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| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| ] Inscription of ]<center>]] | ] Inscription of ]<center>]] | ||
| Western Assam |
Western Assam was capital of ancient ],<ref>{{cite book |title=Discovery of North-East India |last= Sharma, Sharma |first=Suresh Kant, Usha|authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2005 |publisher=Mittal Publications |location= |isbn= |page=265 |pages=512 |accessdate=|url=}}</ref> ruled by powerful dynasties the ] (350–650 CE) and ] (900–1100 CE) from their capitals at present ]. | ||
| ===Varman Dynasty=== | ===Varman Dynasty=== | ||
| ⚫ | ] (350-374) named after ], became first ruler of Kamrup by establishing ]. His son ] (374-398), named after ], was accepted as an overlord by many local rulers. ] (494-518) and his son ] (518-542) offered the ]; and as the ] inscription of Bhaskar Varman avers, these expansions included the region of Chandrapuri visaya, identified with present-day ]. 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 ] that is much larger area than modern Kamrup from which it intially begins. | ||
| ] visited Kamrup when King ] (c.600–650 AD) ruling Kamrup, and recorded details of the kingdom. Later, after weakening and disintegration Palas, the Kamarupa tradition was somewhat extended until c. 1255 AD by the Lunar I (c. 1120–1185 AD) and Lunar II (c. 1155–1255 AD) dynasties. | |||
| ⚫ | 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, ] (566-590), enjoyed victories over the Gauda of ] 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, ] 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. | ||
| ⚫ | ](350-374) |
||
| ⚫ | 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, ] (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, ] and Bhaskar Varman fought against an elephant force and were captured and taken to Gaur. They were able to regain their kingdom |
||
| ⚫ | 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 ] just as the ] king ascended the throne in 606 after the murder of his brother, the previous king, by ] of ]. Harshavardhana finally took control over the kingless ] kingdom and moved his capital to ]. The alliance between Harshavardhana and Bhaskar Varman squeezed Shashanka from either side and reduced his kingdom, |
||
| ⚫ | Supratisthita Varman was succeeded by his brother, ] (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 ] just as the ] king ascended the throne in 606 after the murder of his brother, the previous king, by ] of ]. Harshavardhana finally took control over the kingless ] kingdom and moved his capital to ]. 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 Bengal-Odisha 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, |
||
| ⚫ | In about 643, ] (Xuanzang) visited Bhaskar Varman's court and recorded details of his kingdom. Yuan Chwang mentioned the western border of the Kamarupa kingdom was the ] 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 (]) 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. After the death of Harshavardhana, he helped a mission from China led by Wang Hiuen-ts'oe according to a Chinese account. Bhaskar Varman, also called Kumar, or Shri Kumar, was a bachelor king and died without an heir. | ||
| ===Pala Dynasty=== | ===Pala Dynasty=== | ||
Revision as of 07:19, 1 September 2012
Western Assam or Lower Assam is a region in Bharat, covering entire western Brahmaputra Valley. It was home to the mighty kingdom of Kamarupa (3-12 AD), ruled by Varman's and Pala's from their capital's Pragjyotishpura and Durjaya respectively, both now known as modern Town of Guwahati. Today it is largest city of North-East India while Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in Guwahati.
History
Western Assam was capital of ancient Kamrup Kingdom, ruled by powerful dynasties the Varmanas (350–650 CE) and Palas (900–1100 CE) from their capitals at present Kamrup.
Varman Dynasty
Pushya Varman (350-374) named after Pusyamitra Sunga, became first ruler of Kamrup by establishing 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 that is much larger area than modern Kamrup from which it intially 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 Bengal-Odisha 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) 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. After the death of Harshavardhana, he helped a mission from China led by Wang Hiuen-ts'oe 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 Guwahati. The greatest of the Pala kings, Dharma Pala had his capital at Kamarupa Nagara, now identified with North Guwahati. The last Pala king was Jaya Pala (1075-1100).
Demography
The ethnic composition of present Western Assam consists of Aryans along with tribes like Bodos in the northern part of Western Assam while Rabhas in the south and Koches in the southwest.
Festivals
Primarily festivals like Durga Puja, Kali Puja along with dozens of other Pujas are celebrated. Harvesting festivals like Bihu are also widely celebrated all around Western Assam. Muslims celebrate Eid.
Religion
Hinduism and Islam are main religion of Western Assam. Hinduism is further divided into Vaishnavism and Shaktism.
Culture
Villages still contained the traditional Vedic culture while in case of towns and cities it relaxed a bit. Vedic culture largely flourished in the reign of Pushya Varman (350-374), the founder of great Varman dynasty of Kamarupa Kingdom and which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskar Varman (600-650).
Language
Upendranath Goswami, A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese.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.
Kamrupi is spoken in once undivided Kamrup district areas while Goalparya is spoken in once undivided Goalpara district areas. Bodo, Rabha, Koch languages are spoken in respective tribal belts.
See also
Notes
- " territory from Biswanath to Goalpara—was known as Western Assam; but another name—Lower Assam—gradually came into use." (Banerjee 1992, p. 9)
- Sharma, Sharma, Suresh Kant, Usha (2005). Discovery of North-East India. Mittal Publications. p. 265.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Samiti, Kamarupa Anusandhana (1984). Readings in the history & culture of Assam. Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti. p. 227.
- Baruah, P. N. Dutta (2007). A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya. Central Institute of Indian Languages. p. 10.
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References
- Banerjee, A. C. (1992), "The New Regime, 1826-31", in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. IV, Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam, pp. 1–43
Further reading
- Vasu, Nagendranath (1922). The Social History of Kamarupa.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - 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.
External links
