International Journal of History & Scientific Approach History and Culture: A Study on the Importance of the Place Names of Chandrapur Rosie Patangia

Assistant Professor and Head, Deptt of English, Narangi Anchalik Mahavidyalaya, Narengi, -171, Dist: Kamrup (Metro), , & Ph.D Research Scholar, Folklore Department, Gauhati University, Guwahati- 781014, Assam, India

Abstract: History has its culture. Every place is denoted by a name. Each place name carries its own culture and tradition. The memory of a place is deeply embedded in its history, historical characters, legendary heroes, historical events etc. Assam in general and Kamrup in particular is rich in its culture and history. The place names speak of the past history of that place and helps in building identity. In Assam, we find innumerable places connected with oral narratives, folk beliefs, culture, history, myths, and legends. The present paper is an attempt to study the place names of Chandrapur and its cultural and historical significance.

Key words: History, Culture, Place, Names, Chandrapur, historical significant.

Introduction

Every place from the macrocosm to the microcosm embodies its community, history and culture. Robert Murphy (1986) highlights that “Culture means the total body of tradition borne by a society and transmitted from generation to generation.” The Oxford English Dictionary (2007) defines a ‘place’ as a ‘particular position or area or a portion of space occupied by or set aside for someone or something’. It defines a ‘name’ as ‘a word or words by which someone or something is known.”Each place has its own cultural and historical background. While the term ‘cultural’ refers to the ideas, customs and social behavior of a society, the word ‘historical’ relates to past events or history. The term ‘paradigm’ stands for a ‘a typical example or model’. Place names are names associated with a place. Sarat Kumar Phukan (2001:4) mentions that “a set of place names

1 www.ijrpes.com IJRPES [email protected] International Journal of History & Scientific Approach is called ‘toponymy’ and their study is called ‘toponomastics’.” The place names associated with the localities in and around Chandrapur speak of its past history and its glorious culture.

Chandrapur served as a gateway to Assam during the Ahom rule. Dutta (2016:7) mentions that ‘it was primarily due to the that the pre-colonial Assamese nation was born. Its reign witnessed the synthesis of the disparate ethnic entities inhabiting the Brahmaputra Valley and the evolution of a distinct , culture and nationalist identity. Greater political and cultural intercourse, intermarriages and other social exchanges between tribes ultimately broke racial and cultural barriers and imbued a solidarity and nationalistic spirit to the people.’

Objectives:

The chief objectives of the research paper are:

1. To study the place names of Chandrapur 2. To focus on the cultural and historical significance of place names of Chandrapur

Methodology

The data has been collected from primary sources in the form of field visits and interviews with the elderly people of the village. The secondary sources include articles, books, journals, magazines, websites etc.

Results and Discussion

Chandrapur is the name of a development block under Kamrup metro district of Assam, India.

Legend goes that when , the last king of the in Assam, was defeated by the Burmese on 11th June 1819, Chandrakanta Singha (a king of the Ahom dynasty) took over the throne. But he was only a puppet in the hands of the Burmese.So he fled from

Rangpur to Guwahati and took refuge in Kajalichowki for six months for his own safety. He then went to and assembled a troop of Hindustani soldiers to assault the Burmese. But before

2 www.ijrpes.com IJRPES [email protected] International Journal of History & Scientific Approach he could launch an attack, Purandar Singha and Robert Bruce were taken as prisoner. On 2nd May

1821 A.D., they together attacked the Burmese but they lost the war and Chandrakanta Singha again escaped to Kajalimukh for refuge. Kajalimukh before the British rule was known as

Kajalichaki. But as Chandrakanta took refuge twice in Kajalichaki, it came to be known as

Chandrapur. 1

The village Chapaidong is located under Chandrapur Development block of Kamrup (metro) district of Assam. Chapaidong got its name from a rivulet or dong situated near the village. Oral narratives reveal that when Chilarai came, he kept his soldiers and their boats in the mouth of this rivulet or dong. Hence, this place came to be known as Chapaidong. Promode Ranjan Roy (1991:

23) mentions that Biswa Singha, founder of the Koch kingdom was succeeded by his son Nara-

Narayana as king and another son Sukladhwaj as Yuvraj. Sukhladhwaj was a great warrior and assumed the title Sangram Singha. He became the commander-in–chief of the Koch army, which per the Akbarnama, consisted of 4,000 horses, 2,00,000 infantries, 700 elephants and 1,000 war boats. In this capacity Sukhladhwaj displayed such skill and promptness of action that he was nicknamed Chilarai or the “kite King.” Chilarai led this impregnable army into the Ahom kingdom and conquered it after a long and fierce resistance.

Boro (2012: 3) mentions that around two hundred years back there lived two to three households in the hilly peaks on the eastern part of Sunsali tea garden comprising of ten to twelve Bodo-

Kacharis of the Mongoloid community. Slowly one by one many families started coming to this area and settled here. Since these households came chapichapi (to come nearer one by one) to this area and settled here, so the place came to be known as Chapaidong.

3 www.ijrpes.com IJRPES [email protected] International Journal of History & Scientific Approach There is a ganesh temple located near the village. During field visit, informant Ananda Boro narrated that when he was young, he saw there was only shape of the ganesh carved on a stone.

But with the passage of time, he finds that the shape of Lord Ganesh is more prominent and elongated. 2

Researcher at Ganesh temple near Chapaidong village at Chandrapur

The Panikhaiti village is situated under the jurisdiction of Chandrapur development block.

Panikhaiti is surrounded by Hatishila pahar (hill) and temple in the east, Bonda Grant and Kharguli area in the west, in the north and Amsing forest in the west. According to

4 www.ijrpes.com IJRPES [email protected] International Journal of History & Scientific Approach legend, while returning from war in Kajalimukh, Chilarai felt thirsty and along with his soldiers took rest at this place and took water in this area, so it is known as Panikhaiti (pani means water and khaiti- to take). It is also revealed that the original name of this place was ‘Panikhuti’. When the British ruled Assam, there was a jaan or rivulet called Luna jaan. The British Sahebscame to this rivulet. One such British officer, in order to quench his thirst, drank water from it. One of the

Britishers could not spell Assamese fluently. After drinking the water, he said Pani-Khaiti (pani- water, khaiti-to drink) in broken Assamese language. Therefore, the place came to be known as

Panikhaiti. However, this rivulet no longer exists now. Informant Dhiraj Das narrated that he has been staying in this area since 1962 and during those days this area was a forest and tigers were seen even in the daytime. There were around sixteen to seventeen Bodos (a plain tribe of Assam) and three to four Assamese families in the area. But now people from different communities came and settled here such as Nepalis, Biharis and Bengalis etc. There is a ganesh temple in this area called Panikhaiti Hatishila Ganesh temple.3

Concluding Remarks

It has been observed from this study that the place names of Chandrapur reflect its past history and culture. The place shows the impact of Ahom kings Purandar Singha, Chandrakanta Singha and valiant heroes like Chilarai in the places under study. Each place name speaks of its own history, its community, its culture and tradition. It is seen that place names connect folklore genres like legends, myths, beliefs and oral history. The place names also exhibit the influence of foreign invasions such as the Burmese and the British on its land.

5 www.ijrpes.com IJRPES [email protected] International Journal of History & Scientific Approach Acknowledgements: Special thanks to my student Ritu Rajbonshi who accompanied me to

Chandrapur during field visit and data collection,

References

1. Boro, S.C. (2012). ‘Sapaidong Amar Gaon’. In Boro, G. (ed). Jagor.SapaidongBoroRaijorBathouPujarMukhopatra.Chapaidong: Chapaidong- DhopguriBathou Puja Samiti. pp 3-5 2. Dutta, A.K. (2016).TheAhoms.Guwahati:Assam JatiyaBidyalay Educational and Socio- Economic Trust. p.7 3. Murphy, R. (1986). Culture and Social Anthropology: An Overture. 2nd Edition. Eaglewood Cliffs: N.J. Prentice all. p.14 4. Phukan, S.K. (2001). Toponymy of Assam. New Delhi: Omsons Publications. p.4 5. Roy, P.R. (1991). Bharat Gaurav Veer Chila Roy. Raiganj: Noni Gopal Roy. p.23

Notes

1. Interview with Arunima Bora (Gohain), 56, Chandrapur. 2. Interview with Ananda Boro, 45, Chapaidong.

3. Interview with Dhiraj Das, 63, Chandrapur.

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