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'''Lower Assam''' (also '''Western Assam''') ({{lang-as|নামনি অসম}}) is an administrative ] of ], comprising the ] and ] regions under the jurisdiction of a ], who is stationed at ]. The division covers the lower reaches of the ] occupying entire western ].<ref>" territory from Biswanath to Goalpara—was known as Western Assam; but another name—Lower Assam—gradually came into use." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|p=9}}</ref> 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,<ref>"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." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|p=53}}</ref> which along with the six paraganas became a single district of ] in 1836.<ref>"By 1836 the districts assumed names which became familiar in later years: Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang and Nagaon." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|pp=53–54}}</ref> It was home to the mighty kingdom of ] (3-12 AD), ruled by ] and ] from their capital's ] and ] respectively, both now known as modern Town of ]. Today it is largest city of ] while ], the capital of Assam, is in Guwahati. '''Lower Assam''' (also '''Western Assam''') ({{lang-as|নামনি অসম}}) is an administrative ] of ], comprising the ] and ] regions under the jurisdiction of a ], who is stationed at ]. The division covers the lower reaches of the ] occupying entire western ].<ref>" territory from Biswanath to Goalpara—was known as Western Assam; but another name—Lower Assam—gradually came into use." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|p=9}}</ref> 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,<ref>"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." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|p=53}}</ref> which along with the six paraganas became a single district of ] in 1836.<ref>"By 1836 the districts assumed names which became familiar in later years: Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang and Nagaon." {{harv|Banerjee|1992|pp=53–54}}</ref>
It was home to the mighty kingdom of ] (3-12 AD), ruled by ] and ] from their capital's ] and ] respectively, both now known as modern Town of ]. Today it is largest city of ] while ], the capital of Assam, is in Guwahati.


The other divisions are ], ] and ]. The other divisions are ], ] and ].
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{{Gallery {{Gallery
|title=History |title=History
|width=160 |width=150
|height=170 |height=160
|lines=4 |lines=4
|align=center |align=center
|File:East-Hem 300ad.jpg|alt1=East-Hem 300ad|300 A.D Kingdoms - Dvaka, ], ], ], Nagas, ], ], ]. |File:East-Hem 300ad.jpg|alt1=East-Hem 300ad|300 A.D Kingdoms - ], ], ], ], Nagas, ], ], ].
|File:Kamarupa 7th-8th Century Cities.jpg|alt4=Kamarupa 7th-8th Century Cities|Kamarupa, the first historical kingdom of Assam, 7th-8th century cities. |File:Kamarupa 7th-8th Century Cities.jpg|alt4=Kamarupa 7th-8th Century Cities|Kamarupa, the first historical kingdom of Assam, 7th-8th century cities.
|File:Assam MK Lion.JPG|alt3=Assam .|9th-10th century lion sculpture representing powerful ], ]. |File:Assam MK Lion.JPG|alt3=Assam .|9th-10th century lion sculpture representing powerful ], ].
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===Pala Dynasty=== ===Pala Dynasty===
] (900-920), was founder ] (900–1100 A.D) of Kamarupa. Dynasty ruled from its capital ], modern day Guwahati. The greatest of the Pala kings, ] had his capital at Kamarupa Nagara, now identified with ]. Ratna Pala was another notable sovereign of this line. Records of his land-grants have been found at Bargaon and ], while a similar relic of Indra Pala, has been discovered at Guwahati. Pala dynasty come to end with ] (1075-1100).<ref>{{cite book |title=Readings in the history & culture of Assam |last=Samiti |first=Kamarupa Anusandhana |year=1984 |publisher=Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti|pages=227}}</ref> ] (900-920), was founder ] (900–1100 A.D) of Kamarupa. Dynasty ruled from its capital ], modern day ]. The greatest of the Pala kings, ] had his capital at Kamarupa Nagara, now identified with ]. ] was another notable sovereign of this line. Records of his land-grants have been found at Bargaon and ], while a similar relic of ], has been discovered at Guwahati. Pala dynasty come to end with ] (1075-1100).<ref>{{cite book |title=Readings in the history & culture of Assam |last=Samiti |first=Kamarupa Anusandhana |year=1984 |publisher=Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti|pages=227}}</ref>


==Demography== ==Demography==
According to 2011 census, Western Assam has total population of 1,12,5,355; out of which urban population accounting to 19,59,707 while rural population is 92,93,843.
⚫ The ethnic composition of present Western Assam consists of ] along with tribes like ] in the northern part of Western Assam while ]s in the south and ]es in the southwest.

==Ethnic division==
⚫ The ethnic composition of present Western Assam consists of ], along with tribes like ] in the north, ]s in south and ]es in the southwest.


==Festivals== ==Festivals==
Primarily festivals like ], ] along with dozens of other ] are celebrated. Harvesting festivals like ] are also widely celebrated all around Western Assam. Primarily festivals like ], ] along with dozens of other ] are celebrated. Harvesting festivals like ] are also observed all around Western Assam. Muslims celebrate ].
Muslims celebrate ].


==Religion== ==Religion==
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==Culture== ==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 ] (350-374), the founder of great ] of ] Kingdom and which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskar Varman (600-650). 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 ] (350-374), the founder of great Varman dynasty of Kamrup Kingdom which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskar Varman (600-650).


==Language== ==Language==
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}} }}


] is spoken in once undivided ] district areas<ref>{{cite book |title=A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya |last= Baruah |first=P. N. Dutta |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2007 |publisher=Central Institute of Indian Languages |location= |isbn= |page=10 |accessdate=|url=}}</ref> while ] is spoken in once undivided ] district areas. ], ], ] languages are spoken in respective tribal belts. ] is spoken in ]<ref>{{cite book |title=A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya |last= Baruah |first=P. N. Dutta |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2007 |publisher=Central Institute of Indian Languages |location= |isbn= |page=10 |accessdate=|url=}}</ref> and ] is spoken in ].
], ], ] languages are spoken in respective tribal belts.
] belongs to the group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, here marked in green]] ]</center>, here marked in green]]


==See also== ==See also==
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* ] * ]
* ] * ]

⚫ ==Notes==
⚫ {{reflist}}


==References== ==References==
⚫ ===Notes===
⚫ {{reflist|2}}

===Citations===
{{refbegin}} {{refbegin}}
* {{Citation * {{Citation
| first = A. C.| last = Banerjee| editor-last =Barpujari| editor-first =H. K.| contribution = The New Regime, 1826-31| contribution-url =| title = The Comprehensive History of Assam| volume = IV| series =| year = 1992
| first = A. C.
| pages = 1–43| place = Guwahati| publisher = Publication Board, Assam| url =| doi =| id = }}
| last = Banerjee
| editor-last =Barpujari
| editor-first =H. K.
| contribution = The New Regime, 1826-31
| contribution-url =
| title = The Comprehensive History of Assam
| volume = IV
| series =
| year = 1992
| pages = 1–43
| place = Guwahati
| publisher = Publication Board, Assam
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}
{{refend}} {{refend}}


Revision as of 16:37, 16 September 2013

For administrative division, see Lower Assam Division.

Template:Geobox Region

Aerial View of Guwahati

Lower Assam (also Western Assam) (Template:Lang-as) 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. 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, which along with the six paraganas became a single district of Undivided Kamrup district in 1836.

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.

The other divisions are Upper Assam, North Assam and Hills and Barak Valley.

History

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

Main article: 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).

Demography

According to 2011 census, Western Assam has total population of 1,12,5,355; 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.

Festivals

Primarily festivals like Durga Puja, Kali Puja along with dozens of other Pujas are celebrated. Harvesting festivals like Bihu are also observed 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. 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).

Language

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.

Upendranath Goswami, A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese.

Kamrupi language is spoken in Kamrup region and Goalpariya is spoken in Goalpara region. Bodo, Rabha, Koch languages are spoken in respective tribal belts.

File:Kamrupi.jpg
Kamrupi language
, here marked in green

See also

References

Notes

  1. " territory from Biswanath to Goalpara—was known as Western Assam; but another name—Lower Assam—gradually came into use." (Banerjee 1992, p. 9)
  2. "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)
  3. "By 1836 the districts assumed names which became familiar in later years: Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang and Nagaon." (Banerjee 1992, pp. 53–54)
  4. Sharma, Sharma, Suresh Kant, Usha (2005). Discovery of North-East India. Mittal Publications. p. 265. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Samiti, Kamarupa Anusandhana (1984). Readings in the history & culture of Assam. Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti. p. 227.
  6. Baruah, P. N. Dutta (2007). A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya. Central Institute of Indian Languages. p. 10. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Citations

  • 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

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