Seventeen traditional hill rice cultivars of Assam were evaluated for their starch and protein profile and compared with Ranjit, a popular sali variety of plains. On dry weight basis, moisture contents ranged from 7.49 to 10.1%, crude fat from 3.14 to 5.27%, crude protein from 9.27 to 11.42%, starch content from 70.31 to 78.13%, amylose from 18.61 to 23.39%, amylopectin from 76.61 to 81.39%, total soluble protein content from 4.5 to 6.4% and lysine content from 2.94 to 3.88% of total protein. The ratio of four soluble protein fractions viz., albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin was found as 12:15:7:66. Sakbothung recorded highest protein content while Ranjit showed the highest starch content. Bijor recorded the highest lysine content. SDS-PAGE of total soluble protein and the three fractions, albumin, globulin and glutelin did not reveal any major variation among the cultivars. Association among the rice cultivars revealed by Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmatic Averages (UPGMA) analysis based on SDS-PAGE of total protein and the three fractions resulted in four clusters showing greater homology between rice cultivars. The close genetic similarity among the cultivars emphasizes the exploitation of large germplasm collections for use in rice improvement programme.