Deshi or Desi people are an indigenous Muslim community of undivided Assam. The Deshi Muslim people can be find in Meghalaya, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, Rangpur and Bogura of Bangladesh. In West Bengal and Bihar they are known as Nashya Shaikh. Deshis are Muslim converts from Koch, Mech or other indigenous communities. In July, 2022, the Government of Assam gave them recognition as an "indigenous Assamese Muslims" community vide an Order. In Assam, the Deshi Muslim sometimes introduce as Ujani to differentiate themselves from the Bengali speaking Muslims. The community is categorized as General category in Assam and OBC West Bengal.
History
The Deshi (literal meaning: local or original) community identifies themselves as the original ethnic inhabitant of this land similar to the other tribal communities. They belonged to a range of indigenous communities, such as Koch, Rabha, Mech, Garo, Nath, Yogi and Kalita.
Deshi community is one of the old ethnic groups of Assam. It has the recorded history dates back to 13th century, some quarter century prior to the arrival of Chaolung Sukaphaa, the founder of Ahom dynasty. Ali Mech is said to be the first person of the community and he led the native force during Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign in 1205. Deshi Muslims are the descendants of Ali Mech.
The group once known as Koch Muslim. They are homogeneous with the Koch Rajbongshi people and are bi-linguistic speaking both Assamese language and Kamatapuri language.
Most other conversions took place during the 16th-century, when the lower-class Koch and Mech people unable to find a respectable position in the newly formed Koch kingdom (1515 - 1956) switched to Islam. The conversion of Kamata ruler Chakradhvaj (1455-1485) to Islam popularized this religion among the local people.
Assam’s Deshi Muslims, around 21 lakh in number, are spread across the districts of Bongaigaon, Chirang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Kamrup, South Salmara-Mankachar, and Kamrup (Metro). They belonged to a range of indigenous Assamese communities, such as Koch, Rabha, Mech, Garo, Nath, Yogi and Kalita.
Deshi Muslim on Government Records
The 1881 Census of India
“Those who have been converted to Islam have been absorbed in the great fraternity of that religion, while those who have not accepted Mahammedanism, are to all intents and purposes low caste Hindoos… there is clear evidence they were once a very numerous race, and the kingdom they ruled for two centuries comprised the Bengal districts of Dinagpore and the districts of Kamrup and Gowalpara in Assam. Their power was broken up about the year 1750, A.D….. Their unmistakable darkness of colour is found very largely to this day in Rungpore and Dinajpore, and they have supplied the great majority of the converts to Mahammedism in those districts. None of them have returned their mother tongue as Koch. They have long since abandoned that for Bengali, and the inhabitants of Koch Behar have adopted the same fashion." (Report on the Census of British India taken on 17 February 1881, Page 211).
"The Koch ... people, who once had a religion and language of their own, have completely abandoned their language and have either been converted to Islam or have become low caste Hindoos, affording a striking example of the way in which Hindooism is replenished. (Report on the Census of British India taken on 17 February 1881, Page 296).
‘A Statistical Account of Assam’ Vol-II Pub.1879
W.W. Hunter was the Director General of Statistics of British India. In his book A Statistical Account of Assam’ Vol-II published in 1879, page 31 mentioned Musalman Koch. He said, “The total of the Kochs has been considerably reduced by the exclusion of a number of Musalman Kochs, who had been erroneously included; and the total of the ' unspecified ' Muhammadans has been correspondingly augmented.” The present Deshi Muslims are the descendants of those Musalman Koch as mentioned by Hunter.