineal forebearer of that clan...

/Shandilya/Sandilya

Garg

Garg

Garg may refer to:It is a popular surname of the Agarwal Vaishya community. Gargs are mostly from Uttar Pradesh and other parts of northern India like Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Haryana...

/Garga

Gautam

Gautam Brahmins

Gautam Brahmins comprise a sub-caste of Brahmins and Kshatriyas in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The Nepali sub-caste Gautam are also known as Gotamey गोतामे. They are originally settled in the doab of Yamuna and Ganga districts and most prominently in the district of Mathura Brij region of North India...

Kashyap

Kashyap

Kashyapa was an ancient sage , who is one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bharadwaja...

 [The universal Gotra]

Kaushik

Mihirayan

Madhukalya

Parasara

Brahmins in Assam strictly follow deity worship though they may pray and worship saints of Assamese

Assamese people

The Assamese people are a well-defined subgroup of People of Assam. Though sometimes they are defined as the Assamese-speaking Indo-Aryans of the Brahmaputra valley,, this definition is not legally binding...

community.Assamese Brahmans are less rigid than Brahmans of other parts of the country regarding religious and communal matter.