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| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| ] Inscription of ]<center>]] | ] Inscription of ]<center>]] | ||
| The kamarupa kingdom was ruled by powerful dynasties: the ] (c. 350–650 AD) and ] (c. 900–1100 AD) from their capitals at present ]. | |||
| In the reign of the Varman king, ] (c. 600–650 AD), the Chinese traveler ] visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa]]-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. | In the reign of the Varman king, ] (c. 600–650 AD), the Chinese traveler ] visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa]]-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. | ||
Revision as of 02:51, 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
The kamarupa kingdom was ruled by powerful dynasties: the Varmanas (c. 350–650 AD) and Kamarupa-Palas (c. 900–1100 AD) from their capitals at present Kamrup. In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman (c. 600–650 AD), the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa]]-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.
Brahma Pala (900-920), founded 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)
- 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
