Lower Assam
| Lower Assam | ||
| Western Assam, Kamrup (Historical) | ||
| Region | ||
|
||
| Country | India | |
|---|---|---|
| Cities | Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Guwahati, Nalbari | |
| Timezone | UTC+05:30 (IST) (UTC+5.30) | |
Lower Assam (also Western Assam) (Assamese: পশ্চিম/নামনি অসম), Kamrup (ancient and medieval); is an administrative division of Assam, comprising the Kamrup and Goalpara regions under the jurisdiction of a Commissioner, who is stationed at Guwahati. The division covers the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra river occupying entire western Brahmaputra Valley.[1] Soon after the formal creation of the British districts in 1833, Lower Assam denoted one of the five initial districts that were created west of the Dhansiri river,[2] which along with the six paraganas became a single district of Undivided Kamrup district in 1836.[3]
It was home to the mighty kingdom of Kamarupa (3-12 AD), ruled by Varman's and Pala's from their capital's Pragjyotishpura (Guwahati) and Durjaya (North Gauhati). Today Guwahati is largest city of North-East India while Dispur, the capital of Assam, is within the town.
Etymology
In the middle of the 4th-century, the Kamarupa emerged in Western Assam along with Davaka of central Assam.[4] Davaka was absorbed; time frame for the event as per some is middle of 5th century during the reign of Kalyana Varman,[5] while other authorities prescribed 6th-7th-century period.[6] The Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscription, discovered in 1972 in Golaghat is dated to the 5th century, showing an early expansion of the Kamarupa kingdom to the east.[7]
Medieval Muslim invaders too refer this region as Kamrup. After the Battle of Itakhuli, eastern part (Kamrup region) became a part of the Ahom kingdom in 1682,[8] till defeated by Burmese.
With British occupation in nineteenth century, western parts (Goalpara region) excluding North Bengal, became part of colonial Assam, which comprised most parts of Northeast India excluding modern states of Tripura and Manipur. Later in second part of nineteenth century it became part of Lower Assam Division,[1] along with Darrang, Nagaon, Khasi hills and Jaintia hills. The region (Western Assam and North Bengal) historically Kamrup,[9] referred as Western Assam from colonial times and later .
History
Region was capital of ancient Kamrup Kingdom,[10] with capitals at present Kamrup.
Varman Dynasty
Pushya Varman (350-374) named after Pusyamitra Sunga, became first ruler of Kamrup as founder ruler of Varman Dynasty. His son Samudra Varman (374-398), named after Samudragupta, was accepted as an overlord by many local rulers. Narayana Varman (494-518) and his son Bhuti Varman (518-542) offered the Ashwamedha; and as the Nidhanpur inscription of Bhaskar Varman avers, these expansions included the region of Chandrapuri visaya, identified with present-day Sylhet division. Thus, the small but powerful kingdom that Pushya Varman established grew in fits and starts over many generations of kings and expanded to include adjoining possibly smaller kingdoms and parts of Bangladesh covering most part of Eastern India, much larger area than modern Kamrup from which it initially begins. After the initial expansion till the beginning of Bhuti Varman's reign, the kingdom came under attack from Yasodharman (525-535) of Malwa, the first major assault from the west. Though it is unclear what the effect of this invasion was on the kingdom; that Bhuti Varman's grandson, Sthita Varman (566-590), enjoyed victories over the Gauda of Karnasuvarna and performed two aswamedha ceremonies suggests that the Kamarupa kingdom had recovered nearly in full. His son, Susthita Varman (590-600) came under the attack of Mahasenagupta of East Malwa. These back and forth invasions were a result of a system of alliances that pitted the Kamarupa kings (allied to the Maukharis) against the Gaur kings (allied with the East Malwa kings). Susthita Varman died as the Gaur invasion was on, and his two sons, Supratisthita Varman and Bhaskar Varman fought against an elephant force and were captured and taken to Gaur. They were able to regain their kingdom. Suprathisthita Varman's reign is given as 595-600, a very short period, at the end of which he died without an heir.
Supratisthita Varman was succeeded by his brother, Bhaskar Varman (600-650), the most illustrious of the Varman kings who succeeded in turning his kingdom and invading the very kingdom that had taken him captive. Bhaskar Varman had become strong enough to offer his alliance with Harshavardhan just as the Thanesar king ascended the throne in 606 after the murder of his brother, the previous king, by Shashanka of Gaur. Harshavardhana finally took control over the kingless Maukhari kingdom and moved his capital to Kanauj. The alliance between Harshavardhana and Bhaskar Varman squeezed Shashanka from either side and reduced his kingdom, making Shasanka escaping to hills further south near modern Bengali-Orissan border. This decisive victory leads to takeover of most of Gauda kingdom by Bhaskar Varman. He issued the Nidhanpur copper-plate inscription from his victory camp in the Gaur capital Karnasuvarna (present-day Murshidabad, West Bengal) to replace a grant issued earlier by Bhuti Varman for a settlement in the Sylhet region of present-day Bangladesh.
In about 643, Yuan Chwang (Xuanzang/Hiuen Tsang) visited Bhaskar Varman's court and recorded details of his kingdom. Yuan Chwang mentioned the western border of the Kamarupa kingdom was the Karatoya river and eastern boundary as Dikkaravasini (Sadiya). At the end of this visit, Bhaskar Varman accompanied Yuan Chwang to Kanauj, and participated in a religious assembly and a festival at Prayaga (Allahabad) with Harshavardhana, spending more than a year away from his own kingdom. Assembly was participated by eighteen vassal kings, while Bhaskar Varman impersonated as "Brahma", Harsha kept himself the subordinate position of "Indra". It seems Bhaskar Varman maintained relations with China. He recounted to Yuan Chwang a Chinese song about the Jin dynasty which became very popular in his kingdom. In 648 A.D after the death of Harshavardhana, Wang-Hiuen-ts'oe was sent on a mission to India with Tsiang Cheu-jenn as his second in command was helped by Bhaskar Varman, according to a Chinese account. Bhaskar Varman, also called Kumar, or Shri Kumar, was a bachelor king and died without an heir.
Pala Dynasty
Brahma Pala (900-920), was founder Pala Dynasty (900–1100 A.D) of Kamarupa. Dynasty ruled from its capital Durjaya, modern-day North Guwahati. The greatest of the Pala kings, Dharma Pala had his capital at Kamarupa Nagara, now identified with North Guwahati. Ratna Pala was another notable sovereign of this line. Records of his land-grants have been found at Bargaon and Sualkuchi, while a similar relic of Indra Pala, has been discovered at Guwahati. Pala dynasty come to end with Jaya Pala (1075-1100).[11]
People
Demography
According to 2011 census, Western Assam has total population of 1,12,53,550; out of which urban population accounting to 19,59,707 while rural population is 92,93,843.
Ethnic division
The ethnic composition of present Western Assam consists of Aryans, along with tribes like Bodos in the north, Rabhas in south and Koches in the southwest.
Culture
Villages still contained the traditional Vedic culture, while in case of towns and cities it relaxed a bit. Western Assamese culture largely flourished in the reign of Pushya Varman (350-374), the founder of great Varman dynasty of Kamrup Kingdom which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskar Varman (600-650). Scholars believes Kamrupi culture had a distinctive mark in every sphere, whether it be science or literature. Astronomy is a Kamrupi science. Daka, the great Kamrupi poet flourished undoubtedly during the ancient period.[12]
Festivals
Durga Puja, Kali Puja and other Pujas; Diwali, Holi, Janmastami, Shivratri to name a few, are major festivals of the region. Muslims celebrate Eid. In lower Assam or western Assam there is hardly any dance and music of the Bihu type so common in upper Assam,but a special spring time festival of this region is a fair usually held in the first week of Bohag or third week of april. It is known as Bhatheli in northern Kamrup, Sori or or Suanri in southern Kamrup. The bhatheli-ghar come from another village, resulting in a sort of mock fight between them and the local youth. In the southern part of Kamrup, where the festival is known as Sori, planting of tall bamboos is not seen, but bamboo posts,with the tuft at the top..People bow before the bamboos in northern Kamrup and they also touch them with reverence, but it does not look like any sort of bamboo worship. The common popular term to designate the three festivals corresponding to Bihu of Upper Assam, in Lower Assam,except in West Goalpara, is Domahi, e.g., Baihagar Domahi, Maghar Domahi and Katir Domahi.
Religion
Hinduism and Islam are main religion of Western Assam. Hinduism is further divided into Vaishnavism and Shaktism.
Language
Kamrupi and Goalpariya languages are spoken in Kamrup[13] and Goalpara regions. Bodo, Rabha, Koch languages are spoken in respective tribal belts. Upendranath Goswami writes, "Assamese entered into Kamarupa or western Assam where this speech was first characterised as Assamese. This is evident from the remarks of Hiuen Tsang who visited the Kingdom of Kamarupa in the first half of the seventh century A.D., during the reign of Bhaskaravarman."
Music
The folk songs of Goalpara region is known as Goalpariya Lokgeet, of Kamrup region is known as Kamrupi Lokgeet. Kamrupi dance is form of dance technique has been evolved from Bhaona which is a sophisticated type of dancing.[14]
See also
- People from Western Assam
- Kamrup (disambiguation)
- Kamrupi
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "[The] territory from Biswanath to Goalpara—was known as Western Assam; but another name—Lower Assam—gradually came into use." (Banerjee 1992, p. 9)
- ↑ "The territories on the west of the river Dhansiri were to be divided into five districts: (1) North-east Rangpur of Goalpara; (2) six paraganas of Kamrup, roughly corresponding to the present district of Barpeta including Bagarberra; (3) Lower Assam with twenty parganas, mostly on the north and the nine duars on the south; (4) Central Assam comprising Naduar, Charduar and Darrang on the north, Nagaon and Raha on the south of the Brahmaputra; (5) Biswanath, from the river Bharali to Biswanath on the north together with the territory known as Morung, extending from Kaliabor to the river Dhansiri." (Banerjee 1992, p. 53)
- ↑ "By 1836 the districts assumed names which became familiar in later years: Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang and Nagaon." (Banerjee 1992, pp. 53–54)
- ↑ Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma (2005), Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Cutlure, ..., Davaka (Nowgong) and Kamarupa as separate and submissive friendly kingdoms
- ↑ "It is presumed that (Kalyana Varman) conquered Davaka, incorporating it within the kingdom of Kamarupa." (Puri 1968, p. 11)
- ↑ Kanak Lal Barua (1933), Early history of Kāmarupa, Page 47 "in the sixth or the seventh century this kingdom of Davaka was absorbed by Kamarupa."
- ↑ (Sharma 1978, pp. 303–305)
- ↑ "In the Battle of Itakhuli in September 1682, the Ahom forces chased the defeated Mughals nearly one hundred kilometers back to the Manas river. The Manas then became the Ahom-Mughal boundary until the British occupation." (Richards 1995, p. 247)
- ↑ Upendranath Goswami (1970), A Study on Kāmrūpī: A Dialect of Assamese, Page iii
- ↑ Sharma, Sharma, Suresh Kant, Usha (2005). Discovery of North-East India. Mittal Publications. p. 265.
- ↑ Samiti, Kamarupa Anusandhana (1984). Readings in the history & culture of Assam. Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti. p. 227.
- ↑ Barua, Prafulla Chandra (1967), Fragments of a lost picture, Page viii
- ↑ Baruah, P. N. Dutta (2007). A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya. Central Institute of Indian Languages. p. 10.
- ↑ Banerji, Projesh (1959),The folk-dance of India, Page 72
Citations
- Banerjee, A. C. (1992), "The New Regime, 1826-31", in Barpujari, H. K., The Comprehensive History of Assam IV, Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam, pp. 1–43
- Puri, Baij Nath (1968). Studies in Early History and Administration in Assam. Gauhati University.
- Richards, John F. (1995). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521566037. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
Further reading
- Vasu, Nagendranath (1922). The Social History of Kamarupa.
- Tripathi, Chandra Dhar (2008). Kamarupa-Kalinga-Mithila politico-cultural alignment in Eastern India : history, art, traditions. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. p. 197.
- Wilt, Verne David (1995). Kamarupa. V.D. Wilt. p. 47.
- Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (1977). Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass Publications. p. 538.
- Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of ancient Indian geography. Cosmo Publications. p. 364.
- Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 668.
- Kapoor, Subodh (2002). The Indian encyclopaedia: biographical, historical, religious, administrative, ethnological, commercial and scientific. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 320.
- Sarkar, Ichhimuddin (1992). Aspects of historical geography of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa (ancient Assam). Naya Prokash. p. 295.
- Deka, Phani (2007). The great Indian corridor in the east. Mittal Publications. p. 404.
- Pathak, Guptajit (2008). Assam's history and its graphics. Mittal Publications. p. 211.
- Samiti, Kamarupa Anusandhana (1984). Readings in the history & culture of Assam. Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti. p. 227.
