The seismicity data from 1825 to the present for the Assam (north-eastern India) region show that seismicity rates there deviate from normal before and after major earthquakes. Along this 1,000-km-long section of a plate boundary, all shocks with magnitude M > 6.6 were preceded and sometimes followed by periods of significant seismic quiescence. No major earthquakes occurred without an associated seismic quiescence, and no such quiescence occurred at times other than before or after a major event. The most remarkable periods of quiescence lasted about 28 and 30 y before the two great (M = 8.7) Assam earthquakes of 1897 and 1950. Other periods of anomalously low seismicity preceded main shocks of magnitudes 6.7 (in 1950 and 1975), 7.8 (in 1869), and 7.7 (in 1947), with durations of 6, 8, 23, and 17 y, respectively. These durations fit (with approximately the scatter of the original data) a published relation between precursor time and magnitude. Since these changes of seismicity rate were observed at the edges of and within the Assam gap, defined by the 1897 and 1950 great earthquakes, it is likely that a future major or great earthquake in this gap will be preceded by seismic quiescence. Whether amore » preparatory phase for an earthquake has begun in the Assam gap cannot be stated for certain because of the changing earthquake-detection capability in the area and because of poor location accuracy. 4 figures.« less