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KING NARANARAYAN AND HIS TIMES Thesis SuDniitted to the University of North Bengal, West Bengal, India for the Degree of the DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Faculty of arts By Parimai Bapari Assistant Professor of History Ananda Chandra College, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. Under the Supervision of Prof. (Mrs.) Mandira Bhattacharyya, Professor (retired), Department of History University of North Bengal, September 2010. 1 m "^' 23E\36 Declaration by the Candidate This Ph.D. dissertation entitled "KING NARAYAN AND HIS TIMES' submitted by me for the Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy from the Arts faculty of the University of North Bengal, is entirely based on original materials carried out under ^e supervision of Prof. (Mrs.) Mandira Bhattacharyya, Professor^^epartment of History, University of North Bengal. Neither this dissertation nor any part of it has been submitted in any academic institution for such degree or Diploma for me. 3^ Supervisor: (Parimar Bapari) Assistant Professor of History A. C. College, Jalpaiguri, Jalpaiguri. West Bengal. Date: )^*'^1'^ CONTENTS: PAGES: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: = iv-vi ABBREVIATIONS: = vii INTRODUCTION = 1-14 CHAPTERS: I. EARLY HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND FOUNDATION OF THE KOCH DYNASTY =15-80 II. KING NARANARAYAN'S POWER CONSOLIDATION AND STATE FORMATION = 81-118 m.THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM, THE END OF HIS RULE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SETUP =119- 167 IV. SOCIO-ECONOMIC-CULTURAL TRANSSITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURE AND ARTS =168-241 V. RELIGIOUS UPHEAVAL =242-313 VI. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS =314-336 APPENDIX =337-342 GLOSSARY =343-346 BIBLIOGRAPHY =347-368 PLATES =369^380 ADDENDUM / CORRIGENDUM = 381 - 384 MAPS "^ 385-387 XXXXX III Acknowledciement: I was born and brought up in the region and heard many stories from my childhood about the great achievements of Koch king Naranarayan and other kings of the dynasty which inspired me to take up the subject as my research topic from the core of my heart. Besides, the Koch dynasty and king Naranarayan not only played the most important role in the contemporary regional political history of North-East India but also in the history of all intra human affairs of the region. However, it has trickled into the history of India without proper attention. The studies in the history of the Koch kingdom, especially the reign of king Naranarayan have so far been undertaken as a part of the history of either Assam or Bengal and not much pages have been devoted to highlight the times of king Naranarayan. This also inspired me to take up the topic for my area of research to construct the separate and complete history of king Naranarayan and his times. I took up the present work after my post graduation as research scholar of the University of North Bengal in 1999. However, I could not continue the work as a research scholar owing to my joining as a Lecturer of the college and other various family problems. Inspite of that, I never gave up hope and after some time, I again continued the work. As a result, it took comparatively long time to finalize the work. In the present work, I tried to explore the background of the political formation and evolution in the region, racial identity of king Naranarayan, his role in the process of political formation in Koch Behar and his relations with other contemporary rulers of Bengal and northeast India. The study highlights as to how king Naranarayan himself accelerated and patronized the socio-economic and cultural changes and developments of the region and as well as Neo- Vaisnavite movement of Sankaradeva which revolutionized the religious and socio-cultural pattern of the whole northeast India. iv To prepare this dissertation, I am fortunate enough to have my guide, Professor (Mrs.) Mandira Bhattacharyya (now retired), Department of History, North Bengal University, who inspite of her retirement and various types of health and family problems, agreed to continue her guidance and provided me all kinds of co­ operation and inspiration to complete this dissertation. I acknowledge my indebtedness to her. I am especially grateful to Professor Tapas Kumar Roy Choudhary, (now retired), Department of History, North Bengal University who immensely helped me by giving his valuable suggestions for the work. Besides, I exchanged and enriched my ideas through occasional discussions with my teachers of the Department of History, North Bengal University, which helped me to prepare the work. I am also indebted to Professor J. B. Bhattacharyya, former vice Chancellor of Assam University Silchar, Professor D. Nath, Department of History, Dibrughar University, Dibrughar, Assam and Mr. Kanak Chandra Sharma, Vice President, Assam Sahitya Sabha, Gauhati, Assam, with whom i had occasional discussion about the topic to enrich my ideas. For the source materials of my study, I visited many archives, libraries, and institutions such as Koch Behar State Library, Koch Behar; Central Library, North Bengal University; National Library, Kolkata; West Bengal State Archives, Kolkata; West Bengal Secretariat Library, Kolkata; Library of Numismatic Studies, Salt lake, Kolkata; Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti, Gauhati, Assam; Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Gauhati, Assam; Assam Sahitya Sabha, Gauhati, Assam; Kamakhya Temple trusty Board, Nilachal hill, Gauhati, Assam; Central Library Anandra Chandra College; Central Library, Gauhati University, Gauhati, Assam; Siliguri Mahakuma Library and others. I am grateful to the authorities and officials of these archives, libraries and institutions for their enthusiastic support and co-operation by providing me opportunity to collect information from their rare collections. I also acknowledge my indebtedness to all authors, authorities and academic research websites, whose books, research works and publications (both in papers and in electronics), I utilized in preparing my dissertation. i am also thankful to my colleagues of Ananda Chandra College - Sri Sujit Kumar Ghosh, Associate professor, Department History; Sri Chinmayankar Das, Assistant professor, Department Political science; Dr. (Mrs.) Sangita Das, Associate professor, Department English, for their encouragement, and co­ operation. Mrs. Susmita Bapari (Biswas), my wife not only ever stood by me and kept aside me from many family affairs but also helped me in many ways to complete the work. I also express gratefulness to my. college authority for granting me 'study leave' at the crucial last stage of my work. Date: (Harimal Bapari) VI ABBREVIATIONS: DMAS : Department of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Gauhati, Assam. DRV = Darrang Raj Van^avali, ed. N. C. Sharma. Published by sri Ambikapada Chaudhury, Bani Prakash, Path Shaia, Kamarupa, Assam, 1973. EPW : Economic and Political Weekly. lESHR : Indian economic and Social history Review. IHQ : Indian Historical Quarterly, Calcutta. IHR : Indian Historical Review. JARS : Journal of the Assam Research Society, Gauhati. JAS : Journal of Asian Studies. JASB : Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. KAS : Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti. Gauhati. NBSL : North Bengal State Library, Cooch Behar. HCB-SCG : History of Cooch Behar, (Eng. Tr. of 'Cooch Beharer Itihas', by Khan Chaudhuri Amanatulla Ahmed), by S. C. Ghoshal, Reprint 2005. SKC-KJK = Suniti Kumar Chatterji's 'Kiraia-Jana-Krti', the Asiatic Society, reprinted 1998, Calcutta. ABGB = Assam Buranji of GunaviramBarua. BKB-SVSA •• = B. K. Barua, 'Sankaradeva Vaisnava Saint of Assam', reprint edition, Bina Library, Gauhati 2009. M. Neog-RNEI = M. Neog, 'Religions of the north-East India', Munshiram Manoharlal publishers Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, 1984. SMJC or AB = Sri Sri Svarganarayandeva Maharajar Janmacharita', or Assam Buranji. ABHB = Assam Buranji of Harakanta Barua. Introduction: The vast region to the northeast of India between the foothills of the eastern Himalaya Mountains ranges and extreme North of Bengal consisting the modern territories of Lower Assam (ten Districts), northern districts of present Bangladesh and Jalpaiguri and Koch Behar districts of west Bengal is the abode of the different ethnic groups of various cultures since the historic age. This region had seen the ebb and flow of many dynasties of many ethnic groups from the early times. The rise of some tribal chiefdom, like the Thai Ahom, the Meithei, Jayantiya, Kachari, Tripura, khen and the Koch, from 13'^ century in the region and their transition to state-system by the 16*^ century, marked the beginning of the historical development and religious- socio- economic-political transformation^ Among these, whose rules significantly occupied most important place in the history of northeast India is the Koch dynasty. J. N. Sarkar, in his book, 'History of Bengal', writes, "half-a-century before Sulaiman's accession, a new power had been bom in the extreme North of Bengal"^. No doubt, by the words "new power", he wanted to indicate the Koch power, who established a vast empire in the beginning of the 16'^ century. Hariya Mandal, a Mech / Koch tribal chief of mere 12 Mech / Koch families of the village Chikana, in the Khuntaghat region in the present Goalpara district of lower Assam had organised his tribes and established 'chiefdom'. His able son and successor Biswa Singha, in a chaotic political condition of incessant fighting with the local Bhuyans of the region transformed it into a 'semi- independent kingdom' in the beginning of the 16'^ century. His illustrious son and successor Naranarayan alias Malladeva came to the throne of Koch Behar in about 1540AD, who revoked the Ahom vassalage, declared suzerainty and proved himself the greatest king of the dynasty. With the help of his brother-cum-general Sukladhvaja alias 'Chilarai' and by following aggressive warfare policy expanded his kingdom and established the Koch hegemony all over northeast India. Thus, the Koch dynasty nominally founded by Biswa Singha, father of Naranarayan, in the first decade of 16**^ century and attained its peak in the 2"'^ half of the 16'^ century, during the reign of King Naranarayan. S. N. Bhattacharyya writes some eight decades back, "The advent of the Koches as the - 1 - dominating political factor in Kamarupa ushers in a new epoch in its history and gives it an entirely new character.
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