EMRI

Discussions on Assam History and its importance for AssamTourism

I am providing here some of the discussions from an Orkut community
( http://www.orkut.co.in/Community.aspx?cmm=11159059 ) owned by Mr.Amitabh Kakoty which is rich in content and is of great value for Assam tourism.

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Archaeological Discoveries

Discoveries in Paglatek, Goalpara

Ancient brick structures excavated in Goalpara

By Ajit Patowary

GUWAHATI, Feb 13 – The Directorate of Archaeology recently found evidence of two ninth and tenth century brick structures in a 35-metre-long and 15-metre wide excavated area at Paglatek, near Pancharatna in Goalpara district. Besides terracotta shreds, decorated pieces of bricks and green glaze potteries of the Mughal era were also found at the site. The terracotta impressions found at the site are similar to some of those exposed at Ambari in the city. Earlier, some gold coins were found at the site, which can be dated back to seventh century AD.

Meanwhile, the Archaeology Directorate has made a communication with the Director of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Luknow for a collaborative attempt to conduct a detailed study of the Paglatek area. The response from the Lucknow institute to this communication is very positive.

Speaking to this correspondent, Archaeology Director Dr HN Dutta and Deputy Director Dipirekha Kauli said that the Paglatek excavated area, running north to south, had two brick walls with continuation on both sides of the exposed area. While the brick boundary wall with a width of 3.2 metres, found at the site can be dated back to tenth century AD, the brick structure located inside the wall can be dated back to a comparatively earlier period. One stone relic, believed to be a part of a temple, was also found at the site. Evidence of extension of these structures was also found atop the Paglatek hillock, they said.

Dr Dutta said that the Lucknow institute had already made communication with him in response to his letter. Their response was very positive and they have agreed to join in a collaborative drive to undertake archaeological and paleobotanical investigation in the area. This will have an immense impact on archaeological studies in the State. As, this will pave the way for joint ventures by these two agencies for studying antiquity against the background of natural history in this biodiversity hot spot, Dutta said.

Speaking on the status of the Paglatek site, he said, the site has a rock cut cave, temple – relics as well as brick temple evidence of periods that may be dated back to seventh to eighth centuries. The brick wall found at the site has eleven courses of bricks at a depth of 0.90 metres and the size of the bricks exposed here is 0.37 by 0.20 by 0.50 metres.

The site, facing the Brahmaputra, is a vast one and indications of its expansion are also found in the salvage digging conducted at the Paglatek hillock, he said.

The Assam Tribune, 14th February 2006

I am interested to know the history about Lower assam(I would like to put it as West Assam).....could you enlighten me more about that and the Archaeological Discoveries made there??

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=11159059&tid=2584633642106923267

Ancient Relic at MMC Hospital

Discovery of ancient relic at MMC Hospital, Guwahati

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=11159059&tid=2555841540711688451

Discoveries in Joljoly Pukhury, Darrang

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=11159059&tid=2583141145266530563

Unique Temple Discovered at Deuporbot

Deuporbot, Golaghat

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=11159059&tid=2485976274075298051

Thanks Amitabh da......one other thing i am a bit curious about is where are the data, books, research paper etc of the british era .....are they in Assam, shillong, Calcutta or the britishers have taken them with them when they left assam.....they do have a great sense of recording the discoveries of past......I remember, my school Golaghat Govt Bezbaruah H.S.School receiving a letter from Britain telling the school authority to destroy the old building and plan a new one as according to the construction document available with them made in 19th century, this building is about to collapse......that tells a lot about british sense of keeping pace with history, isn't it?

---i still feel lot of data regarding Assam's past are lying in those books may be in libraries of London, Manchester etc..

some of these resources are thr in other older thrds...i think a new thrd on historical resources will help compiling..

Funds for preservation; lets wait results!

A late initiative; by Directorate of Archaeology, Assam...2.59cr.....better than nothing....lets wait for the results...

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=mar2508/at06

Maghnowa Doul, Lakhimpur

Ahom era Maghnowa Doul lies in state of neglect

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=mar2508\State

From Our Correspondent

NORTH LAKHIMPUR, March 24 – When the news of cracks on the famed Ahom monument of Rang Ghar and Kareng Ghar have been generating reactions among the public, a lone monument of the same heritage lies in a state of neglect, away from the media attention, in an interior village of Lakhimpur district.

The structure, which is in a dilapidated condition, is the Maghnowa Doul built in the 17th century during the reign of Ahom King of Siva Singha. Swargadeo Siva Singha, who was the follower of the Sakta cult of Hinduism, and built this temple for the worship of the goddess with sacrifices, was desecrated by the invading Maans (Burmese) forces in the early nineteenth century when they sacrificed heifers inside the temple. Since then regular worship at the Doul has been halted and the monument fast began to lose public interest. It remained covered by jungles for more than a century and it was only in the middle of the twentieth century it was rediscovered by some enthusiastic local people.

All the valuable properties and belongings of the monument were either stolen or decayed without care and preservation. There were more than 40 beautiful sculptor works on the round outer wall of the main temple. But most of those exquisite art works of the seventeenth century were extracted and stolen by local cattle herders as the monument had no keeper, priest or state protection.

Now only seven such sculptures of various Hindu gods and goddesses and mythological characters remain on the outer walls of the Maghnowa Doul. The main entry gate, a parallel wall of six feet, also contained works on either side where none of these remains presently. In 2006 a committee was formed for the renovation and conservation of the Magnowa Doul and Rs 10 lakh was approved by the District Rural Development Authority for the development of the monument as a tourist destination. Narayanpur Development Block has started works on the site with the Maghnowa Daul Committee on July 19. Boundary walls, earth filling and construction of tourist sheds are being carried out. However the local public of the Rangati Gaon Panchayaat has complained that the committee renovating the Maghnowa Doul used red powder of crushed bricks to paint the dome of the Doul without the permission and approval of the Archeological Survey of India.

But the sources at the district headquarter in North Lakhimpur said the ASI often takes too much time in giving approvals for renovation works of historical monuments in Lakhimpur district for which the money which is allotted for the work bears the chances of being siphoned off by the concerned committees.

The crossing of high voltage power cables over the monument site is also causing concern to tourists visiting the site. The road which diverts from NH-52 to the monument site is also a graveled one which also needs to be developed into a pitched one for the same purpose.

The most important aspect is that the ASI should appoint an authority for the maintenance and protection of the Maghnowa Doul and the site should be included on the tourist map of Assam at per with the Ahom monuments in Sivasagar district.

New Discoveries at Helem (Helem Tea Estate)

Place: Residence of Pascal Ekka, No. 1 Labour Line, Helem Tea Estate, Helem Thana (Police Station Area), Gohpur Mohkuma (Sub-division), Sonitpur District.

Details:

31 ancient articles were discovered and excavated during construction of a temporary room by the residents.

1. Six copper plates

2. A statue of 'Ganesh'

3. Three 'Shiva Linga'

4. Three 'sankha'

5. A 'belpaat' made of silver

6. Two 'tripuraary'

7. Three stones carved with 'shiva-linga'

8. A statue of 'Kali'

9. A statue of 'Durga'

10. A container for 'sandal-wood' product

11. Six brass bowls

12. Two 'Luta' (water containers)

Hope more things will be discovered with careful investigation; However, it is surprising to see the mix!

Status: Mr. Nayanjyoti Bhagawati, Circle Officer, Helem Revenue Circle, has collected the articles for protecting safely and was to inform the Department of Archaeology.

Source: Bhaskarjyoti Bhuyan and Nagen Saikia, The Asomiya Pratidin, 11th April, 2008, Page 7.

More on Deupahar, Golaghat District

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jun0908\State

Call to develop historic Deopahar into tourist spot

From Our Correspondent

GOLAGHAT, June 8 – The historic Deopahar, situated near the NH-39, is home to several ancient relics, monuments and Siva temples. The ancient sculptures, coins, temples and bricks of various types are still scattered around Deopahar. These were identified as the historical sources of the 8th and 9th century. Statues found here were those of Tripuraswar Sawharar Rudra Brikhyarupa Rudra, Tripura-Surbadhar, Fangananm Siva, Jyano, Sridhari Rudra, Lakshi-Narayan, Haragowris Rashlila, Sarpadevata, Deosalar Khutu, Pranayam dhyan, Telbrikhya, Padma-Sakra, Ram and Ravana, Sugriba, etc.

The ancient temple of Deopahar was destroyed in the great earthquake that occurred in 1897.

The statues were made on granite stone. The Shivalinga was shifted from this temple and was placed in Babathau, which is situated in the foot of the Deopahar.

“Although the State government had taken steps to make Deopahar as tourist spot, it is far from one, locals alleged.

Enriched with bio-diversity, Deopahar was handed over to the Forest Department by the Sivasagar district administration in 1968. But the proposed Deopahar RF was never really turned into a full-fledged reserved site by the State government.

To make matters worse, parts of the Deopahar RF had been encroached into by the Numaligarh tea garden.

The Archeological Department of the State government had adopted several schemes for making Deopahar a tourist spot. A museum was constructed and it was inaugurated. But after several years, the museum is lying in an incomplete state. The architecture and statues were not decorated systematically. As a result, the historic place hardly attracted any tourists.

The local people of Numaligarh, Telgaram, Morongi, Doigrung, Labanghat areas have demanded of the Archeological Department and the State government to take the issue seriously so that Deopahar can be developed into a tourist spot within a short period.

Thanks a lot Amitabh da for sharing info about this place......tourism wise the place has great potential...The place needs security as frequent news of dacoity and lootmaar are heard from this place and if this image is not broken it may affect this place's potential as a good tourist place

The State Archaeological department is now studying a huge stone which came to the focus on Friday inside the premises of the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury (MMC) Hospital at Panbazar area in the city.

The article:

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=sep1807/at05

photograph:

http://www.assamtribune.com/sep1807/Photo1.html

i think there is a complete (underground) lost city stretchin in the entire core areas of guwahati......whr digholy pukhury ws a shipyard n the controlled bharalu ws the boundary........may be mapping all the archeological discoveries, sites in reference to their dates may tell us many things.................

btw, the photograph appears to me to be of some kind of a pillar and not a Shivling..

perhaps satellite imaging can help....

lot of things will come out....ignorant ppl hav allowed the treasure to buried 4 so long!!!

May be the pillar was part of some temple ...

& ppl hav already started offering prayers without knowing wat it is!!!!

they'll ruin the antique...

9/19/07

may be the pillar was a part of a palace of a king or a house of an unknown sea-merchant!!!!!!!!..............wat do u think guys?..........nethin tht is unearthed frm assam is considered as temple!!! .........so we used to build magnificient temples n live in huts!????? .....i myself saw traces of buildings with thick walls under the new auditorium of cotton college (wen it ws constructed!)...................

ppl hav developed a mentality to blame everything on luck & worship whatever surfaces to turn it around.....

it might be of bhaskarbarmans time(but did they used stones?)...

BTW wat happened to those things u saw in cotton college....?...they were also ignored?...even by cottonians?...

yes, wat i rmbr.....the do-porbotiya gate in tezpur, which is the oldest discovery is a stone-gate of barman's time (will chk the time).........am also curious to kno wat hd hpnd to cotton's discovery!......i think they hv buit the audi/gym/indoor i frgt watever over it....n issue ws nt taken very seriously...........does neone kno abt it?

the whole of ujan bazar area, from Brahmaputra to the south of dighali pukhuri was part of an ancient settlement. the best the archaeology department can do is, make a detailed map of the remains, rather scattered at present.

please visit the ambari site, u will get a glimpse of the remarkable architectural achievement that the assamese had back in the gupta-post gupta period.

More info:

More info on it:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070920/asp/guwahati/story_8336367.asp

Bhaitbari!...Bhaskarvarman's City?

The site indicates tht. .....interesting.............. read Bhaitbari part (no.3).....It seems to be a full-fledged city waiting for exploration!.....and can unearth an important part of our history......read the following meghalaya govt site:

http://megartsculture.gov.in/arch.htm#Bhaitbari

However, the mud-stupas seems to be of a much earlier period.....

Note: You may also read the initial part of the webpage covering Stone Age findings and last part depicting arch of Jayantiya kings.

No doubt the place was part of the kingdom of Bhaskar Varman (from the time mentioned)..

All these sites must to be properly excavated, documented and age of the findings must be determined scientifically.......it is sorry to see tht many a times scientific archaeological dating of the sites and findings are not done.......

This was possibly a city largely developed by Bhaskaravarman .....however, it seems it had a longer period of existance as thr wr mud-stupas in the areas, which are suspected to be early Buddhist structures...if it is true than these stupas must be the examples of the earliest archaeological-architectural findings (leaving the Stone Age ones.... )

The first discovery of the site was of 1991, a decade and a half back....what advancements have been made on the site and its findings?.......!!!!

New Discoveries; Joljoly Pukhury, Darang

Ref: Asomiya Pratidin, 13th February, 2008

There are new discoveries of 10th century (?) statues and carved lotus petals made of stones in Joljoly Pukhury (close to Kalaigaon?), Darang.

Can anyone tell where exactly is the Joljoly Pukhury (tank) situated? And is there any local story related to this historic phukhury?

Location

As marked by someone in www.wikimapia.org Joljoly Pukhury is aprx 5 km north of the NH 52 on Kolaaigaon Road. The area is close to Mongoldoi and other interesting place-marks such as Xoru Joljoly Pukhury, Bhutunga Pukhury and Xilor Khuti, etc can be seen in proximity..........

Dear Friends ,

We have discovered one ancient item which was used by Lachit Borphukan as claimed by Lachit's present family members . The item is known as Hachoti Pera . Photographs of the said item and contact details of the present owner can be viewed at www.brahmaputratimes.com ,.

Interested persons & historians are requested to provide more details on this item.

Thanking you

Vikramjit Kakati

wonderful!.....hnacoti pera was probably used for keeping tamul-paan....!...it is exciting to see something that was used by the great Borphukon!.......in case even if it is not of Borphukon, than too it is valuable and heritage of Assam..bcuz such things are rare now-a-days....

i believe, many items of such type (of historic importance) are still kept by many families under their possession, ....................think if everyone comes out like this we will be able to know as a nation how rich our heritage is..........!.....obhinondon to all of us!

Bhaskorbormon's Gifts to Harshavardhana

It is very interesting to check the list of the gifts from king Bhaskorbormon (c. 600-50 A.D.) of Kamarupa to Harshavardhana, the king of Magadha; It provides a glance at the then culture and heritage of Assam:

1. An umbrella called 'Abhoga'

2. Gem-ornaments, crest jewels and pearl necklaces

3. Silken towels rolled up in baskets of coloured reeds

4. Quantities of pearl, shell, sapphire

5. Drinking vessels embossed with skilful art

6. Loads of Kardaranga leather bucklers with gold-leaf work and cases to preserve their colour

7. Soft loin cloth

8. pillows of Samuruka leather and other figured textures

9. Cane stools

10. Volume of fine writting on leaves made of aloe bark

11. Betelnut fruit

12. Bamboo tubes containing mango sap and black aloes oil

13. Bundles contained in sacks of woven silk and consisting of black aloe, Gosirsha sandal, camphor, scent bags of musk oxen, Kakkola sprays, clove flower bunches and nutmeg clusters

14. Cups of Ullaka juice

15. Heaps of Black and white chowries

16. Carved boxes of panels for painting with brushes and gourds to hold paints

17. Pairs of kinnars, orang-outangs, Jivanjivaka birds and mermen

18. Musk deer and female Chamara deer

19. Parrots, Sarikas and other birds

20. Patridges in cages of coral

21. Rings of hippopotamus ivory, encrusted with rows of pearls from brows of elephants

Reference:

Sircar, D.C., Political History, in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.) 1990 Comprehensive History of Assam, Vol I, page 114, Publication Board Assam, Guwahati

Originally the list is from Harshacarita, translated by Cowell and Thomas, pp 214-5

Out of the above-mentioned gifts, i think it is very interesting and striking to find the following (using the same serial numbers):

1. An umbrella called 'Abhoga'

3. Silken towels rolled up in baskets of coloured reeds

8. pillows of Samuruka leather and other figured textures

10. Volume of fine writting on leaves made of aloe bark (Xnacipaator puthi)

11. Betelnut fruit (Taamul)

12. Bamboo tubes containing mango sap and black aloes oil (mango sap in bnahor sunga! - interesting)

13. Bundles contained in sacks of woven silk and consisting of black aloe, Gosirsha sandal, camphor, scent bags of musk oxen, Kakkola sprays, clove flower bunches and nutmeg clusters

14. Cups of Ullaka juice (!!!!!! a special drink?)

16. Carved boxes of panels for painting with brushes and gourds to hold paints (proves tradition of painting)

yes, it is a paleo-river, older than the Himalayas......i dont know if any detail is known about the river prior to growth of the Himalayas; however, geomorphic details must be available.........(this is part of geomorphic studies)

on the other hand in past few millennia:

1. Brahmaputra was called as Dilao by the original people living here similarly to the names of the other rivers in the region ....check from dikrong, dihing, disang, dilih, diroi, digaru.................to tista (later sanskritised to trishrota).......di or ti meant water.........(refer, Kakati, B.K., Assamese its Formation and Development)

2. B.K. Kakoti also believes that Dilao was later called as tilao > then laoti > luit to get later sanskritised to louhitya......

3. The shans in the east called the river as 'Nam-dao-phi'; so called by the Shans entering Assam with Sukapha.........but after assimilation, they used the much spoken earlier term, that is 'Luit'.....

4. Bodos called it Bhullumbuthur > B. K. Kakati belives that Brahmaputra is a sanskritised version of it.........

5. Luit was the most important transportation-corridor since historic past ......during the regin of all the greatest dynasties in Assam from Bormons to Ahoms Luit was the principal route for trade, inter-city movements and for strategic defence......an inscription dated to Harjarbormon (Salstambha dynasty - Tezpur) came out to be a settlement of authority on the river's water between traders.........Bhaskarbormon had a fleet of 30,000 warships/warboats and had officers knowing the sea-route to china...............During Ahom dynasty, Assam was again an important naval power with thousands of ships and designated officers related to navigation and naval defense activities................the Battle of Saraighat was a naval one, where numerous Assamese ships joined both the banks of the river close to Guwahati......

6. The Vaishnav monasteries also mushroomed in Majuli, the island in Brahmaputra...

A List!

We may try a comprehensive list of good books on history of Oxom -- both in Oxomeeya n English..., can u help? ...the list can be a gud strarter fr those interested to collect these n read...

1. one u have already mentioned. the Comprehensive History of Assam by H. K. Barpujari

2. The Tai and the Tai Kingdoms by Dr. Padmeshwar Gogoi

3. Ahomor Din by Hiteshwar Barbarua

4. Pragjyotishar Itihax by Dr. Dimbeshwar Sharma

5. Assam History by Sir Edward Gait (a must read. publishers LBS)

6. Xatxoree Asom Buranji, compiled by S.K. Bhuyan (another must read at least to learn about the oxomiya language used in those days. a small book compiled from 7 booklets. published by LBS)

7. Swrargadeu Rajeshwar Singha by S.K. bhuyan

8. Lachit Barphukan (oxomiya) by S. K. Bhuyan

9. Aasaam Buranji by Gunabhiram Barua (AFAI remember)

these books I have read or still reading. But among these the book by Hiteshwar Barbarua claimed to have aroused lot of curiosiy and controversy, even before it wa published.

There are few more books which are very good and am trying to get.. book names may not match, but writers are correct:

1. itihaxe xowonra shoxota boshor by Sarbananda Rajkumar

2. A comprehensive History of Assam by S. L. Barua (this is supposed to one more elaborate book)

3. Assam Under the Ahoms- By U.N. Gohain

4. Memoir of a Survey of Assam and the Neighbouring Countries Executed in 1825-1828; (Reprint) / Wilcox, R.

last two from google search.

In addition to these there are lot many books written by Dr. Leela Gogoi (for ex. Beli mar gol, buranjiye poroxa Nagar etc), S. K. Bhuyan and recently by Swarnalata Barua. unfortunately dont remember the names.

Buronjye Kotha Koi, Aton Burhagohain and his Times, ...few more i had collected 10 years back n r in duliajan now...cant rmbr all / will list someday....gud listing , many of these r common in our collections.

Early History of Kāmarupa

Author: Kanak Lal Barua

Publisher: Lawyers Book Stall

Publication Date: 1966

Pages: 238

Tungkhungia Buranji

Purani Asom Buranji (by Kashinath Tamuli phukan?)

Deudhai Asom Burani

buranjis about neighbouring kingdoms

Patshyah Buranji

Tripura Buranji

yes I missed the KL Baruah's book. thats also supposed to be a nice book

Oxom history books are not yet in net.. but yes, in vedanti.com u can find something on oxom history in oxomiya. u'll have to install some fonts!

any kind of assamese ebooks r really rare....can we do something ???

we can do onething.. scan the book or better take a digital camera, take photos of an old history book and make a pdf file.. and upload. problem is copyright violation.. If we can talk with the publishers before..

Jita, it requires a lot of permissions from authorities to make e-version of books.. thankfully, it seems that in state library they are initiating the conversion.. information conversion may be there, but how many people will relly get to know of it.. or benifit from it.. or how many people are really interested in using it.. all these questions lessens the motivation behind the conversion.. but it shud be done just because electronic storage will never die out..

thanx...but i think there will be many people interested in ebooks about axom buronji...not only we assamese,but hopefully few people even from outside assam...i think its high time to make ourselves known to others n to ourselves ...we always have been introvert about anything... i may be wrong,but thats what i think

few more:

1. Gogoi, Padmeshwar, 'Tai-Ahom Religion and Customs', Publication Board, Assam 1976

2. Saikia, Sayeeda Yasmin, 'Fragmented Memories: Struggling to be Tai-Ahom in India', 2004, ISBN 0822333732 Duke University Press / ..one can try the sample pages from google book search..

the last book is actually not a history book proper.. I have read few chapters, dont completely agree with her.. so stopped reading!

yes its nt exactly a history book n the author seems to be confused ....she prbly didnt hv a longer/stronger relationship with Oxom bfr she wrote the book..../ wll i will hv to read more n thn c..

Acharyya, N. N. The History of Medieval Assam, From the 13th to the 17th Century; A Critical and Comprehensive History of Assam During the First Four Centuries of Ahom Rule. Gauhati: Dutta Baruah, 1966

it is also a good book but have not finish reading though...

i want to study about the kalita ppl.do you know about any good books on them???

Edward Gait's "History of Assam" is a pretty good book ...i think its a must read for anybody who wants to have a good idea of Asom and NE history

Two more Oxom Buranji books are there. One by Padmanath Gohain Baruah and another by Benudhar Sarma.

Xuangzang's records.....

Few more can be of grt help to understand our past...

1. Life of Hiuen-Tsang by the Shaman Hwui Li, Nov 2005, Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421258293 / $23.99

2. Si Yu Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World by Hiuen Tsiang, Samuel Beal (Transl.), June 2004, Keninger Publishing. ISBN 1417922265 / $37.19

3. Si Yu Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World Vol I, by Hiuen Tsiang, July 2001, Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1402167598 / $ 18.99

References (in the 2nd)-

Bhaskaravarma as P'osekielofamo (in Chinese Yih-chou, king of Kamrupa)

Kamarupa as Kiamolupo

Kumara (Bhaskaravarma) as Koumolo

Kumararaja (Bhaskaravarma)..............

good references.....

for freelancers in history, there are few popular history books. one i remember is Dr. Dhrubajyoti bora's "Moamoriya Bidroh"-its nicely written. there r few historical novels also. Monomati is well-known. but i'm referring to a novel by Dhrubojyoti Bora called "Loha"-nice representation of the iron-workers of assam.

for serious reading:

1. N.N.Basu's: social history of assam in 3 vol.

2. R.M. nath's: background of assamese Culture

3. S.K. Bhuya's plethora of edited books available in the Assam Historical and Antiquarian department, Guwahati

4. K.L. Barua: anglo-Assamese Relations

5. M.M. Sharma: Inscriptions of ancient Assam.

6. Dimbeswar Sarma; Kamarupasasanavali

Anglo-Assamese relations is actually written by S.K. Bhuya, not K.L. Barua as i had written in the previous box.

this is a good list at www.assam.org

http://www.assam.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=90413&page_id=217&PHPSESSID=8c84b80379e6105870fac63e0a04a7d4

One on WWII: Assam-Burma-Yunnan Front

Its a nice detailed book on WWII in these areas and on the Ledo or Burma Road!

Webster, Donovan 2005 'The Burma Road - the Epic Story of One of World War II's Most Remarkable Endeavours' Pan Books

Jean Baptiste Chevalier, Les aventures de J.B. Chevalier dans l'Inde Orientale (1752-1765): Mémoire historique d'un voyage à Assem. ed. by Jean Deloche. EFEO 1984

(from friend Philippe)

Note: Kindly read a translated portion of it describing Chevalier's visit to the then palace, in the 'Sworgodeu's Throne' thrd..

1. Made of seven platforms

2. 'Hangul-haaital' (a locally produced colour) coloured

3. Lac work in some parts

4. The platforms are gold plated, on which jewellery work of various precious stones used to be thr...

5. Silver plated lion sculptures in the sides of the platforms; necks and backs of the lions are gold-plated with jewellery work with precious stones and the hairs are made of silver work and gold bangles in their legs; gold-jewellery work on the calves in the legs

6. In the seventh or the topmost platform there are four silver plated columns, where within a distance of every 4/5 cm (duaangul) there are gold plates with jewellery work

7. A 'jung-ghor' (a shaded cover?) on these columns with four 'kolosy' made of gold

8. The roof of the 'jung-ghor' is made of white-pat silk, which is embroidered with gold thread and 'karcip' designed flowers

9. Thick silver-plated beams in the middle of the columns with few more silver columns and three (- one large, one medium n one small sized) gold bowls, where there are gold 'kolosy' and a flag on a gold bar on the top (little difficult to understand how this will look like)

10. There is a mokhmol carpet on the seventh platform covered with a mattress of 'tula' with 'goomcengor kaapur' (goomceng cloth)

11. There are hengdan (swords) with handles with gold and jwellery work and many small golden hiloi (guns)

12. Above the golden kolosy on the top, there are seven sondrotaap (frgt what is the english?...hanging celing clothes!)..the first one from the down is made of kingkhap with lotus flower, second of kingkhap with kolki design, third one of kingkhap with lota phool, fourth one of gujarati kingkhap (!), fifth one like bird wings, sixth one with yellow pat-silk and seventh of white tao-silk; these become gradually larger towards the top one after another.

13. The 'snuwor dhora' - person employed for doing snuwor (?) uses a bar with gold jwellery work for snuwor (what is it?)

14. The 'pnaconi' keep using hand fans of peacock-wings with gold handles under the condrotaap, no one can sit; in the backside there are many armed 'somuwa-pnaconi' under a 'bor-pnaconi' sit and after them a 'taamuli phukon' sits with a 'taamul-xoraai'....................

Reference:

Rajkumar, Sarbananda, 2000, 'Itihaxe Xnuwora Soxota Bocor' Banalata, Dibrugarh

It was originally compiled during the first few decades of the 20th century by Late Sarbananda Rajkumar (1909 to 1968).

but, what hd hpnd to this throne?....till when it was in use?.....what hd hpnd to everythin those wr thr in the palaces......!!!!

I think your knowledge level of assamese history is quite commendable. Keep it upp

Philippe

Chevallier

We have an older description of the throne, or at least of the throne's room by a French traveller, J.B. Chevalier, who came in Assam in 18th century. The book has not been translated in English yet, but if anyone needs this part I can write a fast translation.

Dear Phillipe, plz translate the page and make it available for us....we all will be grtful....n also tell us the name of the source book in french..really thnx fr telling abt it..we are waiting....................

Philippe

Chavalier

Jean Baptiste Chevalier, Les aventures de J.B. Chevalier dans l'Inde Orientale (1752-1765): Mémoire historique d'un voyage à Assem. ed. by Jean Deloche. EFEO 1984. It's all French. I had the project to translate and publish the whole book in English, but heard somebody started the job. However, that was four years ago, and no news. Give me a few days, and I will send the part about the throne room.

Thnx Philippe, we will be eagerly waiting fr it........

Philippe

audience room in 1755

Chevalier p. 26 Description of the audience room of Swargadeo (1755)

(the room is accessed after crossing three courtyards) Finally, at the gate of the fouth courtyard, in which the palace is situated, I was welcomed by the Foreign Minister who waited for me with his escort. As he was standing, because he was not allowed to appear in a palanquin in this place, I was reticent to stay in my own palanquin, although we had agreed on this [Chevalier had requested to enter with his palanquin, as he considered himself as an ambassador]. I considered that it was an insult to him that I took benefit of a privilege he himself had obtained for me. So I got down and we walked together into the audience room. I entered and saluted in the way it had been agreed. The room was huge and full of all people attached to the prince's house, all kneeled and placed according to their rank. There was an astonishing silence. The building was supported by a multitude of wooden pilars, adorned with golden and silver slats inlayed on ivory on which various figures were carved. The walls were equipped with woodwork decorated like the pillars. The whole ceiling was made of planks covered with thick gold sheets, so well arranged that they looked like a single piece. This golden room must have cost an immense amount. It is said that several sovereigns contributed to it. It is a pity that the work is so inelegant. The gold is not polished. The carvings have neither proportions, nor delicacy, nor life. Nevertheless, the whole thing is striking both for the eyes and imagination. In the bottom, there is an elevation of more than ten feet. [There] the most rich and shining throne is seen glittering. It is surmounted by a canopy with all kinds of rich brocades and fabrics. The platform on which the king is standing is a golden mass on which carpets and pillows are put where His Majesty lays nonchalantly according to the Asian manners. TO BE FOLLOWED

Philippe

audience room in 1755 part 2

Ten spiral shaped golden pillars support a kind of peristyle on the front of the throne, and it is on this peristyle that are placed the steps by which one's climbs up. The steps are themselves adorned with golden sheets and ivory on which various figures are carved, with a very bright red colour which makes them show up admirably. On these steps are kneeled, their face facing His Majesty, all the children and princes from his blood. Lower down are the ministers, confined within a balustrade with gates by which come and go the messengers. At a certain distance, at the four corners, there is a multitude of armed people always ready to obey orders. A few honorable persons to which I spoke, told me that the room has cost 375 millions.... What is very surprising is that all this wealth is covered from outside only by a thatch roof. It was said to me that the reason is the earthquakes, which prevent building stone structures.

agree.. especially when this comes from the writings of a person who himself saw this.. the total cost of the room is new information to me.. thanks a lot Philippe

waau! ...dear Philippe!...this is wonderful n unique!...this is valuable!...the text is probably never known to ppl in assam, which hv made our community a valuable one too!..thnx to ppl like u having so much interest n attachment to assam...

I wish you would also be able to translate the entire book as soon as possible......i will get back to the topic aftr finishin my holidays.....am very irregular these days..

Dennis

About Old Tai Ahom Script

Forgive me if I sound a bit ignorant (as I'm not an Ahom).

I'm aware of the exodus of Shans (of which Ahoms are part of) along with Kublai Khan

when they ransacked the ancient of Bagan in Myanmar (I think around AD 1287 according to internet sources). Also I've read now that the Shans (in Myanmar) use the same script (with a little additions and variants) the Bamars used now which is based on the script of Mons.

I would just like to know whether the Tai Ahoms have their own original script those days ...

Actually I'm thinking to write a novel someday (of those old kingdom days) and make it magical LOL.

thr is a script, even still ppl hv preserved it perfectly........it is also taught in some schools, i think so......thrs a nice dictionary on tai-ahom lang called 'Ahom Lexicon'....

yes as usual, we hv so much historical resources for developing our modern literature......very few of the authors hv tried it..........Oxeemot Jar Heral Xeema, Rohdoi Ligiri, Monumoty, etc are few wonderful and popular Assamese books with historical base....

Recently a Tai Institute and Research centre has been set up at Moran, Dibrugarh with the initiative of Dr. Girin Phukan. Guests from Thailand also visit there to give lecture on the subject.

India's 1st science village at Jamugurihat

Please read the News ( AJIR DAINIK BATORI ,26.10.2007)) about the India's 1st science village at Jamugurihat (Sonitpur) from below link:

http://goodnews.bihu.in/entry.php?u=goodnews&e_id=1825

Foreign Relations and Our History

Various kingdoms in Oxom dfntly had maintained diplomatic relationships with the kingdoms in the surrounding regions such as Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Tai kingdoms of the northern and eastern Myanmar...i dont think much research have been done on these....particularly, sources in Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal can be extremely useful n prbly will help in exploring new dimensions of our history.....for e.g. charyapada the 7th/8th century poems found in Nepal r the frst specimen of assamese script n literature, which is ususally/earlier thought to be old bengali (due to lack of research frm our side)!

Is thr any known serious effort going on on this front? or we r keeping ourselves too close to our own family-affairs in historical research!

kamatapuri language may have some close link with Assamese ..i guess

when we speak or reevaluate history, i think, the modern mindset should be kept behind, and fly to the past and try think like ancient people. this cognitive approach is definitely helpful.

why i believe so?

in 2nd century BC (give importance to the date, its not AD), a chinese source indicates about a trade link between China and India via Assam! this is theearliest clue in literature in any form from anywhere about Assam. Chang Kien, a Chinese envoy to Bactria (Oxus Valley in Central asia) noticed southern Chinese bamboo products and silk in the markets of Bactria. this was a period when there was no contact between India and China by the silk route of central asia. in fact china was not aware of India at all. chang Kien asked the traders about the products and they said that these came from the merchants of Shen-tu (Sindhu or India). now, how on earth could Indian merchants get products of southern china. definitely by a route through assam. the assam-burma trade route could be traced on literary grounds from some later accounts also. i have recently published an article on the archaeological aspects of this trade route in the 3rd vol of the Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology (anyone interested can see that).

the 9th century chinese record of jia-dan records this trade route in the chinese side with distances. this is a very important source for our history.

Hiuen Tsang's account says about a song composed in China in the year 619 AD (i need to check the date) being popular in assam after 20 years. how can a song be so popular without regular connection between the two states? Bhaskaravarmana was also aware of the chinese route. Bhaskara was interested in Chinese taoism and asked Li-yi-Piao and wang-Heuen-tse to send him a portrait of Lao-tse from China and also the sanskrit translation of tao-to-king.

Tibet connections

some sources mention about the existence of at least 35 passes from India to Tibet in the 8th CAD. we are not in position to locate all of them. but that during those times, there was contact between Tibet and kamarupa is proven. "sage Vasistha meets Buddha in Tibet"...this legend described in Kalika Purana holds significance. its not only meeting of two persons, but the meeting of two religions viz. Tantrik Hinduism of Kamarupa and Tantrik Buddhism of Tibet. Tantrism in Kamarupa is a perfect blending of the two. we have tantrik Hindu gods like hayagriva in hajo, and Tantrik Buddhist goddess like Ugratara in Guwahati. the tantrik cult of Assam is nicely described in kalika Purana (10th CAD). it seems Assam's connection with Tibet was regular from 8th cAD. Hajo was the most sacred place for the Buddhists of Tibet as they thought this place to be Karnasuvarna, place of mahaparinirvana of Buddha. they could not afford to go to the actual Karnasuvarna in Nepal Terai region and settled a monastery in Hajo. later on they reconstructed a place in Tibet resembling the topographic features of Hajo. this fact has been neglected in Assam's history for long.

There is another important source to link Assam with Tibet and kashmir. Rajatarangini of kalhana refers to one Kashmir king Meghavahana marrying kamarupa princess Amrtaprabha. She is believed to be the daughter of Balavarmana (5th CAD). Amrtaprabha built a stupa for the comfort of the foreign bhikshus coming to kashmir and named the stupa Lo-Stunpa commemorating the preceptor of his father known as Stunpa, coming from Lo country, which can be identified with Tibet. now the question comes, whether Buddhism of Tibet penetrated Assam as early as 5th CAD. it seems probable that both countries had some connection, and this was the period when the Varmana kings were gradually inclining towards Buddhism, but never adopted as can be known from Hiuen Tsang's account. Buddhism was always the third religion and hidingly practised.

the above reference also speaks of the connection between assam and Kashmir.

There is one source which mentions a connection between Assam and Nepal. its the Pasupati epigraph of Nepal king jayadevaII. the text speaks of the wedding of the king with Rajyamati, a noble descendant of Bhagadatta's royal line and daughter of one Sri Harsadeva, the conqueror of Gauda, Odra, kalinga, Kosala and other lands. Sri harsadeva is definitely Sri harshavarman (725-750 AD) of Salastambha dynasty. whether he was a conqueror of such distant lands is an open question for further discussion, but that Nepal had a connection with Kamarupa is confirmed.

grt posts!...i read abt Chang Kien somewhr (frgt).....but can u provide a reference fr it....it will help us a lot......i am interested to read ur article too...can u also provide us the link if an online version is available?

"the 9th century chinese record of jia-dan records this trade route in the chinese side with distances. this is a very important source for our history."

kindly also provide us a reference fr this....this seems to be a extremely valuable n not-so-known source....

unfortunately chang kien has not yet been translated into english. our knowledge of this source is from some indirect references only. the first person to highlight this was P.C. Bagchi (1927). his famous monograph called "India and China: thousand years of cultural relations" is available in most of the leading libraries of India. He wrote this under the Greater India Society series.

Jia Dan's record is also well studied by bagchi and others have followed. it has also not been translated. these are things which we will have to do in near future. there are lots in store in chinese literature for the history of Assam!!! so does anybody know chinese? please come foreward.

My article has not yet been made online although the journal has a website.

hei if we get the chinese versions, even we can try for chinese translation by any professional agency...but how to find these....we require to know the chinese names of these books...

even if we can simply enlist the records/docs/books in chinese, tibetan, nepali n bhutanese referin assam.......how can tht be done.....!....establishin link wid some organisations in those countries!!?...

i blv thr will be hidden records in latin, italian, spanish, greek, arabic, etc langs too....!,,....bt les concentrate initially on our neighbours..

i frgt to mention various tai langs (of myanmar n yunnan) n burmese....!

there is one thesis by Sukanya Sharma (she is faculty in Guwahati IIT now) in Deccan College, pune. she has studied extensively the Thai records to correlate Assam neolithic culture.

** I want questions to be raised on the things i have written. otherwise i fear the discussions will become unidirectional, say 's way or Amitabh's way. that will be a sorry state for a community discussion group

I have two small queries...

Is there any possibility that there were two Shri Harshas.. one the monarch of Kamrup and the other from Nepal??

About the passes from TIbet to India in 8th CAD.. definitely a few of must have been to Assam (out of the 35). Is any other source related to this, available..??

I remember seeing the map of a possible trade route starting from Kunming to Guwahati in the doctoral thesis by Dr. padmeshwar Gogoi.. The route passes through Myanmar and Manipur and finally through Guwahati, it was believed to have extended till Pataliputra. I could not remember the time given.. may 2nd century AD

does the pasupati epigraph mention tht sri harsha was a king of kamrup....i think it ws...(don hv nethin to chk here offcourse)...

what was the topic n find outs of Dr Padmeshwar Gogoi's thesis?...u hv ne idea?....evn i read abt eastern migrations in ur blog ()....u said frm ur father's book.....u must be having some good sources..

The text of the Pasupati inscription is as follows,of course the translation:

"The king (jayadevaII) wedded, as if she were Fortune, queen Rajyamati, possessed of virtues, befitting her race, the noble descendant of Bhagadatta's royal line (bhagadattaraja-kulaja) and daughter of Sri Harshadeva, lord of Gauda, Odra, Kalinga, Kosala and other lands, who cursed the heads of hostile kings with the club-like tusks of his rutting elephants."

what is clear from it?

1. Bhagadattas royal line can not be anything but that of Salastambha.

2. the king Harsadeva can easily identified with harshavarmana.

3. the use of elephant in warfare in an elegant way was known to the Assam kings since the time of Bhagadatta. this particular mention of elephant is important.

what is a bit confusing?

1. Sri Harshadeva is not mentioned directly as the king of Kamarupa, but of other lands.

there were definitely few passes from Tibet to Assam. the Tezpur pass was used by Dalai Lama to enter India. the Bhutan passes (basically mule and horse paths) are not at all explored. someone can definitely end up with a phd on that.

there were several routes to go to Burma. but the most frequent route was through Sadiya and Hukawaong valley to upper Burma. The Manipur route was the other important pass. and importantly archaeological correlates have been found recently on this route. i mentioned my article. there is another article by Dr. Sunil Gupta, who has worked on Dali in Southern China (Yunnan Province) and saw the Ambari artefacts and found similarities. Exciting!!

The site Sekta in Manipur is very important in this trade route. A detail excavation report of the site is available.

the thesis of P. Gogoi is the book "The Tai and the Tai Kingdoms".

something off the topic:

I think Salastambha was said to be a Mlecha dynasty.. the term was used may be, to show that this dynasty is different from the earlier varman dynasty.. (Varmans also claim to be descended from the Bhagadutta line..) may be most of the kings from Kamrupa claimed to be descended from Bhagadutta, to give a divinity to their claim to the throne..

A limited research work has been done on the presence of the Karbi version of "Ramayana". Known as "Sabin Alun" in Karbi, meaning the song of the sabin. which is told/sang when ancestors of the Karbis are revoked in a festival. It is believed that Bali the asurs, was the forefather of the karbi, who was the uncle of phralad, the son of Hiranya Kasyapu. The legend infact has mentioned about the the middle earth (Pirthe-a-chiteh) and about the ram rajya.

What abt Phangssau pass? It was written somewhere that chinese used this root prior to Ahoms entering into India.

Can we accept the incidents/places/times mentioned in Ramayana as reliable historical facts?

nice to see lot of people chipping in!!

is right about the Bhagadatta lineage.

there were more passes over the Patkai to enter the Brahmaputra valley. the Tibeto-Burmans migrated from these passes from Yunnan province of China beginning from 2000 BC or earlier. this is still a hypothesis based on linguistic data. genetic study among four tribes in NE (Naga, Karbi, Bodo and another from Arunachal Pradesh) and some tribes from East Asia proves that all had Y-chromosome similarities. Also the tribes of NE had similar genetic characteristics. it seems all belonged to a single stock, although the migration might have happened in waves. Phangssau pass could have been one of those routes.

regarding ramayana!!!!!...its a big debate whether to believe in the stories or not. i will state what i think.

The ramayana and MHB should be treated as quasi-historical document. not that the events actually happened as they are described but there must be some elements of truth in them. the geography of both the epics are striking. the authors definitely had good knowledge of the population of India and its geographic scenario.

the T-B speaking communities are always assigned asura status in the epics, like hidimba for kacaris, bali for karbis. there is one legend prevalent in numoligarh area that one jarasandha king was there ruling in ancient times. May be the epics with other brahmanic religious texts, particularly Yajur Veda entered assam with the brahmanas, who assigned asura status to the tribes as they were physically different (asura is not a low status in myths, but only people with different ideas and practices). so no offence here. strikingly the tribal leaders or kings were given high status. even bhagadatta and narakasura were considered asuras.

'Tibeto burmans' from China to India is a bit confusing? Coz Tibet and burma fall in between China and India. So, Mongoloid term will be more significant in macroscopic view ..wot you say?

Or, was there any history on Tibeto-Burman races in China?

Regarding Ramayana and MHB, they were great literatures portraying individual nature and 100s characteristics of Humen being rather than 100 different ppl and geographical locations. Thats why these 2 epics befit in any location and in any community in the world. for example there is a Ramayan in Thai Language also with illustrations of locations present in Thailand. My view

kek's rama-mhbrt view is true i think.....bt somehow this bhagadatta referd in mhbhrt seems to be really frm kamrupa....neway i too don give much importance to these epics....as these r epics only....bt yes, as said these epics hv written nicely abt the locations....such as bhagadatta from eastern sea-coast next to himalayas referring to lower assam n eastern bangaldesh area....neway.....epics..

but les nt always come bak to ramayana n mahabharata as the sole external sources of information.....what we intended in the thrd was the 'hidden information' those r possible in china, myanmar, bhutan, nepal etc on our history...

n kek, tibeto-burman is a cleaner term thn mongoloid.......tibeto-burman ppl r identified wid their unique language affinities...these groups r spread frm tibet to our NE to yunnan n mostly in Mynmar or Burma......as these r predominent groups in tibet n burma, prblly the name is tibeto-burman........secondly it is also blvd tht tibeto-burman ppl entered NE n Burma frm Tibet n othr northern areas of Asia close to tibet.....

thr r many books/records refering assam as said, which r nt translated or the historians of assam hvnt yet read first hand in china....i think such things r also thr in bhutan, nepal n tibet.....mostly in the monesteries n royal courts...but how to explore these!!!!!...............

Chokan pass

A yr ago I got to see one documentary regarding the lost pass used by elephants to travel between India and Burma.. its somewehere in Arunachal Pradesh and called Chokan pass (hope the name is correct). I was surprised to hear them mentioning about Chaolung Sukapha taking the same route from upper Burma to Assam..

Tibeto-Burman is a linguistic term which is best applied to the people living in Tibet, Burma, and NE India.its not that people came from tibet thats why they were given that term. Mongoloid is an out-dated term, which was earlier used in anthropological language. mongoloid includes the second largest human 'race' (race is not used now-a-days)in the world. so its a bigger term. T-B is more specific. its a banch of Sino-Tibetan, whose homeland was definitely the Yang-Che river basin. the western branch of tibeto-burman was the earliest group to split from the mother branch. its the latest theory of T-B migration put foreward by Van Driem et al. the latest Chinese archaeological surveys also support this view.

of course this is an off-track discussion. may be we can start a new thread on that. here we can concentrate on what amitabh has emphasized.

one querry to Kekura...does this kamatapuri language have a separate identity? if so how. can u please elaborate on the language form? the folklores in that language might have some hidden source.

that is true AFAIK. there are archieval records on that pass. Jenkins and Peal, two british administrative officers travelled through that pass. they reported their experience in the journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. johnstone and Godwin-austen explored the burmese passes, specifically the route to manipur from assam.

i can not recollect the name but one christian father was killed by the Adi tribe while he tried to explore the source of Brahmaputra. may be that route was the most inaccesible.

yes.. the route was said to be very difficult. (was it another reason why Xuanzhang could not return to China through Assam!!)

Kamatapuri language

It is different from Bengali language and at present the Kamatapuri movement is demanding to include it in 8th schedule of Indian constitution.

It was one of the largest spoken language in North Bengal and in North eastern region also known as Rajbanshi Bhasa. It was flourishing under the patronage of Ahom and kosh rulers but after independance it was turned down into merely a simple dialect or a regional form of Bengali language by imposing Bengali language in the kamatapuri speaking areas.

It is also a spoken language in East Nepal with devanagiri script to write.

About the lingo , the following link may give some hints that it was a different language with 29 consonants and 6 vowels:

http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=21181

I afraid, the discussion is again going out of track.

Study on Kamatapuri ( also known as 'west kamrupi' dialect of kamrupi language ) may help a lot in identifying Assamese scriptures found in Nepal,Bhutan and other provinces.

interesting. but assmese scriptures are not found in those places. information on assam have been found written in those languages.

But for sure, this is a new concept. finding parallel of the dialects of Assamese in other languages, not only of proper hardcore assamese. this is probably a new line of thought.

Chinese sources

here are some exciting information regarding chinese sources of history:

Chinese history was an outcome of the rationalist movement in ancient period which emphasized that man is mortal so needs preservation of facts. by the 5th-3rd centuries BC, time of the Warring states, this movement culminated. history was considered as philosophy.

all began with Confucius (551-478 BC): he wrote the Chings or the canonical volumes altogether five in nos. 4th and 5th are historical works. the 5th is important where he recorded the royal speeches, epigraphs, etc.

Szuma Ch'ien (145-85 BC): a neo-confucian philosopher. under the patronage of the Han emperor Wu, he finished the Shih chi, started by his father, containing 526000 chinese characters scratched on bamboo tablets. he was castrated for a royal crime, but was kept alive to finish his job. shih-chi is an important document for our history, as it was written at the time china discovered india and contacts between the two started. chang kien's embassy to bactria is recorded here.

Pan ku (AD 32-92): "History of the former han dynasty"-important source of chronicle nature much like our buranjis. his style of history became popular in china for a long time. royal houses started documenting their day to day activities from then on. Did the Ahoms continue the same legacy? There are thousands of such chronicles in chinese. they can be very important source material. a large number of these has not been translated.

Liu Chih-chi (Ad 661-721): shih-tung, considered to be a different form of history book containg spiritualism in its contents.

Szuma Kuang (AD 1019-1086): culmination of the chronicle stylein his volume Tzu-chih t'ung-chien, an universal history of China.

Chu Hsi (AD 1130-1200): produced a summary of T'ung-chien kangmu as it was too narrative.

i think if we get the translations of the main books, it will be a great achievement and will provide wonderful source material.

may be professional association with a chinese research institute can only help to separate out what is relevant for us.....n thn translate.....but fr tht we hv to hv a professional initiative from our side too....

Script, language and culture

A similar issue on another community got very hot. so i think its a sensitive issue. but very important. That issue was related to the Harappan script. the Harappan script is not deciphered yet and so people have been making speculations as they wish and as their ways fit.

Assam, being a multi-ethnic state has a wide range of languages and dialects. i particularly mention the Bodo community and language. culturally, they have been part and parcel of the greater assamese society when one thinks of a society on a larger scale. my childhood was spent in Kokrajhar, where i studied in school having both Bodo and Assamese medium for instruction. i always wondered why people used devnagri script to write Bodo .. is it more convenient to express the language in Bodo? or there are some other reasons. before using Hindi script, assamese script was used. now (if i am correct) roman script is also being used to write Bodo.

the manipuris are reviving their original script after it was almost lost. can anybody throw some insight into whether the Bodos had a similar script? if yes, why not trying reviving it, and if not why use an alien script which does not even fit into the tradition.

i believe, language and script are integral to each other and a strong identity of a society.

regarding the script for Bodo language, I think it is more of a political issue than convenience.. and had been an issue of conflict among the different Bodo groups too!!

thr was supposed 2 be one original script....

but AFAIK it is not very scientific compared 2 the ones we use...

the older generation used assamese script...

then due 2 political differences...demand 4 roman script was made...though finally devanagari was alotted ..i dunno why...

since the bodo-kacharies is the most modern migrated grops to assam intregated with some devloped tools,they must have their own script.but certainly it was not exclusively of the bodos.it is said that a major portion of bodo words are migrated from the dimasas.if im not wrong the bodos have not been able 2 construct a state like of the ahoms,dimasas or of chuties.it revealed that they had not attaiend that respective feudal stucture and which also explore the facts that they had not been able to cultived their own scripts.

actually while writin the previous post i considered the Dimasas also...

as they are also the part of greater kachari clan....

What is AFAIK? can u elaborate on that? if the Bodos (the Bodo linguistic group as a whole) had a primitive script, then its surely an interesting clue to understand a lot of hidden things about their culture. it might lead us to a comprehensive reconstructionh of the origin and dispersal of the varied Bodo groups in the state. for one thing i am certain that all of them belong to the same parental stock and dispersed and got separated after coming to the Brahmaputra valley. in that case, they would have brought the script from their parent homeland. things are clicking guys!

As Far As I Know.... I hav heard such things...like Bishnu Rabha noticing some stone inscription in some remote place which was supposed be a big clue....but was lost...i'm sorry i can't remeber much abt it...

BTW wat was the script used in Barman Period?

language was sanskrit of course apabramsa of it. script was later brahmi of eastern indian school. had some characteristics of Assamese script. although the earliest two inscriptions, viz. Nagajari-Khanikargaon and umachal silalipi had pure late brahmi characteristics so dated to 5th century AD. catch hold of the Dimbeswar Sarma volume of Kamarupasasanavali. the development of Eastern Brahmi is nicely given there.

@ , The Incription found by Bishnu rabha was in Ahom Script. the Ahoms were using different script.

have a look at the ahom script here

http://sealang.net/archives/ahom/jp-pix/10r.jpg

at the Hatishila pahar near guwahati towards chandrapur, an inscription was seen with an unknown script. that same script was seen in some inscriptions from Mayang in marigaon district. initially i thought it could be a medieval script. but i realize the date can go further in time. does anybody know better in this? the population in these areas was majorly hajongs and lalungs (branches of Karbi?).

They are two branches of the Bodo-Kachari group I think.

Hajong is purely a Kachari Group but Lalung (now known as Tiwa) is a missing link between Karbi and Kachari group. i.e lalung falls under somewhere in between the Kachari and Karbi group

tht ahom script might be another instance...

i clearly remember tht story...

& ya those 2 are kachari grps rather than karbi

Lalungs or the Tiwas are definitely degenerated karbis. infact karbis are also included in the larger Bodo-Kachari group. lalungs generally inhabit the hamren subdivision of karbi anglong and Marigaon district. this area is contiguous to the Mikir hills. the Bulletins of the Tribal Research Society also includes the Lalungs within the greater Karbi people. the admixture with kachari is however distinctive.

"at the Hatishila pahar near guwahati towards chandrapur, an inscription was seen with an unknown script. that same script was seen in some inscriptions from Mayang in marigaon district......."

,....!!! thts very interestin!......whr r these scripts preserved now?.....r these being studied?...is thr ne photograph or graphical representation of these scripts?

these are not published anywhere. i saw them before i was trained in archaeology, so u know....!!! a temple has been built at hatishila, and the place is a fav picnic spot. anyone coming to guwahati can take a bus to chandrapur and go there. takes less than half an hour.

@da

Karbis are not group in the Bodo-Kachari group. infact it was due to some misconception. after that The karbis were group with the Kuki-chin group due to the complexity and some similarities with them but a new proposal in the very recent international meet of the linguistic society and sociological anthropologist has group the karbis Seperately as a Mikir Group.

which is divided into Amri and Karbi

where as Amris symbolize the Plain Karbis and Karbi symbolized the hills Karbis in the sub-division.

Please refer

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92008

For Bodo Group

refer

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90702

yes, i had an idea about this Kuki-Chin group. but dint know the recent developments, so was a bit confused. thanks a lot. we need to do some detailed studies on the social formation of Assam in a multidisciplinary approach.

Our Languages in SSR (Seven Sisters' Region)!

It will be interesting to create a resource base of SSR-langauges..

an informative site on Khasi...

http://www.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/khasi.html

http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/brx

plz visit the homepage for more details

So, info-links for 2 of the major influencin langs in SSR are already here...kindly contribute with more...it will be a handy n a very nice info-base.

for Sino-Tibetan Family as a Whole !

For Sino-Tibetan, anothr one....frm berkeley, Univ of Cal., USA

http://stedt.berkeley.edu/html/STfamily.html#TBlg

this is somewhat more complete...

http://www.iitg.ernet.in/rcilts/heirarchy.htm

A few things i noted

In 's link, in the image that is provided at the top, manipuri is spelled with a bengali R (ro) instead of the assamese R (Pet kota ro if you like it:) )

Theres a nice sublink on Assamese language in the link that V provided,

http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/asm/detail-2?page_view=image_view

Never knew such informative resources were available on the web, until I joined this community. Keep the good work going!

i think manipuri's use bengali script...isn't it?

i hv some doubt on lang-classifications!

1. bengali-assamese family of indo-aryan language! r we really so closed? n oriya is a separate family as "bihari" also!!!

2. Is assamese also called "Asambe" n "Asami" in some places!!!!!!

3. Naga pidgin!!....is called cachari bengali.....!!!

ho r these langauge researchers!!!!!!!!!!.....

n rosetta ---"detailed description of assamese" is a historical document -- some attempt to survey the languages of india in 1937...its dfntly nt the detailed description of the language....!!!!!.....the uploader should be careful in naming the resources......

does nagamese hv ne relationship wid bengali!!!!!!!!

no. nagamese is the mixture of local naga dialect, assamese & hindi.

but i think thr r some bengali elements also in nagamese....

it's a mix of all these...

hindi wrds in nagamese r of recent origin in past 100 years....on the othr hand nagamese hs been a lingua franca of naga ppl for several centuries (nt known may be 1000 yrs!..various naga groups wid different dialects r residin closely fr thousands of years).....

bengali in nagamese!!!!!!

nagamese is a native version of traditional assamese in the south-eastern parts of the Brahmaputra valley.....since long thr ws political n cultural interactions....strong during the Ahom kingdom ..which originated much bfr tht!

although thr ws interactions of manipuri kings wid bong rulers in southrn bangladesh.....massive exodus of bongs to cachar is a recent phenomena aftr the burmese hd left the country with less thn 25% of the original population....so nagamese cant be originated frm bong..thts fr sure..

it's not originated....

but if it can hav hindi wrds why cant it hav bengali wrd??...

i can't prove anything....

but i listned 2 nagamese news in radio ones...& i felt some bong influence...

havin hindi or bong wrds does nt mean tht someone will categorise nagamese in cachari-bengali!!!!!! or hindi!!!!....wat is this cachari bengali??????????????.........nagamese hs a tradition n is nt a lang of jes few decades!

ho r these lang-researchers!!!.......whr assamese is called asambe or asami...r these 2 wrds equivalent/xomarthok to assamese or oxomeeya!!!!!!!!!....c the profile of assamese lang in rosetta......

n also c bengali in rosetta....ha ha ha....bengali is spoken in Suadi Arabia......UAE......ha ha ha....

thn Assamese is also spoken in Bahrain (i am here) ha ha ha ha!!!!!!..........is this rosetta like wikipedia????

i was not talkin abt categorisation....tht part iv yet 2 check...

i was sayin tht bengali elements cant totally be dismissed frm nagamese like some of u did....

imp was categorisation, chk.....u may find bong influence some day in arabic also!!....(as already bong is a lang found in SA, UAE, etc) he he

The Manipuri script

The Manipuris "were" using Bengali script which was "imposed" on them. They are now "reviving" their script which is known as "Meetei-Mayek " or i must say have alsmost "eradicated" Bengali from their mainstream culture. I have nothing against Bengali language or community but I feel that every region and community has the right to discard what was "never" theirs!

Meetei-Mayek is the script which was used to write Meeteilon (Manipuri) till the 18th century. The script nearly became extinct as a result of a mass burning of all books in Meeteilon ordered by Ningthau Pamheiba who ruled Manipur in the 18th century.

The main person behind this atrocity was Shantidas Gosain who had come to Manipur to spread Vaishnavism, on whose instigation the king gave the order.

The king embraced Vaishnavism, took the name Garibnawaz and made Vaishnavism the state religion. Subsequently, Bengali script was adopted to write the language and is being used till date. Recent research has resurrected this script, and it is now being given its due place.

For more information on Meetei-Mayek:

http://tabish.freeshell.org/eeyek/

going back to the topic on Nagamese. I have been with the nagas since my young days and have been speaking thier nagamese dialect since then. I started speaking Nagamese before i went full fledge in Assamese. I have observed that Nagamese is an assimilation of Nagamese, Hindi, Nepali and bengali. There are some vocubalary from the local Naga dialect also .

Nagamese is and was the way of communication in between Assamese and Nagas.

With time Hindi and Bengali might have influenced this language.Its expected. Than why should we ignor the English ? I think English language got more influence than any other language on modern nagamese, having Assamese as major sunk.

Does Oxom Buronjy start from 'This'?

From 'Periplus of the Erythrean Sea', written in the first century AD by an unknown merchant:

........63. After these, the course turns toward the east again, and sailing with the ocean to the right and the shore remaining beyond to the left, Ganges comes into view, and near it the very last land toward the east, Chryse. There is a river near it called the Ganges, and it rises and falls in the same way as the Nile. On its bank is a market-town which has the same name as the river, Ganges. Through this place are brought malabathrum and Gangetic spikenard and pearls, and rnuslins of the finest sorts, which are called Gangetic. It is said that there are gold-mines near these places, and there is a gold coin which is called caltis. And just opposite this river there is an island in the ocean, the last part of the inhabited world toward the cast, under the rising sun itself; it is called Chryse; and it has the best tortoise-shell of all the places on the Erythraean Sea.

64. After this region under the very north, the sea outside ending in a land called This, there is a very great inland city called Thinae, from which raw silk and silk yarn and silk cloth are brought on foot through Bactria to Barygaza, and are also exported to Damirica by way of the river Ganges. But the land of This is not easy of access; few men come from there, and seldom. The country lies under the Lesser Bear, and is said to border on the farthest parts of Pontus and the Caspian Sea, next to which lies Lake Maeotis; all of which empty into the ocean.

65. Every year on the borders of the land of This there comes together a tribe of men with short bodies and broad, flat faces, and by nature peaceable; they are called Besatae, and are almost entirely uncivilized. They come with their wives and children, carrying great packs and plaited baskets of what looks like green grape-leaves. They meet in a place between their own country and the land of This. There they hold a feast for several days, spreading out the baskets under themselves as mats, and then return to their own places in the interior. And then the natives watching them come into that place and gather up their mats; and they pick out from the braids the fibres, which they call petri. They lay the leaves closely together in several layers and make them into balls, which they pierce with the fibers from the mats. And there are three sorts; those made of the largest leaves are called the large-ball malabathrum; those of the smaller, the medium-ball; and those of the smallest, the small-ball. Thus there exist three sorts of malabathrum, and it is brought into India by those who prepare it.

66. The regions beyond these places are either difficult of access because of their excessive winters and great cold, or else cannot be sought out because, of some divine influence of the gods.

There is debate on location of the inland city of THINAE, mentioned here ......which was in the country called 'THIS'. Few historians say it was in the present Oxom, while the Chinese historians and many others say it to be a Chinese city further east...!!!! reference of THINAE is also found in another book called 'Cosmas Indicopleustes - Chiristian Topography' written by a Greek sailor.

'This' does not sound to be a Chinese name, it may be 'DIS' also, which will be our very own DI-S in the similar tune of dilao, dihing, disang, dibong......n in the first century AD just few hundred years before the powerful Barman Dynasty, which is a 'dark / unknown perion' of Oxom history it is possible for Oxom to be known as DIS ........'di' - water...but what is 's'?....may be 'land of water' ...'kingdom of water'....what?.......hei what is that 'DIS' in Dispur means???....can anyone throw light?

well.... before we can come to any conclusion or even suggest something, we'll have to think a lot! Nice informations, if this really refers to oxom or Kamarupa of that time, then surely this could be the first reference of such types from outside India.

One thing could be said (at least as far as I think) that mythologies has at least (however less) some bit of truh.. think about Parashuram Kunda.. before that rthere was no Brahmaputra river and it started flowing suddenly.

Second point is .. have anybody heard about Siwalik sea which was supposed to be towards south of the himalayas and a shallow one.

Third point.. all the archaeological sites, reamins of ancient civilization in NE, mainly oxom are on hills or highlands (be it Ghy, or remains in Arunachal..) and none (afaik) on the plains.

so, what I wanted to say is that as amitabh has suggested, the region may have something to do wih water bodies (if Di- is correct).

1. well it is truth tht the Brahmaputra is a 'paleo' river as geomorphologists say -- means a river older thn the surrounding mountains or the mountain it is crossing...tht is true in case of the Brahmaputra bcuz it is older than the Himalayas (it is proved).

2. in place of the himalayas thr was a sea called Tethys, which is another truth -- was a geosyncline / himalayas originated due to the continental drift of the Indian plat inside the Eurasean Plat...which still push the Himalayas few inches every year. these all hpnd in the Tertiary Age (geologic era). Although these r (origin of the Himalayas) comparatively recent incidents, but hpnd much bfr human civilisation started.

3. Archeological remains r found in Oxom mostly in hills or hilly areas -- may be mostly bcuz our ancestors intelligently built all the cities in such areas protecting these from frequent floods and shifts of the river courses. But it is hard to believe tht thr wr no activities in the typical flood plains as it was and is the most fertile n the most attractive element for outsiders to migrate to Oxom. n may be archeological evidences of the plains r destroyed by the floods or the shifts of the river courses.

yeah i have read about Tethys i.e. the Siwalik Sea but its existence was in the Jurrassic period just before the Indian continental plate moved away from the the African plate and dates back to millions of years before human beings appeared on the earth.

nothing can be said 4 sure...the mention of caspian sea makes it more confusing....

anyway india has a rich maritime history in those times....we also hav the stories like tht of "chando" xodagor etc...if they indicate anything ....those early assamese ppl actively took part in international(interkingdom trade)....

also tht region (coastal bengal...)has seen a lot of geographic change in past 2k yrs....the chief sea port of those times Tamralipti is under the sea 2day ....

have heard that a large part of present day bangladesh was under sea for a long time..

but there is one more thing....in certain places new land mass have appeared through sedimentation etc...(i can't give u the exact technical definition...)...

somewhere i got tht some traveller has mentined tht at tht time sea was not very far away frm patliputra....tht way kamrup can also be nar the sea....

comments plz....

even in Mahabharata also Bhagadatta was said to be accompanied by dweelers nerar the eastern sea... duirn that time, (I think till Bhaskarvarman's time), the sea was very near to Kamarupa

spo tht settles it....

i've got amitabhs link...if anyone wants 2 read more...

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html

Also check http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/cosmas_00_0_eintro.htm

for the 'Cosmas Indicopleustes' / i also hv created a word version for anyone interested.

Well thrs no doubt tht Oxom's boundary was the 'Southern Seas'..well i am extremely interested to find out more abt 'condu xodagor' n related things -- can anyone through light on tht?...well i would also like to know more abt 'Tamralipti'...

May be the earlier Assam included a large part of Bangladesh.

abt chando xodagor....we also hav a place named chandor dinga (AFAIR near dhubri...which must be very close 2 sea at tht time accordin 2 this theory )

& abt tamralipti...there's one more thing....there is a place named tamluk is present day bengal....thts supposed 2 be a corrupted version of tamralipti...

u r right. at one time, the ancient kingdom of Kamrup stretched 450 miles in all the directions from the Kamakhya temple.. which even included Bhutan, northbengal and some parts of Bangladesh..

trying to push it up!...it ws an interesting one! (n also at the context of Bodo-Kachari kingdom)

was the Bodo-Kachari+Austro-Asiatic kingdom 2000 years back in oxom known as DIS????

BTW wat's the origin of "Dispur"??

yes, i too wanted to know the meaninf of 'dis' of Dispur!!..can neone..??

well the debate is intersting one. as i know about earlier assam there are avilable geographical sources, which proved the point.historian like K.L.Borua,Gaite refer to it. while on the whole formation of earlier assam regarding its political ecnomic n geographical formation i think we must concern to the formation n devlopment of mode of production.what the mens of production is more important then the myth of chando sodagar. as i belived that the chando sadagar myth come more recently or during the hightime of the bormana dynasty.i request to all friend to talk about state formation in earlier assam.i think itz more contamporery problamatic.

The Kachari kingdom

The Kachari kingdom was a powerful and advanced kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kachari_kingdom

what are ur comments on Bodo Dynasty or Kingdom..

ever did it exist

if so what was the era when it all began??

do it have some remains or so ...?

historians plz comment

kachari politico-economic system must be more important to oxom thn it is thought usually. Spatial distribution pattern of 'Kachari Gaon' and the community across oxom and the names of the rivers, locations....prbly indicate abt a very large kingdom n base .....but wen?......must be in the ancient prehistoaric oxom (2000 years back)...the medieval kingdom was probably a new avatar of it (after substantial disintegration)......

when did the beginning of Assam happen anyway... ??

the name assam is very recent, but the mixed language (today's various native / non-standardised forms of assamese - whatever is its name: kamrupee, nagamese..diff styles in upper assam) and the assimilated culture was developed long back durin the ancient kingdoms....n dfntly a major source of the hybrid assamese culture is bodo-kachari culture....

sad tht wid 'unncessary' westernisation in the name of standardisation of Assamese concept hs alienated our source-cultures frm us...we require to find out our roots n keep ourselves close to it...

The kachari kingdom we know was established by Dimasa clan .

Capital was in Dimapur prestly in Nagaland . Also other places in Cachar & north Cachar districts(the very wrd cachar is derived frm Kachari)...like haflong ,maibong & khaspur were important centres . You can still find the ruins in dimapur & khaspur (i'm not aware of other places)....

there were lot of stone sculptures & archetecture which were older than Ahom ones in Sibsagar....

they prospered before Ahoms became prominent in Assam...

read our article for ancient history of assam...

http://axomiya.in/bhoraal/tiki-index.php?page=History%20of%20Assam%20%3A%20A%20Prologue

please refer to this blog of mine. i have written on some of the recent trends in archaeologically understanding the Kachari history. would love to have comments.

http://www.sarma.blogspot.com

there are so many things about the kacharis that we do not understand. it needs farther study.

hey tht was gr8 readin the blog....

write more...

one component of Bodo-Kacharis -

1. a large part of the ancient Bodo-Kachari population in upper assam today forms lions share of assamese population unlike the differentiation, which remained in the lower assam between the Bodos and the rest of the Assamese.

2. These assamese population (they speak assamese, with completely assamese culture n tradition, unlike Bodos or Dimasas) are the flag-bearers of assamese concept in upper assam, frm whom Tai-Shans learnt assamese n intermingled to form the present population of upper assam, but they still introduce themselves to be "assamese from kachari (Kocary - as they call thmslvs) community".

You can use any number of references from blogs. but the only thing is that you have to give due credit to the reference for any published material of yours. that will help u avoiding copywright violation. Thanks anyways for appreciating my endeavours.

a similar question was raised in another community so i wanted to bring some light to the issue thru ur blogs..no commercial copyright panga!

surely i wud like to contributeas much as possible from my side

link for treaty of yandaboo

http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Treaties/Burma/002.htm

a link for Indica

A link for Megasthenes's magnum opus:

http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Foreign_Views/GreekRoman/Megasthenes-Indika.htm

Article about Asom and Assam (Sadin,26.01.2007)

http://www.pratidinassam.com/sadin/

Article about Asom and Assam by Rajen Barua on Sadin (26.01.2007).

place names

two famous places in guwahati: faasi bozar and bamuni moidam! what is wrong with them. yes. people like to call fasi bozar FANCY (!) bazar, a place where u get fancy items.....bamuni maidan (this is hindi maidan).

Faasi bozar was a place where prisoners were hanged, so the name faasi B. and at Bamuni Moidam, there was a Moidam. The intellectuals are aware of these facts, but these corrupted names are still being used invariably without being protested. who is responsible for this?

can we list out such names in the state, which are corrupted and forgotten due to the influence of other languages?

yeah.....! u r right.....n place names have grt historical value......one more is canmary (source prantik)...many now a days hv made it chandmari!!

well fanci.....if u use n as the condrobindu is prbly somewhat ok......

a article in prantik also said its not even 'bamuni moidam' but actually 'bauni moidam'......

few othr instances are:

Tinsukia which is actually Tinicukeeya

Dilli nody (the Dicang river nr Namrup) is actually Dilih

So the Dillighat is Dilihghat..

and many more......

fanci is ok as long as it is written. but people call it fancy with the english pronounciation. that is more troubling!

listing traditional names of assamese places may reveal a lot about ancient and medieval economy and also cultural affinity.....

We will be able to kno about different Khats, Pams.....n Barys specialised for different crops.....may be we will be able to do some kinda production and population estimation also.....

We will be able to also trace various politico-economic systems......n their boundaries probably......n relate existing economy n population concentration to those...!! it will be interesting thts fr sure!

The palanquin-bearers of the Ahom Swargadeos and the families were given a small land to settle down. the swargadeos used to take rest in this small village enroute their journeys to the eastern part of the country. at present this small village has turned to be a famous industrial town called 'DULIAJAN'. there are several histories connected to this place.

the origin of the name guwahati is also oblivious. one school believes that there were a series of caves (guha) around the place in the hills. hati means a row, so the name guha+hati=guhati. another school believes that the houses of the ancient town had plenty of arecanut tree (guwa). so the name was formed as guwa+hati=guwahati. however, the name guwahati is of medieval origin, the earlier name being pragjyotishpur.

Can we list unique place names....

1. Dikrong

2. Tiphuk

3. Diriyal

4. Sepon

5. Tingkhang

6. Sontok

7. Namti

8. Longzong

9. Tipling

10. ................

1/24/07

10.Charaideo

11.Gargaon

12.Jerenga

13.Namdang

14.Namphake

15.Napruk(p)

history of KALITA

can any one tell me about the history of KALITA? i find from internet that it has the root in RUSSIA... any one have information..?

kalita is not an ethnic group wid ppl from one particular source.....so its not an ethnic culture...tht i believe........it must be a mixed group of people staying together for hundreds of years under certain politico-economic system.....may be under the varmans, or may be before tht.....

so u can find all types racial features wid them.....n they r frm an earlier stronger politico-economic system -- so in the middle ages wen ahom kingdom was on rise, still u could find two types of population in assam......ahoms (a new admixture of upper assam even wid many upper assam kalitas) and kalitas (in n out of ahom kingdom)........

for e.g. indians for india; but wen wid time politico-economic system will change ..may be after few hundreds of years....may be asia or south-asia will become a state n may have a name say 'x' n ppl called 'xites or xians' --- but u will still find the concept indian thr......

You can initially read the book called "Kalita Jatir Itibritta" written by Baniknta Kakati. You'll find that in "Banikanta Racanavali". Kalitas are generally associated with an Alpine-aryan (??) migration into Assam which preceded the Indo-European migration. They are generally believed to have been associated with the buddhist religion that spread in Assam due to its connection with Tibet (i.e. Vajrayana sect since 7th-8th CAC).You can also reer to some articles published in the Journal of Kamarupa anusandhana Samiti.

kalita identity is still prevelant...n few decades back thr ws a different perspective on 'race-concepts'.....so many scholars tried analysing identities such as kalita from the point of view of single race n ethnicity.....alpine - mediterranean....(alpine ppl r simply different frm nordics - which r usually associated to aryans)...so concepts such as alpine-aryan r normally come out more from the then requirements fr standardisation and prevailing sentiments when such research are basically carried out...

Thrs no doubt tht DNA test of ppl demanding to be Kalita today will reveal very interestin results....i believe they r not from one ethnic roots..........thrs very strong austric along with mediterranean n irano-skythian elements in today's Kalitas....n many also have mongoloid features...n thrs no doubt tht such a mixture was developed in the ancient times.....n the strong identity of kalita is nothing but an ancient-national identity based on certain political and economic systems...

when assam was a large and strong kingdom bordering sea with substantial sea-trade........, gold and jwellery works, silk works..........ivory works.......lac works.........n imagine such a system for three to four hundred years.....u hd one nation, one language, one culture developed from ppl with different ethnicity.....

well assam never seemed have had a cultural homogeneity in the ancient period. the language itself is very recent. it is only after the vaisnava movement that the cultural assimilation became rapid. even, barring the last century of the ahom supremacy, various ethnic groups could not come under the same political roof. the kalitas seems to have enjoyed some cultural superiority on the northern bank of the brahmaputra. they were ranked as the highest order in the social hierarchy and acted as priests to the Koches and other recently hinduised tribes. the Habung country was on the northern bank and there were lot of brahmins (may be kalitas). Some sources however says that they practised tantrik buddhism. things are conflicting and we dont have much reliable evidence to support any.

assimilation with other ethnic elements can be a later phenomenon. but the fact remains that they were originally a homogeneous group probably migrating before the brahmins, may be contemporarily with the tibeto-burmans.

we also find mention of a kalitadesa in the buranjis. the ahoms could not penetrate the northern bank till the later part of the sixteenth century.

the identity of the varmanas or the salastambhas is not fixed. but it cant be denied that during their regime, the land witnessed some sort of political stability. but then, problem arises when we think about the extent of the kingdom of kamarupa. the whole of assam was never occupied. it had an extension towards west.

however, its safe to seek the socio-cultural identity of the kalitas rather than thinking political.

assamese as a language has developed much earlier. Many of the Charyapada's poems written in the 7th century - particularly those written by Sarahpa n Luipa (they wr from Kamrup)...are assamese..

What was Bhaskarvarma's language?....he he he!!! sanskrit?...yes, his copperplats r yes written in sanskrit....but what was his n his people's kothito language?......thrs no doubt tht it ws a old form of present kamrupeeya...

....Tai-Shans entering into Upper Assam and their kingdom at the initial stage even was greatly influenced by pre-Ahom Assamese Culture - Assamese language.....words immediately were in use were Gohain (Goxain), Burha, Ahom (Oxom), etc...n so many. Tai-Shans adopted assamese from Borahis and Kocaris in upper assam (means earlier although kocaries hd their own language - by 12th century, they were speaking assamese only) .....Assamese was a strong language and a lingua-franca.

Sankardeva only tried to introduce brajavali....a new mixed lang tht he himself developed.......the original language of ppl of assam was assamese (name probably was nt assamese) for at least past 2000 years.....and it is of mixed origin used principally for required political n economic integration of the ancient times........

Assamese has not come out of sky....we need to have a comprehensive study on various ancient forms even still exist in different parts of north-east...kamrupee, nagamese, satgaia, words in use among common ppl of dibrugarh and tinicukeeya districts, ...........etc...

it is sad majority of the historians n scholars and language researchers in assam has failed to develop a comprehensive historical model - with continuity since Varman dynasty to Ahom dynasty (other included)....i hv seen history of assam and historians of assam always swimming in two secluded boxes........one kamrup related ancient and one ahom....

i also think it is urgently required to do DNA studies on both so-called 'alpine-aryan kalitas' and also on so-called 'mongoloid-tai ahoms' to clean up a lot of confusions...but it has to be scientific and sampling hs to be very good.....

he he...forget about DNA studies...even simple studies on cephalic index, hair pattern, types of nose n skin colours will reveal a lot on alpine origin of kalitas and on pure-mongoloid (tai-shan) ahoms!!!

So these terminologies r better fitted to the population of older politico-economic systems rather thn to ne single-source ethnic group..

kalitadesa in burnajy's is nothing but kamatapur- the largest piece of the rmnt of the ancient kamrupa.....

kamrupa was also broken into pieces by ancient land-lords in kamrupa - bhuyans in central assam n many smaller kings in goalpara n north bengal....sylhet n dhaka area once part of Bhaskarvarma's kingdom was separated much earlier.......in the upper assam Cutiya's and Borahis were independent for few hundred years....Kocaris were independent in Kacar up to Dikhow...

the tradition of kamrupa kings were continued by the kings of kamatapur....in a smaller area (present kamrup and goalpara districts)...till 16th century....prithu, sandhya, etc r known n brave kings...

Xung Zang hs mentioned tht Kamarupa's estern boundary was upto Sadiya and southern boundary upto southern-sea ..

copperplates of kamrupee kings hav been found nr dhaka and in sylhet...........Varmans for 300 years, Xalostombhos for 200 years and Palas for around anothr 200 years were 3 strong dynasties of Kamarupa. .....till 10th 11 th century.....guwahati was growing under the palas ..refer xcavations...

Bhaskarvarma's navy included officers knowin sea-routes to china....n hd 30000 war ships.....

Such a strong political system continuously for almost 700 years (probably more ..we donno wat ws bfr varmana dy) in such a large area...think, what kinda cultural transformation will be (of population).....

india is jes 60 years old.....indian concept is strong now...n we all kno hindi today..!!

nice explanation amitabh....but i would like to extend few doubts.

1. on what concrete basis are u identifying kalitadesa with kamatapur. kalitadesa is connected with gopal ata (if i'm not mistaken the name).who happened to come from the north bank of brahmaputra (probably lakhimpur, tezpur) to the Ahom kingdom. do u identify gopal ata with kamatapur?

2.are u intending to say that the line of varmana kings were kalitas?

1881 census was the first convincing one carried out in assam. this revealed interesting results:

A. kalitas were of course majority in the state followed by the bodos.

b. Bodos were considered to be non-hindus, meaning they were not at all in a cultural connection with the kalitas (Bodos living in the foothills of Himalayas).

C. Koches and Rajbanshis were Hinduised tribes by then

D. brahmanas were strikingly lesser in number.

This is just to say that the society was fragmented even in the 19th century. what would have been the situation in 7th century?

1: I will look for more info on ur gopal ata n thn will discuss. but it is sure tht when Ahom Kingdom were on rise...thr wr only Kamatapur kingdom and smaller principalities of Bhuyans in the western front....Bhuyans were occupying areas in between Kamatapur and Ahom Kingdom initially before their defeat...later Kamatapur n Ahom kingdom confronted...Rojoni was a queen in Ahom kingdom originally frm Kamatapur's royal dynasty...

2: We need to understand a model whr u hv differential mix of population at different period of time under different PE-systems. Integration increased under stronger dynasties, while localisation and diverisification increased under weaker kingdoms....n these phenomena were repeated criss-crossing irregularly at times and sometimes for longer or shorter periods......sometimes there were overlaps too...

Looking at the spatial distribution pattern of ethnic bodo people from Bodos, Cutiyas, Kocaries, Rabhas, Jaintiyas to Kokborok in tripura...and their traditional concepts, n moreover looking at the names of the rivers and places in the region, it is not difficult to understand that there was a large kingdom of ethnic Bodos covering a large part of NE region.....(may be before the Christian Era).......

Interactions wid the western powers in Northern India (probably during times of the 16 mahajanapadas - Magadha, Mauryas and later Sungas - may be before the mahajanapadas during the ages of the story of the grt epics..) has resulted into migration of maditerraneans and irano-skythians and their mixed breed with Austrics developed in northern india.....for at least 2 thousand years...

Origin of Assamese looks, culture started when these northern indian elements mixed with an already available local mix of tibeto-burmans and australoids......n during the strong dynasties n large kingdoms such as during 300 years of Varmanas the mixed group of population became the majority....

hiuen tsang mentions about the eastern boundary of kamarupa very casually as comprising the hilly region. whether it is sadiya or not we are not sure.

there is difference opinion about the capital of the palas, too. kamarupanagara of the later palas can be identified with the goalpara region rather than guwahati.identification of durjaya is also doubted.the recently excavated town of bhaitbari can be identified with kamarupanagara. the ambari excavation is very limited to arrive at any conclusion. but it can not be questioned that guwahati was a fortified town during that period and odentification of pragjyotishpur fits into it.

can u please give a reference for the 30000 warships of bhaskaravarman. ...for to my knowledge bhaskaravarman asked hiuen tsng whether he would like to go by the sea route to china and assured that he could arrange that. this surely means that bhaskaravarman had hold over the sea route of bay of bengal. interestingly, kamarupa kings also enjoyed suzerainty over the gauda region for some time from before the time of bhaskaravarman. dont u believe that the present evidences speak of a westward extension of the kingdom. eastern part was loosely connected. davaka was occupied only in the sixteenth century, while there is evidence of a separate kingdom in the Dhansiri valley, too. why cant be there a kingdom in Sadiya and the north bank?

i think there is no alternative of dna study on the present oxomiya population (including each and every tribe). can we think of initiating one under a well organized banner. that will be a nice contribution to our shattering identity. do give thought to it guys, seriously!!

Varmans must of mixed origin....n they ruled a majority mixed population (dfntly thr wr some secluded minorities, which didnt get mixed during those times).....n tht majority mixed population is the original assamese ppl with assamese culture - a mixed hybrid culture.../ converted to hindu or buddhists at different times......n it is not difficult to understand tht rest of the population were calling them kalitas........if we go back to pre-ahom era, kalitas wr assamese speaking majority......

but tht mixed population also got disintegrated after Palas in 10th 11th century........new smaller kingdoms developed for next 3 to 4 hundered years again creating differences.....Kamatapur and bhuyans wr more hindus thn.....while in the smaller kingdoms of upper and central assam hindusim took a more localised trend...

relationship between bodos and assamese can be understood frm a different example.........

U can find a lot of dark skinned curly haired indians in maniland india --- they r part of the mainland culture, speaks mainland languages.....in casts system many r in upper casts....indians hv strong mixture of aboriginal indians which r dark skinned......n u still find such ppl in isolated pockets in aboriginal forms in central india n southern india.........

So it is simple to understand tht y every assmaese has austric n mongoloid features overlapped with caucasoid features....thts called 'typical assamese looks'......soft eyes, varying skin colour, varying hair patterns, .....we r hybrid, we r different....n thts y r nice!!

Topographic features play important role in warfare...If we c the map....even the image used in the community....it is understandable tht any strong kingdom such as of varmanas, which engulfed substantial part of present Bangladesh, hd wonderful terms wid Magadha.....recognised as a strong kingdom.....could hv occupied the Brahmaputra valley completely.....if not then thr hv to be a very strong rival kingdom challenging Bhaskaravarma east of Nagaon, which is very unlikely........Bhaskarvarma's adventures in the west proves tht thr was no rival force fr him within Brahmaputra Valley................

Yes, probably due to absence of strong kingdom...thr wr othr kingdoms in central n eastern assam at various points of time...n probaly the boundary of Kamrupa fluctuated......700 years is too long................many a times the provincial governors also become independent....thr r several possibilities...

Xalostombho dynasties capital was in Tezpur...dfntly the upper assam was inside their territory...

yes we rnice people. no doubt!!! n we should be proud of that. but be cautious friend. there are more than one force, even inside the asomiya scholarship, which tend to believe that bhaskarvarman was a feaudatory to harshavardhan. we can discuss this in a separate thread.

but u r quite right in assesing that bhaskaravarman's was a formidable force n there could not have been any rival force within the valley. but as u said, there can be lot of fluctuations within a span of 700 yrs...lets go to the basic question from where it began. isn't it safe to avoid a separate identity for the kalitas and agree on a mixed identity of the axomiya people as a whole. that seems more important in the light of the ongoing decentralizing movements in our state.

but we need to keep aside our emotions and prove things on a scientific basis.

i would like to hear a few words from ujjwal, for he is the one who initiated this exceptionally interesting and fruitful debate. this is a very good sign friends.

I believe n these r simple truths, we should not shy about n let nt provide opportunities to opportunists in making space for racial 'supremacy n competition theories' or take ne political advantages....this destroys heart of our construction - tht is our 'hybridness'.....n xtremely rich hybrid-culture...n also our glorifies past n the civilisation in this part of asia....

1. Assamese ppl, assamese culture is a hybrid one n we dont hv a common ethnic source...n i am particularly proud of tht...

2. Ahoms and Kalitas are also hybrid (not of single ethnicity)......Kalitas, first n thn followed by Ahoms were the two strong and great forces (also mediums) in the formation of Assamese nation....(also koch - which was actually the ancient mix of older Kamrupa under a new umbrella)

3 And our roots are equally at 1/ Proto-australoids, 2/ Tibeto-burman, 3/ Mediterranean (including alpine), 4/ Irano-skythians and 5/ Tai-Shan (Sino-Tibetan).......

4. Majority of the western migrations were nt pure in form....they already hd hybrid culture in Indo-Gangetic plains....so a lot of proto-australoid n (mongoloid even) elements were thr.....

Lets build up a comprehensive scenario of our history, our culture and a beautiful and strong identity.....

Emotional biases related to previous politico-economic systems should not drive a scientific research today, which always creates isolated information n hence partial success..moreover, we still have a big hangover of what hd hpnd during moamoria rebellion n burmese invasion.........!!

do u have something to say about the alpine-kalita movement that taking grounds in axom? is it necessary?

well.....we can list out basic physical characteristics of Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Proto-australoids n thn put three pictures typically representing such features (One from North Europe, One from Mediterranean Europe, One from Iran, One typically from Mongolia n one of an aboriginal Australoid from Australia.......)...and provide the initiators of such movements with mirrors...to check themselves where do they stand..!! n they may also find different conclusions fr their close relatives!!!

dixon, way back in 1920s did a morphological study on the khasis and founf caucasoid elements in them!! but anthropologists are against doing phenotypical studies at present. its better we think in a different note, may be dna, or linguistic connections (as a simpler way).

there have been some study on the dispersion of mongoloid population. reference may be i can give u 2moro.

dna analysis i meant.

ok...i will too check if thrs nethin...i left all my books back in india...thts anthr prblm...

well.. first of all i m an engineering student & dont hv much knowledge in history.. so u ppl dont expect anything fruitful 4m me...

ok... some of questions in my mind are...

1. Assamese is a derivative of Sanskreet (an Aryan language).. but the interesting fact is that the pronounsiation of XO (like in Xoikia-saikia, Xomaj, etc.) not found in other Indic language & only found(as long as i kno) in German language(i can give u the reference if u need)... this relate that one of the family of assamese ppl were Aryans but different from rest of the Indian Aryans... WR THOSE KALITAS???

2. as long as i kno the BAMUNs r migrate to Assam from India very recently(during mostly in Ahom era) & not a majority ... so they cant influence a language being minority... i think there r not Sankskreet speaking ARYAN ppl other than KALITA & BRAHMINS in ancient assam... so it is logical that the Assamese language was greatly influenced by KALITA ppl with its EXCEPTIONAL "XO"..... if it is so- do it hav any relation with Germans????

3. i too found in internet mailing list when searching about Kalita that one Western scholar claim that KALITA ppl r nothing but a RUSSIAN TRIBE... i cant give u the refference as i did not save it.. but u may find it searching in GOOGLE.. i too forget where was it.. may be in assam mailing list...

The pronunciation of "xo" is considered to be a later development, though the original pronunciation of the same letter during the vedic era was said to be similar to Assamese... This is what I saw in wikipedia article, not sure if it is edited again..

thanks all of you for an extremely interesting and useful discussions on the history of Assam. with my limited knowledge of history, i would like to add some points and ask for future discussions.

1. racial elemental study is almost getting less importance due to the fact that sometime or more often it is used for racial discrimination. so DNA study can give us more useful data in this regard. Presently there are studies on the origin of modern human, Homo sapiens in Africa, which is of as old as 200,000-100,000 year BP to prove a recent African origin of modern human. Scientist are reconstructing the ancient DNA and genetic pairs up to a single origin, (in simple words, up to an original couple) and there are useful data from other genetic concepts like gene flow, mutations etc. for reconstructing ancient DNA and other genetic aspects. so, I think that DNA and genetic study will be more fruitful than the racial elemental analysis of Assamese people.

2. there were many different "cultural" groups coming to the greater region of Assam, in different time. But, do you think that our discussions are based only with the cultures assimilations inside Assam? what about the people from Assam going outside?

Definitely, these cultural links can not be one sided. what were the implications of these kind of cross-cultural connections in other near by areas?

about asomiya 'xo'

german and sanskrit are related languages. but axomiya xo has little to do with both of them. chinese and other tibeto-burman languages also have 'kho' or 'xo'. even the austro-asiatic munda languages have 'xo'. i heard pardhis of central india saying xo. when i asked them to pronounce axomiya, they did it perfectly. so, i think axomiya 'xo' is an influence of tibeto-burmans or the austro-asiatic. the same can be applied to the loss of difference between va and ba.

Brahmaputra/ Bornoi n its tributaries formed the basis for transportation in the ancient times, which almost continued till the British Age. Once, boat-making was an industry in Oxom...thr wr proper institutions/ means specialised wings performing such works...i think Nauboica Phukon was one of the official positions engaged in such activities..may be in making naval-ships. ...it is known tht during the War of Xoraighat one could cross the river walking on the boats - thr wr so many boats..../ thrs one boat being kept in ghy museum now..donno abt its time.../i blv our boats wr dftnly different n prbly making-methods wr too different as per the local conditions...is thr any trace of this skill today? or is thr any traditional guideline (may be in the form of a niyom..) for boat making....

Not much idea about the boatmaking.. but I have heard that modern Jor-pukhuri, Dighali Pukhuri area had some connection with the Brahmaputra river once and this area formed one "Naoxal" where the boats were kept, repaired or probably manufactured. For construction of the ghy High Court, most of these places were filled with earth and now no trace remained....

yes , even i heard tht the Digholi Pukhuri was a boat manf yard earlier....tht means the industry was flourishing tht time...see now we don hv any trace of it...i hope we get some gud info on it!

more from:

Chakravarti, Prithwis Chandra 'Naval Warfare in ancient India'The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol.4, No.4 1930.12, pp.645-664

"to cast a cursory glance at the part played by the neighbouring kingdom of Kamarupa in the naval history of the ancient Hindus. Like Bengal, the territory occupied by this kingdom is intersected by numerous rivers. Nor as there any dearth of material for the creation of a naval force. The forests had abundant hard wood, with which

war-boats could be made without difficulty, while the common people, born and bred up in a riparian plain, were naturally adepts in the art of plying boats. We have already seen how the evidence of the Aphasad inscription probably indicates that king Susthitavarman of Kamarupa fought a naval battle with the later Gupta monarch Mahasena Gupta on the waters of the Lohitya (Brahmaputra) river. The Nidhanpur copper-plates state that Bhaskaravarman, king of Kamarupa, was in "possession of splendid ships" in addition to elephants horses and foot-soldiers(3). The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang gives the number of Bhaskaravarman's ships as 30000, and further adds that with this numerous fleet he followed emperor Harsa in his triumphal progress from Kie-shu-ho-ki-lo (Kajughira, modern Kankjol, i.e. Rajmahal, according to Cunningham) to the imperial city of Kanauj(4). In the naval victory that Vaidyadeva won in Southern Bengal, the Kamarupa fleet probably co-operated with that of the Palas, for, according to the Kamauli Grant, Vaidyadeva had, previous to that conflict, defeated Tingyadeva of Assam and had obtained the kingdom for himself(1). Even in the later middle ages, the Hindu chiefs of Kamarupa continued to rely on their navy as an indispensable weapon of defence and offence. The Padishah-namah, a work of the 17th century, highly speaks of the skill and bravery of the Assamese naval troops."

size n shape of the Sola Beel jes next to Paltan Bazar - (thrs a cinema hall)....is it really natural or man made?.....was it an ancient feature used by the navy?...i think a detailed study with remote sensing technology with high-resolution IKONOS images may help us understandin ....................ne comment?

evidences of terracotta boat burials have also been found in guwahati. two of them have been unearthed from the Assam engineering college and gauhati university campuses. these are in display of the Anthropology department museum of Gauhati University. Assam boats seems to be different from that of bengal. there is an extensive work on the bengal boat-making, reference i'm not able to recoolect at present. i will extend that later on. similar work can be done on Assam, hopefully

this is a grt news n valuable info!....terracotta boats?....earthen?..dolls?..prototypes?....would u be able to xplain little more?

i need some time to find few references for it. i believe there is a long history behind this. association with burials means great religious importance and social status of the people. it needs more enquiry. but till now archaeologists have ignored it. there is a small article on it by M.K. Dhavalikar of Pune, Deccan College Bulletin. nothing more in my knowledge.please join hands guys to make a consensus.

thanks very much to all of you for the interesting discussions. the discoveries of the terracotta boats near the Brahmaputra river definitely infers to a deep connections of Boat making system, river Brahmaputra and Assamese cultural in a historical point of view. presently we have the tradition of nao - khel in some areas like Sualkuchi, which also support an interesting connection in this regard.

can u elaborate little on 'nao-khel'!!

its a general hypothesis i'll try to put forward: Nao Khel is very popular in Barpeta and Sualkuchi. both these areas are famous for traditional arts and crafts and their trade. Barpeta for ivory and brass, and sualkuchi for silk. in other parts of assam we dont find any specialized merchant class during the medieval period or earlier. it seems that naokhel was associated with these trading communities. its an interesting point to note that Chano Sadagar's story is also prevalent in Sualkuchi and Palasbari, situated exactly on the other bank (a place near the boat burials). so there may be a connection between of the trading communities with nao khel, not necessarily the fishing community or any novelty.

Unique stone temple excavated in Deoparbat!

The Assam Tribune, 7th Sept '06:

By Ajit Patowary

GUWAHATI, Sept 6 – The excavation at Deoparbat in Golaghat district by the State Archaeology Directorate has led to the exposure of a unique stone temple structure. This structure may be dated back to around 11 century AD. Preliminary observations on the exposed evidence of the temple has brought to light many of the hitherto unknown architectural features of temple building activities developed in Asom about one thousand years back, said Dr H N Dutta, Director, State Archaeology.

The exposed temple plinth is circular and it is resting on a square-sized stone platform with each of its sides measuring around 10.7 metres. It is 63 cm in thickness. Though it is yet to be exposed completely, it is found that the structure is not monolithic. It appears that it was built by joining the parts of a huge rock artistically chiseled out by craftsmen with superb skill. The exposed height of the temple plinth is 2.95 metres, Dutta said.

The most significant part of the temple is that it is circular in circumference and beautiful carvings mark its exterior features. These carvings depict human and animal figures and floral designs. All these figures and designs are laid horizontally. Notable among these are a series of Gazathara (elephant head) similar to the one found in the Hajo Hayagriba Madhava Temple. The other important series of sculptures is those of the Uranta Vidyadharas (flying celestial figures). The bottom part of the temple plinth has elegant carvings of flower petals, representing lotus, Dutta said.

The artistic works on the temple building prove that the architect/architects wanted to ornament the entire architecture with rich carvings of floral designs and human and animal figures, besides depicting some mythological events—which is very unique in this part of the country. The circular ground plan of the temple may also be a rare thing in Indian archaeology, Dutta said.

It is also important for archaeologists that during the excavation of the temple structure, around one hundred stone sculptures were found at the site. Most of these sculptures are recovered undamaged.

It is really a matter of great astonishment that the architects and sculptors of the structure and the stone objects found at the site, locally built the stone structure and carved out the sculptures portraying many of the native cultural, natural and physiognomical features like the elephant and rhinoceros chasers. And all these were done about one thousand years back in such a remote area. This bears significance for the civilization that the people of the State had during those days, speaking highly of the cultural heritage of the State’s people.

The Directorate has by now developed the site. Provided it with boundary fencing and an easier pathway to make the excavated area easily accessible to the people. It has also built an archaeological site museum there. The complete exposure of the temple plinth will virtually end all the developmental schemes at the site. The site is also being developed as a tourist destination. Moreover, the Directorate has already moved the forest department seeking cooperation in preserving the site, as, it is located within a reserved forest area, Dutta said.

Deoparvat is not the only site of archaeological importance in this area. Most parts of the Dhansiri-Doyang valley witnessed a prosperous culture beginning aprroximately from the 5th century AC. In my phd research in the area, i could document as many as 11 fortified towns belonging to the early medieval period. the deoparvat site developed near a fortied settlement of the 'kacharis' which has a higher antiquity and the people also had metallurgical skills. importantly, the stone blocks of the deoparvat temple were connected to each other by iron rods. interesting! but dateable material is still required from the region. if you are interested, you can forward any question to me. right now i'm working for the Indian Archaeological Society in Delhi.

thts wonderfl!.....can we create a list n a map of all the arche sites in assam n surrounding region?........wat would be the best source data fr it....??

i have created the site maps during my research. but for now, my thesis is under examination. i tried to make a full-fledged project on this, but failed at my first attempt. what people need is an agenda and a big banner. its pitiful in the professional field. right now, to my knowledge, there is no comprehensive computer database on the archaeology of assam. we can help each other in building one. what do you say. some serious things begins modestly i believe

Hello, it´s a good news that there is emerging interest of general people for Archeology of Assam and the most important issue for us is to explore the areas and make a general consensus for general people to protect and preserve the antiquities and archaeological sites of Assam.

Starting with a computer data base can be a good idea for the platform for archeology and history of Assam.

Axom Andolan

when, why, how it started...

what are the good/bad aftereffects of this movement (if there are any)...

was it really necessary??..

Is something similar in nature coming in the near future??..

guys, pour in ur views....

i think it was necessary 2 draw attention of the country & the world 2 this burning problem....but it was always misdirected , misunderstood & mislead...

i daon't want 2 see something like tht in near future...it has ruined the state , influenced more seperatism , has started this era of overwhelming corruption...

those wretched leaders of the movement started the culture of passing exams by threatenin the professors...& when they gained the power they started the bribe culture...

The reasons for Oxom Aandulon still persist. The aandulon was justified n was logical. ..results were disappointing. It could not reached to its objectives. but at least people fought for a good cause in mass. I am proud of it (That Oxom baaxy raaiz have done it).

Now although the reasons n the causes still persist, at the context of the global changes those have been taking place during past two decades, probably anothr oxom aandulon is irrelevant...we require to probably derive new intelligent strategies ....

dunno much abt it..but there was unity unseen among the assamses at that time...

we need one more movement to get rid bangladeshi's

Lets start the discussion from the root. I think it started in 1968-69 under Oxom Jatiya Parishad with the aim to deport the Illegal Bangladeshis from Assam. Later it took the name All Assam Students Union. Later their focus became any non-Assamese ppl residing in Assam, may be this was one region why it started to be unstable.

ya thts why it got derailed & ultimately did more harms than benefits...

we also need 2 analyze its predecessors like bhaxa andolan , madhyam andolan etc...

was it diected aqgainst only the Bangladeshis or against the Bengalis too including Hindus who had migrated from Bangladesh after partition??

As far as i know migration of Bengalis(Hindus and muslims both) from East Bengal had started as early as the 19th century.

Sheikh Sadullah (the then governor of Assam???), in one of his letters to Jinnah had mentioned that the muslim population in lower Assam districts had more than tripled!

Not only Bengalis...Bihari,Marwari everyone came under the wrath of the movement. The Lachit Sena formed in 1968 created havoc among non-assamese speaking ppl in guwahati.

Assam Agitation destabilised not because of the above reason.Fact is that it strengthen the movement at that time. It lost faith from Assamese ppl when a section of it joined politics. After joining politics only it got flanked into Bodo,Ahom,Rabha,Mising,Muslims due to different reasons or may be due to rumours aired by Delhi politics who were after the movement to weaken it.

it failed becoz the leaders turned out 2 be traitors....

may their souls never rest in peace..!!!

After joining politics only it got flanked into Bodo,Ahom,Rabha,Mising,Muslims due to different reasons or may be due to rumours aired by Delhi politics who were after the movement to weaken it.

well are u sure about it.. Plese refer the book on Political movements of India published by IGNOU for the MA courses.. it got flaked only so to say after the movements got some resolutions. the most relevant being the BODO movements and The Karbi Movements lauched just after it.. these two tribes in particulat supported and got involved whole heartedly with the movements but as soon as Axom Gana Parishad was formed aftermath these two community were neglected and not given there dues as it is mentioned in the book giving the reason that they were different entity and is not a part of Assamese Society creating wrath and hatred amongs the two these two communities and the rest.. so whom are to be blame ? its really a complex issue and the effects had been showing till today.. so much division had been created psychologically amongs the people of Axom that now people prefer to refer themselves with their seperate tribes/community instead of calling themselves axomiya.... once the sociological structure has been disturbed its really difficult to mend it and the best example is Axom. just look at the history .. before the AXOM ANDOLAN just tell me about the movement for self realization/ self-rule in axom amongs the diferent tribes.. you will find non but after that... its something like a chain now.... politically also the states have been divided into many different autonomous councils.. and I m sure the day won't be far when when this division will become physically too if the trends goes onlike this.. the rest depends on you people..

though I asked the quetions.. am finding difficult to answer.. Andolan was a neccessity of those times.. but it took an unwanted turn, and we are facing the consequences till today (as MK has mentioned). but what about the future??

the BODO movements and The Karbi Movements lauched just after it.. these two tribes in particulat supported and got involved whole heartedly with the movements but as soon as Axom Gana Parishad was formed .. so whom are to be blame ?

Well we cannt reach to a conclusion just by viewing the matter through only one angle.

Like the book adopted by IGNOU there are lots of books and papers on AASU movement and it’s downfall.All will give different angles to view it.

AASU’ s call for protecting the interests of the Assamese community became complicated at that time. The reference was obviously to the Assamese-speaking community because the members of this community were the main supporters of the AASU and the agitation it has led for six long years. Therefore, the definition of Assamese sought by the Centre in the context of discussions on Assam accord is not difficult to understand. However, the issue was not that simple anymore. At some point of time, AASU and other Asomiya regional forces could speak of Bor Asom (greater Assam) to include other small communities of the state. But with the emergence of strong community-based organisations among smaller communities, the task becomes more complicated. At present it is imperative for the AASU to redefine Assamese by taking in the aspirations of indigenous residents of Assam. But the concept of “indigenous” in the context of Assam was a contested one. A section of the Bodos, for instance, do not accept the tea tribes living in the areas claimed as Bodo homeland as indigenous. A section of the Asomiyas refuse to accept the Muslim population in the chars of Brahmaputra as indigenous. Such problems are abundant. But politically, it is not possible to leave such people out of the definition of Assamese.

Lets go back to the past!!

When the One Language formula was applied to Assam, it got splitted into different parts.Those who used to speak assamese deliberately stopped speaking the language.

Now, I hope it was not the fault of Assamese ppl to say Assamese should be their lingua franca.Blame is to be given to the system who raised the one language one state theory.

language was not the only issue but it was one of them that cause the division in the assamese society( Assamese Society hears means Bor Axom).. it was the neglegence and alienation which was felt by the other ethnic tribals people, the same way the people of north east today feels against the other Indian.. So I believed that it was not done enough to bring together when it was needed.. some vested interest came into the picture then and there ... there is nothing wrongs in the concept of Bor Axom , theoritically, but practically well it might take centuries for it to succeed as there are many complcations already existing.... what is needed is to teach the present generation about the bor axom concept so that it will take the course expected in the days to come.... otherwise thd day won't be far when there won't be any original Assamese .. all those alien will be known as Assamese....

Who are the Assamese

My family has been residing in Assam for the last 300 years....... so what am I? I have been to the place where my family originated fromn but once? So am I an assamese or a Rajasthani? The Goswamis of Assam were originally from Dwarka in Gujrat, so are they Assamese or Gujrati? Many questions and similarly many thoughts. If ancestory was to be used for a person to belong to a particular state than what do we call the residents of USA and Canada?

Zat babu...tanne dukhi hone ki koi zaroorat ni hain...my forefathers had also come from North India almost 300 yrs ago. So wat? We are Assamese now. We discarded our language and took to speaking Assamese. Nobody can say that we are outsiders now. Nobody will call u an outsider. So chillax!

is the recent killings of the biharis in tinsukia, dibrugarh and Dhemaji id a result of the axom andolan and aftermath?

Best english book on assamese history

Which is the best and most accurate one: is it Gait's "History of Assam"???

Probably one of the best is "Comprehensive History of Assam" by HKBarpujari. Gaits book is too small in content and may be a lot of infomations regarding our history was not known at that time...

But more or less, Gait's book is also a must read..

i think the Comp Hist of Assam ed Bartpujari is a 5 vol book./..cost around 1000/1200 bks....but wrth keepin a prsnl copy fr the lifetime....i recommend this one n the gait to every assamese family...n to ppl interested in our history....i donno wat hpnd to my connection...i could only entrd to the community prbly aftr 15 days...!!

Comprehensive History of Assam is undoubtedly the best. Gait sahib's book is also good, but lacks a lot of info. Moreover, the recent editions of the book are full of printing errors. The old editions that are with the Dept. of Historical and Antiquarial Studies, Assam are better, but no longer available.

Good Books

Comprehensive History of Assam is indeed the best. The book written by gait is also very good ..but its not thick enough ( a history book should be thick rite ).

Moreover if u are asking the name of the books for research purpose then I would suggest you to refer these books too as it contain some good and useful information

1)A Cultural History of Assam, ...........B.K.Barua.

2) A Comprehensive History of Assam:......S.L.Baruah

3) Social and Economic history of Assam...Rajen Saikia,,This study unravels the often overlooked aspects of social and economic history of Assam

4)A Brief History of Assam................Oscar Publication ( This one I got from Internet.. I have not gone through yet myself but the contents look good)

5)Architecture of Assam- By P.C.Sharma

6) Assam Under the Ahoms- By U.N. Gohain

u can read if u r interested in ancient history:

1. the history of Civilization of the people of Assam (till 12th C.A.D.) by P.C. Choudhury.

2. the place of Assam in the history and culture of India, by S.K. Chatterjee

3. Ancient Pragjyotisa, by A.M Shastri

Rongpur-Gorgaon in Google Image!

Although the image resolution is yet not superior in the area, it is interesting to view the historic tanks and their alignments wid the main roads, dikhow river n dikhowmukh. Wid a higher resolution image these area will be very interestin..

btw, better res images r there for a large part of guwahati n for entire dibrugarh n surrounding areas...

(or ne one else), do u hv the Rongpur Nogoror itibrityo...by sihabuddintalis(!-i exactly don rmbr)?

Assam Tribune, 13Oct'06

'Karbi Amei formed to protect culture'

From Our Correspondent

HOWRAGHAT, October 12 — “Culture, traditional customs, living styles and languages are the prime fundamental ornaments of the particular castes and communities, which always reflect like a mirror” said Sum Ronghang, chief executive member (CEM), Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, in a prize distribution function of the Langpher Karbi Jutang Chingthur Amei programme on Monday held at Rajapathar Terang gaon in Karbi Anglong.

Addressing the gathering attended the open meeting, Ronghang expressed satisfaction over the up coming youths coming forward to flourish and keep alive the lagging Karbi cultural tradition.

Ronghang reiterated that the main aspiration and purpose of formation of the Karbi Jutang Chingthur Amei is to develop Karbi culture scientifically and logically. Except it, there is no other reason behind the steps.

He urged on all to participate in the newly formed Karbi Jutang Chingthur Amei for the greater interest of speedy growth of Karbi culture in the hill district.

While, speaking on the development and other infrastructural activities during his tenure, he said that though he could perform a consecutive and innovative success during his short term, he had to undergo a lot of disturbances, troubles and problems.

However, Ronghang seeking mass support from the public, he assured to do his best for round the clock development in the district.

During the prize distributing ceremonial function Pradip Rongpi, EM, KAAC, Bazong Tisso, EM, KAAC, Pradip Singnar,EM, KAAC along with the distinguished persons like Longse, Timung, adviser, Karbi Lamet Amei and Bidursing Kro, Sahitya Academi Bhasa Sanman awardee took part the meeting and dwelt on the culture.

The Sahitya Adcademy Bhasa Sanman awardee Bidursing Kro was felicitated warmly by the organizer and other social organizations during the meeting. The three-day -long cultural programme was started from 7.

Manipur celebrates Ningol Chakouba festival

The Assam Tribune, Oct 25, 06

From Our Correspondent

IMPHAL, Oct 24 – The biggest festival of Manipur – Ningol Chakouba was celebrated here today.

On this auspicoius day married women are invited to their parental homes for a grand feast along with their children. Traditional fish are festival favourite as it is a mandatory dish for today’s feast.

The Manipur Fisheries Minister Ningthoujam Mangi opened a fish fair cum fish crop competition at the historic Mapal Kangjeibung here yesterday.

Hundreds of fish farmers across the State turned up at the fish fair to exhibit their fish products. “One of the main objectives of the fair was to make available fresh fish at cheap rate,” said Minister Mangi.

Governor Dr SS Sidhu has greeted the people of Manipur on the occasion of Ningol Chakkouba festival. Conveying his best wishes to the people, Chief Minister O Ibobi prayed that this festival may radiate happiness and prosperity in every home of the State.

Kut celebrated in Manipur

Assam Tribune, 2nd Oct 06

Kut celebrated in Manipur

From Our Correspondent

IMPHAL, Nov 1 – Kut, the biggest festival of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo-Zomi communities was celebrated across the region today. The festival is a thanksgiving ceremony to God for a bountiful harvest.

The main celebration of the day-long post-harvest festival was held under the aegis of State-level Kut Committee at the well- guarded parade ground of the 1st Manipur Rifles Battalion in Imphal.

But the celebration committee cancelled the programme of selecting a Miss Kut for the year 2006 on the eve of the festival following a ban imposed by Kuki Liberation Army, a Kuki militant outfit.

Manipur Governor Dr Shivinder Singh Sidhu was the chief guest of the festival. Sidhu appealed to every community “to contribute its mite to sustain this glorious tradition”.

Autumn festival in Cherrapunjee

Assam Tribune, 2nd Nov 06

Autumn festival in Cherrapunjee

SHILLONG, Nov 1 – The ‘Autumn Festival’ in Meghalaya, which got underway with a record-breaking ensemble of drums here, shifted to Cherrapunjee, the world’s wettest place on Monday.

To woo more tourists at Cherrapunjee, dotted with low-rise rolling hills and endowed with great scenic beauty, Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) organised a waterfall run (a sort of marathon), archery, kite flying and drum fiesta which was participated by both local people and foreigners. – PTI

Two new temple plinths unearthed!

The Assam Tribune 8th Dec'06

By A Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Dec 7 – Two more temple plinths are seemingly hiding beneath the debris at the famous Madan Kamdev archaeological site on the National Highway-52 near Baihata Chariali in Kamrup district. So far it has been believed that there were twelve miniature temples at this archaeological site.

During the recent exploration work conducted at the site by the State Archaeology Directorate under the leadership of its Deputy Director Deepirekha Kouli, the possibility of existence of two temple plinths at the site came to the fore.

However, the two temple plinths are located in the Madan Kamdev Reserved Forest, outside the area demarcated for the archaeological park there. The place where existence of these temple plinths is sensed, is located at a distance of about 300 metres from the main temple structure of the archaeological site.

The explored temple plinths are situated in close proximity from each other. They have beautifully carved doorjambs, ceiling slabs and other relics suggesting the existence of the temples at the very location.

According to Director of Archaeology Dr HN Dutta, the Directorate has meanwhile requested the Forest Department to hand over the area, measuring around 50 metres by 30 metres, to the Directorate. This is necessary to

enable the Directorate prepare a plan and estimate to develop the temple plinths providing the required boundary walls etc, Dr Dutta said.

The findings concerning these two temples have added a new direction to the archaeological heritage of the site. These have added a new dimension also to the lay out and plan of the temples at the site, probably opening up a new vista for the study of the State’s archaeological heritage, Dutta said.

Dutta also maintained that the Madan Kamdev site might have some more evidence of archaeological importance. To unearth all such evidences, the Directorate is preparing an extensive scheme for conducting exploration of the entire hillock, he said.

The Archaeology Directorate has by this time completed several developmental schemes at the site. The most important of these schemes is the construction of a gravel road connecting the stairway to the temples located atop the hillock. The other developmental works include the boundary fencing, setting up of a garden, public amenities system, construction of a shed for the visitors and exposition and restoration of the stone temple plinths explored earlier. A Directorate team under the guidance of Conservation Officer A Barman has been conducting the conservation work at the site, Dutta said.

Elaborating, Dutta said that six temple plinths had been brought into their original alignment by following methods of systematic exposition of the structures and their restoration. The outer contours of the plinths have also been arranged distinctively during the process.

The Yoni Peeth of the Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple plinths have been laid according to their original position as far as possible. During the restoration process, it became evident that the six temples were attached to a mandapa or portico, Dutta said.

BIJNI

Hitherto referred, Bijni Kingdom was first establishment by Bijit Narayan alias Chandra Narayan in 1671 comprising the area of undivided Goalpara district.Chandra Narayan was the son of Parikshit Narayan who was the grandson of Yuvaraj Sukladhwaj alias Chilarai, the world hero(1510-1571 AD). He was the younger brother of Moharaj Naranarayan, the great emperor of Kamrup Rajya alias Kamata Empire alias Koch Empire of 16th century. The first capital of Bijni Kingdom was at modern Bijni town from 1671 to 1864 and thereafter shifted to Dumuria(now known as Dalan Bhanga) due to attack by Jhawlia Mech - a local chief under Bhutan Kingdom. The big and dreaded earthquake occured at 5 PM, on 12th June/1897 badly damaged the royal palaces of Dumuriya caused the shifting of the Capital temporarily to Jogighopa and thereafter permanently shifted to Deohati forest area now known as Abhayapuri named after Rani Abhayeswari in 1901, which continued upto 1956 when Govt. of India took over this Kingdom. At present Bongaigaon district is having three Civil Sub-Divisions, namely (1) Bongaigaon with Hd. Qr. at Bongaigaon (2) North Salmara with Hd. Qr. at Abhayapuri town and (3) Bijni with Hd. Qr. at Bijni town.90 % area of Bongaigaon district belonged to erstwhile Bijni Kingdom and 10% area from Sidli Kingdom, Raja Bhairabendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and Raja Ajit Narayan Dev were the last kings of Bijni and Sidli Kingdoms respectively. Joy Narayan, Shiv Narayan, Bijoy Narayan, Mukunda Narayan, Haridev Narayan, Indra Narayan, Amrit Narayan,. Kumud Narayan and Rani Abhayeswari were the Kings and queen in between the founder king Chandra Narayan and the last king Bhairabendra Narayan of Bijni Kingdom.

Thanks a lot, because these informations are not available to most of us. I have one query.. whether Jhawliya Mech u mentioned, is the same person as Jawliya Dewan from Bhutan? (I may be wrong in the infos, but vaguely remember one drama aired by akashbani.)

Lachit Barfukan

pls give me his brief life story. I always here his name.

http://www.assam.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=90409&page_id=178

Here u may find some informations. I'll try to give more informations on his life..

Some informative sites

Friends, here are few informative sites.. although they may not be related to hisory of Asom, but 'llbe quite helpful to learn many things regarding migrations of human beings and genetic links...

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/

https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/

https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html

Are you curious about your ancestral connections?Tell national geographic in their forum and learn about genetic mysteries yet to be unravelled in a video interview with Spencer Wells at

www.ngm.com03

http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/

this site is a khazana on materials related to Indian history...

A site with a research paper related to our modern political history..

http://www.acdis.uiuc.edu/Research/OPs/Saikia/cover.html

It seems like a Islamic Propoganda

may be opposite ..

http://www2.unescobkk.org/eubios/chgp/chgp20.htm

http://www.geocities.com/vetinarilord/india.pdf

the first link gives a genetical study done in India and the second one in NE India n Nepal..

the first one I am reading..its nice n clear....second i could nt open..donno y...

another....can u guys ask ur mallu frnds abt a concept...tht 'they believe tht they r originally frm oxom!'..migrated long back..many mallus have told me this in separate times in past 14 years...wats that man!....was thr a migration frm oxom to kerala..when majority of population in oxom was austro-asiatic/negrito...is it bcuz of invasion of some powerful tibeto-burman ppl to oxom....

time?...may be 2000/1000 BC?

there might have been a migration from Nepal to Kerala.... Nayars might be originally Newars, I found it in net and told by a Malayalee friend. I'll try to find out the sites..

I gave the ifrst link coz, there is a mention that genetically there is a similarity between ppl of Chutiya community and high caste ppl from Bihar.. another puzzle..

i hv seen tht...cutiya n their relationship to ppl of Magadha!!! ..i hv an impression..i will speak abt it..

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/oldwrld/

ibn battuta has visited kamrupa....its here

http://www.ummah.net/history/scholars/ibn_battuta/

but we need to find out his descriptions..so the book..

periplus & ptolemy

it is believed that assam has found mention in both periplus of the erythrean sea & ptolemy's geographia .

It has been discussed here earlier 2 some extent...but i would like to restart the topic and request ppl to contribute as much as possible . Specially the new ones who were not a part of the discussion last time....

here's the link to the last thread for everyone's reference .

http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=11159059&tid=2463436502601738499&na=1&nst=1

yes i think we should relook at it...n expand the info base..

some more...

not only these two...we hav several others....

http://www.e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=leisure.Essays.Saint_Shah_Jalal_in_Northeast_India

http://www.manipuronline.com/Manipur/February2006/societalevolution18_2.htm

http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/persian_affinities_licchavis_review.php

Periplus maris Erythraei if u have not seen it before...

http://ias.berkeley.edu/orias/spice/textobjects/periplus.pdf

Muslim expeditions to Assam

Friends, I am starting this thread as I believe we can build up a serious discussion on it. Please contribute...

During the Sultanate of Qutb ud-Din Aibek, the Sword of the Faithful reaches Assam under the leadership of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji. Ever since then, there had been numerous Muslim expeditions to Assam in different periods of time. However, it was during the time of the majestic Mughals did the Sword of the Faithful penetrate deep into Assam.

These Sultanate/Mughal campaigns had far-reaching socio-economic and political effects. These campaigns have added glamour to Assam History. Therefore, let us properly discuss the various expeditions and its after-effects.

What are the Emarates/Constructions available in Assam which were build under supervision of Any Moslem Sahenshah who could manage to occupy Assam for a short duration?

Was their any Muslim conversion in Assam b4 Ajan Peer Saheib stepped into Assam?

Poa Mecca khon tu aase...Muslim or xomoyotei hoisil...Sultan Ghiyas ud-din Auliya r mazaar aase taat...aru dui etamaan idgah aase...

Kiba building/forte type korbat aseneki?

Olop search koribo laagibo...pise kiba survive korise ne naai najanu dei...aru teuloke qila jaatiyo eku bonuwai naasil bodhoi...

Forte/quila eibilak thakile guess koribo paari kiman din teuluke jhaak jhomok hoi asil..

Era, thikei koise aapuni...pise aajir pora 18 bosor aagote moi Azan Faqir or kobor saboloi goisilu xoraguri saapori loi...biraat beya obosthat aasile kobor keita...maintenance or obhaab...etia ba kene obostha najanu...rasta o bor durgom aasil...baaki gutei bharatot qila/imaarat ityadi bur bor xundor koi survive korise...

nice topic....can we also try to list ppl, who have successfully contributed to prevent such western invasions?.....i start with...

1. Prithu

2. Xoindhya

3. Fracengmung Buragohain (Also his wife wonderful Mulagabhoru!)

4...................

frachengmung "Borgohain"

Actually there were many more who successfully resisted invasions from west..

Although there were 17 invasions to Assam from Bengal and Delhi, in most of the present day Assam we dont see any archeological presence of those invasions. most important reason was the occupations resulting from these invasions were short lived (when it was successful.. in most of the cases, it was not even successful). But for a brief period, a part of the western Assam fell into Mughal hands (after Naranarayan's rule ended and the Koch kingdom weakened beacuse of the partition of the older and more powerful kingdom). The legacy of this rule can be seen in some titles used in these areas, which were given to officers for collecting taxes etc. (plz correct me if I'm wrong). Hazo.. for a long time used to be a Mughal post..

I mentioned somewhere before, the most successful of the Mughal invasions were that of Mirjumla. but he hardly found any time to construct any forts of permanent nature.. mostly his troops were inside the Garhgaon and one or two other places (for most of the time, barring the short summer season). So if we want to find any remains of Mughal architecture or anything resembling that.. we have to look in few west Assam districts, where possibly they could find some time for such activities.. Even in guwahati also, I'm not sure whether they constructed new forts themselves!! As far as I know, they occupied the forts made by Ahoms (like Itakhuli).

But really these expeditions added glamour to our history.. After all the pride of defeating the Mughals again and again and again .. cannot be compared with replacing somebody else in place of the Mughals..

Consequences of these invasions....

May be from these interactions we learned few things from the Mughals (not sure, whet they lerned from us.. may be, they learned to respect the patriotism of Assamese and may be learned not to underestimate these smaller powers..). Our language gained many Farsi-Arabic origin words. teachings of history is very important.. I dont know how much we have learned, but these invasions exposed to us the opportunistic nature of many people, who sided with the enemy (for example-Baduli Phukan), though I have to mention that, those circumstances could have been too much for even a person of the stature of Baduli Phukan... who wanted to buy peace at any cost.

yes borgohain!.....i was confused....wrote it initially n thn changed it,....he he he thnx fr correcting....n ur descriptions r very nice n analytical..

Yes, I think we can also list the people who resisted the Muslim invasions. It would be a good idea as we can go for a proper discussion that way by discussing all the aspects of the invasions.

Modhur da has discussed the effects of the invasions quite well. Good job, Modhur Da! I would like to put forward my analysis of the same, which will be again, quite similar to yours.

The most well-known dynasties of Delhi and Bengal made repeated attempts to conquer Assam for many centuries, but what came their way was outright failure. Many a times the Muslim armies were worsted in the battle-field, and in some cases they were annihilated.

The Mughals were the only force that could penetrate deep into Assam for the first time in history. During the time of Nawab Mir Jumla, imperial armies captured the capital of the Ahom kings, Garhgaon. In every battle during this campaign, the imperial Mughal armies were undefeated, which was a rarity going by the past record of Muslim invasions. Finally, when imperial armies reached near the capital, the cowardly Ahom king fled from his capital. The Khan-i-Khana revived the myth of Mughal invincibility, which was true in the rest of the country. However, this success was short-lived. With the departure of the Khan-i-Khana, Ahoms re-occupied most of their lost territories.

The subsequent Mughal campaign under the great Mirza Raja Jai Singh’s son Ram Singh met with defeat in the famous battle of Saraighat in 1671.

The battle of Itakhuli in 1682 was the last instance when Mughals were again seen in Assam. After that, there were no further known Muslim invasions to Assam.

If we analyze these campaigns from the military point of view, then we will find that the Ahoms can be given credit for holding their sovereignty in the face of great odds. The most startling aspect of this episode was the fact that a mere militia army defeated the most powerful army in Asia at that point of time. The Mughal armies were known for their war-machine, discipline and combat tactics. In all these matters they were superior to the Ahom militia army. Despite that the Ahoms won and hurt the prestige of the Mughals, not once or twice but many times. This has definitely added glamour to the history of this part of the country. But we should also not forget that Muslim invasions have added colour and glamour to the study of our history from different angles. The most important being this that Assam came into contact with the central power that ruled India at that point of time, thus bringing the focus of the historians to this region.

However, more than reverses in battle, it was the pestilential climate of Assam that affected the Mughal campaigns. More imperial soldiers died after falling prey to diseases like dysentery, diarrhoea and malaria, than in the battle-field.

Modhur da has already analyzed the consequences of the campaigns. I would like to add a few more points to it.

What we have learnt from the Mughals is much more than a few Farsi words. Mughal land revenue measures were adopted. Mughal dresses (salwar kameez, kurta-pyjama, Mughal turban etc.) came to be introduced during the time of King Rudra Singha. Even before that, the Muslim turban inspired the turban won by Sattriya dancers. Mughal miniature paintings inspired some works in Assamese like the Chitra Bhagavat (it is said that Srimanta Sankardev wrote it but it is not correct).

The Ahoms also learnt to use certain Mughal weapons viz. the matchlock, light-cannons etc.

I don’t know what the Mughals learnt from the Assamese. They hardly got time to settle down and learn anything. They must have had learnt to respect the patriotism of the Assamese people. However, the Mughals were a superior power and had a superior culture than us. I don’t think they had anything to learn from us on the culture front.

People I have seen the Chitra bhagavat. It has strong Moslim Influence. I even asked the Satradhikaar about this. Sadly he had no idea. Wanna see some pics of it?

Chitra bhagavat Pics

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1877/untitled27fx6.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3468/untitled28fr7.jpg

I just remembered something. The chitra bhagavat's picture were drawn by Muslim painters. So they had a strong musli influence. You can see the human faces to verify. Even armies of hindu kings are shown in it as having long beard and wearing muslim topis.

One more :

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1112/untitled42ku3.jpg

Al-Jabbar is right! I had written the screenplay of a documentary film on the Chitra Bhagavat. The Muslim influence is seen everywhere.

Al-Jabbar, I have seen many manuscript paintings depicting Hindu mythical episodes. There even Lord Krishna is depicted wearing a Mughal turban and dress. Lord Rama is shown wearing a Mughal turban and a Mughal jamdhar (a dagger).

We had Hindu-Moslem confluence of thoughts and ideas for so long.. And still we are fighting with each other..

Thanks to the divide and rule policy of the British. Angrez kita noha hole aamar maajot aajiu sob bhaley thakil heten...

Thanks Mani, for the long analysis. I think out of the 17 attempts to conquer Assam, MirJumlas attack was unique in the sense.. they were successful to some extent. I'll like to elaborate more on this particular campaign and may be the possible reasons why this happenned!

some reasons why MirJumla was successful:

1.The weakness of the Assamese army had been the lack of a good cavalry. So whoever had the advantage in this aspect and somehow succeeds in transporting horses within the plains of Assam and gets enough chance to engage Assamese army within the plains 'll have the upper hand. This is not strange .. rather almost like a rule of warfare. this is precisely what MirJumla could do.. Even when he was in trouble, trapped in Garhgaon by the constant guerilla attacks and flood, he managed to retain this advantage. Finally when the rainy season ended, he could again recapture few positions lost during the rainy season..

2.Loss of the Ahom navy.. I think this was one of the most important naval battles in Assam's history. there are reasons why is happened, but this crippled one arm of the Ahom army and Mughal army could march upstream easily.

3.Shear number of the attacking party... As far as I can remember, the attacking army near Garhgaon itself was numbered somewhere near 30000. but exactly at that time, king Jayadhwaj Singha had in possession of <5000>

(iii)A part of the Ahom army led by then Borgohain was still there in the north bank and Majuli, which was free from Mughal presence.

4.Finally, the most important reason.. Internal dissentions. When Manthir Bharali Borua was sent to Guwahati, his behaviour and acts made all the other officers unhappy and they could not give a coordinated stand against the attacking army. Even there are instances when the Ahom army left the forts without giving a fight.. reasons may be.. superstition and may be lack of a good leader.

Internal confict is always dangerous.. history tells us the same again and again, but we have not learned. Teaching of history is thats why very important.

King Jayadhwaj Singha remains one of the most "wronged" characters in Assam's history. but whatever was his personal nature (read Shihabuddin talish'es description of the King. His views were not neutral it seems..). but whatever he was, he was a patriot. When Mirjumla reached Garhgaon, either the Ahom king could have fought and died, or surrendered.. But he fled to the hills.. may be this was better than having jayadhwaj Singha killed and having Baduli Phukan as the next King (which the Mughals wanted). The king was deswerted by his army, officers.. but he stll kept on fighting. And finally when the Mughal left, he entered Garhgaon and felt so shocked to see the plight of his capital that soon after a few days he died.

forgot to mention one more thing... the loss of life was too much for the kingdom.. both by war and deseases.. the totoal loss was nearly 230000 in Assam.. (in the occupied Mughal territory to be precise).

Indeed it was a magnificient supiriority from the part of Ahom Dynasties to retain the sovereignty of the greater Mung Dun Chun Kham(North East). Since they were not fighting in bare hand,it is evident that had used supirior kind of weapons and artillaries too.

About the moslem supiriority..why not; since they could conquer the whole India due to the espionage and cowardish acts of mainly North and Central Indian Hindu Kings. The Mughals were becoming powerful day by day overpowering all the small and big fractions/dissidents of Hindu territories and groups( Militias??) in India. It was giving them psychological advantages too.

Next, Mughals had taken some ppl from Mung Dun Chun Kham to acquire the knowledge of preparing gun powder and boat making skills.

In some books it is also written tat the Mughals learnt from Ahoms how to domesticate wild elephants.

Wearing of Turbun is not the influence of Moslem touch I suppose.

In Thai traditional programmes the participents or dancers can be found in wearing turbuns which is similiar to the one worn by Manipuri and Satriya dancers.

The Ahom Da-Dangoriya's used to wear turbuns made of muga silk of superior qualities(KingKhap??).

Indeed, in one book I found that when Sukapha crossed the Patkai range, he brought cannons with him.. If that is true, then Assamese will be first ppl in India to use gunpowder. There is a scope for doing further research in this aspect. In some sources, it was mentioned that when Ahoms captured Chutiya kingdom, along with many other things, they obtained guns (or gunpowder) too.. may be this region was already much proficient (In India) in this art of making gunpowder. obviously this knowledge came from east... because China was the place where gunpowder was said be be discovered.

About superiority in armaments... definitely Assamese were equal to the Mughals in this case, if not better. That reminds me something.. mumai Tamuli Borborua himself designed some weapons.. he designed the arrow such that poison can be stored inside the tip and if anybody tries to pull the arrow out of the body, the tip'll stay inside and the person'll die immediately.. another weapon he designed was a trap.. which can permanently cripple an enemy soldier. One aspect where Assam was much superior to the Mughals was. its elephants.. there was battle (I frogot the details) where 400 elephants were used in 4 rows of 100 each.. and infantry behind these elephants to attack a Mughal post with guns.

About cultural superiority... what are the parameters to measure cultural richness!! I think we cannot say anything like that!

I think it is a wrong assessment to say that the Muslims conquered the greater part of India due to espionage and the cowardly acts of the North and Central Indian Hindu kings. This cannot be true!

All the Muslim conquerors starting from Muhammad bin Qasim fought large-scale wars with the Indian rulers and worsted them in battle. The North and Central Indian Hindu kings certainly did not give them peace, as the Muslim armies had to win Hindustan inch by inch at the point of their swords.

The Rajput rulers had numerically superior armies, elephants and so much resources. Despite that they couldn't defeat the Muslim armies Many a times the Muslim armies used to come dressed in tattered rags from the Hindukush. Even then they were successful. The reason for their success is superior war tactics. I suppose all of us know what the Rajputs used to do after they lost in battle: they used to perform jauhar.

Babur had defeated Ibrahim Lodi with only 11000 Mughals, while Ibrahim had an army of not less than 1 lakh. Of course, he had an artillery wing which the Lodis didn’t have. But very soon, the other Indian rulers also started their own artillery departments. Even then they couldn’t oust the Mughals.

In the time of Akbar, the Mughal Empire was a reality. With his successful Rajput policy, Akbar won over most of the Rajputana states to his side. After that, the Mughal army became the strongest ground force in the world. It not only had the battle-hardy Central Asian forces but also the valiant Rajput forces. It was only natural that this force would be unchallenged in battle.

I am not sure about Sukapha having an artillery department. It might be true. As Modhur da has said, we need further research on this.

It is also true that the Mughals had taken away people from Assam to learn from them just how much they knew about fire-arms. Mughal accounts state that the Assamese used to manufacture high quality gun-powder. The Ahoms also had a unique weapon: the Assara Guli, which was a form of hand-grenade. Again, Modhur da has discussed the innovation of certain Ahom weapons, so I won’t go into that.

I don’t know if the Mughals learnt from the Assamese how to tame elephants. It might be true again. But the Mughals were using war-elephants even before they had any contact with Assam. We need further research to establish a connection on this count.

While talking about culture, the Mughals definitely had a superior culture. They had the best of elements coming in from different parts of the sub-continent and beyond. Their music, arts, architecture, literature, food, fashion etc. don’t have a rival in the world.

Fall of the Ahom Kingdom

I believe that the following reasons caused the end of the Ahom Rule in Oxom:

1. Mowamariya coup which weekened the .

2. Power clash between Purnananda Burhagohain and Badan Barphukan, which ultimately led to the attack of the Burmese army.

But some Ahom historians prefer to present the increasing Brahmin influence as a cause for their fall. "Beli Mar Gol" by Leela Gogoi is such an example. Can anyone give me some idea about its actual impact?

1. weaknesses of few kings ruled aftr the death of sworgodeu rajeshwor xingho...is the most important factor.

2. i blv it ws nt bcuz of the rivalry of 'new n increasing brahmin influences' vs 'the ancient traditions of the tais (nt ahoms)'.

3. its mostly bcuz of the division of a strong ahom society (all the ppl of the ahom kingdom n its politico-economic system) due to rivalry n competition between the brahminists n the vaishnavaites...

4. the lower oxom areas wr earlier belonged to the kamatapur pol-ec-syst n thn hd brief muslim rule --- process of integrating these areas n population with the organically evolved ahom-ppl n ahom concept(in the ujony areas) was partially ok but was incomplete -- just bfr tht all the negative forces gt activated..

could we get any reading on the net on this subject... i m unaware of facts.. and want to know more...

Fall of Ahome Kingdom

[First I want to scite a reason I overheard.. it was from a discussion (or debate, from the "volume" of the discussion) of a Puja pandal, somewhere in Guwahati. One person was saying that Ahoms taking beef was the main reason why they won the earlier wars and giving up beef was the reason why they lost finally.]

talking seriously, there is not a single reason which we can solely atribute as the reason for downfall of Ahom kingdom.

The main reasons I can find:

1.Internal dissention/civil war:- Starting from the aftermath of Saraighat's battle, some of the nobles became more powerful than the king. Best part of the army was kept in Guwahati. So whoever was there in Garhgaon found the liberty to do whqtever they wanted and changed king at wish. This stopped for a while, from gadadhar Singha to Rajeshwar Singha, but reached a peak after this golden age of Ahom dynasty. Moamoriya rebellion, was the most important of all these. origin of this can be atributed to religious belief and may be the feeling of being exploited by a section of the populace. But the effect was devastating for the kingdom. There was no respect for the throne many a times.

2.external agression: Most devastating Mughal expedition to the Ahom kingdom was the one led by Mirjumla. Historians say that during that period, loss of life in the areas occupied by the invaders were nearly 2,30,000 (roughly.. modern Golaghat, jorhat, Sivasagar,dibrugarh area). This includes death by diseases. This was a tough time, but the kingdom could stand on its feet very fast.. whihc resulted in the victory of saraighat. But none of these invasions can match with the burmese invasion. They are said to have killed every third person in the Ahom kingdom. from jorhat (then capital) to Kaziranga, there were hardly two persons were found per km of distance. Many ppl even fled to then Bengal..

3.paik protha:- whenever there was a war, it took a lot of time to organize an effective army, since there was no standing permanent army till the Moamoriya rebellion. Although Assamese soldiers gained fame during the war with the Mughals, it is a fact that mobilizing such an effective army was time consuming.

4.weak kings, competition between Brahminical/Sakta and Vaihsnavite influences, as scited by Amitabhda were also reasons enough to destabilize the kingdom. Because finally they contributed in starting the civil war.

Well i have been searching for details about Ahom Kingdom and the period when Ahoms ruled.I think these informations are awesome.

I had a chance to read a novel by Ila Borgahain with the same title Last week. The novel focuses on the life of Romoni Gabhoru, daughter of Swargodeu Jayadhwaj Xinho and the niece of Lachit Borphukan.

As per the novel, when Nawab Mirjumla attacked Assam and reached Gargaon, the king did a pact with the conqueror. According to one of the conditions, he had to send his daughter Romoni Gabhoru to the harem of Aurangjeb. As the novel says, later she got married to Ajamtara, one of the sons of Aurangjeb. Before this marriage took place, she was converted to Islam and rechristened as Rehmat Begum. As the Governor of Bengal, Ajamtara was also involved in one of the Mughal invasions to Oxom.

After Aurangjeb’s death, his sons had a fight over the throne and Nawab Ajamtara was killed in a battle. There was no clue of her life neither in Ahom nor in Mughal history afterwards.

The novel also focuses on the political situation of Ahom kingdom before and after Xoraighat.

ya heard abt ramani gabhoru...but din't know abt the novel....

i think thr was one famous letter she wrote 2 her kins in assam when some ppl betrayd the ahom king & helped mughals in gainin foothold in assam....(during the turbulent period just before gadadhar xinghas time....)...

or was it someone else???

has Laluk xola to do anything with this (letter)?? since he was Lachit's elder brother and so was Romoni Gabharu's uncle too.

i read one article in local news papr when i was in school....

it was supposed 2 be gr8 example of patriotism of the gr8 lady who 4 the sake of the country went 2 a faraway place & could never come back !!!

Ramani Gabharu was only a kid (5-6 years) when she was packed off to the Mughal harem in Delhi. She was not married off to Mirza Mohd. Azam immediately. Mohd. Azam was the second most favourite son of Hazrat Aurangzeb, after Mirza Mohd. Akbar. His father used to call him Azamtara out of love.

Ramani Gabharu was brought up in the harem like all the other princesses. When she was old enough, she was married off to Mohd. Azam.

When Laluksola struck a deal with Mohd. Azam (Subahdar of Bengal) to surrender Gauhati to the Mughals in return for monetary help, Rehmat Bano Begum (Ramani's name after she converted to Islam) wrote a strongly worded letter to her uncle (Laluksola), accusing him of selling his motherland to the Mughals.

Mohd. Azam was transferred to Deccan and with him went his harem. Nothing much is known about Ramani Gabharu after that. However, there might be some mention of her later years if we get some access to the official Mughal Govt. papers which have survived. We don't know much about this lady.

Mohd. Azam was killed in the fratricidal war of succession by Mohd. Muazzam.

Waise I am not sure what kind of a life Rehmat Bano led in the Mughal harem. Pinjora t bondho sorair dorei jibon aasil saage teur...But I am sure she must have had a lavish life-style. Hindustan or Badshah or bowari r rutba nishchoy bor uccha aasil...

5 bosorot jodi goisil....pisoloi iman axomiya monot asilne???

hobo pare oboshye....

mughalor offcial lang ki asil...??...

farsi ??

Beleg xomoyot beleg beleg aasil hobola.. Alomgiror Xomoyot Persian... hmmm...

o toi je ekhon kitap kinisili...tat ramani gabhorur ullekh ase niki???

Mughaliya Sultanate or official bhaaxa Babur wa Humayun or xomoyot Turki aasil...Humayun or dwitiyo badshahat or xomoyot teu Farsi (Persian) introduce kore experimental basis ot...Akbar or xomoyot Farsi official language hoi pore aru tetiare porai eitu bhaaxa sole...Oboisye court or baahirot Hindustani solisil...

Rehmat Bano ye Farsi tei likhisil letter khon bodhoi...kaaron Axomiya bodhoi teu najanisil bhaaldore...kintu teu nischoy Mughal customs bhaaldore aayottvo kori loisil...

xeitu nischoy loisil....trainingto diya hoisilei...

bohudin agote porha articletu...besi aru eko monot nai....

Romoni Gabhoru's Letter

Romoni Gabhoru wrote a letter to her power hungry uncle Laluk xola, who was the Borphukan posted in Guwahati at that time. Her husband Azam was the Governor of Bengal and offered Laluki the throne of Oxom if he would help them in the battle. Romini was very much disappointed with this behaviour of Laluki and sent that letter stating her concern and reminding the Borphukan about his duty. Laluki overlooked that and helped the Mughals.

The full text of the letter is given in the Novel that I mentioned earlier. Romoni's another uncle and Lachit Barphukan's brother Baduli Phukan also betrayed his king and helped Mirzumla and Azam in their attacks to Oxom.

laluki? or laluk../lalukxula

laluki was his nickname or wat?....

may be.. yes??

I belive his real name was Laluki. But "Daant nothoka baabe" he was known as Laluk Xola.

Moi aakou Laluki bhekulir powali (tadpole) ok koi buli he janisilu iman dine......maanuhor naam u thakibo paare buli jona nasilu...

tetiyar dinot acholote manuhor nickname burei bikhyat hoi goichil chage.. nohole manuhor nam baduli dile heten neki!! bohut udahoron powa jabo chage bisharile enekuwa..

probably ppl hd closer relationship with the world they were living with....so prbly did nt consider baduli or laluki as 'bad' names or low-grade names!.....i doubt many things we consider as gud or bad in our society today r the products of 19th n early 20th century due to abrupt end of our traditional systems (diminishing tradi. values) and the rise of a new middle-class with western educational values!

Well...I think Samujjwal's theory is correct...buri nazar nalagiboloike tene naam rokha hoisil buli moi aagoteu korbaat xuna jen laagise...

Jodi notun value system or baabot Axomiya maanuhe notun dhoronor naam paale tenehole eitu khub bhaal kotha holdei...kaaron Baduli, Laluki, Lerela ityadi naam xuni kiba bor obaais laage...

obaice logar karontu hol we r frm the new-value system......n it all depends on how something is get presented....i think many ppl in orkut hv their names as 'batman'!....no? thr mst be someone...

Houte kothatu thikei...pise kaaru asol naam Batman nohoi nischoy...othoso xei-xomoyot Axomiya maanuhor aasol naamei, baduli, lerela, tetera ityadi aasil...Eiya pise khaali Axomot he aasil jen paaisu...I feel really lucky that I belong to a modern society...would have really hated to have a name like that...

mughal naambilakto agoteu enekuai asil

moi dhuburit thakote schoolot "ximar xiparor" manuho bohut asil...

ataitkoi common nam asil "nurul(noor-ul?)".....

pise dhuburit moi 4-5 bosor kotaisu...tat thakile xondeh hoimoi kon dekhot asu.......

BTW eta seriously kotha eta monot poril....

ei naamor dilemmatu bezbaruar dinote arombho hoi goisil...

"bhokendra barua"t xeitue dekhuaise teu....

List our traditional festivals!

Can we list our traditional festivals those we have been celebratin n luvin since ages in different parts of oxom by different ethno-cultural groups...,"these all r mine"! "my own", r these all ur?!...

1. 3 Bihu

2. Me-dam-me-phi

3. Ali-aye-ligang

4. Kherai

5. Garja

6. Hapsa Hatarnai

7. Awnkham Gwrlwi Janai

8. Chojun/Swarak

9. Rongker

10. Sokk-erroi

11. Hacha-kekan

12. Porag

13...........

14.............................

Assomiya language...and its close cousins..

Does any of the tribal dialects of the NE similar or close to the Assamese language. Which is the closest language (other then Bengali) which is closest to the Assamese Bhaxa.

Also are there Assamese medium schools outside of Asom???

as far as my knowledge goes.. the assamese language is the assilation of the maithili and other tribal dialect.. many tribal dialect have contributed in the formation of assamese culture and the language however if we see from the linguistic point of view well there is no similarity in the assamese language and the tribal dialect of N.E. however we can claim that there is a great contribution of Bodo, Karbi, Kacharis and many other tribal group of asom towards the development of assamese language..

Please refer for more information

http://assameseintribals.blogspot.com/2006/03/cultural-contribution-of-scheduled.html

Even thrs a possibility of research on the similarities of oxomeeya and satagi buli (the lang of Chattogram area) in Bangladesh. I think the port city was a part and parcel of Pragjyotisha-Kamrupa in the ancient times..n thrs great similarities of both the langs...satgai buli is actually closer to oxomeeya thn bangali..

Sorry its not Chattogram but Chittagong n its a port city as well as a larger region.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagonian_language

Thr r more comparisns with Bangali, but I feel ..tht more research n comparison with oxomeeya will provide better results..

Also see how they are talking / ref Chat songs:

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=17191

Kingkhap! Kingkhapor Kapur..

One kind of cloth mostly used by upper-classes (meaning comparatively richer n those in higher positions) in the Ahom / Oxom Kingdom is known as 'Kingkhap', which are wonderful in design, looks n in quality!...Anyone having more idea on it....kindly contribute...

I have seen once.. the cloth is cotton.. but the art works are golden coloured, may be real gold. how it was done I have no idea....

It was a high quality Muga-Mekhela and Chadar fabricated with a special design and was mean for ladies only. It was a kind of ceremonial dress too. Let me see if I can extract some more info regarding it.

The art work or design or "Fool Basa" on the dresses is done with golden threads. This particular design which contains golden thread is termed as kingkhap. And the cloth is termed as Kingkhapor kapur.

hmm ..great!..i rmbr seeing some in guwahati museaum..but those wr in almost dilapidated conditions..../ can we find these somewhr else?...its high time tht we preserve these n re-discover the preparation methods...

any pics of kingkhapor kapur?

Omritprobha / Amritprabha!

.......rmbr studied in school......the queen of a Kashmiri king...frm Oxom...anythin on her?

ya he was married 2 meghvahan.....

perhaps it's mentioned in kalhan's rajtarangini....

any info abt her parentage...?...was she a xalstambha princess...?

she cant be a xalostombho princess...as she is frm the frst or second century AD...tht mns she is frm the dark period just bfr even barman dynasty...

anthr info is tht Kolahana's Rajtarangini tranl by M A Stein is available...published by Motilal Banarasidass (1989), Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007 /ISBN 812080368X web:www.mlbd.com / Rs. 1200/-...i wish to purchase this book, so waiting fr a trip to delhi..any one interested in delhi may try....i specifically wanted those pages on Amritprabha n also wanted to kno abt her parents...n the dynasty...

thts interestin....tell me the details after readin it...

I think one big book something releted to Rajtarangini or the same book is in our home (he he, sorry folks, never read it.) I'll ask father and post whatever informaitons could be obtained in phone!

i found in 'Gazetteer of India,Assam state' that Amritprobha was a Varman princess,that of the third in line in this dyansty.

Enlist the migrations into Assam

can we enlist all the migrations into Assam from all directions with dates(approximate)?

i think we can try it n even can try to map it...atleast we can map various politico-economic systems at different period of time..

wat'll be the startin point....?..which one'll be the 1st one...?

mikir(karbi)s r supposed 2 be the oldest ones here , isn't it?

Khasi ppl are the oldest I suppose

http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/8/1525

wow.. thats a nice source.. 'll take time to read though. wait till I finish this reading

Please explain in simple terms regarding losing Y-chromosome and what is mtDNA? What will be the consequences.

Y cromosome is the mark of the male progenitor and mtDNA is that of female progenitor (that is .. An ancestor in the direct line). when one has to study migration, ethnology and genetics.. then both has to be studied together..

losing Y cromosome means the shortening of the Y chromosome .. or shedding some parts of it I think. shorter it becomes, less will be the so called male characters passed on to the next generation may be. My idea is also crude, so let me read up first..

another nice article..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_contact

does it mean male population geting lesser in North Eastern India?

Now wots the relation in between the first link(DNA) and this second (Language)?

no relation actually...

but these things r relevant 2 thebigger topic(migrations..)...

we hav 2 consider all the aspects...

no not male population getting lesser.. but the characteristics passed on to the next generation will shrink. this is happening all over world.. and ppl predict (not sure though) that this may be the indication of the extinction of humankind.. no Y-chromosome=no male.. so no human.

Every1 needs complete 46 chromosome in his/her DNA to be a humenbeing that much is my knowledge about zoology. Will ya anybuddy tell me what variation takes place in this due to migration or in migrated ppl?

i din't realise tht article will give rise 2 so much doubts ...

i'm gettin confused now...

'll have to catch some biology ppl!! is anybody there? but this is a good idea to clarify thsese doubts here itself..

perhaps u'll find such ppl in IISc...

ask them..

so anyway...who's the oldest..?...

i mean which one was the 1st migration ???

Orang-Otang??

the abstract of the article itself says a lot.. NE India is not actually a migration route, but a geographical barrier.. which marks the boundary of the east asian gene pool. homogeneous distribution of Y-chromosome means (greatly reduced Y-chromosem diversity.. so not same as what I have mentioned earlier).. male ancestors are more homogeneous (same or rather more similar origin) comapred to female ancestors (mt-DNA distribution is more diverse).

so ultimately it is what you said earlier only...Y-chromo is geting shrinked pointing to the diminishing of NE races.

orang otang...? AFAIK theyr found in SE asian rainforests..

may be holou ......

or tht mysterious kenglengpo...the NE counterpart of yeti...

no not same.. Y-chromosome shrinking is different.. this is physical shrinking. but diversity less means they are similar, whatever is the length of Y-Chromosome.

...According to Ramayana...the Northern India constituted with humen being...middle India with Bandors...south India with Rakyash...so if Valmiki would have ant idea of existance of North East than probably you would have heard Yeti also assisting Rama alongwith the Banor Sena to conquere Lanka.

who knows whether JAMBOOWAN is an indianised version of yeti or not...

anything can be possible..

But Jambowaan storey is matched with srimantak mani haran in mathura to the North west... I suppose...not east so it must be a bhaluk not yeti

it is supposed 2 be a bhaluk....but he could've taken creative liberties......

From when the Rhinosorous started dwelling in Assam.They not have any mention in Ahom Buranji also?

mitochondria are small organelles present inside kliving cell which do cellular respiration and unlike the DNA prersent in the neucleus gets passed on from the father to son almost unchanged.

i studied biology in plus 2 so might give some help...wait tiil i read the article...

Jambowanta was a bhaluk(bear)

First conclusion:In the abstract it is given that the the Indian populations share common late Pleistocene maternal ancestry but that some studies show that tehre have been substantial recent incursions from Central Asia.

I think it should mean that when the Indo-Aryans or any such ousiders came they didn't bring many females rather males came mostly and inter-married with the females.

Second:

there has been no mention of ours losing Y-chromosomes.

rather there is mention of significantly less Y-chromosomal patterns being found in certain populations.

This should mean that there were less such inter-marriages between such groups and hence lesser Y-chromosomal patterns.

It doesn't imply our "losing y-chromosome".

Third:The Khasis and the Mundas etc. are being cited to be very close ethnically and it has been mentioned that Austro-Asiatic speakers had been engulfed by Tibeto-Burman speakers wherever they came close.

This should imply that the Khasis are a highly mixed group and are not pure mongoloids.

http://www.rupaliparda.com/khasi/introduction.htm

please go to this link.

it has been mentioned that the Khasis are not pure mongoloids.

Since the issue of Rhinoceroses has also been raised i have something very interesting to discuss with you.

Do you know that till the 19th century Rhinoceroses were found even up to U.P. and got eliminated due to human activities.

those remaining are only in Assam.some have been reintroduced into Dudhwa,Jaldapara National Parks etc. though.

Now do you know that there are two other Asiatic Rhinoceros species one the Javan One-horned Rhinoceros and the Sumatran two-horned Rhinoceros.

Do you know that these two species were also found in Assam till very recent times!!!!!

I even read in some magazine that small populations of these two species are sighted in Manipur and Nagalnd in the areas bordering Myanmar.Now that is something off the topic but wanted to share with you in case you have some ideas regarding this.

Rhinosorous from Assam may reach to other parts of the country in the times of flood and rainy seasons.But why assam is mentioned along with one horned Rhino because here only they are surviving from total extinction and their number is largest in Assam since the climate is favourable for their faster breeding.

ya rhinos r available through the entire stretch of gangetic plane in the ancient times....perhaps megasthenes or some other greek mentioned abt it...

it disappeared coz of excessive hunting by the royal ppl & then by the british 4 pleasure & also coz of shrinking habitat...

AFAIK the last javan rhino was killed in 1890s in sunderban...

javan & sumatran rhinos r now only available in some places in indonesia,malayasia,vietnam & laos...

not sure abt their existance in NE...

hey I have been waiting for this kind of topic.. but going throught some of the post.. I think we are being diverted a little.. anyway as far as my knowledge goes..

the first to come to assam is suppoose to be the Mikirs (* Karbis) then came the Khasis.. there is many folk tales where the karbis and khasis co-existend then came the great race of Kacharis ( which includes the Dimasas and the Bodos) it is believed that later on the Great Bodo race was subdivided into many other kachari tribes.. we cannot pin point the exact date as it is suppose to be prehistoric.. Karbis ( Mikirs) are also known as the columbus of Assam.. then came the great kuki race ( which includes the Mizos, Hmars, Paite etc) and the meiteis ( Manipuris ) then the Nagas.. the last ethnic people of assam to come is suppose to be the Ahoms.. then came the british and all the other people having aryan affinity..

Just wondering, is it really possible to list all the migrations into Asom, with proper timing!!?? Because we'll never know.. how much documentation we have regarding the migrations?? folk tales are not always true....

karbis are the earliest tribe in Asom no doubt.. But are they earliest in NE.. it'll be confusing.. Because, if u follow the human migration routes, then u'll see that Australoid ppl migrated though NE some 50000 yrs ago (not sure though, it may be even earlier). Linguistically Khasis are said to be the ppl who speak a language akin to these ppl (did language developed then? things are getting more confusing).. and physically too, they are not pure Mongoloids.. Since Karbis are mongoloids and Mongoloids are said to have migrated later on.. so Khasis may be considered to be the earliest known migrants.

let us be clear about this.

first let us clarify all about the Khasis and then move on to the other communities.

Khasis belongs to proto-astroloid..if i dont mistake, which can be again related to negraitans.

"ppl of Aryan affinity came last".

Not totally true.

some groups might have come even earlier than the Bodo group though some might have come later.

please put light on this.

people of aryan afinity might have come to asom for some other purpose but not to settle here before the ascend of the Ahoms.. it was only when the ahoms were converted to hindus , then the people of aryan afinity were made to settle down here completely to guide and lead the ahoms kings and people to lead a hindu life.... people from orissa, uttar pradesh etc.. were invited to asom by the ahoms kings for the purpose of performing the hindu rituals in the state of ahoms kings.. there is another instance when the business community also came and made this land their heaven.. inter-caste/inter-race marriage between them brought the new assamese race.. you might be surprise to know even all those asurs kings who ruled over the land were not suppose to be of aryan affinity but some other race.. the kiratas are not of aryan affinity but are mongoloid according to the features explained in the puranas.. aryan are not yellow skin but the kiratas were.. Banasura was suppose to be a mongoloid... the aryan culture was prominent in asom only when the ahoms ruled over the country of this part.. just look at the culture and the rituals performed during Bihus.. there are many mongoloid culture inside..

many times even our rituals could thorugh some light on the people's advent and so..

Moreover if we refer to the original buranji ( which I myself have not dome yet) , I think the advent of the people having aryan affinity could be pinpoint exactly..I m not very sure.. could help here..

As far as the khasis are concerned they are suppose to belongs to Proto Austroloid Monkhmer racially.

Linguistically Khasi is one of several members of the Khasian branch of the Mon-Khmer family( to be specific norther mon-khmer ), which is itself a part of the Austroasiatic stock.

In north east India. they are the only tribes with this affinity. it distant relatives are found in andaman and nicobar island ( the nicobarese ) and some community in the south east india like the Mundas..

MK is right, its predominently non-aryan / all ur remarks on our ancient kings n dynasties r seems to be true. But I doubt tht subhas on the other hand probably is also true, as i think tht every strong king / during evry strong politico-economic system there were a lot of migrations of aryans (also mix of aryan+australoids) from northern India n may be some pre-aryan caucasoids also have entred or brought into Oxom...these ppl during the course of time have become extremely local aftr intermixing with the local austric-mongoloids or with their mixed ones....i hv seen even few bodos supposed to be only austro-mongoloids (with curly hair/straigth hair+yellow n sometimes dark skins) with long pin-pointed nose, red-skin n tall stature (6ft=man)...one of such person is interestingly a friend of mine..

My point is that there was migration, but they have only left traces which r not dominent.../instead, even among the so-called brahmin people in Oxom u may find very strong austric components> i hv another brahmin friend with curly hair, dark skin n with a short-blunt nose..so u can imagine the kind of mixed ppl we r....n thts y we r interesting / n u kno hybrid ppl r the 'best'...he he he...!!!

i also believe that prior to the 19th century, there was no bar on inter-ethno-group marriages....led by our great kings...all common people hardly considered the ethno-cultural differences...there were hardly any such concepts then...

there were probably some consideration on the differences between different political systems...but there were mostly two terms....(1)local n (2)bongal (bongal was the word used for foreign ppl / so boga bongal means europeans)....throughout the middle age literature one can find it...n surprisingly ppl from Ahom part of Oxom never referred ppl from Komotapur or Kocary or Joyontiya or Koch kingdoms as bongals..nor even to Nagas, Manipuris, Bodos, Miris.......

May be bongal was the term refered to the groups who approached this region from the direction on Banga Sea.

recently i read that Samudragupta led his campaigns upoto Upper Assam in 400 something A.D..so don't you think that ppl from Northern India might have settled during that time too.

i have got a link which gives anargument that the Kalitas came to Assam even before the Bodos.i shall be providing it to you.

plus Hema Saraswati the whose work is the earliest one in Assamese was compiled before the Ahom rule began.

subhas here u are talking about the AD.. where as all the ethnic people like the bodos etc were here from the BC's anyway yeah when can assume that the aryans were here during that time

where did u get tht info abt samudragupta ?

i'm very doubtful abt tht....

coz wat we've learnt is tht samudragupta was so powerfull tht the then kamrum ruler (pushyavarman perhaps) agreed 2 play 2nd fiddle & 2 pay taxes.....

but thr was no direct conflict....

i got it in Gazzetteer of India,vol.2.

Now,it might be that the Bodos were one of the earliest to have come but it would be wrong to say that the 'ppl of Aryan affinity' were the last.

BTW i bought the book by Sir Edward Gait.here a mention has been made of an Indian King Samuda who established a kingdom in Upper Burma in the 2nd century A.D..By the term Indian what the author means is of Indo-Aryan descent and the conjecture is that he might have come through Assam.

well, the theory about the Varmans is also highly hazy.the varmans though are supposed to be of Bodo descent some are of the opinion that they were of kalita descent.

plus in another topic it was stated that Assamese has a large portion of words from Magadhan Prakrit.this should imply that there were migrations from the Gupta Dynasty.

BTW if you guys have some better ideas please let me know.

plus the Khen dynasties remaining descendents claim to be of kyastha descent and they also show aryan affinities.any ideas???

...i searched the net but nothing is mentioned abt tht expedition...they did hav diplomatic relations with samudragupta being the superior one....

BTW thr is a nice map in this link....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamarupa_(History)

can u tell something more abt this king "samuda"....this name resembles samudragupta...

well,

there was some mistake in what i wrote in one of my earlier posts.actually in that book what was given is that Samudragupta's reign bega with conquests in which he first conquered nine kingdoms and included it into his empire.thereafter he made five more kingdoms on the frontier of his exp0anded kingdom to accept his dominance.but whether he conquered these last five through battles has not been mentioned.

it has been mentioned that out of these five frontier kingdoms one was in 'Upper Assam'.

that should mean rest of the area of Assam towards the west should have been conquered through battles.

BTW which is this kingdom in Upper Assam and what were the kingdoms in Assam towards the west??

I doubt if there was any concept of Upper Assam/Lower Assam in the period of Samudra Gupta.

exactly.. most of the places east of Tezpur must have been inaccessible that time, sans the riversides...

Or was it the kingdom of the Chutiyas??

I have got an information regarding the Chutiya kingdom.. wait till night, I'll post it...

Can any1 give some idea on the origin and history of the mashmoriya(Doum) ppl who are mostly inhabitant of the river sides.?

i think even chutiya kingdom is comparatively new....

not much is known abt those times except tht thr was a king named pushyavarman....

& one more thing is tht kamakhya & kamarupa r mentioned in samudragupta's allahabad inscription...

Chutiya kingdom (the one we know of) was formed somewhere around 1189 AD. But the ppl came to Assam much earlier than that. I saw in one book (from burmese/Shan sources) mentioning them to take a route from east of Assam from North Burma. exact details I'll find out.

There's one confusion I'm facing.. Chutiyas are of Kachari origin or Shan (like Ahoms)? Since these two communities mixed up to such an extent in the past that now may be from Physical features it'll be difficult to tell. But the source I have given in the informative sites link say them to be Shans.. because as far as I know, Shans (Tais of the great kingdom Nan Chao) conquered some parts of Assam in the 8th century and it may be possible that some ppl stayed back here.

I just remember there were some mention about Indian dynasties of upper Burma. Actually there "were" many resources, mostly Shan, which said about kings of "Sakya dynasty" in upper Burma. But they followed the route to Burma through Arakan, and not through Assam.

for example, in this source

http://manipurinfo.tripod.com/

it i smentioned that a Sakya prince some Dhaja Raja settled in Manipur and letter on conquered some parts of upper Burma (Tagaung etc). Since "Manipur" came into piocture, so it may be so that they might have followed the barak river also.

(btw, in his life time itself, Dhaja Raja was chased out of his kingom by Shans..the ppl who came to be known as decsendants of Dhaja Raja were actually Shans, who followed him after his defeat...)

And in that site it is mentioned that (according to chinese sources) Manipur formed part of the route from China to India.

In one book I have found this route after manipur comes Guwahati and then rubns till Magadh. but this is not older than 1st century AD.. trade route through this raod could have been open only when the Ngai-Lao shan state was conquered by the chinese. they wanted this route coz of the presence of the huns in mid asia.

though some indian princes were said to have set up kingdom in upper Burma even 300 yrs before Budhdha, they followed this route to Burma.. before the chinese used it to communicate with India.

one more doubt...

the divisions kampith , ratnapith,xoumarpith & ratnapith...when did these things come up..??

those were thr in bhaskarvarman's time or not ..?

abt chutiyas...

before this i used 2 think tht they're a part of greater boro clan....

before the advent of ahoms they were the strongest in upper assam...ratnadwajpal even defeated ahoms perhaps once or twice....

but after his death nitipal , his son in law

lost 2 ahoms(chuhungmung perhaps...)...

he was killed & his wife xadhoni committed suicide...

1. i believe n even gait also thought tht thr was a strong kingdom of a mixed ppl of bodos n austro-asiatic ppl for a long period of time

2. probably in the millenium just bfr the birth of christ this kingdom probably was also influenced a lot by north indian culture, bcuz thr must be a lot of trade n diplomatic interactions...n probably thr was migration of aryans or half-aryans (aryans n their mix with northern mongoloids n aboriginal indian austro-asiatic ppl).....

3. due to such migrations there may be traces of similarities between north indians n ancient oxomeeyas such as cutiyas....

4. the bodo-austro-asiatic-aryan mix kingdom of ancient oxom was so strong tht it expanded frm eastern bihar/north bengal to patkai n from bhutan to chattagram ...means u find bodo-austro-asiatic names everywhere in this region...all the rivers.....almost all ancient ppl like those in tripura or the borahis with all others known to us (kachari, dimasa...)in dib-tinicukeeya r bodos..

5. was this kingdom known as 'DIS'?....was its capital known as 'Thinae'?.....

6. I also believe tht those mentioned in bumese history were actually attacks from this kingdom, where kings used to have Sanskrit names.....so samuda or samudra must be a king of DIS in an age before or just aftr birth of christ...

7. u can find numerous brick structures across these region...frm arunachal to karbi-anglong n cachar.....these might be new developments upon the original ones...

8. i think in DIS, the country was divided into xoumarpith, ratnapith, kampith, xubornopith, etc....

9. n due to such strength of the region u can find thr names appearing in the great epics of india...also with a mention tht they r more lookalike mongoloids...yellowish in colour

9. i think this kingdom died in the last few centuries of bfr birth of christ..

11.Kampith became independent as Kamrup....eastern parts...kingdom was disintegrated to smaller kingdoms...n due to different politico-economic system for may be a thousand years those ppl became cuteeyas, morans,...tripuris, etc..

12. then again during first few centuries AD Kamrup became stronger....became bigger as earlier..but aftr xalostombho kings it again was disintegrated...

13. was divided into Kamrup>later komota n Kocary kings n peripheral smaller kingdoms....such as borahis, tripuris, etc...

14. then Shans entered into....

how is this model doing guys?

kocarys n dimasas blv tht their ancestors ruled in the entire region...tht gait says..

i wrote very fast....so sorry fr the mistakesd...is it becoming difficult to read?...

A concise, a good model, skeleton is prepared,we have to add the muscles..

To some extent even after the Xalostombhos, the Kamrup Pala dynasty was significant in this area. (they are not the same as Pala dynasty of Bengal, coz Kamrupi Palas claim to be descendants of Narak).

yes i will (u too will) now find the vitamins n proteins n carbohyds for developing the muscles...hmm, right?...he he he...i will try to present it in a better form (better sequencing, etc)..

salastombho

i havea question.

it has been mentioned that after the Varmans

kamarupa was ruled by the Mleccha dynasty.

what is the exact meaning of 'mleccha'??

is it any non-aryan or does it refer to any particular tribe,say bodo,for example?

if the naswer is the former one then the Varmans must have been of Indo-Aryan descent as they were not 'mlecchas'!

besides,historians are divided over this topic,that is ,whether the Varmans were bodo or not!

only hiuen-tsang has mentioned that the ppl in the kingdom of Varman were similar to the ppl of the east from which it has been concluded that they were bodos!

what is your opinion?

besides,i found in 'an early history of Assam' by k.l.barua,that the kayasthas and brahmins came from mithila but that the kalitas were already existent in Assam.

he has even tried to relate the Kalitas with the Dards,kalash,hunzas of North-western frontier provinces !

how far is it true?

these are all conjectures and most of the stuff seems to be an individual's own imaginations!

the real hing is that no authentic research has been done in this regard.

Mleccha was a term used for the non-Aryans, as far as I know. However, it was used in a derogatory sense. Most of the time, it was used for barbarians.

Bhaskarvarma belonged to the Bhauma-Naraka dynasty. Some historians believe that the episode which refers to Naraka being sent to Kamrupa by Krishan, is a reference to the coming of the Aryans to the Northeast. Bhaskarvarma was said to be an Aryan ruler. Although there is a reference that Bhagadutta's army did consist of the Kiratas (yellow-skinned), which can be said to be a reference of Mongoloid tribal warriors in his army.

Forgot to mention one more thing. The Brahmins came from Mithila, Pataliputra and later Kannauj, into Assam. Much later, Gauda Brahmins came to Assam from Bengal. Have got this from the vamsavali of my family, which had migrated from Kanyakubja (Kannauj).

Narak has yet not been considered by the historians as a 'historic-figure' ..its a legend. Narak is mostly referred as 'Narakasura'..means a non-aryan/..

Barmans demanded to be descendent of Naraka-Bhauma as Xalostombhos n Palas did later...while at the same time xalostombho was referred as a 'mec' a particular non-aryan group related to the later koch...

Barmans must be of a mixed race. With stronger local austro-asiatic/tibetoburman components mixed with early irano-skythians n also mediterraneans n alpines (less), which came to oxom even prior to the aryans....the CHOA (ed HKBarpujari) informs tht thrs more irano-skythian features are available in oxom thn the aryans...such a mix prevails in the lower oxom population n that mix was even thr in the early period of time...ppl demanded to be kolita, koch, mec, dooms, etc r basically such a mix..n r the products of different politic-economic systems (e.g. Pragjyotisha-Kamrupa was one politico-economic system during 300 yrs of Barmanas n a different one during 250 yrs of Xalostombho rule n may be more different during palas close to the past millenium......n later again different in Komotapur Kingdom ...n Koch kingdom..as it is different today -- past fifty years)

Inviting brahmins from various places of northern n eastern india was a 'fashion'/ a 'style', which has been followed by almost all the dynasties of oxom from Barmans to Ahoms...the majority of the brahmans those were brought frm those places were also of mixed origines..initially included aryans / nordics n thn their mixes with austro-asiatic n mediterranean n also irano-skythians of northern india...but mostly those ppl with less aryan / nordic components n more of others...

however, those brahmans were accepted with great respects n were many a times provided with land grants, with exemptions of taxes, with flexibilities for less interference by the police force, etc...the CHOA also mentions tht many ppl considered brahmins during those times r non-brahmins today!!!

I would like to thank Amitabh for the interesting info. He has done a lot of hard work to glean the info from different sources. Thanks again!

Would like to say a few things regarding Naraka. Naraka is no doubt a legend, in the same way as Mahabharata and Ramayana are legendary. However, there are certain historians who are trying to prove that Mahabharata has some historical face to it. Different people have different opinions here. While one group of historians believe that Mahabharata is essentially Aryan in spirit and talks about an Aryan family feud, another group led by Romila Thapar opines that Mahabharata talks about a Kirata conflict. Similarly, there are many rivaling claims about Naraka. Some say that Krishna’s sending Naraka to Kamrupa can be taken as a reference to the coming of the Aryans to Assam. There is an explanation somewhere that because Naraka was very powerful and extra-aggressive in his demeanour, that’s why he came to be known as Narakasura. Otherwise, an Asura is believed to be a non-Aryan. But now the question is, was Krishna really an Aryan? Its very difficult to answer these questions. We can only assume or make surmises, in the absence of proper historical material.

The Bhauma-Naraka dynasty claims its descent from Naraka and Bhagadatta. But there is a gap of almost 1000 years between the first recorded king of the dynasty, and the estimated period of Naraka’s existence. If we take 1473 BC as the date for the Great War, then around a 1000 years here is acceptable.

Alpine??????!!!!!!

The Indo-Aryan theory itself is a controversial theory and on top of that we find this Alpine migration theory.

I found somewhere that the Kalitas have a different head shape than the kayasthas and Brahmins.The head-type of Kalitas is Brachycephalic while that of the other two is dolicocephalic.

In the book by K.L.Barua it has been mentioned that Guzarati and Assamese are similar.This has been attributed to the migration of the Alpines.Prior to the coming of the Aryans there was another migration from Anatolia which branched itself in two directions one towards Assam and the other towards Guzarat.The Kalitas(Alpines) originally spoke a Dardic language and later on accepted the Sanskrit-based Indo-Aryan language.

but the author of the book has himself mentioned that this issue is highly controversial and neds more investigation.

I have found another interesting fact in this book.There it is given that the Caucasoid features are most prominent amongst the kalitas.the nasal(nose height)index measure in case of Kalitas is much more than that in the Kayasthas and Brahmins.

My views

From what hiuen-tsang told about the kamrupa kingdom it can be referred that the people in Kamarupa were bodos but then this Alpine migration theory is false or did he not see the alpines present in Kamarupa.

again from the mention of solastombho as a 'mleccha' it can be inferred that Varmans were Aryans.

it is because had Varmans too been 'mlecchas' or non-Aryans then solastombho would not have been specially mentioned as a 'mleccha'

as the Kamarupa kingdom then would already have been ruled by a long list of such kings.

so according to me what can be inferred is that in the kamarupa kingdom:

1.the first rulers were australoid(khasis),

2.the second chain of rulers were indo-aryans,

3.then the rulers were bodos,

4.then came the khen rulers who could again probably be of indo-aryan descent,

5.then the koches who were of mixed descent,

6.and lastly some muhammedans

KL's idea about alpine migration to both gujarat n oxom was right, but tht was more known as mediterranean > thr r three distinct waves of migration ..

1. the first batch came to india at around 7000BC n mixed with local austro-asiatic ppl for next 2000 to 3000 years...

2. the second batch came around 4000 - 5000 BC > mixed with those mixes of the first batch...

3. the last one in around 2000 BC..mixed with the earlier ones

these ppl founded the indus valley civilisation ..many such importnat traces also found in gujarat..

the mediterraneans were divided into many categories: dinaric, alpines n alpo-dinaric, etc...n true tht u really find a lot of similarities between many oxomeeya features n those of many gujaratis...even in gujarat u can find even few very distinct mediterranean features....

such a 'medi-mix' is also highly present in oxom along with one anthr group of ppl called skytho-iranians entrd india almost around 1500-2000 BC at the same time with the nordics (aryans)..

thr r vast differences between the nordics which r later known as aryans n the mediterraneans...

strict classification on the ethnic-affinity of the ancient dynasties to be bodos, aryans, etc r improper> we often try to jump the 'time-factors' very easily without respecting the the politico-economic systems n its relationships with socio-cultural characteristics.....fr us history becomes telescopic fares of indian railways...just tell me about the 'evolution of concept of oxomeeya (as a nation) during past 200 years'/ its just 200 years....we r talking about atleast 3000 years of our past! most of the strong dynasties ruled for atleast 200/300 years...

i kno many in oxom, demanding them to be kolitas or ahoms or koches r nt going to easily digest the concept of the ancient and middle-age mixes....but we require to be more logical thn emotional of what we hv learnt frm our parents / family n on what we used to be often proud of....or else we will go for DNA tests! he he he!

yeh, thats the best option for removing all our doubts.

Amitabhda, good thing about having a good collection is we can rely on you now to know whatever we r discussing here is a documented fact or not.. or views of different scholars in these topics...

are the Garos a bodo community?

the Khasis and Jaintias(syntengs) consider them to be different.what do you know about them?

Besides, what is 'Hynniewtrep',a term used by the Khasis and Jayatias?

garos hav a distant relation with bodos...

AFAIK khasis & jayantias r a bit different...

perhaps closer 2 karbis....

probably.. heard that before. there was a story that before settling down in some parts of the Ahom kingdom, many Karbi ppl stayed within the region ruled by the Khasis..

Though Goalpara was ruled by some bengali origin kings,it was originaly inhabited by Garo people.Am not sure but some guys from Goalpara say like that

Goalpara was a part n parcel of Pragjyotisha, Kamrup n later Komotapur Kingdoms till 13th century (1225)...in 1225 prithu (king of Kamatapur, initally he won in 1206 n 1216/17) lost war fr the frst time with musalmans...anothr king sandhya (of related to Kamatapur dynasties or a bhuyan leader) reoccupied this lost territory which was around 1250/60...aftr tht again 'bengalis n musalmans invaded the area'.......aftr tht it was koch in 14/15th century who occupied goalpara...garos can be the original inhabitants of goalpara n part of the population of those kingdoms in ancient times..or might be a local garo territory later under those..

can u tell me more abt sandhya ?

thr was a story abt him...

when pathans occupied his capital he took shelter in the jungle & when the rainy season came he ordered 2 destroy the dam(?)...so the city was flooded & the enmies being unfamiliar to flood retreated thru the jungle....

seigin the opportunity sandhya attacked them & defeated the enemy...

well... I wanted to share something with u ppl much earlier, didn't have any resource to back up. But this is very important too.. I have had some discussions with few ppl (who studied Assam history much much more than anyone of us) and according to them (I'm yet to find this in a book)...

1. Narak was not a single person, it must be a dynasty. (if Narak was/were a historical figure at all).

2. Narak name may be coming from Norke/Norge (related to the sherpas?)

So if we consider this hypothesis to be true (suppose), it'll fit with the description of Narak as an Asura. (meaning non-aryan?? It'll be better to clarify the meaning of Aryan n non aryan here may be. Arya means cultured. as far as I know, it does not say about the ethnicity. and there are many links, even in wikipedia, where its said that deva-asura is actually a symbol of ppl following the method of worshipping.. devas following vedic rituals and asuras following non-vedic (Ahura-mazda??) and they are identified with the old persians.. so Asura may not necassarily mean ethnically no-aryan.) But in our case if we consider Narak to be Norke (who are actually Kiratas), then Narak must be a Kirata. One fact is he was brought up in an Aryan home (remember the story, he was found in a human skull..) and adopted them as his own and he was the reason behind the widescale slaughter of Kiratas (king Ghatak of Kamarupa.. and his ppl.. if stories tell us something about history, then his atrocities were too much.. wont go for that now!) and settling Aryans for the first time in kamarupa, in a larger scale.

(one more thing, if Narak was found abandoned and was adopted, isn't it futile to find out what was his real ethnicity???)

Narak may be a Kirata, an alpine Aryan (like some Kalita ppl) or a Scytho-Iranian.. now does the last one fits the requirement..? (of NAraka being an Asura!). May be it does!!

So migrations may be clasified as follows (coming back to the main topic)--

1. Austrics (they are very very old here as well as in entire south east asia and might have formed part of the first human migration out of Africa to Asia)

2. Mongoloids (Kiratas.. they are very old too.. et least old enough to the time of Mahabharata, when a large population of north and east India, Nepal were Kiratas. one caution, a large part of them were absorbed among the other populations in north India.. and in Nepal too.)

*** Mongoloid migration to Assam took place for a wide duration of time.. starting from nearly 7000 yrs before (I gave one link before in this community. I vaguely remember it saying something like that.. cannot recall now)

3. Dravidas (they are also very old and definitely they are older than Aryans in Assam). (how?? If they were the ppl (If they are mediterranean/Alpine, then why not Narak a Dravida) who formed the core of Indus valley civilization and then gradually pushed southward or eastward.. why not they'll follow the easiest route of migration.. the rivers??)

4. Aryans.. well definitel large scale aryan settlement started after Narak definitely.. and it continued since then.

according to B.M Barua Psyavarman was the first Indo-Arya king.

BTW kalitas might have migrated to Assam even before the first millenium A.D.

In chanakya's Arthshastra ther is a mention of 'Kalti' coins from Assam and are supposedly minted by the kalitas.

these are the earliest coins from Assam.

1. i already mentioned tht medits n ir-skyths the two components of 'kalita's came much bfr tht...i said around 1500 to 2000 BC...rest of the components r different or locals....

2. ...similarly i would luv to say tht 'tais/shans' came to oxom...not ahoms...bcuz they became 'ahom' only in oxom...similarly i think kalitas became kolita only in oxom..only aftr staying longer period of time togetr within a certain politico-economic system...

3. thrs reference of 'celtis' in CHOA...its a 'hanging' matter thr..so author didnt come to a conclusion on it...

4. @jita....ur incidence of sandhya was a historical truth...is thr in CHOA...it also mentions tht the same technique was again adopted two hundred years later with mirjumla, which we all kno...

exactly, I agree with u here. and there are other components (local) among Kalitas.. like of Koch origin..

I have a query.. does Barmans of Assam (present) represent any particular physical feature, typical to Aryan or Mongoloid or Dravidian? As far as I know, they are counted as Rajbangshis, and once I have given a link (a pdf file, in one of the threads), where it was mentioned that along with Ahoms and Chutiyas, Rajbangshis also (now) show some mixed traits.. and they cannot be classified among all the other tribes and castes, beacuse of large scale mixing with other gropus. But when originally they came to Assam, the features were definitely different..

@ madh!...the ancient history ppl n anthropologists use 'aryans' as a co-terminus ethnic group called 'nordics'......we ususally make everyone an aryan...bcuz at the later period majority of the meds-irano-skyths n astro-asiatics in mainland india atleast in the plains started following aryan customs n traditions 'developed during their stay in the greater punjab region'...dfntly the nordics wr also gt influenced by othrs (shiva, krishna...all black gods n goddesses)..so when u use aryans as a culture its truth tht majority is influenced by thm...but as par as 'aryan' is used as a ethnic word...tht someone is aryans its only the nordics...n i believe majorty left-nordics/ the purest form of aryans r non-hindus today...

i think the present barmans of oxom have everythin in them...1.astro-asiatic, 2. meds. 3, irn-skyths, 4. mongs...all in some ppl u will find astr+irano more prominent...some u will find meds+mongs more prominent...n in some u will find astr+mongs prominent...thts a reality....i hv many barman frnds frm nalbari..

thanks Amitabhda.

I'm giving the link here again. u'll need acrobat reader to read this.

http://www.geocities.com/vetinarilord/india.pdf

even u will find prominent proto-autro influenced kalitas...dark color....typical forehead......u wanna kno:...i analyse:

1. my grnad fathr had a lot 'proto-austric' features (also in two my pehis).

2. my fathr is more irano-skyth...(if u see him u will understand him)..(as granny hd more such feature)

3. n me?....he he he!....i am a proud 'irano-skyth-mongolo' creature....

i mn we all hv everythin..but i am only identifyin the prominent components....n such interestin thing is hpning time to time almost with every family n in every century...

i think u still hv 'a lot shan feature' which is very similar to one of my granpa (of my puthadeu's sister's husband) n his son.....but u kno now my few of cousin bros the granson of him has more austro features.....

n plz dont confuse with a 'tai-shan' feature n a 'tai-ahom' feature..../ tai-ahom features n their agregate is our local...so i also hv two moha (mohadeus) with extreme levels of autro features> can u imagine hairs even in their ears!....

madhs...i hvnt seen yet a larger pic of u ..but my analysis was only based on the existin pic of u, in which u r smiling!...he he he

so i may be wrong too...

I have not yet done much self analysis.. but may be we all should do, at least for once..

Thank you all!

Folks, this is one discussion which I am liking a lot. I am learning a lot of things because of the in-depth research work done by Amitabh, Madhurya, Subhash and others. Thank you all once again!Please keep posting more on this topic

, I have read the paper linked by you. There is no doubt on its part-methodology (related to) as far as pure-genetic science is concerned. Its results are therefore, realistic, but without of any use to us. The study is not comprehensive and in-depth as far as the part-methodology related to social science is concerned.

The research on one hand is using the latest scientific methods, while at the same time is reflecting weaknesses in understanding historical, sociological and behavioural aspects and their relationships with ethnology. I believe someone doing the same study with concepts such as ‘historical-politico-economic-systems’ and ‘ethno-cultural groups’ would definitely have better results. The concepts used such as ‘tribal’, ‘non-tribal’, ‘tribe to caste continuum’, etc are neither very scientific nor very much applicable to that of NE population the way it is probably applicable to main-land India. A ‘pre-dominancy and comparative-distance-scale’ only with Mongoloids and Caucasoid is not going to solve our problem, as these are very broad terms and where is the Astro-Asiatic scale?

Austro-Asiatic scale... this factor is very often ignored or neglected in these studies. One reason may be we cannot identify any of the communities in present Assam as austro-asiatic (ethnically), though almost all the communities have this element to some extent.

but its a comparative-distance scale only....so atleast they can tell wheather it is related or how far it is related...at any distance...the way they r doing it with a base frm a community in uttaranchal / himachal...(i even didnt undertand y tht community!)...

Barmans of present day Assam do not belong to any particular community.

some Barmans are Kalitas,some are Koches and some are Dimasas.

Nora Kingdom?

reference ws time n again provided of Nora Kingdom n Nora Roja in various history books....it was said tht the name of Patkai (Patkai Chengkan) is frm the incidence of 'kukura-kati-xopot-khuwa' (not to cross each other’s boundary) --- ws a treaty on the bank of a lake in the patkai mountain range between Ahom n Nora Kingdoms .....it was also referred tht Nora r Tai ppl...therefore, a sister kingdom...is tht Nora kingdom was the shan kingdom of manmaw (refer 's wiki link)....does someone kno abt Noras more?

i think detailed study on the northern myanmar history probably will reveal a lot of our history...

An interesting link! on it

http://www.shanland.org/resources/history/Publications/tai_of_the_shan_state.htm

it mention's about Sukapha (as Hkun Sam Hpa alias Hso Lung Hpa) ...year is although confusing.....

could he be a different man?? let me first read this..

I'm saying becoz many Tai ppl came to Assam before Ahoms...and after too.

ok.. this is from the site Amitabhda mentioned..

The Nam Mao Long Dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Hso Hkan Hpa, one of twin brothers from Hsenwi. During his reign from 1220-1230, he more or less united all the Tai principalities and also marched to Kun-Ming to attack and defeat, the Chiense. Next, an army, led by his brother Hkun Sam Hpa alias Hso Lung Hpa was sent to attack and conquer Assam and, in 1229, founded the Tai Ahom Dynasty, one of the greatest achievements in the Shan history. Hkun Sam Hpa was later crowned King of Mong Gong.

Hso Hkan Hpa was cousin of Hsu Hka Hpa (SuKapha). And the general who conquered Upper Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Cachar. Mishiimi coutry, Naga country and many areas in North Burma was Sam Long Hpa alias Hkun Sam Long, brother of Hso Hkan Hpa. I think Sam long Hpa was the same man menioned in the reference.

Now after the cnquests Hsu Hkan Hpa became jelous of his brother (Sam Long Hpa) and planned to kill him by poisoning. This made SamLong Hpa to stay back in Assam in the Tipam Namrup area (he was warned by his mother.. and because of this planning Hsu Hkan Hpa's wife had a quarrel with him and went to China..). Forgot to mention before that Sam Long Hpa is said to have defeated the Chuitya king of that time and the ppl who lived in tipam Namrup area of Assam (Borahis and Morans) were actually ruled by the Chutiya king before. They now accepted Sam Long Hpa as the ruler. Here he learned about the journey of SUkapha from his own Kingdom and Invited him to Assam. otherwise there was no reason why Sukapha would have crossed the patkai hills and would have come to Assam, since by this time he has conquered the "south-western part of the Nora Kingdom" and made himself a ruler there. After the invitaiton, Sukapha crossed over to Assam. one yr later, Sam Long Hpa is said to have died or returned to his own kingdom and died by posoning.. or escaped to China.

Interestingly... it is said that (long before Sam Long Hpa died and after the conquest of chutiya Kingdom), the governor appointed by Sam Long HPA could not rule and was overthrown by Kossi Raja, the surviving son of the last Chutiya king. when this news reached Shan Capital, a shan prince named Chao Hso-ka-Hpa was sent to reconquer the region. This person (according to the source) is non other than Sukapha and after six months he reconquered Chutiya kingdom. so before finally migrating to Assam, Sukapha already knew about the region..

I am writing all these innformations from the book "The Tai and the Tai Kingdoms" by Dr. Padmeshwar Gogoi.

now about the Naras... historians like Ney Elias says Naras were aboriginal ppl of north Burma, but after they were conquered by the Tais from north and east, they lost their identity. According to Pemberton, " the shan chieftain of Mogaung is called the Nara raja by the Singphos and it appears that the term is applied to the Shans. francis Hamiltons reference puts the region to be towards east of Tiklyia Nagas, Manipur and its dependencies. and this Nara kingdom is actually the kingdom of the brother of the first Ahom King (Sukapha). (hamilton was appointed to report on Assam to east India co. in 1807 and according to him there were always many Nara ppl to be seen in the capital (then Jorhat) of Assam due to the cordial relation between Ahom and Nara Kingdoms.

This Nara Kingdom was "in between" Manipur and the other Shan states of Burma I think.

Conquests of Sam Long Hpa is confirmed by written sources of Manipuri history as well as Garo sources (surprising though), although the names of the conquerors were different in this case.

small correction

actually Sukapha didn't wait to conquer the north west part of the Nara country, before that itself he got the invitation from Sam Long Hpa.

So it is clear that the Shan people now living in the Shan State of Myanmar are the Noras n r close to us. Earlier probably they were also ruling the areas presently under Kachins / Singphaus in the Kachin state...after all Kachins are the recent (past thousand years) migrants to northern Myanmar...a source reveals.

IIT guwahati language site surprisingly mentions tht in Oxom Nora language / traces r found today in Xiwoxagor district...! n says tht it is related to Shan of Myanmar....check

http://www.iitg.ernet.in/rcilts/nora.htm

thats true.. many Nora ppl came to Assam n settled here.

ya heard this nora word several times in different articles ...but don't remember much..out of touch...

but this nora language thing is something new 2 me...

one more thing I should add... Tais ruled most of north and east Burma.. but during 17-18th century, the burmese became powerful and occupied most of these Shan areas.. when they attacked Assam, a large portion of the Burmese Army comprised of these Shan ppl and that might have contained ppl from old Nora kindom too.. many of these ppl stayed back in Assam as well as Garopahar areas and are called Maans,(Maan-Tais?? thi smay be a misnomer.. Maans and Tais are different.) may be by mistake. actually they may be Shans. and we have some informations about a clan called Nora-hiloidari.

did mans/ burmese used deadly singphaws / kachins (the newer ppl in the northern Myanmar in comparison to shans) in the war against us?

not directly.. but Singphos provided them with materials and food as far as I know.. and shelter. when the invading Maans returned home, they took rest in Singpho regions as guest.. but may be they didn't have option but to help a powerful foe like the Burmese.

Regarding the term Maan Tai as mentioned by , the Shan state people who are comprised of Tai descendents call their country Mong Tai instead of Shan State.

Mong implies a community under one ruler(Chao)

Tai Ahom people also called Assam as Mong Dun Chun Kham.Here alos mong implies the same meaning.

During the period tai race advanced towards Assam, Burma was distributed among three powerful races.

a)Yunnanese Tai or Shan Tai

b)Chino-Tibetan race(Hajong/Maan)

c)Telangi (Migrated from South india)

hazong?..n telangi?......never knew tht...kekura would u be able to refer a source?

i knew thr r many tamils in myanmar mostly spreaded during the british age n they even hv entered n settled in manipur (many in Tamu) frm myanmar side...

In fact the business in the border town More (in Manipur) is dominated by the Tamils who came from Burma during WWII.. there aree nearly 50000 of them. instead of going to Tamilnadu, they r wating.. that someday they'll be able to go back to Myanmar.. Many Tamilians went to Myanmar for doing business (and to many other SE Asian countires).. now also u'll see many houses in Tamilnadu (old houses) were entirely built with Burma teak wood.

For reference I cannt give any internet site right now. If I find I'll surely put up. But some books I can mention to you in this context.

'A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy' by Benimadhab Barua

'Religious radicalism and nuclear confrontation in South Asia' by W. Rodney

And I suppose the Telangis were not Tamilians exactly. This tribe is also known as Tailang (taila'ng) in Burma and is proposed to be related to Telugu people of India.

The city of Rangoon was known as Ramanago ( City of Rama ) built by King Poonnareeka ( Pundarika ) of the Pegu dominion in AD 746.These were the ancestors of telengana region of AP.

Actually in the previous post I wrongly mentioned that Telangis migrated from South India.Actually they migrated to south India probably. I'll give more links and references later on.

I'll also request you to see related topics of telangi or Tailang.

tamils hav a huge presence in singapore etc..but never knew they were in myanmar 2...

BTW thr r some assamese speakin population also...

read this yrs ago...some reported went thr 2 cover ulfa trainin camps...he met one assamese shopkeeper in a very far flung (jokaisukia) place...

Tailang/Tailing/Telangi are not Tamilians at all. They belongs to Telugu ppl only. The Pegu Dominion is one of oldest and aborigin ppl of Burma.These pegu ppls are called tailang/telangi or taling at present.

http://www.hydonline.com/people/Culture/languages/telugu.htm

Correction

I had mentioned Hazong as one of the powerful races in Burma. Actually it should have been Chakma-A tibeto burmese family.

Actually Both Hazong and Chakmas are refugees in NE,mainly Arunachal,Tripura and Mizoram.So I got confused with Chakmas and Hazongs.

About Chakmas - Presently they are major inhabitant in Chittagong but their ancestors came from Arakans.They still follow Therabadi Buddhism.

For more info. abt Chakmas :

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Chakma

Plz have a look in this map

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/burma_ethno_1972.jpg

Nora Kingdom must have been the one comprising the shan dominated area (marked "7") just east of Manipur, slightly "away from the Shan state" towards east.

the map clearly shows tht shans were pushed downwards n disitegrated by the tribals such as Singphaws, which r later migrants frm north (southern china)...so actually our nora kingdom was earlier in the northern myanmar bordering Ahom Kingdom (Oxom) or was spreaded from north to present shan state....thrfr, we find so many fights n other interactions with them....n later found it to be non-existant in the border....

Singphaws r Kachins

Ahom and Nora kingdom had a common border somewhere.. was it near the Patkai hills?

yes i think the treaty of 'pat-kai-cheng-kan' was made during cudangpha (bamuni kunwor) deciding a parmanent boundary between Ahom n Nora kingdoms...its in Patkai Range nr a lake (the range is thrfr known as it)...i knew the exact location..frgt..i will check.

its khamjang....

Axomiya Bhasa- how spread out is it

Well i was curious to know if Assamese language is spoken in the the other regions or any dialects of Assamese ..like we know of Nagamese which is just pidgin Axomiya. But is it spoken in Myanmar or in Northern Bangladesh??? How far is it used in the other NE states and in North Bengal.Just a curiousity about how much is the area spread of our beautiful language.....

i'm afraid not much.....

just the borderin areas of assam (those u've mentioned).....

& perhaps bhutias who live near assam border understand the language....

long ago I've heard about a market in Nagaland-Myanmar border.. and surprisingly the language of communication was said to be Assamese.. may be it ws just similar to Nagamese.. Nagamese is a creol.. (that means a pidgin language getting the status of state language.. afaik). Arunachal is another place where the lingua franca was Assamese.. they had some renowned persons like Lummer Dai, Yeshe Dorje Thongshi.. who used to write in Assamese..

but nowadays i think hindi is gettin govt patronage....

but it's useful 4 the ppl when they go 2 other places of the country...

Nagamese is not creole.

creole is a hybrid language spoken in some pacific islands and it was formed out of the combination of French,English and local tongues of those places.

Rather we should say that Nagamese is the L'lingua franca' of the ppl of Nagaland and this language was developed by them b'coz each tribe has its own sreparate language.so as to communicate the Assamese language was thought to be appropriate.The real tongues of the Naga ppl are though very different.

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nag

It is mentioned it as an Assamese based creole.. simply it means a hybrid language..

I feel that the kamatapuri language which is somewhat similar to kamrupi is still in vogue in Northern Bangladesh. BTW deviating from the topic a bit do we have Assamese language influence or Assamese people in Bangladesh

I have doubt.. (but occassionally u can see some local newspaper report in Assam, where they mentiond that some ppl teach Assamese to aspirant migrants there)

But seriously speaking, there was a small group of Assamese muslims (who migrated from Assam during partition) in Chittagong who spoke Assamese.. but ultimately (as far as i know) the later generations became Bengalee..

thts only obvious...!!!

Ya man agreed on that count and it wont be surprising as well if there are Assomiya schools for B'deshi's in the Mankachar area!!!. Jokes apart i think the biggest export is the lot of Assamese (includes me) who have moved out of Assam and we ourselves are carrying the language. Small settlements of Assamese are visible in the metro's -Mumbai , Delhi and offcourse the huge no's in B'lore who are mostly in the IT sector.The only issue is keeping the language alive in such situations .........

yes, our concern (ppl outside oxom) should be 'teach oxomeeya to the children in home' or simply talk to them in oxomeeya (many starts talking to them in hindi or engilsh)...... they r definitely going to learn hindi n english in outside environment...n will hv enough opportunitites to practice with other kids in school...

secondly, teach them how to read n write ...keep enough interesting oxomeeya books, mags,.....keep all oxom related info up to date....create a lot enthu...

I think papers such as this can create enough interest...its a nice site..

http://www.asomiyapratidin.co.in/epaper/Default.aspx

not only Oxomia man but culture and ethics too.merely speaking Assamese won't make us Assamese.

BTW the Assamese village i talked about which is there in Silchar stiil celebrates Bihu.

again i read that the Bhutias ruled over Bhutan only for a couple of centuries.

before that it was ruled by koches for some period.so we may expect Assamese ppl there too.

About Bhutan is correct.. it was part of the old Kamrup kingdom.

Do ppl with surname Baria in Chattogram (?) in present Bangladesh have affinity to Baruas of Oxom...someone told me that they r the baruas, fled frm brahmaputra valley during Man Invasion.....moreover, r the Bangali baruas originally oxomeeya?

The Koch in north bengal now speak bangali, but they know tht they were oxomeeya earlier.....n still lament tht few leaders during the formation of state betrayed them .....hd spoken to one ...even read somewhere tht still u will find oxomeeya gamuca in their old cloth collections.../ 'pera's/boxes..

however, north bengal was the western half of the Koch kingdom (of one of the brothers), which later fallen to mughals....the other half was dorong (the dorongeeya roja) was a protectorate of Ahom Kingdom..

i think during prbly the mughals rule (around for 100 years?) n during the british age the ppl there started speaking bangali...due to influences of the education n administration systems...

Actually the Barua title may have different origin may be.. because when Mughal invaded Ahom kingdom, some kings/zamindars from North Bengal/West Asam came with them.. Sarbeshwar Baruya, Manmath Baruya (not Barua). similarly, there are some Baruas in north India also (Chess Grand Master Dibyendu Barua, is he from Bengal?)..

During Maan invasion so many ppl from Assam fled to Bengal that this can be possible..

In fact the Bengalee dialects of north Bengal still retain a large affinity towards west Assamese dialects.

An interesting fact is that there are Bhuyans who are Bengali as well as a large no of Oriyas. Also Mahanta's (mind you not Mohanty's) who are Oriya's.

Another fact is that there is a Assamese speaking Maan village in the Garo hills. Now how did they enter into the Garo hills and why they did not take up the local tongue but took up Assamese????

Still another thing the Assamese speaking villages in the Cachar - how did they reach there if they are there then very well during the Maan's occupation Assamese have fled deep into Sylhet....

Room for a lot of discussion i guess

Assamese speaking Maan villages are there in Garo hills! I knew Maan villages were there, but not sure whether they spoke Assamese or not!! they were the ppl who were among the Maan invaders, but many of them didn't support the atrocities by many other Maans and stayed back in Garopahar.. some of them later returned to upper assam as far as I know...

Assamese villages in Cachar.. mainly they are Rajbangshi, Koch and Chutiya communities. the first two groups settled during Naranarayan's time.. they came there with Chilarai. the last group settled there during the Maan invasion. Since these ppl (first tow groups) speak Assamese, we can make a guess that during those times, the language of north bengal (kochbehar-Jalpaiguri) area was Assamese..

Arimatta Gadh

dear friends,

i want to discuss some important issue with you.

there was a king named Arimatta whose capital was based in Rangiya.

the place is called Arimatta Gadh.Now,Arimatta Gadh's land has been settled by Bangladeshi migrants.

how can our govt. be such?

What are the ASI,state govt. and the central govt. doing?

how can they come down to such levels?we should do something about this issue.

ru sure abt the location ???....

BTW thr r lot of interesting myths surrounding arimatta which can be discussed...

yeah i am sure about the location. i have got some relatives in Rangiya!

BTW who was Arimatta actually???

http://www.cic.nic.in/cicwebpages/Assam/goreswar/history.htm

he ruled in goreshwar...which is not far away frm rangia...

so tht info shud be right...

BTW life of arimatta is part history part myth....

thr r lot of stories...

he was the father of jongalbolohu...

& perhaps was killed by his own son accordin 2 myth...

When does the history of Assam start?

i want to know that when is the period from which we can say that the history of Assam starts,is it from the period of the beginning of Ahom rule or is it even earlier?

I read somewhere that Lauhitya that is 'luit' (another name for Assam)was known from the times of Ramayana as Palyapakamuni used to live in Lauhitya.

we have lot of mythical stories but 1st historical mention is found during th gupta era (around 4th century AD)....it was pushyavarman who was subdued by samudragupta...bhaskarbarman was from this lineage. i think it was called "pushyabhuti" dynasty .

The earliest known king in Oxom was 'Mohironggo' -- many writes Mahiranga Danav: for Aryans in the North India, all those not Aryans in those days were Danavas or Asuras. / many even try to say tht the dynasty Mohoringgo was a king was danava dynasty!

I believe he was a powerful ruler of a politico-economic system with mixed cultures of the Tibeto-Burmans (Mongoloids) and the Austric people (those like aborigins in Australia), when Brahmaputra was known as Dilao and other rivers were also named as Diboru, Dihing, Dicang, etc...for them 'Di' was water.

So I beilieve history of Assam starts with our own Mohoronggo.

i read in a book 'Gazzetteer of India',that the Kamarupa dynasty,of whose one of the rulers was Bhaskaravarman, had a Sanskritic culture,but that Bahskaravarman was a Bodo king and similarly was Bhagadutta, may be one of his ancestors..whereas some people tell that Bhaskarvarman was a Kalita King!

which is true?

if there was a Sanskritic culture then how could the ruler be a Bodo person?

why can't it be ? ethnicity & culture r different things ...but no one can be sure .

Yes Mahiranga Danav was the earliest king to be mentioned.. he might have been Bodo Kachari origin. the first Naraka who ended this dynasty by killing king ghatak might be of alpine aryan origin. But many of the later kings who claim to belong to "bhauma-Naraka" dynasty actually belong to Bodo-Koch-Rajbanshi group of ppl and they relate their kings wih bhauma naraka dynasy because Naraka was supposed to be the son of Vishnu and Bhudevi. This is something like adding divinity to their claim of throne. just like Ahoms claimed to descend from Indra.

The landmass of Assam (The Brahmaputra valley n Barak Valley) are very recent formations in geological timescale. (may be few thousand yrs. not sure. 'll try to find out) Oldest part of NE is Meghalaya and oldest ppl are the Khasis... wondering if they can be related to the Mahiranga dynasty!! since their location (which was once conssted of a larger area than the khasi hills) indicates (at least to me!) that they were forced to leave the valley regions and moved to the hills. But by whom? Naraka?

I have a very big doubt.about two years ago there was an Int'l Conf. on Brahmaputra Valley Civilization held in Ghy organised by the then governor of Assam.Related to that Conf. aa article was published in The Assam Tribune in which it was mentioned that the Hindu Aryan castes of Assam were brought by Naranarayan from North India and settled in the valley of Brahmaputra.If this is true then how could the Indo-Aryans come to this place in the first millenium A.D..

Can all of you give any proof regarding the migration of the Indo-Aryans from as early as the Gupta Period?

Another thing is that the Khasis whose language family comes in the Austro-Asiatic language family along with those of the Santhals,Bhils etc have clearly Mongoloid features.The Santhals,Bhils etc. are distinct from them!

Then how are their languges similar?

Naranarayan was a king of 16th century. but how come Assamese, an Indo-Eropean language formed in Assam before that then? In many books (for example by baldev Mahanta, about the formation of Assamese language) it is mentiond that the pronounciation of "Sa" (/x/) in Assamese is a legacy of pre-vedic aryans. but I accept that this a deatable issue.

Khasi language and Munda languaes both belong to the Austroasiatic languags and both form two different families. khasi is a Mon-Khmer language and santhal, kol etc belong to Munda language family. khasi has more affinity with 'combodian". language and ethnicity are different things. (How come different mongoloid ppl of Assam speak Assamese, an indo-european language?)

sorry it may be Bapchandra Mahanta...

naranarayan might hav invited some brahmins 2 come 2 assam & get settled here ...but it was not the 1st time...

in our schoolbook there was an article(most likely satyendranath sarma's)...where he says tht in 'shatapath brahman it is mentioned tht bidegh mathavya(i might hav made a mistake in the name...it's been a long time...) brought the sacrificial fire across the sadanira river ...

this sentence is a symbolic of the advent of aryan culture in assam . 'sadanira' is the river kortoa the western border of ancient assm ...sacrificial fire(fire of the yagna) indicates aryan culture...

& shatapath brahman is a much older scripture...2000yr at least...

and the incident mentioned was even older than the book...

then what do you say about the Dah Parvatia finds near Tezpur?

there about a few years back some archaeological finds were made having clear Gupta architecture?

Another thing is that recently in the Assam Tribune an article was published related to some artirfacts of The Assam State Museum in which some artifacts were shown to be belonging to a hitertho unknown royal dynasty of assam.please could anybody enlighten me on this ?

da parbatia is supposed 2 be built by xalstambha kings....AFAIK they built a very stong kingdom & event send expeditions 2 odra & kalinga....

BTW gupta influence in architecture is not unlikely considerin tht pushyavarman was subdued by samudragupta....

right.. I think this does not contradict anything we have said earlier...

anyway has anyone been 2 da parbatia ??????

i did as a kid ...don't remember much....

someone plz give the details...

i haven't been to dah parvatia but got to read about it in the newspapers a few years back,about a stone door which has architecture resembling the Gupta Architecture.

hey, i read that Salastambha dyanasty was ruled by a Mlechcha after the collapse of the Pushpabhuti dynasty.who were the people of the Puspabhuti dyanasty?

any ideas??

i found the follwing in the following community where we discussed about austric languages:http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=21177&tid=2471635678918825493

I have to agree with Dibya... Dravidian is the deepest projection linguists are willing to accept, as is Austro-Asiatic. I think linguists have mostly given up on trying to interrelate these language groups of Asia, and I don't think there's any legitimate Austro-Dravidian or whatever proposal on the table.

A couple things to bear in mind:

You mention New Guinea and Australia. Please note that these land masses do not correspond to coherent language families. There are dozens of language families spoken in New Guinea (conservatively, or less conservatively, at least a few). Austronesian is not considered indigenous to New Guinea -- it is spoken only in coastal regions. The vast majority of languages of New Guinea are non-Austronesian, falling into various other families such as Trans-New Guinea (which is itself controversial), Sko, Geelvink Bay, Sepik-Ramu, etc.

The same is true for Australia, but to a lesser extent: Pama-Nyungen is the most widespread language family of Australia, but most of the indigenous northern Australian languages are of non-Pama-Nyungen languages which may or may not ultimately be related to Pama-Nyungen.

So, the point is, even within New Guinea and Australia there are many maximal families that linguists are not able to interrelate using historical linguistic methodology.

besides somewhere i found that Di or Ti stands for water in Bodo and not in Khasi!

Good going guys....

Going through the discussions in this community i would say that it has reached a good level -many of the members have a good interest of "Axomiya Itihas" and this is an excellent platform for sharing the knowledge.

Moamoriya Bidroh

whatever was the cause of the rebellion, but it is true that this can really be termed as the beginning of the downfall of Asom..

what are peoples view about this? whather it was a rebellion against the Ahom monarchy or a war akin to church and state.. or something entirely different in character and origin??

If I dont mistake it was a clash in between Hinduism which could manage to enter into the Rajkareng at that time and Ek Haran Vaisnavi which was becoming popular among the common citizens.

Generally common phenomenon is that people change their religion when they get suppressed or neglected in the running religion.For example dalits geting converted to Christianity and Islam. In Assam aslo a section of outcast ppl got converted into Islam under Azan Peer.

But why The Ahom Kings accepted Hinduism and common citizen were accepting Vaisnavi culture is really a matter of discussion since Tai Ahoms were already having a religion either Taoism or Buddhism.And all these started in between 1714-1744,period of Swargadeo Siva Singha when Hinduism was adopted as Rajdharma.Before this though Hinduism was practiced in Assam but it was not adopted by the Kings.

will it be correct 2 use the term hinduism???

afterall baishnavs r also hindus....

it would be better 2 "shakta" & "baishnav" perhaps...

May be you are right...but at that depth you will find Buddhism and Hinduism are also the same religion only.

yeah...but buddhism declared itself 2 be different frm hinduism though thr was an effort frm the hindu reformers 2 include buddha as a "avatar"....it was close 2 some kinda atheism in its purest form...

vaishnavs r always hindus...followers of vishnu ....

Than what is Shakta dharma? Is it related to only Shakti Devi or Durga? If it is so than can we say the religion followed by Swargadeos was Shakta Dharma only? Becoz there are Durga Dol,Shiva Dol and Vishnu dol of different Gods, constructed under the supervision of Swargadeos in Assam.

i think it's better 2 say shakta...those who're supposed 2 worship "shakti" & support animal sacrifice etc...

@abt bishnu dol..

well royal ppl r always fickle minded....some king might hav developed some inclination towards bishnu & built tht one...but at the time of moamoriaya rebellion the royalti was under the influence of shakta sect...

BTW did it happen durin the time of "phuleshwari kunwori"???or i'm misplacing her ???

Starting point can be taken from the time of Swargaeo Siva Singha.

In the time Of Bor Rani Phuleswari, a spark of fire spread up when some mahantas were being insulted by the queen and by some brahmin priests.

Although the royal family of Oxom believed in Saktism, many kings have later even recognised the xotros and even assited these. On the other hand, with influence from the royal-hindu (saktists) pujaris one of the kings/ queens had insulted the mahantas. Although that was a reason for the bidroh, there were other sides of it such as: poor functioning of the govt machinery aftr Sworgodeu Rajeshwor Xingho.., increasing dissatisfaction amongst the common, bidroh by many princes such as the eldest son of Rajeshwor Xingho / the Namrupeeya Roja...etc

Ek Haran Vaisnavi was having lots of disintegration in itself. For example Aniruddha, the son of Shankar Dev founded a new culture(religion?) called Xalita Dhara/Logua, which was more Paganism than Vaisnavism in nature. If any one having more information on it, it will be beneficial for all of us.

hmm...plz somepne post more info...

The religion of the then Ahoms was Phra-lung Buddhism and not Taoism.

well,i heard that this rebellion was carried out by the Muttocks against the Ahoms because the Muttocks had refused to abide by the ahom queen Phulleswari's diktats who hade ordered them to follow ceratin rituals and which they had refused to do.

so on the orders of the Ahom queen the Muttocks were brutally slauthered wherever they were found.

the muttocks had two leaders Astrubhuj and Chaturbhuj who led their ppl in this rebellion.

BTW who are these Mahantas.

were they muttocks?why i am asking this is because in our parts(lower Assam) there is no community called Mahantas though there are ppl with that surname belonging to some other castes?

Muttacks are a religious group, which contains Ahoms, Morans, Chutiyas, Koch, Kacharis etc..

Phuleswari Kunwari died 50 yrs berfore the rebellion.

Phuleswaru Kunwari didn't order anybody to be slaughtered... plz be sure what u write about.. She did something else..

Siva Singha (husband of Phuleswari kunwari) embraced Saktism, became a disciple of Krishnaram Bhattacharya, who originally came from Bengal I think. And suddenly Sakta influence started growing in the court, though most of the ppl were Vaisnavites of different sects.. one of them being the Moamorias or the followers of the teachings of Anirudhdhadev (and they were not necessarily from a single community, though a large section of them were Morans).

When Phuleswari Kunwari learned that Vaishnavites don't do Puja and Vali vidhan (sacrifices), she forcefully made some Vaishnavite Mahantas (Gurus of different Satras) to attend the puja and made them wear the tilak.. with the blood of the sacrifice made. This amounted to be an insult to the Mahantas as well as their disciples. In Gaits book, they are said to be Sudra Mahantas..may be that means Mahantas of castes other than Kayastha!!

if that is true, (i mean, the muttocks being a mixture of various communities)then why are the Muttocks considered as separate community today?they are considered as a separate tribe isn't it?

Today.... (btw many of them claim that there was a Muttock community earlier also, but I'm yet to find any reference to it). For centuries many of the person from that sect remained separeted from the community they belonged to.. For example, the Ahoms who became Muttock remained separated from the other Ahoms. and one more thing.. ppl generally say moran-muttock together.. thats simply because most of the Morans are Muttocks.

i've also seen moran-motok being used together...

what was the reason 4 the creation of this seperate group??

when the community formed, may be that was a spontaneous process of uniting ppl of same faith, lifestyle..

Jais

Queen Phuleswari who is responsible in insulting the Mahantas due to the misleading by some of brahmins priests, was herself from Brahmin caste as I have read somewhere. Otherwise the other Ahom origin Kings were very liberal in case of religon. They never forced their original religion(Buddhism?) on the other races residing in Assam at that time.This was just like some ppl like Phuleswari queen(Pujarini?) who got sudden power became vindictive and tried to be bossy against other caste ppl like Mahantas and Non-brahmins.This was really a clandestine originated by some irresponsible persons.

And if I dont mistake that Phuleswari Queen was the first one from Non-Ahom blood who ruled that kingdom? Please correct me if am wrong.

Will you clarify what is Phra Lung Buddhism? Never heard of it.

jaycee

bamuni konwar

we also get a mention of one prince called 'bamuni konwar'coz of some brahmin link....i don't remember much...someoneplz clarify

i searched 4 phra lung on the net ...but din't get much....

got something

Ghuguha Dol is historically believed that at this place Bamuni Konwar The son of then Ahom King Tyao Khamti was born. The Dol (Temple) Was built in the memory of Bamuni Konwar's mother Ghuguhi and is at a distance of 17 km in south west of Dhemaji.

Phuleswari Kunwari was daughter of some sinatoliya Not (dancer) and before becoming queen, she was a dancer in a Mandir I think.. but not sure whether she was brahmin or not.. may be she was.

About Bamuni Konwar.. he was son of Tyao khamthi.. buranjis say that Tyao Khamthi had two queens.. elder was jelous of the younger and when the king was not around, she planned to kill the younger (who was pregnant then).. somehow, the younger queen escaped and reached Habung (modern dhakuwakhana) and gave birth to a son. the queen passed away, after revealing her identity to the person who gave her shelter, he was a Brahmin from Habung. later on, the king found his son and when the son became king, he was known as Sudangpha or Bamuni Konwar.. All the sons of the Brahmin were taken to the capital and were given status of officers.

From Sudangpha onwards, Brahminical influence began in Ahom court.. From Suhungmung's time, it became stronger (he was the first swargadeu to formally accept Hinduiism and take the name Swarganarayan) and during Sivasinghas time, it became an extreme.. Sivasingha himself was either weak minded or too superstitious. so when the Brahmin priests told him that there is a bad time coming for him, he meekly made Phuleswari Konwari the "Bor Roja". May be this is an example that when somebody of a stature of a temple dancer becomes the most powerful person of the kingdom.. downfall is near.

in that sense.. Phuleswari Konwari may be the first non-Ahom to rule Ahom kingdom.

@jaycee, it was subhas who mentioned about fra-lung...i really dont kno abt it...i will try to read abt ahom's beliefs..

is extremely correct!...guys thrs a gud news tht i got the gait with me now...fathr brought it frm oxom...this weekend is thrfr only 'gait n me' ... yestday went with it till 2am...he he he..

i will check his dscriptions on moamoria bidroh..

thts gr8 news...but don't forget share it with us...

Subhash is too confident in saying The religion of the then Ahoms was Phra-lung Buddhism and not Taoism.

I am also eager to hear from him what is Phra-Lung?

Phra Lung is a part of chantings muttered in many Tai Rituals. There are 1000s of chantings in Tai Prayers.

And the Buddhism adopted by different different races or by the kings or by the Tai races in the valley of Mekong river to chuwela river valley(Laos,Vietnam,Thailand,Burma etc.) is known as Therabadi buddhism. According to this Buddhism, sacrifice of Animals in any rituals and preparing or offering or consuming of rice beer is prohibited.

For Example the Buddhist Tai races like Tai-shyam, Tai Khamti etc. they dont prepare or consume LaoPani in their rituals.And these ppl came to Assam very lately after the enering of Tai Ahoms into Assam.

Obviousely the religion followed by Tai Ahoms were not purely Buddhism but Taoism.

In every ritual they pray "Chao Nuru Chao Kau"--offering to "the forefathers of seven generation".

Me-Dam-Me-Phi,Ban Phi,Ompha in these rituals pray and obletion is given to Forefathers not to Lord Buddha.

what is Brajavali??

please let us discuss how Assamese language came to be what it is today!

I have heard that modern Assamese developed from Brajavali.

is it a form of Apavramsa?

...modern Assamese developed from Brajavali..

I dont think so... Brajawali is a hybrid language of oxomiya and Maithili. I think it was because there was a time when mithilanchal (or whatever is the place called, where this language is spoken) gained a central place in neo-vaishnavite movement, it was a gathering place of vaishnavite gurus from many part sof India, including Asom.. Srimanta Sankardev. That is why there was a need for a language understandable to all of them. so ppl started using Maithili along with their own language. Even there was similar language called Brajabuli, which I think is a hybrid of Bengalee and Maithili.. I may be wrong somewhere, so if somebody knows it for sure, plz correct me!

Assamese is derived from Sanskrit.

so how did it come into its present form?

Classical Sanskrit transformed into Sanskrit and then into Pali and Prakrit and these two languages developed into Apavramsa from which all of the present day Indo-European languages are derived.

so did Assamese also develop from Apavramsa??

As for Maithili, it is a dialect of Hindi spoken in Bihar in the region which was once known as the kingdom of Mithila.

right..

Maithili is a transition between two bigger groups of North Indian languages.. one is hindi group.. the other being oxomiya, bengalee, oriya group.

Vedic Sanskrit transformed to become Clasical Sanskrit, which was codified by Panini.. such that it never changed. But the spoken languages of that time (which developed from Sanskrit) formed different Apabhramsas.. Prakrits originated from clasical Sanskrit. one of the Prakrits (afaik) was Magadhi (magadh=eastern bihar) .. it further branched into 3-4 groups. from one group oxomiya language formed..

thank u people...u r giving novice like us who doesn't know much about my state history(thats a shame,i admit) a chance to go through at least few nice facts...thank u once more for the interest shown...keep posting

a recent source / i dont rmbr exactly reveals tht oxomeeya is even older thn modern bangali....n i dont blv tht someone systematically derived oxomeeya from sanskrit....and i dont blv tht in the ancient oxom ppl spoke in sanskrit (the lang might be influenced by sanskrit)...n i blv oxomeeya to be a much more locally influenced language with deep roots in austric > bodo > borahi > cuteeya > kocary > tai > etc....n thn later brojawoly type oprovongxo has influenced it....sanskrit words r thr in oxomeeya as the similar way - these r found in thai in thailand, bahasa (bhasa) in indonesia n khmer in cambodia../.....i blv thousands of local words (used in different localities in oxom) r still even nt in our dictionaries -- e.g. words such as odonga - adaangee - used in dibrugarh dist...n must be many more frm all over oxom....can we list these someday?

there must have been influences from languages of sino-tibetan and tibeto-burman as well as from austric languages but that the major source of words must have been from Sanskrit.

as far as sanskrit words being present in Thai and Bahasa is concerned it's because all languages borrow some words from their neighbouring languages.even in Assamese there are certain Arabic words.

regarding the influence on South east asian languages, I think it went with Pali language and Budhdhism. Second source may be the Indian (mainly south Indian dynasties who once ruled in many kingdoms of SE Asia).

We have two kinds of words in oxomiya "tatxam" and "tatbhav" meaning originated in Sanskrit and originated locally. true we have more (say ~60) words of Sanskritic origin (to be precise, magadhi Prakrit origin!), but a lot of these words may be much much deviated from their original structure and pronounciation now.

I believe in one information what Amitabhda mentioned. Oxomiya is even an older language than Bengalee.

Apparently.

See this.. modern Kannada has ~70% words originated from Sanskrit. (modern.. old Kannada might have fewer. then how come this is a Dravidian language!)

These ppl brought with them a "hindu" culture.. remnants of that can be still seen in the island of Bali, Indonesia.

But I admit, Pali language has more influence on SE Asian languages than this.

Leaving 'tatxam' n 'tatbhav' type of 'technical' words derived in the past century (as all technical foreign words have been translated into oxomeeya now with a sanskrit base - creating very difficult situations for majority of the native ppl, refer any oxomeeya science / maths textbook) it will be interesting to see how many sanskrit words had been actually in use prior to tht. Even sanskritisation has been increased clearly during past two hundred years - refer, those written in the 19th century n compare with today's texts. On the other hand, many ppl say tht (may be due to the greater influence of the long lasting Kongdom), Thai has very large share of sanskrit words. I feel tht the TAI remnents with our deudhais or the langs of tai-phakes, tai-turungs or the tai-khamtis would be less sanskritised tai-versions.

that south indian languages now have sanskrit words is again due to this borrowing of words but whether Kannada has 70% words of sanskrit origin is doubtful.may be lesser.southIndian languages are derived from Tamil or may be from Kurusk an ancestor of Tamil...

in the past there had been Sangam literature conferences of poets etc. from the north and the south and may be during those days most of the south Indian languages aquired a lot of sanskrit words...

age of assames

well it is definitely older then most other modern indian languages....we all know tht madhav kandali's ramayana is older then krittibas....but very few ppl know abt this outside....

also in manorama yearbook it's given tht assamese started frm 13th century AD mostly frm bengali....there shuold be some corrections...

yeah we should oppose these things which are spreading wrong information about our language...

regarding Dravidian languages, i did some searching the net and found that there are some languages spoken in Pakistan,Nepal and even in South-western Iran which come under the Dravidian family.One such language is Brahui spoken in Baluchistan of Pakistan.

yes, u r right, the early-mediterraneans followed a track from turky (n othr med places) - coasts of iraq - iran - n settled in indus valley (7000 yrs back)frst to mix with local australoids ...this mix is responsible fr the indus valley civilisation (4500/ 5000 yrs back) --- when indo-aryans entered from central eurasea (4000/3000 yrs back) -- many migrated towards south ...many say thr language to be damiz -- an ancient version of tamil.

again tht AIT !!!...post this in indian history....u'll get a lot of responses......

jokes apart i think there can be found lot of such influences throughout the middle east & also central asia...similarly in the later times arabic & parsian influenced indian languages.....for example i think "kagoz"(paper) comes frm arabic...

do you mean to say that the Dravidian speaking people are related with the mediterranean peoples ??any good source to confirm it?

no i don't really mean that...but certain small groups may be.....

BTW tell me one thing the ppl who speak brahui looklike dravidians ...?..or r they like other afghans....?...

i don't know but they must look like afghans.

well they do looklike afghans...

http://images.google.co.in/images?hl=en&q=brahui&sa=N&tab=wi

in tht case we hav 2 possibilities...

1)mix up of 2 or more races....

2)the then existing civilization was dravidian as well as very influencial...so much tht others accepted it's language...

hey,Dravidian term is a linguistic term i think and not a racial term.

but from what you people are telling it appears that the Dravidian people had some mediterranean racial elements.

by dravidian i don't only mean the languages but also those ppl in southern india...

i found another thing that the Austric family is a super-family of languages and it has two sub-families,the austro-asiatic family and the austronesian family.

also the tribal people of India speaking austro-asiatic languages are qyuite different from the aborigines of Australia.i read somewhere that the aborigines migrated to Australia some 30000-50000 years ago.then can we say that these languages are belonging to the same family? i mean to say that in such a long period of time the languages would have differentiated into such an extent that they would not have remained recognizable.

well i'm not sure but i think no one had full fledged languages 50k yrs ago....the languages developed after they got seperated (tht's my assumption only)...

From Prakrit four new forms were derived i.e. Magadhi,Paisakhi,Daksini and Maharastri.

Instead of terming the new forms as Apvransha, the term Simplified will be more accurate for this phenomenon of deriving a prominent language from an another language.

The Magadhi had again four simplifications and they are -Banga,barh,barendra and kamrupi.

Bangali language spoken in East Bengal originated from Banga,West Bengal from Barendra and South from Barh.

And Assamese language is the simplification of the kamrupi.Kamrupi origin languages cover from Koch Bihar,rongpur,jalpaiguri to Assam.

And modern form of Assamese language has been reached with sublimation of Tai and Kamrupi.

Barh is also the origin of modern Oriya I think..

History of our troubled times

Friends, we have lots of trouble, historically speaking.. starting from all the Muslim invasions from west, Burmese invasions... we can discuss about these one by one. Some of these we could tackle by ourselves, some we (or our ancestors) could not... those, which we could not and still plaguing us, according to me are like this

1. Moamoriya rebellion

2. burmese invasion

3. British Occupation

4. Settlement of outsiders (then) in our land by British and land grabbing by europeans in Upper Assam for setting up tea gardens

5. POst independence.. illegal migrants

worth discussin these!...topics such as - burmese invasion is already on...we require more info n discussions..

The demographical condition of the sate Axom has changed completely in the last decades.. now its really difficult to identify an Assamese person merely from his name/surname.. there lies a great trouble in the days to come for the ethnic Assamese.. if the trends continue..

let's start with moamoria bidroh....

did it take place durin the times of shivasingha & phuleshwari kunwari...???

there's one more called dandua bidroh(hardutta birdutta).....any info on that ???...perhaps RKB has written one novel on it...

The Maomaria Rebellion ( Maomaria Bidroh ) took place sometime in the later part of the 18th century.

The Burmese ran over the political authority in Asom thus invoking British intervention to subdue the Burmese. After a conflict between the Burmese and the English, peace was restored by the treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. The British then set out to organize the administration, transport and communication. Besides the various changes, the construction of railways; introduction of tea plantation, discovery of coal and oil etc. proved fruitful to the British during the World War II. After Independence of India, Asom witnessed several separation of territories. In 1948, NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) was separated. In 1963 Nagaland was separated. In 1972 Meghalaya and in 1987 Mizoram.

Can we term Maomoriya Bidroh as an example of How communal/rligion clash can devastate a country or civilisation

Modern political history of Asom

modern political history of Assam, mostly starting from the British rule, freedom struggle and post independence era of Asom are not properly documented anywhere.. This forum could be a right place for that. let us start from our freedom movement...

We know the Asom (Ahom kingdom of that time) became a part of British empire in 1826, by Yandaboo treaty.. regions like Kachari Kingdom, area ruled by Muttak Barsenapati were the next and finally whole north east India. (is a copy of Yandaboo teaty available somewhere?)

The first struggle for independence was initiated(1828) by Piali Phukan (ironically he was son of Badanchandra Barphukan, nowadays the word "Badan" is used as a synonim for traitor! whether he was one or not is another matter!) and many others..

Hope other members of the community will contribute in this tread and continue from here.

this is an extremely interesting topic!...yes, it will be great having a copy of the Yandabo Treaty.....infact we require to explore more of the 19th century incidences as this is the 'century fr transformation' of the politico-economic situation of Oxom

i wonder how the modern history of Oxom can be stratefied logically...was thr any attempt by any known historian?....can we try?

got it...here

http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Treaties/Burma/002.htm

ARTICLE 2.

His Majesty the King of Ava renounces all claims upon, and will abstain from all future interference with, the principality of Assam and its dependencies, and also with the contiguous petty States of Cachar and Jyntia. With regard to Munnipoor it is stipulated, that should Ghumbheer Sing desire to return to that country, he shall be recognized by the King of Ava as Rajah thereof.

interesting, it does not say about shifting power to the hands of British east india company.

Hei thts an interesting search!...man u did a wonderful thing..!

who's this king ava...?...some more info plz...

king of Ava.. Ava was then capital of Burma.

heard thr is a place named "bhamo" in burma...named after one assamese princess married 2 them....

yess. from the name of Bhamoaideu.. who married the burmese king I think. this lady was related to Badanchandra..

The time should be somewhere before or near the first invasion of Burmese.. but i'll have to look up in books first to be sure.

Do you mean to have the original copy of the Yandaboo Treaty? the full text of the treaty is available though. But there is great danger in simplistcally treating 1826 as a watershed in the history of our region.British influence was evident much earlier, and parts of present assam was already under the british crown before 1826.also, many other areas were clubbed onto assam much later. The British and their servants had some interest in blowing up the story of 'Burmese Invasion' to legitimise themselves as the protectors of the people. so we better be more careful in our characterization.

can u provide some more info ??or any link will do...

this chapter isoften overlooked...

is really 'bhamo' in myanmar named aftr bhamo aaideo?...r u gus sure abt it?...wats the source...it is interesting..

ava was te capital od burma... so we were ruled by the burmese... how than did we come under india..without the under part of burma stayin outta it

coz english defeated the burmese & grabbed the opportunity...assamese force wasal ready destroyed coz of burmese invasion...

bhamor bixoye moyo kisubosor agote paperot porhisilo...xosa hobolage...

i think it is in kachin area...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhamo

got one site...

but it mysteriously does not mention that period....!!!

Trivia Hunters from Assam

Friends, I have started a new group for the quiz-lovers from Assam. If anybody is interested, you can follow the link that I am posting below and become a member. Ciao all!

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=15981104

Portuguese in North-East India

dear friends,

i read in a newspaper article about Portuguese settlements in North-Esat India.

Portuguese ppl came as traders with the invading Mughals and eventually some settled in some parts of this region.one settlement is known to be there in cachar district while another one in Tripura and there are two more settlements,one most probably in Dhubri district of Assam.

seems to be an interestin news...which news paper did u find tht...n wats the approx time fr these settlements?..n is thr any trace ...in any form?

i found this in The Assam Tribune in some isuue about a year back.

i asked some guys from Tripura and they told me that indeed there are many Portuguese people in Tripura!

its true that Portuguese ppl came to NE with the invading armies, probably many times. But am not sure whether they had any permanent settlement here.

Maan invasion

dear friends,

i would like to discuss one issue which is what were the events leading to the Maan invasion of Assam?

what happened during this invasion?

i heard that even Assamese women were turned into wives by these Maan maurauders and taken back to Burma etc.etc.?

Assam was ruled by the Ahom Dynasty for around 500 years prior to this event. However, the Ahom kings were considered by their critics to be inefficient rulers due to internal unrest and lack of devotion towards duty. This led to political conflicts amongst top officials like Purnananda Burhagohain who was one of the powerful ministers of the king in upper (eastern part) Assam and Badan Borphukan, who was a general in lower (western part) Assam. (Incidentally, Badan Borphukan was a son-in-law of Purnananda Burhagohain.) Later, Purnananda Burhagohain ordered for the arrest of Badan Borphukan. Knowing this, Purnananda Burhagohain's daughter, Badan's wife warned Badan. He fled to Burma to seek the Burmese king's help in conquering Assam.

The Burmese army conquered Assam after little resistance from the unprepared Ahom army and started unprecedented atrocities and massacres of the Assamese people. Folk tales from the region say that Assam was turned into a graveyard during this period. (People in Assam still refer to this period as Maanor din signifying a time of much devastation). Badan Borphukan is still treated as a traitor of the people in Assam and his name is today synonymous with traitors of the country.

Folk tales says that all the women were molested by this maan army. every community of the Ahom Country was affected by this War. It was said that the women were taken away by this Maan after the husband or male relatives of the Women was to be killed. A tradtion of putting Black dotted line amongs the Women of Karbis was also said to be started during this times as to make to look ugly to discourage them to be taken away by the maan. All the Communities like the hills tiwas , Some Kacharis were said to be pushed to the deeper jungle and caves to save themselves from being killed..

Chiamme in Jorhat district is perhaps the only village in Assam that has remnants of families of those Burmese invaders, who decided to stay back centuries ago, retaining all aspects of Burmese culture and lifestyle in its original form. It is a mystery how this village of the original invaders managed to survive.

Where is that Burmese village exactly?

It is somewhere near Borhola

Do those ppl speak fragments of Burmese language?

yes.. the clash between two most powerful men of Ahom kingdom, Badan and Purnananda finally ended with Maan invasion. (Purnanandas son was son-in-law of Badan, ie Pijou gabharus husband! thats what I remember.. he he, confuded).

Thre atrocities were too much, I'll not go for that.. but they took lots of ppl as slaves (nearly 30000) and took them to burma. Some of them were fortunate and were wither sold to the Singphos as slave, or escaped from the Burmese and settled in some places in upper Assam and finally came to be known as Dowaniyas (from the word Dhoriniya). Those who were not lucky enough were taken to Burma, descendants of those ppl are still living in Burma. There is an interesting book called "Patkair Xipare Nabashor" by an Enthusiastic Assamese, Purnakanta Buragohain.. he (just before second world war) visited some places in Burma, Thailand and China for business and visited those Asomiya villages in Burma. Some of the old ppl could still talk in Assamese, but the younger generation spoke Burmese. He also mentioned that those ppl used to practice all the Vaishnavite rituals (htat is Nam-Praxanga) in Assamese, though they didn't understand the language! Now they r almost completely became Burmese I think.

but they used to write their old surnames, like Hazarika, Borgohain, Kalita etc..

Burmese soldiers were mainly from north Burma.. They didn't have much unity in themselves. One of the group, (the commander married one Assamese lady, related to Badanchandra I think) didn't like the others and some of them protested against the atrocities by others. Only these ppl, who feared that if they return back to Burma, then they might be attcked by the others stayed back in Assam.. and some even in the Garo Pahar district of Meghalaya.

Because of this invasion, upper Assam was almost depopulated, except the region ruled by Moran Borsenapati (they resisted the Maans successfully). Ahom Kingdom was totally destroyed, with less than 2 ppl perkm distance from Kaziranga to Jorhat, the then capital.

@Ankur I was told that the elder could still speaks some remnants of burmese however the younger generation speaks only Assamese.. Some of them even use the Assamese surname.. Though even myself I have not visited the place..

@ opps name mis-match.. I m confuse..

And one more thing we must add.. atrocities were not only by Maan.. fellow Assamese ppl themselves took revenge on many other Assamese in the disguise of Maan. for example the followers of Badan tried to finish off the followers of purnananda, down to the last child in the family.. when Maans left for some time, purnanandas followers (he was no more, but his son was the then minister) tried to do the same.. looters were everywhere, many ppl (including Maans) digged the Maidams and became rich overnight...

There were many reasons why Burmese could not be resisted. most important reason was Moamoria rebellion.. that civil war where brother fought brothers, fathers agains sons and finally destroyed the whole kingdom. Some of the communities were so much suffered from this civil war that there were no fighting men left to resist the burmese. for example.. there was a clan called Konwar hiloidaris (is it same as Nora hiloidaris I dont Know), only these ppl were trained to use the big guns.. but when the Maans came, caanons were there, but there were nobody to use them. entire clan of Konwar Hiloidaris were aniihilated in the rebellion. castes and tribes which formed the "core" of Ahom army (eg. Ahoms, Morans, Chutias, muttoks or Kacharis) bore the brunt of this rebellions most, because they were actually the ppl who formed the religious sect "Moamorias". Plz remember that during Rajeshwar Singha's rule, when the Burmese occupied Manipur and King Joy Singh (name is correct I think, father of kuranganayanee) came to ask help.. when an Ahom force was sent to Manipur (Lota-Kota Ron) and the news reached Burma, they promtly vacated manipur. What a degradation for an once so powerful kingdom!

Rajanikanta Bordoloi

has anyone read his novels ...?...(i havn't!!)

in some of the novels he has portrayed those maan invasion times....

I think in Manomati.. not sure about the name

yes manomati i read..whn was a child..may be whn i ws 6th /7th stndrds...so frgt the details...

wat abt rohdoiligiri...?..(wasit abt maansor somethinelse?)

forgot about rohodiligiri, but it contains the last days of the Ahom rule.. chandrakanta Singha is there.. so Maan days'll also be there!

an inscription in nepal refers to Srihorxo, the king of Kamrupa as the conquerer of gauda, kalinga, etc..around 7/8th century...he was refered as the greatest king of the Xalostombho dynasty, est by Xalostombho just aftr Kumara Bhaskar Barman....well if Srihorxo has really done it...thn he is probably the greatest warrior tht the valley of brahmaputra has ever produced..wat do u think guys!!..

Another contender in Banamaldev Barma (forgot which dynasty, may be Pala of khen dynasty).

Obe more.. Sankaladiv or Sankal (actually he is the king who established the city of Gaud... conquered many places in east and north India (he defeated one North Indian king called Kedar brahman). But finally defeated by one persian king and taken to persia as captive.

do u hv ne source of info fr xonkoladiv?....which era was it...is it a story tht ppl rmbr...or is written somewhr?...thr r many dark-eras in Oxom Buronjy...may be this incidences fits into those gaps....can we look fr sources in othr countries...persia, nepal...

He is said to have ruled in the 3rd century AD and the persian king Afrasiyab (not the first Afrasiyab.. but one king of his dynasty, as I have found menioned somewhere). Heard that in some persian references name of Sankal is mentioned. 'll try to find out.

see thrs a gap between Kushan n Gupta empires in north India...was thr a persian invasion in india thn?....may be xonkoladiv if he ws thr tried to take advantage of downfall of kushanas...we need to explore more ...check

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/05/ssa/ht05ssa.htm

"Around 225 Vasudeva I died and the Kushan empire was divided into western and eastern halves. Around 224–240, the Sassanids invaded Bactria and Northern India, where they are known as the Indo-Sassanians.

Around 270, the Kushans lost their territories on the Gangetic plain, where the Gupta Empire was established around 320."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan

so may be between 270 n 320 AD Xongkoladiv might hv expanded his empire...n became a victim of those sassanids?

tht mns just bfr barman dynasty was established in Oxom....n its fr sure tht thr must be strong dynasties bfr barmanas ...traces of which r almost non-existent today..may be neighbourin nation's history and sequence of events may help tracing some evidences..

In Gaits book, something is mentioned..

(in the introduction to Firishta's history, book dowson's Elliot's History of India Vol IV, pp 533)

Kidar brahman, a powerful king of northern India was overthrown by Shankal and Shangaldib who came from Koch (ie to say from a tract east of Karatoya, ie Kamrup). he first conquered Bang (coutry east of Bhagirathi), and bihar and collected an enormous army and vanquished Kidar in several hardfought battles. He founded the city of Gaud of the Lakhnauti (which remained the capital of kings of Bengal for 2000yrs). He was very powerful and magnificant, had a force comprising 4000 elephants, 100000 horse ( I have checked the zeroes) and 400000 foot soldiers.

His downfall is ascribed to Afrasiyab, the king of turan of Scythia. (the origina Afrasiyab is believed to have conquered persia around 700 BC, but the name is used by his decsnedants which means conqueror of Persia). When Afrasiyab claimed tribute, then Shankal refused. Afrasiyab sent 50000 mongols (?? this is what is mentioned) against Shankal and they were defeated in a battle near Ghoraghat, in the mountains oif Koch. thye were at the point of of being annihilated, but Afrasiyab hurried from hi scapital Gangdozh with reinforcements and utterly defeated shankal. the latter retreated to lakhnauti and then to the mountains of tirhut (it's in Bihar I think), where he eventually made his submission and was carried off by Afrasiyab.

he he from the last post it may not be clear .. but Shankal defeated the Mongols and almost annihilated them..

read somewhere that Salastambha dnasty was established by a person named Salastambha who was a 'Mleccha'??

but who is this kidar brahman, which dynasty is he frm?...n was really the generals (the guy might be a general of the sassanid empire) of sassanids reached eastern india..may be yes..n confronted with eastern forces prbly near bihar-north bengal area...n mongols with sassanids is nt a surprising thing...as these guys wr ferocious n r also frm central asia....sassanids must hv used thm

yes, subhas we started with xalostombhos n thn went back around 500 years back to a period just bfr barmana dynasty....'s reference to xongkoladiba actually created interests..

It is Tarih-i-Firistah....

"The rajas of Kooch are lineally descended, from father to son, from Shunkul, who was once a great ruler of that territory. In modern times there have been four dynasties of kings; and he who is now on the throne is of the race of hill-bramins, which are not held in much estimation by the inhabitants of Hindoostan. The territory of Kooch is bounded on one side by Chittagong, on another by China, and on another by Bengal."

source: http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901024&ct=134

also check: http://persian.packhum.org/persian/

The details on Sunkul Raja..in firistah..

http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=8

these r seems to be stories told to firistah by someone...confusing time..n sequence of incidences..

a wonderfl book!

the comprehensive history of Assam edited by Late Dr. H K Barpujari ---- six volumes of the book is really comprehensive and a complete work --- / i hope many of u hv read it ...its a gud collection, extremely informative n logically written - i believe every household luving assam must have this collection. comments.....

right.. thats the most elaborate book on Asom history, written so far.

but i hardly got to read anything beyond NCERT history books, so my knowledge about Assam history is very scant.

But i would surely like to read some on this topic...

Tiwas in assam

hiii friends. lets have a discussion on the tiwa tribe of assam mainly dominant in morigaon didtrict of assam. They contributed immensly in the historic assam agitation. If anyone has any knowledge about them please do share.

Tiwa also known as Lalungs are placed in Bodo-Kachari race but many says that they are a mixture of Karbi nd Bodo-Kachari...and during the 13th or 14th century they lived somewhere near the Kachari capital Dimapur a great number of the tribe came down to the plains of Nagaon nd Morigaon....

Their religion is like that of the Boro-Kacharis.. Their principal God is 'Pha' which means a father..Tiwas have got a number of festivals including a number of Pujas or religious functions. The Changkhong and Sagramichowa are the two Pujas connected with spring and fertility.

i am born and brought up in Jagiroad as my dad was working in Assam Spun Silk Mills Ltd and due to this was in touch with the Tiwas (popularly called Lalungs).....in fact my accent was also taking a lalung dialect turn with khaisong, goisang when my grandma intervened during a visit to my dad's native place Golaghat..........

I was fascinated by the Junbeel mela of theirs where still the barter system is carried forward.......another thing was the jaadu tona from Mayong, I still remember a football match where we had used it successfully to beat a team which was two classes upper to us and we didnot had the guts to face them and wanted to give them a walkover initially(I still cannot find the reason how the sacred ritual could stop the forwards of our superior competitiors repeatedly, while we had a great laugh seeing them fell down without any reason when they reach the boundary that was sealed with the Mayongi hymn...the funny thing was the protest from the opposing team to play in the second half with our science teacher who was refereeing the match saying that we had used some dirty trick on them.............it was all too scary and we abstained from using it in our next games and lost heavily:-)......

----another memory was of using locally available bandar kekua brought by a tiwa guy from the hills on the chair of our teacher who used to beat us with sticks.......it is like silky cotton bunch which you can keep it in your palm but if it touches your skin you could have a very very bad experience, just like the way our teacher that day had to run all the way to home after sitting on it........those were really funny memories of time with my Tiwa friends......


...searching information about those tiwas I collected the following and sharing it with you guys............

The Tiwas, popularly known as the Lalungs, are really one of the major ethnic groups of Assam. They are found living in the districts of Nagaon, Morigaon, Kamrup and also in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam. They are culturally advanced and have contributed much to the culture of Assam.

Tiwas were none but a section of the great Boro-Kachari race and during the 13th or 14th century they lived somewhere near the Boro-Kachari capital at Dimapur. So ultimately a great number of the tribe came down to the plains of Nowgong, Kamrup and Lakhimpur.

Customs, Traditions & Religious Beliefs
Their religion is like that of the Boro-Kacharis. They too follow the cult of poly-demonism. Their principal God is 'Pha' which means a father. They believe this 'Pha' to be none but Lord Shiva. Tiwas have got a number of festivals including a number of Pujas or religious functions. The Changkhong and Sagramichowa are the two Pujas connected with spring and fertility.

The Tiwa People
The Tiwa population in Assam consists mainly in the district of Nowgong. In the matter of village occupation the Lalungs are no better than the Boro-Kacharis. The womenfolk are god weavers.

The Village And Household
There is no striking difference between a Boro-Kachari and a Lalung village. Womenfolk command respect in the society.

The Tiwas observe many festivals in the different weathers of the year which are connected with the different deities of their own. Songs and dances also follow the festivals. The different important festivals observed by the Tiwas are the Bihu or “Bisu”, “Barat” “Sarga Miswa”, “Wansua” “Jon-Bila-Mela” and so on.
The “Sagra Misawa” is one of the most important festivals of the Tiwas. It is a spring dance festival which is held in the month of Fagun (February/March). The Tiwa word “Sagra” means all while misawa means dance. Hence the Sagra Misawa festival means this that the Tiwas must join the festival and dance and sing in the same. Basically it is an agricultural festival and its songs have sexual impulses.
There are different phoids or divisions of the Tiwas who opine separate opinions regarding the origin and the process of observing the Sagra Misawa. Moreover, there are some differences in the ways of dancing and holding the function among the Tiwas including their sumbolic dresses used in the festival. In all respects we see some separate features of the phoids of the Tiwas. Nonetheless, there is the similarity in the main stream of the festival. In other words it may be said that all the phoids of the Tiwas never recede back from the main trend of the festival while observing the same.
It has already been mentioned that the Sagra Misawa is held in the month of Fagun. “The Samadi” or the bachelors’ dormitory forms the nucleus for this dance sequence”. A huge preparation is necessary for holding the festival in time. The festival is held from the month of February to nearly the second week of March, specially from Wednesday of the week to Monday. “Rehearsal of “Sagra” song and dance take place early in October and continues till the time of inauguration of the festival in February or March”. The festival has much similarity with the Bohag Bihu of the Assamese.
It may be mentioned that the Tiwas do not start their formal dances without performing the “Langkhun” and Mahadeo Pujas.

The “Langkhun” Puja is of two parts. One part is Sakha Langkhun Puja while the other is Tara Langkhun Puja. The former Puja is observed in the month of Kati (October/November) while the latter is observed just after week of the former. The Mahadeo Puja is observed after the performance of the Tara Langkhun Puja. However, in the Lungkhun Puja the Tiwas sacrifice fowl, duck, pigeons and black goats before the deities while in the Mahadeo Puja they sacrifice a white goat before the deity.
Only after performing these pujas Tiwas start their formal song and dance. The young boys and girls dance to enrich the fertility power of the earth. The Sagra Misawa songs are “Sex-provoking and the entire scene is pervaded with mirth and langhter”. It may be mentioned that the Sagra dance is started from the day since the house of “Loro” receives the “Laxmi Aai” i.e., the goddess of wealth with honour on the first Wednesday of Aghon (in the month of Aghon). It is seen that the young girls express their love during the festival (November/December).
During the festival the Sagra dances use masks and as such they are called “Nartaks”. Of the three important Nartaks two are Umudis and one is Dangari. The “Pura” or “Bura” and “Mas” come only after these three dancers. The “Mas” uses a deer mask and cloth while the Pura, Umudis and Dangaria wear a “Phaga” or a turban each. The Pura, Umudis and Dangaria use crowns above their turbans and wear “Taglas” or shirts in their bodies, which are all embroidered. Further, there are embroidered Muga or Cotton Chaddars above their Tangas. The embroidered Muga or Cotton Chaddars or “Dhotis” of the Nartaks are very lengthy. Their hair dressing combs are also of special types with designs of elephants on them.

The Sagra dancers or the Nartaks are well entertained by the members of the households in their houses. The musical instruments specially used by them in the dances are “Khram”, Thorang and Bangshi or Flutes. The “Chang Maji” supplies the Sagra dancers with their traditional dresses. The persons who rake part in the Sagra festival as symbolic dresses cannot put off their dresses until and unless the festival comes to an end. With the placing of them in the appointed “Sagra Sal” there ends the festival.
It may be mentioned that in some phoids of the Tiwas the system of collecting the subscription of betel-nut is in vogue on the second day i.e. Thursday of the Sagra festival. Then it is on the third day of the festival a “Mock-court” is held in which allegations of false sex-scandals are brought against all officers. They are tried there and the guilty officers are fined which they have to pay. Then, after the mock trial the betel-nuts are distributed among the people taking out them from the bundles thenin the evening of that day.
However, after the mock trial and the distribution of the betel-nuts of the bundles, the Sagra Misawa festival is ended in the house of the Deori in the evening of that day.
The Sagra Misawa festival has two features. It is sex-provoking for which young boys and girls get the chance of expressing their love during the time of the festival. Moreover, it shows non-violence to the creatures during the days of the festival. No one is allowed to kill any bird or beast during the time of the festival. The violation of the ruse leads the violators to face severe punishment.

The Sagra Misawa festival is both loving and attractive festival of the Tiwas. The “Mock Court” is held for the purpose of making fun and merriment. The egg breaking task near a stream by them is done for their belief of saving them from the evils of life. However, the festival is still in Vogue in some places of Nagaon, Morigaon and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam. The festival is indeed an important resource of the culture of Assam.

Since time immemorial, the Tiwa tribe or Lalungs of Assam have worshipped nature and held life, in all its forms, in high esteem. Members of the tribe had initially led a nomadic life, but they gradually settled down in the fertile areas and took to agriculture. The transition also brought about a more organised type of lifestyle among them. However, as the population increased, some of them migrated to other places to check the pressure on nature.
Whenever they considered a place for settling down, they prayed for the well-being of nature and performed a dance with it to appease the god of nature. This was a manifestation of their concern for the natural components on which they would exist.
When the Tiwas selected a place to settle down, their first job was to prepare a space where they would offer prayers to god. Such a place was known as the mindaaisaal or sacred grove. The first step to the preparation was to collectively clear the forest, which would be followed by prayers during which they offered liquor, hen, goat and pig to god.
In the course of this practice, they planted bamboo saplings of a particular species, traditionally known as bijuli banh, which they later used for construction purposes in their prospective villages. They used earthern lamps and dhuna, a kind of pleasant smelling resin-smoke, while praying.

In keeping with the festivities, saplings of big trees like mango, banyan, neem and specially the gomari tree, which is regarded as the totem of the Tiwas, were also planted. When these plants grew, they formed a kind of sacred grove, which the Tiwas traditionally preserved. The tribe took proper care of these plants until they matured. To keep alive this sense of beauty, the Tiwas hold a festival every year where they offer prayers to the “god of nature”. During the festival, they perform a special dance along with other rituals.
When the bamboo plants grew big enough to be used for building purposes, the people gathered near the grove and offered prayer once again to the nature god. Before using the bamboo for construction, they made langkhoon out of them. The langkhoon prepared out of the bijulee variety of bamboo was decorated with flowers.
The men of the tribe then performed the langkhoon dance by forming a systematic arrangement. They wore traditional and colourful costumes while performing the dance.
The four-day langkhoon worship is usually performed around December-January.
The village elders, along with Chang Doloi, Chang Mazi and Loro Hatari (a special headman), visit the Deuri’s house on a Saturday. The Deuri offers a pot full of liquor and a bota full of betelnut and betel leaves to the headman in the presence of other visitors. With this ritual, the headman’s permission is sought to harvest the bamboo crop.
After this, the men, irrespective of their age and background, go together to cut the bamboo. Once there, they select a healthy bamboo, clean the base, place the apical part of a new plaintain leaf on the ground and make an offering of seven pairs of betelnut and paan leaves. They also offer a little bit of the traditional liquor from the bottle called pe lang and pray to the bamboo tree. They also pray to mother nature and nature god Salsa Bajam, chanting hymns, while seeking permission to take the bamboo.

The hymns go like this:
“Julai kubai fidong o’ba pijuli kathi rao
Mai pandha kubai fidong o’ba Salsa raja
Ne chajo bijuli kunwari go lana
Ne thiso mahari kumwari go langa
Tebo julau munga changdoloi ne
Mai panda jana changmaji ne”
(“O father of princess bijulee, king Salsa, we have come to you with our village elders to ask for your daughter. We are offering betelnut and paan leaves and liquor. Please accept these and give us your daughter.”)
They also plead forgiveness from the god of nature for cutting the bamboo and ask him to keep all evil away from them.
After this, the Tiwas cut down the necessary and selected bamboos and carry them to the place of worship in the sacred grove, called mindaaisaal. After depositing the bamboo there, they perform a dance and return home.
On Sunday, they perform kher-kata (a part of langkhoon worship) after which they pick up the bamboo on their shoulders and carry them to the samadi or deka chang, the place where young boys of the village sleep at night.
They scrape the bamboo with knives, and make cuts on the nodes in the reverse direction and prepare decorative langkhoons, also known as maal-bari. They hang an artificial bird coloured with ashes and turmeric on top of the maal-bari. Then they plant these maal-baris on the northern side of the samadi (youth dormitory) in rows.
Meanwhile, they also prepare the location of the mindaaisaal or deosaal. In the mindaisaal or the sacred grove, they plant saplings of gamari, mango, banyan and other valuable trees.
This is done to stress the importance of replenishing the natural resources. The beauty of the mindaaisaal is enhanced by planting of long, decorative langkhoons.

On Monday evening, men, young and old, together go to the samadi and to the Deuri’s place to ask for the traditional musical instruments. The Deuri offers them liquor, betelnut and paan leaves accompanied by chanting. The men then go to the samadi with the musical instruments and perform the rituals of dancing.
The next day, early in the morning, the men, irrespective of their age, pull out the maal-baris planted in the samadi. Each of them carries a maal-bari in his hand and moves around the village, from house to house, banging on the walls and fences, pretending to chase away spirits. They ultimately dispose off the maal-baris at the other end of the village.
The Tiwas strongly believe that by performing these rituals, they can drive away all evil from the village. On the concluding day of the festival, the village elders move from house to house, collecting from each household a hen or a cock each and a bottle of liquor. They finally assemble at the place of worship.
They chant hymns, which is accompanied by a mild playing of the khram or flute which enhances the feeling of reverence among those assembled. This is followed by dances performed by young men by forming circles. Once the worship is over, the langkhoons are picked up by the elders and passed on to the young men and girls who then perform a variety of dances.
In the course of the langkhoon dance during the langkhoon festival, the Tiwas pray for the wellbeing of the forests, the flora and the fauna.
Once the dance is over, all the men once again go to the Deuri’s house and return the musical instruments. The Deuri offers liquor to the guests before they leave.

Jonbeel mela

Hundreds of people belonging to the Tiwa tribe usually come down from the Karbi Anglong hills with produce from their jhum (slash and burn) cultivation to the site of Jonbeel mela in Morigaon district in the third week of January each year and go back by noon next day with the foodstuff they got in barter trading with the Tiwas living in the plains of Assam's Morigaon district.
The world's oldest system of trade has been kept alive by the Tiwas, a colourful tribe of central Assam, also spread in neighbouring Meghalaya, through the three-day Jonbeel Mela.
The age-old barter system between the Tiwas of the hills and the plains was witnessed by the traditional king of the tribe, Deep Sing Deo Raja, who is in an English medium school in Meghalaya. The ancient Tiwa kingdom was known as Gova.
The goods
Thr Tiwas of other hills like Karbi angling bring with them ginger, bamboo shoot, turmeric, pumpkin and medicinal herbs, which they traded with dried fish and pitha (rice cake made during the Magh Bihu festival). Upon arriving at the venue, the hill Tiwas from villages far away, both the men and women, started building small makeshift houses with bamboo brought from the hills, and thatch. They reaped the thatch from the paddy field where the trade takes place.
By the time the makeshift house was built it was almost noon, and time to have a quick lunch. They had brought cooked rice and fish packed in banana leaves, and drinking water in bamboo tubes, for lunch and dinner.
From early on Friday morning the Tiwas in the plains thronged the venue with dried fish and pitha. For the next couple of hours bargained with members of their community from the hills. They return home with fresh vegetables.

hundreds of people take part in community fishing at the Jonbeel, a vast waterbody. "The custom for the Tiwas living in the plains is that fish gathered from community fishing is cooked with bamboo shoot by adding salt and no other spices and offered to the deity at the King's palace, which is known as Nuwn. Similarly, the hill Tiwas perform pujas for their deity with the pithas they procure from the plains in the barter trade.

Assamese muslims

lets discuss about the migration of Muslims into Assam nd their contribution to Assamese language,culture and literature....Muslims have been migrated to Assam since 13th century...mostly Assamese muslims can be put into following categories..

1.those captives who were taken as prisioners of war with mughal nd settled at diferent parts...

2.those directly bought by ahoms as arichtects,tailors.etc..it is said that Ahom king settled 8 muslims families in Assam for different purposes...

3.those indigenous people who took islam under the preaching of Azaan Peer..


i think greatest ontribution of muslims to Assam is jikir and jari,,Azzan peer used Assamese language to compose Zikirs...infact through Zikirs and Zari some arabic word entered Assamese language...

any other info then plz share....

4. the descendents of Azaan Peer Sahib or Syed Shah Milan Bagdadi

The Asamiya-speaking Muslims of Assam developed their culture through continuous contact between Islam and native regional cultures. They have many cultural traits in common with Assamese Hindus and are less orthodox than other Indian Muslims.

Assam first came into contact with Islam in 1206, when Muhammad bin Bakhtar led a military expedition to Tibet through the region. In 1532 Turbak invaded Assam with a Muslim army and was defeated by the king of the Ahoms. Those taken prisoner were settled in the region and married Assamese women, losing all their Islamic culture within a few generations and adopting local customs. In the 1630s, the Muslim saint Shah Milan, also known as Azan Faqir, opened the way for Islamic missionaries, by winning the patronage of the Ahom rulers. Between 1910 and 1931, thousands of Bengali Muslim peasants from eastern Bengal, now Bangladesh, settled in the riverine tracts of the plains. Their descendants today have adopted the Asamiya language and identify themselves as Assamese. In the last forty years, thousands more Bengali Muslims have migrated to Assam, settling there as rice farmers. Many local non-Muslims resent them because they have kept their language and customs. Many more Indian Muslims have immigrated from other regions, especially Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Most of them are urban nonfarmers.

Agrarian Assamese Muslims inhabit clustered hamlets and villages surrounded by their fields. Hindu and Muslim Assamese generally live separately; some do live together, however, keeping their separate identities but sharing some common institutions. Approximately 70 percent of Assamese Muslims are farmers by occupation. The principal crop of the region is paddy (rice) of several different local varieties. Other important crops include, maize, wheat, oilseeds such as mustard, jute, and sugarcane, and various seasonal vegetables. Many farmers also engage in small commerce, trade, and work as wage laborers. The Marias are traditionally brass workers. Most urban Muslims pursue varied occupations Including the professions.

Assamese Muslims combine many Islamic and Hindu customs. Assamese Muslim families are patriarchal and patrilineal. Women are allowed to inherit one-eighth of their father's property. The kinship terminology is very similar to the Hindu. Avoidance relations between father-in-law and daughter-in-law and between husband's elder brother and younger brother's wife are practiced among both Muslims and Hindus. Marriage among Assamese Muslims entails two separate events: the ring ceremony, which is followed by the actual marriage. After the negotiations are fixed, the future groom's parents and kin visit the bride's home. The entourage brings a gold ring, silk clothes, and sweets as gifts. The marriage ceremony is consummated with the reciting of verses from the Quran by a Muslim cleric. Cross-cousin Marriage is not encouraged.

Components of the Hindu caste system are present among Assamese Muslims. They are divided into a three-tier system: the Sayyids, who hold the highest status and claim to be descendants of the prophet Mohammed; the Sheikhs, composed of the local peoples, who are second in social Status; the Marias, who hold the third social slot and are the descendants of the Muslim soldiers captured in the Muslim invasion of 1532.

The vast majority of Assamese Muslims are Sunni of the Hanafi juridical rite; however, they observe many local Hindu rites that put them at odds with Islamic practice. For example, many are attracted to the Vaishnavite philosophy preached in Assam by the sixteenth-century philosopher Sankaradeva.


Note this comment by Asghar Ali Engineer,

When I visited Assam during the height of students' movement in early eighties I found Assamese Muslim intellectuals quite sympathetic with the Assam movement. They were as much concerned with the Assamese identity as others in Assam. Their identification with Assamese movement would have been much more intense but for outbreak of communal violence in Neili where more than 3000 Bengali Muslims were killed. Whenever degree of communalisation increases, religious identity assumes more assertive role. Conversely, if regional identity is more assertive, religious identity will be less so.

Hazarat Aan (R) alias Shah Milan.
Shah Milan, better know as Hazarat Azan pir (R) (Meaning a great saint) came from Bagdad an ancient seat of Islamic Learning, He studied the Holy Quran, The Hadith and Islamic philosophy there in Bagdad. The students after completion of of learning, had to go to different parts of the world with a view to propogating Islam. Hazarat Azan Saheb and some of his companions most probably in the early years of the 17th century, came to India.
It is belived that he built a masque at Sonpura, near the Ahom capital Gargaon and chanted 'Azan', the calling for 'Namaz' for which people called him Azan pir, Popular belief is that he and his campanions came to India on foot and entered the country through the khaibor. He stayed at the Dargah of khwaja Mainuddin Sisty at Ajmer. Then he came to Dargah of saint Nizamuddin in Delhi. No historical evidence regarding his entrence in Assam is available ; but popular belief is that he came to Hajo through Koch Behar.

The name of his parents are still shrouded with mystery ; the Zikirs ( a kind of spritual song) bears the reference to his only brothers Hazarat Nabi Saheb. It can be guessed he married some local girl at Sonpura . The Name of his wife is referred as Siddaqua in certain documents. He was the father of four sons and a daughter. The sons were Shah khuwaz, Shah Mir Kasim, Shah Masum and Shah Kutub ; but the name of the daughter is unknown. She is said to have been given to marriage to Pir Hazarat Khondakar who came along with Hazarat Azan Pir Sahib.

The Unique Zikirs Composed by Hazarat Aazan Saheb :
Tradition goes on that Hazarat Aazan Saheb started composing Zikirs at Sonpura, Gargaon and he did with a blassing to the king. "The Gargaon town is in the Ahom kingdom Zikir is translated in to Assamese I wish eternal life of the king and welfare of the subjects, till stones float and boats go under water."

Zikir is an Arabic word, its root is Zikir, the meaning is repeated chanting of Allah's names. The word Zikir appears more than 31 (Thirty first ) times in the Holy Quran and they have different meanings in deffarent contexts. Aazan Saheb also says that he had composed the Zikirs taking the essence of the Holy Quran, and Zikirs would survive till the end of the earth. Some others names such as Chandkha, Sheikh Farid, Munia Dewan, Bandar Fakir, Maznudil Fakir, Syed Martuza, Ghulam Hussain, Bethai Gowal, Haridas Kumar are found as writers of Zikir. It is belived that Aazan Pir Saheb composed 160 ( Aath Kuri meaning 8X20 = 160) Zikirs, but only 90 ( Ninety ) are found .

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Message in the Zikirs :
The Zikirs may be termed as spiritual songs of Islam. They are of three categories. First are those Zikirs in which the prescribed rules of Islam are narrated. These were meant for teaching 'Farz' 'Sunnat', 'Wazib' etc. to the Muslims. The common people understand these Zikirs easily. Second are those that deal with the philosophy of Islams. Sufism is at the center. These Zikirs speak of four stages of spiritual meditation; They are 'Sariat', 'Tarikat', 'Hakikat', Marifat successively. One can feel the union of the soul Absolute (Atma and paramatma).
Here one needs the guidance of a sheikh or an efficient teacher. Sariat means following the eternal rules of Islam. Practicing the strict and solemn vibes taught by the spiritual guide is Tarikat. Hakikat is realization of the final truth through lofty meditation relationship of the soul with relationship for eternity is 'Bakabillah' The entire process of hard penance is called Marifat.
There are those which resembles the indigenous folksong Dehbicharar geet. The chief contents of such Zikirs are futility and transitoriness of human life.

Matre and literary beauty:


Most of the Zikirs are composed in matras such as 'Chabi', 'Dulari', 'Pada' which were used by the Vaishnavite poets. Apart from Assamese vocabulary, we find many words of Parsi, Arabic, and Urdu origins in the Zikirs and these foreign words have helped express the Islamic ideas in a way very vivid and graphic. What is striking is that the Zikirs are coloured with prevalent folk songs like Nam-Kirtan, Ujapali, Deh-Bicharar geet etc.Application of their tunes and Assamese phrases have enhanced the literary beauty as weal as popularity of the Zikirs.
The Zikirs have universal appeal ; they champion the cause of peace for entire universe. They are free from the barriers of caste, creed, community etc.

How Zikirs are Sung:
The present system of singing Zikirs was not in vouge in olden times. Zikirs were sung with great reverence and religious solemnity. Groups of singers were invited to the villages. Before singing they purified themselves taking bath and prayed to Allah and the prophet. Singing in silence of midnight was the usual practice. The host offered tamul-pan (areca nut and battle leaves) to them. The listeners sat around them. After singing them all offered "Munazat " ( a kind of Islamic way of asking divine blessing) to Allah, and finally the host arranged light refreshment. No remuneration was given to the singing group. Zikirs are usually sung on special occasion like death and wedding. The singing group consisted of an oja ( The chief) and thirty or forty of his palis (helpers). A Ghosa is there with each and every Zikirs. The oja begins and the palis singing the Ghosa in chorus. The oja alone sings the main Zikirs. Each Zikirs has its own tune and way of singing, clapping of hands was the tradition, Ektara (a musical instrument) was played. Zikir singing sound like singing Nam-kirtan from a distance.
But Zikir presentation has undergone some changes. The Late Rekibuddin Ahmed made the Zikirs extremely popular ; he blended classical and folk music in the Zikirs to lend them a new dimension. In some places Zikirs are accompanied by a very difficult dance,

Zikir and Zari represent a musical genre of Assam..it is believed that Azzan peer wrote 160 Zikir but only 90 could be found...acct until middle of the last century Zikirs were not written down,but handed over from mouth to mouth for generations..Since they are transmitted orally from generation to generation, the authenticityof tune and poetry may not be exactly what Ajan Fakir had composed..Late Syad Abdul Mallik, renowned literature of Assam collected them, under the title “ Asamiya Zikir aur Zari” (Assamese Zikir andZari). In this book collector included the available Zikirs collected from all over Assam.

another legend says

the indigenous Muslims have played significant roles in several crucial times in the history of Assam, and the community has produced numerous prominent figures in various fields, like Fakhuruddin Ali Ahmed, former President of India, 1974-77, literary figures like Muhammad Piar, Syed Abdul Malik, Moyidul Islam Bora, Mafizuddin Ahmed Hazarika, to name a few. However, a section of indigenous Muslims disapprove that their identity has been endangered by the migrant Bengali Muslims and discriminated by the government.
Muslims constitute nearly one-third of the state population (30.9%), the second highest after Jammu & Kashmir. They account 8,240,611 of the total state population of 26,655,528. Goapara, Dhubri, Barpeta, Nagaon, Karimganj and Hailakandi are some of the Muslim concentration districts of Assam.
The indigenous Muslim community, locally known as Garias, accounts 35 lakh. The term Gariya is believed to have been derived from the word Gaur, the then Muslim capital of Bengal, where from the Assamese Muslims trace their origin. They have a history of 800 years in Assam. A series of campaigns by Muslim rulers from Bengal and Delhi took place from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The indigenous Muslims or the Garias are mainly the descendants of the Muslims who stayed back after these campaigns. They settled down by marrying local girls. The earliest record of Muslim settlement in the region dates back to the campaign of Nawab of Bengal Alauddin Hussain Shah (1493-1519), who after overpowering the ruler of Kamrup in 1498 annexed it. Sultan Ghiyasuddin, who was appointed as the governor of the occupied territory established a Muslim colony in Hajo. When Turbak, a Muslim general from Bengal invaded Assam in 1532 Muslims troops, numbering around 900 were taken as prisoner. They were later settled in Assam.

Morias, a class of the indigenous Assamese Muslims found mainly in Kamrup, Sivasagar and Lakhimpur regarded themselves as the descendants of these captive Muslims. They still today regard Turbak as traditional chief. They are engaged in the manufacture of house-hold utensils from brass and bell-metal and are associated with it still today.
Muslims in large scale emigrated in western part of Assam when Koch Hajo, comprising the present districts of Kamrup and Goalpara region from 1613 to 1667 by the Mughals. Hajo became a stronghold and headquarter of the Mughals. It was during this period of Mughal occupation that Muslim military generals and nobles were conferred fiefs or military jagirs in this region.
The Assamese kings also introduced and patronised learned and skilled Muslims. Scholarly Muslims were attached to the Ahom court as scribes, known as Parsi-parhias; and the royal mint was also by and large under the supervision of Muslim officials. Many of the Assamese kings and queens struck coins with Persian legends engraved on them. Muslim artisans and craftsmen were incorporated into Khanikar Khel, a guild or a functional class of artisans. Some of the Muslim functional classes incorporated in the Khel were Khargharia or manufacturers of gun-powder, Senchowa or hawk-trainers, carpenters and ivory workers, Rahankara or dyers and painters, Rajmistry or architect and craftsman, Darji or tailors, Jola or cotton cloth weavers, Hil garha ustad or maker of steel and copper cannon, Karsipar bankara or cloth-embroiders, etc.

Many from the local population were also believed to have converted to Islam through the preaching of the several Pirs who visited and settled in Assam. Many of these preachers accompanied the invading Muslim troops. They were patronised by the Assamese kings, by granting pir-pal lands (revenue free lands) and stipends and even bearing the cost of the maintenance of the shrines of popular Pirs. The names of some of the prominent Pirs who took to preaching and proselytising activities in Assam are Ghiyasuddin Auliya, Hasrat Osman Gani; Shah Akbar, Shah Sufi, Shah Kamal, Shah Pagmar and Shah Sharan, popularly known as Panch Pir; Baba Langar Shah; Sawal Pir, popularly known as Bandar Pir; Komaldya Khunkar Muhammad Gain, Azan Pir, among others. Their dargahs are visited by people of all faiths. Even urs (anniversaries) of many Pirs are held every year.
The immigrant Muslims are, by and large, the descendants of those Muslims farmer-migrants who emigrated mainly from Mymensingh, Rangpur, Pabna and Bogna districts of eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh) in the 19th and 20th centuries. They took to cultivation by reclaiming the fertile wastelands of Assam. Sharp social divisions between indigenous Muslims and the migrant Muslims developed from the late 19th century. These two broad groups hardly enter into matrimonial relations. The indigenous Assamese Muslims are mainly concentrated in upper part of Assam whereas the migrant Muslims mainly in lower part of Assam.

thanks to all.. it's quite informative for me..

This is a rich info-base on assamese muslims by mofid.

what is the population of assamese speaking muslims in assam?....any idea?.....does census speak about it?

Creating a GIS-based data base on assamese muslims with the help of the community itself probably will be wonderful - this will remove any confusion related to harrasment of our muslims, which has been made an issue by some ppl (some political parties) when we talk about driving out b'deshis.....(actually what an absurd issue!..anybody can easily identify the differences between an assamese muslim n a b'deshi)

kisumaan simple kotha Politics, religion aadie bohut complex kori pelaise..........

eta change mur khub beya laage

Axomot thoka tholuwa muslim khinir ji identity moi aaji loike dekhisu aru taar ji rup laahe laahe ag barhise seya bor eta bhal kotha nohoi.......

axomiyar pora axomiya musolmaan hol........aaru religious feelings bur barhi thakile kewal "musolmaan" identityr phale aag barhibo........bhal kotha nohoi kintu eitu.........

politically correct statement di bhal napao moi, xosa kotha eta kobo khuisu, kiyo hoi aase eibur?

kiyo assomiya aaji bhag bhag hoi yu bhagora nai...aaru natun bhag hoboloi aag barhi ahise.....kio?kio aru kenekoi ei bhag bur hoboloi paise?neglect, upolunga, xorojontro,thog probonsona ------------actually nu ki karon aase iyaar pisot?

aami axomiyar taan tu korbaat komi goise neki?
bahiror kunubai kiyo bhag koriboloi xubidha paise?

kisumaan kothar xadharonote answer nathake......mur maae atiyao ketiyaba prosno kori uttor napai............kiyo teulookor gharot kaam kori thoka Vokla bula noga jon prothome logor khiniye nagaland houte matute "mur nijor manuhok eri najao" buli kuwar pisot edinakhan hothat jabo ulai goisil.........Maa hotor ghoror kune ki kothat teuk aghat disil baa logor kijonor ki kothai teuk soimaan korisil taar uttor maae aajiu bisari puwa naai......aru jodi teuk log napai punorai tenehole maai maar prosnor uttar kahaniu najanibo.........

Everyone talks about 'assamese nationalism', 'ugro-jateeyotabad', etc are the main reason for division among assamese population and here the indication is little bit oriented towards that. But I am sorry to say that It is difficult to understand how 'assamese-extreme-nationalism' (is it actually there?) has created such rift among our society. If Assamese would have been such radicals - we would have seen bloody ethnic violence probably much before -- probably before 1940s.....and still we r nt into that phase - you will never find liberal people like assamese anywhr in the wrld.....i bet!

There is something to be blamed - so everyone from indian national parties to bangladeshis to bodos to mishings to even tea-tribe......even ahoms!!!!.....he he..... everyone has a nice agenda of blaming 'assamese nationalism' as the cause for the entire problem in assam; but whr is that nationalism????? ---- come on guys u ppl r educated, just think little bit logically about the state of the nationalism we r talking abt.........is it really thr?

A badly broken state of nationalism and lack of a strong national identity, which is dividing our society......the assamese nationalist are hardly have done anything wrong neither to our Mizo brothers nor to the Khasis........nor to the arunachalis.......nor to the tea-tribe......since past 60 years assamese r sleeping only -- how can they harm othrs - we even dont hv any clue about what is happening!!!!!.........

Lastly, Illegal Bangladeshis are capable of creating (in fact creating) a lot of nuisance in assam as well in creating frthr rift in our society.......'this land, resources, and government's facilitation is not for them' - they will have to leave!....

....today, even a developed or a rich country can not afford to accept such illegal migration, frgt abt illegal they r nt ready to accept little deviation/relaxation in their immigration norms - which only favour intelligent brains!!!..........u kno how careful middle eastern countries are?...they simply dont allow any illegal migration frm any muslim country including b'ldesh!!.....u know how much hue n cry now is in bahrain against even legal migration frm bangladesh!!?? they were to stop it few days back...bcuz of increasing crimes in bahrain.....and i am sure the new policies will be stricter fr b'ladeshis even legally entering bahrain....

........if u say this post has come out from ugro-jateeyotabad!! he he......u must know that it is a simple rule being followed by every country, every nation in the world - and if someone is against it - i suspect his/her 'loyalty' or 'intelligence'!......

mofid's example of the naga guy reveals that intially till the rift took place he considered mofid's family as his own family - this is a clear indication of not having any negligence from mofid's family (a common assamese family) towards him.....they were in perfect terms ---- but later he went to nagaland - nagaland became a separate state with more opportunities --- or may be for some reasons which favoured him --- it was not mofid's family's exploitation or neglect that made him to do so....

Nagas did not have any problems with assamese. They did not want to stay within India since beginning....they expected assamese to do so....and expected even assamese leaders to lead a separation movement ----- later they expected atleast to support their cause --- however, leaving few issues, assam congress was in better terms with indian top leaders --- so they supported fully an indian union (union or whatever entity - i dont think it was clear thn)....Nagaland was made a state to satify the Nagas after the warlike situation when Nagas declared independence and occupied Kohima fr sometime (1960s)......so again i dont find any logic of assamese nationalism causing a rift between assamese n nagas..........

Creating Arunachal Pradesh was not at all related to any differences between Assamese and Arunachali local ethno-cultural groups.........it was a strategic decision against the Chinese and a region, which was part of Kingdom of Assam since Sukapha's days - Khamjang (Now Lohit n Tirap District) was added to Arunachal. This was not even a part of NEFA...........it was also a strategic move of GoI to have a stronger footage around the border areas...so where an assamese nationalist comes to the picture!!!!!! is he still not sleeping?

And if radicalism in a section of assamese muslims is increasing - than it is the worst scenario assam can ever experience.......the reasons again can not be attributed to the nationalists again......it has to have a foreign angle -- we need to be careful about the preachers of such radical ideas.....it is important to keep on an eye on the activities of non-assamese radical religious leaders inside assam..........i believe assamese muslims in their purer forms can not be radicals (origin of such ideas) and assamese muslims are the best people to protect their own community from these aliens!

The onus lies on us Assamese muslims to keep the Muslim leadership in our hands for a safer future ...... If the leadership is taken by Muslims of Bangladeshi origin the guidance may be towards a far grimmer picture as seen in Taliban rule in Afghanistan, which is my worst nightmare......increasing tabligi activites, invitation to increasingly frequent Istemas (muslim conferences ) are on the rise on which i dont have much protest as it is within muslim community to preach Islam and force people to offer namaz 5 times, but what irks me is the force towards Burqa(women wearing veil) culture which is on the rise......and the problem is as the people grow old, they become more religiously oriented and a bit orthodox.....