CHAPTER - I

IMTROIXJCTION

SECTION 1 GBOGRAPHIGAL BACKGgtOPND

location of - Assam, the easternmost State of ,lies between latitudes 28°18* and 84° Morth and longitudes 89°46» and 97°4’ East.

It is bounded on the North by the sub-Himalayan ranges of Bhutan - Aka,

Dafala, Miri, ISbar and Mishimi* PreTlously the vdiole region, inhabited by the tribal peoples, was under the Jurisdiction of Assam. Hoin, this region is administered by the Central Ctoremment and it has been named as North last Frontier Agency (N.S.F.A.). To the Wes^f this regica,

in the same line lies the territory of Bhutan. On the East the State is bounded by the Patkil range, which defines the western boundary of Burma, the intenrening ranges being inhabited chiefly by the Tailous tribes of

Nagas and llanipuris. The hills bordering Buxma, idilch are occupied by the Nagas were previously in Assam. Now, the Nagas have their own

State - Nagaland. Towards the South of Nagaland lies Manipur, which

consists of hills and plains and which is centrally administered. To the

South lies the Lushai hills bordering Burma and East Pakistan. To the

West» Just near the Lushai hills, lies Tripxira, the centrally administered unit, three foxxrths of which are surrounded by East Pakistan. The South-

West comer of Assam is bounded by Khasi and Jaintla hills and Gm :*o hills

bordering East Pakistan. Right on the West of Assam there are no hills.

The southern portion of the western bomdary of Assam touches East

Pakistan, idiile the northern portion of the same is touched by the Cooch-

Behar district of West , n^ich was a part of Assam in the past. The middle portion of this State is plain throiigh which the mighty Brahmaputra flows. To the South of the plains of the middle

Assam, there stand the broken hills of the Assam range of Mlkirs.

Slightly below this area, there stand the North Cachar hills of the same range. The Klhasi and Jalntia hills also can be called as broken hills of the Assam range. Cachar was originally an independent State. It came to the hands of the British rulers in 1850 and later it was attached to Assam as an administrative \mit. As such, the present ILmits of Assam include both hills and plains^.

The hilly regions are divided into some districts for the smooth running of the administration. They are Gero hill district, Khasi B and Jaintia hill district , North (SchSr and Mikir hills district and

Lushai or Mizo hill district. The northern part of the Cact£r district is full of hills though the southern part of this district consists of plains. Therefore, this part is attached to the Mikir hill district.

The Brahmaputra and its valley - The plain of Assam can be divided into two vallies, i.e. the and the Surama valley, named after two principal rivers. The Surama river valley cmsiets of the southern plains of Assam, i.e. the plains of the Oachar district, while the Brahmaputra valley includes the middle portion of Assam.

Bie former is much more important from the geographical and cultureJ. points of view. Through the heart of the province runs the

1. See PI. X• S. Lately, the C^o and Khasi and Jaintia hill districts have formed a sub-State imder the State of A3 sam. great river trtiose ancient name Is SrT-LauMtya# In Assamese it is called

Z^hit or Luit* The present name of this river is Brahmaputra. It enters the north-eastern corner of Assam through the Mishimi hills of N.X.F.A. where it is known as Dihong river. Having entered the political Jurisdic­ tion of Assam, this river meets Dibong, another river flowing from the north. Another river comes from the Hast and Joins these two rivers at

Brahmakun^, near . This combined water which flows westwards is known as the river Brahmaputra. It flows thxr>ugh all the plain districts of Assam and afterwards crosses the boundary of Assam near the Gard hills.

Taking a turo there to the South, it flows through Sast Pakistan vdiere it meets the Ganges. In fact, it is the chief artery and high-way of Assam which carrying the water of its tributaries flows throu^out the length of the State, i.e. right from Sadiya, easternmost town of Assam, nay of India, to the westernmost town of Assam - .

The Brahmaputra valley o<»nprises the mod«m districts of Goalpara,

Ka>»^rup, Darrang, Nowgong, Sibsagar and lakhimpur and the frontier tracts of Ballpan and Sadiya. It is an alluvial tract of about 450 miles in length and SO miles in breadth, lying almost east and west in its lower portion, but its upper half tending somewhat to the North-East. The valley is shut from the North and Sast by the Himalayan ranges, from the South by the lOkir, Ehasi and Taintia and o5po hills. The western side of the valley is op«i and it Joins the Ganges valley. In fact, this valley is the easternmost part of Indo-Oangetic plain . *^6 narrow fringe of the ireill along the Gacl:^ district gives an easy access to the cyclones to the heart of the valley."^

The total population of Aseam (47,857.8 square miles), Including 5 the hill districts, is 11,878,778 • The area of the plains of Assam is

84,585.8 square miles and its population is 10,567,6(K5®. The population of the following districts are - Gk>alpara~l,543,098, KSnrup - 8,068,578,

Darrang— 1,889,670, Lakshiraptir— 1,563,848, Nowgong— 1,810,761, and 7 Sibsagar— -1,508390 • About 60 per cent of the people ftf the plains belongs to the Aryan stock. The plain tribals (mostly Bodo and rarely Gero) are occupying somg&reaB here and there In this Talley. Some parts of upper

Assam are mostly oecupieA by the Ahoms and the Chut las, viho belong to the

Jfcngolold stodc. Physiognomically, they are different from the people of

Aryan stock. ^These non-tribal people, i.e. people belonging to the Aryan

stock, physlogaomically and culturally, are quite similar to those of other

States of North India. The hills of Assam are occupied by the hill tribals who may euathropologically belong to Austric and non-Aryan stocks. These pepple speak their own dialects. In the plains, Assamese is the principal

langTiage. Bengali is also spoken by some sections of the people. The

third language of this valley is Bodo language, spoken by the plain tribals•

Structure of Assam - Geologically, Assam may conveniently be divided into three regions, namely, the Ertra-Penlnsular region, the Indo-Gengetlc plain

4. Ibid.

5. Census of India. 1961 Vol. Ill, Pt. II-A p.8ft.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibld> pp.180-144. § region and the Peainsular region® or Assam Plateau^. The Bctra- Peninsular region la represented here by the eastern Himalayas* The Ak;a» Ibar, Mlshlmi and neighbouring hills are included in this region. » « The Brahmaputra valley is included in the Indo-Gangetic alluvium. The

Peninsular region or the Assam Plateau is formed by the ancient rock types. This region may also be teiwed as Central Range and it includes the Goro hills, Khasi end Jaintia hills, North Cach^ hills and Mikir hills

The Peninsvilar region lies along the continuation of the

Archa eans of but is separated from the latter by the Ganges -

Brahmaputra valley.*^ This plateau can be divided into two divisions.

The eastern part of the plateau exhibits "very intricate degree of ix. squeezing as a result of which rocks are faulted and folded." The western part has tindergone very little tertiairy folding. The hills of the pleateau are of relict type. The rivers originating from this plateau, have got conparatively Issser erosive capacity than those of

North. The Brtra-Peninsular region is a zone of geosynclinal belt and 13 •oi^paratively younger in age than the former . Salient characters of

the Indo-Oangetic plain is the extensive occurrence of alluvium. These

extensive deposits of alluvium were brought down from the Himalayas by

8. aoBvmmi, op.eit., pp. 1-2. 9. M.S. Krishnan, Geology of India and Burma, 1956, p.l45. 1 0. , op.eit. p.l* 11. Krishnan, op.eit. 12. Qoswami, op. cit. 13. Ibid. the river Brahmaputra and by its tributaries.

As far as the rook types are concerned, the ’Assam

Himalayas’ or the Eictra-Peninsular region has arehaeans (granites and 14 schists), dalings, buxas and geneisses . The bulk of the Assam plateau

is made of gneisses and granites **with the diversified components,** the

gneisses are believed to be the oldest rock type in the province^®.

••Besides gneiss (granitice in composition) sillimanite - quartz - schists,

Biotite - sillimanite - quartz - cordienite rocks, corundum - silllTianite ■

schists, pyroxene - hornblende - grannulite, hybrid rock etc. are included 16 within the gneissie group of Archaean complex” here.

Routes - Assam is linked with the i^st of India only by her westiem

boundary. Evidently the cultural stream flows from the North or Central

India to Aasam through Bmgal. Till recently, up to the date of parti­

tion of India and Pakistan, East Bengal (nov;, East Pakistan) was the

gatev®y of Assam to have cultural intercourse with India. But after

partition only a narrow margin is left in the eastern boundary of West

Bengal to touch Assam. This is the only route through wfliich Assam main­

tains her trade and communication with the rest of the country. There

is a route from Assam to Burma via Nagaland and Manipur throu^^ which

probably once the Mongolians penetrated to Assam valley. In ancient time

there was a route through Sylhet to Bengal and the sea. At presant

there are some routes from the North bank of the Brahmaputra to N.E.F.A.

and Bhutan.

14. ibid. pp. 54-56. 15. Ibid. pp. 57-58. 16. Ibid. p.56. Pragjyotisa and Karaai^pas - the molent olmes of Aasan - -- Hlstorloaliy, the aame of the State, ‘Assam*, is of quite roeaat origin. The ancient names of this land are Pragjyotisa and . ’Pragjyotisa* is more older than

w m t 17 18 *£eunarupa'. It is nentioned in the Mahabharata and^BSnaya^ • • 19 M •• According to the Raghiivamla of Kalidasa, the Pragjyotisa country laid to the East where the river Brahmapvfcra flows. Pragjyotisapura was the capital of the kingdom of Pragiyotisa. Both the names are identical with each other. This Pi^gjyotisa has beai correctly identi­ fied v.ith Gfeuhati.

The intez^retations of the meaning of the word Prifejyotisapura are given vario\isly by various scholars. Gait means to say that

Pragjyotisapura means the city of "Eastern Astrology.**^ The literal translation of the word should be the '•Glory of the Bast** or the **Light of the East." The name of the city, it seems, had something to do with astronomy and not astrology. Gait’s interpretation, therefore, seems to be wrong. K.L. says that ' it is significant that to the immediate East of the tovm of Gauhati there is a tenple on the crest of a hill known as Citracala, and this ten^le is dedicated to the Navagrahas or the nine planets. It is probable that this temple is the origin of - the name of Pragjyotisapura.21 According to B. Kakati, Pragjyotisa seans

17. B. 0. Law, "Pragjyotisa," J.U.P.H.S.. Vol. m i l , Pt. 1-11, pp. 43 ff.

18. Ibid.

19. B. G. Law, Geographical Essays. Vol. I, p. 152.

20. Op. Pit, p. 15. « P.1 . laBrljy Hiatory of KemaTUpa, 1966, p. 9. 8 to be connected with the topographical features of the land rather than 22 with any religious cult . He thinks that the topographical features correspond to an Austric formation like Pagar-Juh (Jo) - tic (c‘ ar ch), meaning a region of extensive high hills. Hence, Pragjyotisa may be a 23 Sanskritisation of non-Aryan formation • Whatever may be the derivative forms of the word, it is likely that in Pragjyotisapura, which is identi­ fied with modem Gauhati, astron

This country came to be known as Kemarupa probably in the early mediaeval times. It is referred to in many early mediaeval woiks®^.

Hov.ever, inscriptional reference to Karaarupa first occurs in the Allal^ad 84a PraSasti of Samudrogupta . According to a popular legend, Kanadeva was burnt by Siva here. But Kamadeva by dint of his divine power again came to his life (rupa). Hence, the land came to be known as KSnarupa.

The present name of Kamarupa is applied to a modern district only* But in the past KSaairupa kingdom included a part of Bihar and North

Bengal also. When the country was known as PragJyoti«a its western limit E5 extended up to North Bihar •

2S. The Mother Goddess Kamakhya. p. 6.

23. Ibid.

24. See B. K. Barua, A Cultural . Vol. I, pp. 12-13.

24a. Vol. IIX, pp. If.

25. Law, op. cit. Hie name * Assam* was applied to this land In the 15 th century

A.D», when the thorns Oanie to the Brahmaputra valley. These Hhoms belonged to the Shan tribe of Mongolian origin. As regards the derivation of the name

Assam, there are controversies. Some say that it is derived from the

"Ahoras". According to others, "Asama,** the Assamese name of the province, is derived frcHn "Asama,** meaning unequal or peerless. B. Eakati thinks that "Asama" may be a latter-day Sanskritisation of an earlier form of

"SchSfl,** meaning in Tai imdefeated.^® Baden Powell thinks that "Asana" 27 may bederived from "iS-com," meaning the low levelled country . The

Ha-cwii is a Bo^o word. According to another interpretation of sc»ne local people the name may be derived from "a - sama" meaning not plain. IRiat- ever may be the derivative form of "Assam,** it seens that the present name of the State had soraething to do with her people or her physical features.

26. Assamese. Its ^3:niation and PeveloiMient. pp. 1-3.

27. Indian Village Oaanxinlty. p. 135. 1 €

SECTION - II

A SKSrCH or p o u t i c a l histoby

The early history of Assam is in dark. Traditionally the first kings of Assam belonged to non-Aryan tribes, such as Danavas and

Asuras* Mahiranja Dahatra is said to be the first ruler of this coimtry.

He was followed by a few I^nava rulers. Of them the last was Ghataka.

Gihataka was supplanted by Narakasura. Naraka is mentioned in both the epics^. According to the popular legend Naraka was the son of

Visnu who assumed the shape of a boar to lift up Prthivi. Prthivi was the mother of Naraka. It is also said that later he was brought up by

Tanaka, the king of Vedeha. Naraka grew up and defeated Ghataka of fragjyotisa. Thereupon Visnu installed him as the king of Pragjyotisa.

Afterwards he became friendly with Banasura, whose capital wa« at Sonitpur, modern , and grew irreligious. Ultimately he was killed by Tisnu for his (Nara]ca's) evil deeds. After the death of Naraka, his son Bhagadatta, who is mentioned in the Mahabharata. and v^o participated in the ETiruksetra war became the king of Pragjyotisa. After him Vajradatta came to the throne,

It is not known who were the immediate successors of Tajradatta.

The kings of the •rv. ^ ~ The political history of Assam begins with the Pusyararman family foimdatlon of the Yarman dynasty. We feet most valuable data from the

1. Jor an examination of Naraka*s episode see I.A.R.S.. Vol. X, pp. 12-14 and Vol. H , pp. 3-11. n

2 5 account of Hluen Tsang^ Nldhanpur grant , the Doobi grant and .4 thrae olay seals of BhaskaraYaman, found at Nalanda . The Nldhanpur grant contains the names of thirteen kings (and most of their queens also), all of them belonged to the family of PusyaTaiman. It is stated

in the same grant that *^7hen 3,000 years had passed after Vajradatta,

Pufyavarman, the founder of the new line came to the throne of 5 Pragjyotiga." From this it is quite evident that the people of this region of about 6th or 7th century A>D* (as 7th century A>D* is the date of the Nidhanpur inscription) did not know the date of Naraka correctly. SiB5>ly they knew those three rulers from the current tradition. The *9(000 years,* mentioned in the digraph is a vague te m or it may mean number of years.

These inscriptions are not dated. Therefore, we are to face a problem to fix the date of PusyaTarman, the first ruler and the dates of the kings of his family. However, the date of , the last king of this line, is roughly known to us as he was contemporary

of H^favardhana* Accordingly, he is placed in the first half of the 7th

century A.O. Calculating four generations to a century in the usual way,

P. U. Bhattacharya has placed Pu^avarman in the middle of the 4th century

2. E. I.. Vol. XII, pp. 65-79.

3 . Vol. XII pp . 33*^8 and Vo 1. XII, pp * 16“33.

4. jT.B.OJR.S., Vol. VI, pp. 09f and Vol. VI, pp.l51*58{ and *|],*A2R_jS., Vol. IV, pp. 89-92.

5. B. I., Vol. XII, p. 69. 6 7 A«D. K.L. Baroa supports the view of Bhattacharya and considers

FusyavannaJia to be the flrontler king of KSnarupa mentioned in the

Allahabad inacription. But the ass\uaption of the title, Maharajadhi- raja indicates his independent status. No details of Pusyetvarman are known*

PufyaTarinan was followed by Samudravarman. The Doobi grant

indicates that he did not witness any political chao. The assumption

of the title of Maharajadhiraja suggests tliat like his ftither he ruled

as an independent king. He was follomred by BalaTaiman. Like his

predecessors, Balararman also assumee the title of Maharajadhiraja.

That this BeJ,ararman cannot be identified with the one mentioned in g the Allahabad pillar inscription is well examined by P. 0. Choudhury .

Kalyanrarman was the son and successor of BalaTarman. He was succeedee by GenapatiTarman, trtio was followed by his son Mahaadra-

Tarman, Maiiendravarman was repository of all sacrifices. He performed two horse-sacrifices» It appears that he was the first among this liae

of kings to celebrate horse-sacrifices, which was undoubtedly caused by

some political victory. Mahendra was followed by his son NarayaaaTarman who does not appear to have been much renowned like KalyanaTairoan and

Ga^pat ivarman.

6. Kamarupa^SasanaTafc*. Intro. Chap. p. 13.

7. Barly History of Kamarupa. p. 42.

8. The History of the Civilization of the to the twelfth century A»P. p. 137. .1 13

Next ruler is ?Mm^hutivarman, the son and suooessor of Narayana- varman. He is named as Bhutlvarman in the Harsa-carlta of Baaabkatta, which mentions some of the names of the rulers of ancient Assam. The Nidhanpur copper-plate grant was originally issued by this king. But after onee these plates ifi/ere burnt, then Bhaskara reissued them. The Badagan^ rock inacription of this king informs us that he performed a horse sacrifice, but due to what political gain he celebrated this sacrifice is not men­ tioned. This inscription is dated in 234 corresponding ^o 554 A.D. This date is most important for us in kno;ving the time of the king, as the inscriptions mentioned abore are not dated. Bhattasali^, has placed Bhuti-

TarmE?Ji roughly in between 5S0 and 560 A.D. Both of his inscriptions bear witnesE? to the new 'isgour that was added to the kingdom. He mi§^t haTe contested with the late Guptas and extended his sway to Bengal, as K.L. ■’ 10 Barua thinke.

After Bhutivarman, his son Ohandromukhavarman came to the throne.

Chandramxikhavairaan was followed by his son Sthitavarman, who was probably installed as king during the life time of his father. It may be suggested that Chandraniukha* s easy going career was responsible for the disorder in the kingdom, which is ended by the strong hand of SthitaTarman. Bhatta-

sali has rightly ranarked that "the performance of two horse sacrifices by

Mahendra, one by Bhutivarman and two others by SthitaTaxnian Indicates

the grovdng prosperity of the ruling family of K^unarupa.*^

9. Vol. XXI, p. 81. lOi P * IL I.H.g., Vol. XXI, pp. 19f. 14

After Sthltavarman, his son Sugftliitavarman, who was also called SusthiraTarman and Mrga^a, became the king of Zlonarapa* This king was defeated by Mahasenagupta, a powerful later Gkipta king. As a result, Mahasenagupta gained the whole of Pundravardhana bhukti fTGm the Eikarupa king and the western boundary of the kingdcsn of

Karaarupa was pushed back to river Tista. This incident is mentioned 5 — 12 in the Ap9l]:^d inscription of Adityasena *

Susthitavarman had two sons, namely, Supratisthitavarman and

BhaskaraTerman. Supratisthita prdibably reined for a few years. These two brothers immediately after the death of their father had to fight with a mighty invading authority of the Gaudas, as is evident froa the

Doobi grant. P. D. CSioudhury observes that this invading army probably 13 belonged to liahasenagupta . Supratisthitavarman died a premature death. He tos sueoeeded by his younger brother Bhaskaravarman, the most illustrious king of Katnarupa.

The most memorable event in the career of Kumara-Bhaskaravarman was the alliance with Earsavardhana. The life and career of this a king is known ftom the Htfsa*carita. the account of Hiuen Tsang, who visited the kingdoms of Harsa and Bhaskara, and some inscriptions.

Bhaskara made the alliance with Harsa, when the latter marched to take revenge against SadaSka, the ruler of Gauda, vjho had treacherously murdered his brother. The Joint array of Bhaskara and Harsa might have been a blow to Sasanka. But unfortunately there is no

12. C« I» I.. Tol. Ill, p. 206.

I»A.R.S.. Vol. XII, Pt. 1-2, p. SO fn. IS eftncrete evidence to shov/ tliat Harsa succeeded in conquering Oauda during the life time of Sa^anka. Scholars have different Tiews regarding this incident.

V.Tien Hiuen Teang was at the Nalanda nonasterjr for the second time, two requests came fraa Bhaskara to Silabhadra to send the Chinese pilgrim to Kamarupa. By that time Harsa was busy with the conquest of korigoda. At the request of the king of Kamarupa, Hiuen Tsang went to Eamari^a* jffean- while, Harsa came back to the capital and came to know that the great master was in Kamarupa. He then immediately sent a message to Baskara to send the pilgrim back. Thereupon, Bhaskara himself acccmpanied the pilgrim and both of them proceeded towards the West. Harsa reoeiyed them courteously at Kio-shu~ho-kio-lu (Kajurgira, mar modem Rajmahal)^^.

Bhaskara was not a subordinate ally of Harsa. That Harsa treated this king of kamarupa as his equal is evident from the reception given to

Bhaskara by Harsa at the KanauJ and Prayaga assemblies. The reasons for treating him equally may be that Kumara Bhaskara offered his help to Harsa to defeat SasSSka and that Bhaskara invited the Buddhist pilgrim to visit his kingdom, ^iiioh shows his sincere respect for the Law of Buddha, though

Bhaskara vreis not a Buddhist.

Bhaskara was well educated in sastras. The very fact of Bhas> kara’s inviting the Chinese pilgrim to his court is, itself, a proof of his love of learning. This also proves that though he was a devout I

14. Life of Hiuen Tseng, pp. 169-105. l e yet lie was e tolerant of all other faiths*

Bhaskaro outlivj»d Ilarea (606 A.D.-S47 A.D.) by a few yeaTB, He cea be placed with oertsinty betv«en 600 A.D. and 650 A.D.^

Imed lately after the demise of Harsa, his oinifrter, Arjtma usurped his throne* At the erne ti.'w, the Saperor of Ohlaa sent a mlaslon to India* The usurper huinlllated ^ad punished POme of the membern of the raiesicai* I’hweupoa, eome of the memberB fll'ed to Mepal and soo^t the help of the kine there* They got the help from KmPknrtt also, liith the joint for068 they beeame suceeesful In defeating Ar.1una*s foree end took him to Chioa ae a prisoner* ^iioon after thi» erent Bhas^kara expired*

Bhaakara prably did ncrt mnrry and so he wap popularly k&o?^n as

KuBUiirajQ . or Kiraara-Kiapkara. ^ie inference le fui-ther strengthened by the fact that after the demise of Bhask«ra the line of hnByarexmm be- oaite extinet*

The epithent "Itlac of iiastera India", may have been applied by the Chinese F>ouroee orjing to the feet that Bhaak^««a*8 kingdom Included the whole of modern Afisra, large portion of Bengal and sorae portion of

Bihar or at least a pprt of Mlthila bovmdec! on the West by the river KoJl.

Kings of the Salaatambha lanilv - It appeore that after the demise of

Bhaskara there premiled an anarchy la the kingdom in the absonoe of a king on the throne of Kamarupa at least for a few years. Aftertmrds 17

Salastambha came to tlie throne* Like the genealogy of the Yarmana kings,

the genealogy of the kings of the family of the S&Lastambha is also known

from some insoriptiCHis* In all fourteen kings of this dynasty ruled in

Kamarupa. But very little of the careers and achierfflnents of these rulers

are known as the rulers of the Tarmana dynasty.

Considering the authenticity of the reoorAs, Salastambha can be placed in the second half of the 7th centuary Salastambha,

probably on his succession owing to infamy of descent transferred the

capital frOTi Pragjotisapura to Haruppefivara, which is identifiable v;ith

modem Tezpur. £. L. Burua thinks that he ascended the throne about

655

Salastanibha was succeeded by his son Vijaya. The immediate

successor of Yijaya was Palaka, who was followed by EumSra. After

Eumara, Vajradera (Vajradatta 7) caae to the throne. It appears that

from Salastambha to Vajradeva, all the followers of BhaSkaravarma, held undisputed possession of the territories ^ich were aoc^uired by Bhaskara.

After Vajradeva cane Harsavarman to the throne of Kamarupa.

Harsavarman made some conquests towards the south and the West and

extended the limits of his own territory. He was however not allowed to \ remain as the lord of this vast land by Ta^ovarman of KanauJ, who

defeated and killed Harsa in a decisive battle fought probably not prior 18 to 748 A.D., the year in which the Paiupati inscription of Tayadeva, a

king of Mepal to whcMn Rajyamatl, the dau^ter of Harsavarman was given in

marriage, was recorded.

16. B. K. Barua. op. cit., p. 30. 17. Op. cit., p. 69. 18. I. A.. Vol. H, pp. 178f. 11

IfeirsaTarmaii was followed by his son BalaTaimsn II* Next we find the names of chakra and Aratlil in the genealogical list. But they did not rule. Then came to the throne Pralambha, the son of Arthi. After

Pralarabha the throne of Kamarupa was occupied by HarJjaravarraan who is said to b ^ powerful ruler. But nothing is known about his career and achieve­ ments. Eis Tes^ur rock-cut inscription dated 510 G.S. (829 A.D*) is an important record for fixing the dates of the other rulers. The HarJJara- u - puki^i, a big tank near Tezpur, excavated by him still commemorates the king. After this king, his son YanamalaTarman came to the throne. He extended the kingdom as far as the lines of forest near the sea-shore.

His capitamodern Tezpur, was decorated beautifully.

In the last part of the life of Vanamala, the throne was abdicated by him in favour of his son, Jayamala. Jayamala*s second name was probably Tlrabhahu. He was probably contemporary of Devapala, the

Pala king of Bengal, Jayamala, like his father, abdicated the throne in favour of his son Balavarman 111. No account is available of the successors of Balavasaian HI. There is a long gap of about 100 years betv/een Balavarman and HySgasimha, the last king of the Salaatambha dynasty.

It appears that even after Bhaskaravarman, at least the eastern part of Magadha with perhaps the whole of modern Beggal, excepting

Samatata, was under the Eamarupa kings. ISiis supremacy lasted about 100 years till the overthrow of Harsavarman (about 750 A.D.). Vanamala made some conquests and extended his sway to parts of fouth-Bast Bengal including Sylhet, Tripura and lumensingh and Pundravardhana in the North 19

Bengal* It seems, his sucoossors Jayamala and Balavannan could not retain those territories* But BalaTaxman must hare made fresh conquests in North Bengal.

Kings of the family of Brahmapala - The family of Salastambha became extinct by the death of Tyagasimha. So, Brahmapala, an youth, who belonged to a collateral line of the same family as that of his predecessors, both tracing their descent from Naraha, was selected by the subjects as the • — - 19 — king of Kamarupa, as is mentioned in the Bargaon inscriptiai . Bralmpala probably bccne to the throne by 1000 A.D* It seems that during Brahma* pala*s reign, Kimarupa tois attacked by Jatavarman, son of Vajravarman of the then of eastern Magadha, v^en the Pala poner began to wane^* It is not knom how long Brahmapala ruled but it appears that ?dien

Ratnapala grew up Brahmapala abdicated in his favour.

Ratnai^a, the son of Brahmapala, ascending the throne forti­ fied the capital, Durjaya. It is not klear whether he or his father shifted the capital from Haruppedwar to Sri Ourjaya, identifiable with

North Gauhati. Ratnapala ruled for a long time* He assmed the title of

Paramedwara Paramabha^taraka Maharajadhiraja, while his father had the title of Maharajadhiraja. This ai^ly prores that he was more powerful.

Ratnapala had a son named Purandarapala. It seems, Purandara diee) as TuTaraja and did not rule* Therefore, Indrapala, the son of

Ratnapala, next came to the throne. Like Ratnapala, Indrapala also ruled

19. J.A.S.B.* Vol. IXVII, Pt. I, pp. 99f.

£0. K. L* Barua, op. cit.» p. 87. 2 0

for a long time* Indrapala was sueoeeded by his son Qopala, who ascended the throne about the middle of the 11th eenturjr A»D» Qopala was followed by Ihrsapala in the throne. Then came to the throne of

Kamarupa Dharmapala^ the son of Harsapala* It appears that Dharmapala

ruled for a long time* He was succeeded by son Jayapala» who was the

last king of this dynasty. No detiils of these kings are available.

These kings ruled in due order of succession from about 985 A*D* to

11S5 A.D., when king Jayapala was OTerthrovm by nSnapalai a Pala inil«r

of Bengal. The Pala rulers of Assam were not related to the Pala rulers

of Bengal. The rulers of the Brahmapala family of Assam were different

from the rulers of the Go;i^a fa>ntly of Bengal.

These rulers fought several battles with the rulers of

Bengal for supremacy. Sometimes the rulers of Kamarupa and sometimes

the rulers of Bengal were defeated. But up to the time of Dharmapala,

it is evident from the inscriptions, the rulers of Assam could maintain

the supremacy over North Bengal.

Reign of TiAaradeva and others - After the conquest of Kinarupa, Ramapala

set up a vassal king, TlAgyadeva by name, in the throne of Kamarupa. But

soon after Tiigyadeva rebelled against the lord of Gau^, Kumarapala,

the son and successor of Ramapala. But Kumarapala could easily defeat

him. Ai'terwards Vaidyadeva, the minister of Kumarapala, was entrusted

with the administration of Kamarupa. Vaidyadeva also did not remain long

as feadatory of the Palas of Bengal. For, within a short time, pcsslbly

after the death of Kumarapala, he declared independence and established

a jJrahmana kingdom in Kamarupa. He probably ruled till 1150 A.D.®^.

21. K. L. Barua, op. clt. p. 128. 2 i

It is not known idio suooeeded Vaidyadeva.

22 / The Assam plates of Vallabbadeva dated Saka era 1107 correspondtng to 1185 A.D., refers to a new line of kings. Here the genealogy of Vallabhadeva is traced from Bhaskara, lAiom Bhattasali^ wants to identify with Bhaakarararman. The names of the kings given in this epigraph are Rayarideva, TJdayakarna and Vallabhadeva. There is a controversy among the scholars aregarding the identification of these kings* It appears that they were immediate suooessors of Vaidyadeva or his probable successor Budhadeva* Probably either at the hands of 24 Vallabhadeva or hie successor Bakhtiyar was defeated in 1202 A*D«

The name of another king of the period is mentioned in the

Gichtal inscription, dated 1227 A*D. He is Sundaradeva of whom details are lacking.

Sultan Giyasuddin IwaJ led an expedition into fKatnrud"

(Kamarupa) and "Bang" in 12S6 A*D. The next Itftihanunad invasion was tMt of XkhtiyasMJddin Yuzleak Tughrilkhan of about 1257, Soon after these invasions the old kingdom of Kainarupa sems to have split up into small principalities. By the beginning of the 13th century A.D. the Xhoms entered Assam through her eastern boundary and founded their dynasty.

The first Xhom king was Suk^ha who came to Assain in 1228 A«D.

22. Sa., Vol. T, pp. 181-188.

S3. , p p . 1—14. 22

He introduced tlie Ahom rule in the Brahmaputra vaUfiy. He was followed by a number of rulers. The last king was Furandara Shing whose rule was

ended by 1819. In all the Ahoms ruled in Assam for about six centuries.

Soon after Assam eeme to the hands‘of the British government. Daring

the rule of the Xhoms many a time the Muslims from the West attacked

Assam. But thinly failed to occupy any part of the State. The terror*

caused by the l£ns from Burma to the during the last phase of Ihom rule is a memorable event in the history of Assam. A

The stronghold of these people was in upper Assam. In the lower Assam, a separate kingdom, JEamata by name, was formed. This kingdom

included only the Cfoalpara district of Assam and Cooch-Behir district of

Bengal. Ultimately, fji the 19th century, it also oame to the British

hand. 23^ SECTION - III

COLTURAL BAGKGROXIND OF ASSAM

The earliest Inhabitants of Assam were the neolithic people, as is evident from the neolithic finds from many regions of this State. Earlier some British administrators found some neolithic implements in the N^a hiU^and in a few places of the Brahmaputra valley. But of late M.C. Goswami and T.O. Sarma have revealed the potentiality of this culture by excavating somfe sites in the district of , Cachar hills, Mikir hills and Garo hills^.

Among the sites mention may be made of Deojali Hading in the North

Cachar hills and Selbalgiri in the Qaro hills, which have yielded numerous stone implements of that period. The distribution of the neolithic site proves that the settlements of these people were mainly confined to the hills and the higher ground along the edge of the plains^.

Assam in her earliest period of civilization witnessed the movements of the people of various strain^. Linguistic evidence, popular customs euid some of the place names of the province indicate

1. I.A.R., 1962-63., p. 3, 1964-65, p. 8; 1967-68, pp. 7-8. Also see, T.O. Sarma, The Prehistoric Archaeology of Assam - A study of neo­ lithic cultures (da unpublished Ph.D. the sis) ^University of London, 1966.

£. Kanarupa. 1967, p. 89.

3. Ibid.. pp. 10-13. 24 that speakers of the Indo-Chinese language of Mon-Khemer famUiy which has been oharacteirlsed by Sehlndt as the Austrlc family of languageet came to Assam in a fairly early period. Though it is not possible to say exactly in v^ich period they filtered into Assam, yet it appears that they penitrated into this proTinoe long before the advent of the Aryan or the people belooglsg to the Aryan stock frmi the West®.

The next wave of Indo-Chinese inTasi()n is represented by the

Tarious peoples speaking Tibeto-Burman languages. After reaching the

Brahmaputra Talley they were divided into several groups and occupied the different hills of the State* It seems, they failed to occupy the

Xhasi and Jaitia hills and it remained under the occupation of the

Austric-speaking people. The most important groiQ) of the tribes of the Tibeto-Burman people was represented by the Bodos. They mainly occupied the plains of Assam. The Bodos,who are also known as the

Kachirls or the plain tribal of Assam, built strong kingdoms under / various fortunes held sway over one or another part of the province during historical times. There are seme places and rivers in Assam

K^ose names originated frcm the Boda language.

VJhen and how the Aryans entered Assam from the West is not quite clear. But it seems that they CEsne ccmparatively at a late period^

4. Kakati, op. cit., pp. 32-47.

5. Hutton, however has found traces of a Negrito substratum in the population of the inaccessible areas between Assam and Burma. They seem to have formed one of the earliest strains in the population of Assam. See, Man in India. Vol VII, pp. 257-262 and Vol. XII, pp. 1-18. 6 . Kamarupa, 1967, p. 10. 25

The Vedlc literature speakB of a Bastem India as a Mleccha countiy'^.

The MahSbhirata refers to it as a meccha kingdan whloh itas ruled over

by king Bhagadatta. In the same work it is referred to also as an

Asura kingdom ruled over by the Asuras, i.e. NaraCasura and ohhers®.

This shows that the Aryans did not go to Assam at an early period, and

that during the ^dic and the l^ie periods this region was ruled by the

Asurasy who were non-Aryans and the predeceesors of the Aryans. Ray- 8a choudh\iry , while giving the description of the kingdom of Kosala in » the age of great Janaka, says that the river Sadeh&a (in B:

for a time the limit of the Aryan world in that direction and beyond it WBiB a marshy region, not frequented by the BrahmaMS. Majuradar says that gradually increasing number of high-class Aryans poured into

Bengal from the middle of India in the early centuries of the Christian

era, either in the uske of military campaigns or for more peaceful pursuits.

All this shows that the Aryan migration to Assam tocdc place at a later period and before that Assam was dominated by the

Asuras i.e. non«ATyans. Now let us see who these Asuras were. Banerji*

Bhastrl has contributed two exhaustive papers on the Asuras, wo are 9 referred to in the Tedic and the Brahmanical literature. He has shown that these Asuras migrated frtai Assyria to India earlier than the

7. See Dlkshitar, Vol. XU, pp. 89f. U Bhandarkar, A.B.O.R.I.. Tol. HI, pp. 1(^116.

8. Za w , , p. 152. 8a. Political History of Ancient India, p; 77. 8b. History of Bengal, p. 564. See X.B.O.R.S., Vol. XII, pp. 243'“884, and pp. ^55""358. 26

Aryans* They first established themselves in the Indus valley. Later

the Aryans came and fou^t with thffiti. The Asuras were defeated and

pushed downwards. As a resxilt, they came down to Madtayadesa and made a

stronghold there. But afterwards, again they were beaten up by the

Aryans. Ultiaiately, some of them had to go further to the East, i.e.,

Bengal and Assam, while the others entered the South India (?). The

author further remarks that "Jarasandha at Rajgir^ and Bhagadatta in

Pragjyotifa attest Asura individuality through ^io days and later**

and that "the closing point in the history of individual Asiira chiefs

centres round Bhagadatta of AsRam and North Bengal (Pragjyotisa) and Jax^sandfof Magadha.**^^ Bhagadatta was an Asura king viho was called Uleocha^. Mlecoha is allied to Mlech, IMalka, an ABsytian form which is e s t m used as Mlek or Maljlk in Baluchistan and as Malik in the Inilis

vaUey.13

With a view to finding out the real nature and content of the cultures represented by the Asura sites and to determining their chronoldgicel position in relation to other cultures of the northern

Indian plains, excavation was conducted at Saradkel and Eunjla in Bihar^'^

It is proved from both the sites that the culturej* represented by these so called As\ira sites was an iron using one and did not represent

11. Ibid.. p. 555.

12. Ibid. 18 , Ibid. There are some Bodos in Assam xvho used the sixmame of Mech which might be derived from Mleccha.

14. I.A.R., 1964-65, pp. 11-12. 2 1 in any of Its phases a conQ>letely stone or oopper assemblage. It Is reasonable to infer that the culture may belong to 100 or EOO A.D.

Therefore, our oonjeeture is that on this basis Naraka and

Bhagadatta may be placed in 100 A,0* and that they and scvae of their predecessors, such as, Mahiranga, Ghatakasura etc. represented the early Asuras in Assam. P.C. Ohoudhury rightly says that Naraka end

Bhagadatta might hare flourished about 100 These Asuras were none but the non-Aryan people.

After the end of the Asura rule in Assam the Aryans might hare started penetrating into Assam slowly. P.O. Ohoudhury, it seems has rightly remarked that Bhagadatta might hare come under the Aryan influence^. For, Bhagadatta is an Aryanisud name. Moreover, Bhaga­ datta and his successor Vajradatta were the kings of the last phase of the Asura rule in Assam.

Apart fran the literary evidence, we have inscriptional evidence to shovj that in the early centuries of Christian era Aryan people, who came from the West of Assam, settled in the Brahmaputra valley. Fran the beginning of the 6th century A.D. it has become custo­ mary on the part of the rulers of Assam to create agrahara settlements for the Brahmanas and this royal policy was largely responsible for

14. Op. Cit». P« 184. Eakati places Narakasura in about 200 A.D. See B.K. Ba¥ua, Op. cit., p. 16

15. Ibid. p. 103. 2§ the settloneiat of the Brahmaaas and some other high class Aryans

(inferior to Brahmanas) in the land. The ^stem of settling BrSmanas from Bengal and other parts of India was continued right up to the

Ihoaa period. The same practice was in vogae in Bengal urtio imported

Brahmans fran variois corners of the middle India in a period between the 6th and lEth centuries As a result of the spread of the

Aryan culture, Karaarupa, as shown by yuan Chwang ljecajT^^.a noted centre of the Brahmanical learning in the early mediaeval period.

Thus with the Aryanisation in Assam, became very popular.

This religion became attractive so much so that even some of the petty non-'Hindu tribes cane to be Hindus. By this time Sanskrit became the most poinilar language in the plains of Assam. This langusige not only became the .court language during the historical period but also it became the medium of expression for poets and thinkers. As a result, by about 10th century the modem Assamese developed as lan Aryan speech out of Sanskrit.

The »8tilmes of the kings of Aryan affiliation was ended as soon as (by the beginning of the 13th century A.D.) the Shans, also known as the ^oms overran and conquered Assam. They occupied the plains of Assam and si^l their decendants are inhabiting most of the portions of upper Assam.

With the settlement of the Aryan people Hinduism became popular in the land as we have already shown. Gradually, the grip of 29 this faith became so tight In Assam that except the people ifrtio wore occupying the hills, the whole bulk of the population of Assam became

Hindus. Buddhlam and Jainism could not enter Assam. We know very well that these religions existed in Bihar and Bengal, the neighbouring regions of Assam. The reason of not entering the two faiths into

Assam from her neighboiaring States may be that the people of the State was strong adherents of Hinduism and that the rulers of Assam patronis­ ed Hinduism only. Moreover, the hilly tribes of Assam had their o m customs and beliefs affiliated to the non-Aryan faiths. Therefore, lear- ing Assam aside, the propagators of Buddhism and Jainism advanced South-

Eastjwards to preach the laws of Buddha and Mahavlra in the South

East Aeiatlo coTintries.

r Among the important cults that existed in Assam were Saltta,

/ ^ Valsi^va, Sakti and %trya which could attract the religious mind of the / f Hindus. Saivlsm or at least the worship of Siva was popular in Assam from the early centuries of the Christian era and it became popular / both among the aboriginals and Aryanised people. The numerous Siva- lingas lying scattered in the ruins of the old temples belonging to a period ranging tram, about 5th to 9th century A.D. bear testimony to the fact that once this cult was very popular in Assam.

Zn addition to this, we get more comprehensive data pertain- ing to the predominance of Saivlsm in this land frcMa the epigraphs belonging to the pre-iShom age. Prior to the king Dhaa^apala (ISth / century) A.D.) all the rulers of Assam were devotees of Siva. In almost / all the insiriptions of these rulers invocations are made to Siva. In the Nldhanpur grant of Bhaskaravarman, for instance, the Invoking verse is It"Om Pra^amya devaw Sasi-sekhara-prlyam pinakina bhasma- 30 kaaair-vlbhusita”^® and in the Doobi grant of the same ruler the verse

of inyooation to Siva Is "Pranajnya {devam fiasisekharara prij/am plni) kin am bhasmaka...... In the KTianwimiifhl grant Siva is invoked

as ardhanarlsvara (vsndi tamardhayuMatlsvaraJnadldeBa)^. That Saivlsa of that period was a fully developed oult with various sub-cults can be seen from the various names of Siva such as He-^uka-i^in (Tezpur grant of Vanaraiala), ^ambhu (Gauhati grant of Ratnapal^ Parsmamaliesvara (Tezpur rock inscription), Rudra (Noxirgong grant of Vanamala) etc, mentioned

in connection with the erection of some i^iva temples and invocations in the inscriptions*

Apart from the archaeological data, we have literary evidence to show the popularity of daivism in old Assam* This fact is mainly substantiated by the Kalika-puregia^^ and the Yogini Tantra^. Even now the cult is popular in the plains and sane hilly regions of Assam.

The worship of Yisnu was evidently prevalent in Assam from early times as it is already referred that the king of Kamarupa traced their lineage to 7imu through Naraka. looking at the archaeological data that have come to light, it can be safely r«narked that / Vaisnavism was in no way less popular than Saivism in old Assam. Images

16. Vol. XII, p.73.

17* Vol» XII, p. 16

18. Ibid.. Vol. VIII, p. 116.

19. B.K. Barua, Op* cit., pp. 143-144.

E0> Jbid* n of Vlsnu are notloed in each and every comer of the Brahmaputra valley, as in Bengal and other parts of India. Howerer, like most of the Vienu images of Bengal , most of these images frwa Assam belong to a period from 10th to 12th century A.D. Images of VaisnaTa cult belonging to a period prior to the 8th century are rare in Assam.

In addition to the iconagraphical data^we get epigraphio eTidenee to show that Vaisnavism was a popular cult in Assam in the early mediaeral period. The earliest recorded reference to the worship of Visnu in Assam ocetirs in the Badgaiga rock inscription of Bhutiyarman (6th century), and the king is here mentioned as ’Paraaadaivata-Paranabhaga- po ▼ata’ . The next concrete evidence is found in the Puspabhadra grant of

Bharmapala (12th century). It begins with an adoration of VbrahaJfetira of 7imu} and in the record itself the donee is referred to as a Brah- mana, who was "from his birth a worshipper of the lotus-like feet of

Ifedhava (yo balyatah prabhrttmadhalfepadapadmapujaprapaiiioa^aoanam •• S3 suciram cakara) . Ehattecharya has rightly remarked that DharaapSLa at the time of issuing this grant, embraced the Vaisnava ffeith®*.

Nov;, are see^ that both iconagraphical and insoriptional data prove that the cult became very popular during 10th — 12th century A.D.

21. Bhattasali, Iconaeraphy of Buddist and Brahmanioal Sctilptures In the Decca Iftiseum. 1929, p. 78.

22. J.A.R.S.. Vol. VIII, p. 139

23. K^arupa sisanavaH. pp. 168f.

24. Ibid.. p. 170. 38 and the cult was Introdaoed in the land about 6th century A«D* Prior to the 7th centiiry A.D., in all probability, the ^iva cult was very popular

In Assam, but side by side Vais^va cult did exist. The extreme popula­ rity of the cult in the 12th century was probably caused by Jayadeva, the Vaifnava propogator of Baigal of Ifith century who cc»5)osed the Gita- Gtovinda^. The Jhoms, who came to Assam in the 13th centviry A.D., also became adherents of the cult and still this cult is popular aoK^ng the majority of the people of the Brahmaputra valley.

/ / Tust like Sairism and Tai^avism, Saktism ims also quite popular in Assam. In fact, Bengal and Assam yiere the hme-land of Se^ian

Sliot thinks that the birth place of Saktism as a definite sect seems to pA have been eastex>n India . H« H. Wilson in tbe preface to his translation of the Visnupurma says that it is a singular and uninvestigated circum­ stance that Assam, or at least North-East of Bengal seems to have been in a great degree the source from liiioh the Tantrism end Saktism proceeded.

Tiie origin and later growth of seme of the important element of T^triem are to be attributed to the non-Aryans in ancient Assam®^.

But strangely enough, except the images of Ifehisamardinl and

Camun^, images of other goddesses of this cult are rare in Assam. Images of Mahisamardinl are found everyxvhore in Assam, as in Bengal, Orissa,

Bihar and some other parts of India. We have eJ-so noticed sane images of

25. Bhattasali, op. cit.. p. 95. << S6. Hinduism and Mmdhism, Vol. II, p.78 ■. A 27. Choudhury, op. cit.. pp^413-16. Cam^da at Karaikhya. These isaiges, stylistically, belong to about 11th oeiltiiry A«D. It is also a matter of surprise that In the inseriptions therj^ is no trace of Salcti worship, except the reiled references in the grant of Vanamala end Indrapala to the temples of "Kamesvara Maha'^uri" and

Maha-Geuri Eamesrara". The reason is not quite clear* Barua thinks that the silence may, howerer, be due to the fact that "^aktism repi^sieats a particular phase of religion which was in the main perscoal and eso­ teric*®’*, and so this cult had no connection vith any public religious order or establishment* He further says that personal in origin, its tenets and history were preserred in a special class of magic and sacra" mental literature, comonly knom as Tantras^. It is also may be due to that the goddesses of this cult were wcnrshipped by the Svetas in aniconic or symbolic foxn. Even the famous Konakhya temple, the principal centre of Sakti worship, does not house any image of the deity in the garbhagrha* l%iere are some other Sakta temples in Assam where the Devi is still worshipped in aniconic foxn* / Traditionally, Sektism is considered to have its centre in

Kamario>a with its chief temple at Eantakhya. Another famous centre of aakti worship is the Tatnre^arl tanple at 5^diya. Howerer, the present

Kamakhya tenqple was reaorated by a Koch king and the TaairesTarl ten^le was

27a. Op. Pit*, p. 14B.

28. Ibid. 34

built In the days of the Ahoms. Evidently, they belong to late pwlods*

There axe some other Sakta tsaples in Assam whloh were either re&OTBited

or built in the days of the Kooh and ][hom« However, from the ruins of the

laiiiakhyi hAll it is eyident, that there was some old Sakta ta^le, and

this idea is substantiated by the extant Cffinunda images at the site.

The Singri ruins also evidently belong to a Devi tOTiple, as a Dorga image was found in the ruins.

The galika-Durana^^. a work of about 10th century A.D.

desoribes many Sakti goddesses^® and it refers to the popularity of the

worship of Devi in old Assam. The existing materialsrecords and

remains, therefore, point the widespread prevalence of the cult®^. Even

•ften the Vaii^ava reformation, a great bulk of the population remained f as i^ktas and the tenqple of KioBakhya is still one of the great centres

of Sakta worshipers, and hundreds of animals, birds are sacrificed at

the altar of the Devi in the name of religion. In the past, even the human

sacrifice was in vogue in Kamakhya and TSnre^ari temples.

The cult of Surya also existed in old Assam. The antiquity of

the cult of Sorya is indicated by the very name Prajyotisa (meaning

29. R.C. Hazra, Studies in the Upa-puranasJTol. II, pp. 184-2IB} also PJC. Gk>de, "The Date of the Kalika-'purana,” J.O.R. Yol. V, pp. 289t 894

30. PJC. Gode. Oomm. Vol. pp.1-18.

SI. Sliot, * FP* 288**90. 35

Light of the East or Eastern astronamy), which finds mention in some of the eariy literary works, and others like NaTagraha and Suxys^ahar.

In addition to the literary eTidence, hare suffi­ cient arehaeologioal materials to proye that once the cult was very popular in Assam, as in Bengal . Many images of Surya hare been noticed in the State* All these images belong to a period, ranging from the 6th to ISth centtiry A*D* No in^e of Surya belonglBg to the Abom period has come to light, so far. Most of the discovered images of the god belong to the 11th — 12th century A.D. It is probably due to the fact that some of the Sena kings of Bengal were devotees of and thAi caused popularity of the cult.

In Tezpur the ruins of a teinple lead us to infer that originally the teragple urns dedicated to siu?ya. But we 40 not get inscrip- Ji tion^referenoes to the popularity of this cult in Assam* HoweTer, in the Gauhati grant of Indrapala occurs an expression, “aditya-bhattiraka" which Hoemle takes to mean Holy Adltya or Sun-god®*.

In sSrya-Pal^, according to a local belief, was an Impor* tant centre of this cult. At Nanagraha, CSauhati, there is a tenple dedi­ cated to the Nal&grahas^^. It is a late temple vsher© the deities are

S2. Bhattasali, op. cit., p. 77

33. Ibid. 34 • ., Tol. IXVI, pp. U3~^S. 35. See D. Chutia, "Some observation on the Aniconic symbols of the Navagraha Temple at Geuhs.ti** 7.A.R.S*. Vol. XVIII, pp. 98-106. 36

worshipped in aniconic foxms. There are, however, at the present time, no dAstlaot sects who reyerenoe Soiya and bear his name in Assaia. But the essentials of his worship are present everywhere in Assam and in many sects, more or less avowedly or in disguise. The present Magh-bihu whieh is popular in the Brahmaputra valley definitely traces its origin from the i^irya worship In vogue in old Assam.

Besides the major cult images of Yl^u, Siva, Devi and Siu*ya, we have some references to other minor gods and goddesses whose ordinary representations are also found in Assam. The icoos of minor gods and godd­ esses, such as, Ganes'a, Karttlkeya, Indra, Euvera, Laksntl, Sarasvatl,

Manasa ete. belonging to the early mediaeral period are found in Assam.

But we have no definite knowledge of their eultei^^. Thou£^ numerous images of 06;ae3a are noticed in the province, yet there is no sufficient evidence to show that Gei^patya was prevalent in Assam. Even to day he is popular among the people of the plains of Assam as a minor deity and not as a cult deity. Now, it seems, except the worship of Qenesa, LatcsmI, Saras- vati and Manasa the worship of other gods are relegated into background.

That Buddhism could not get a solid foundation in Assam is a fact. Not a single image of,indigenous nature has been noticed in Assam. -A Only a few images of Buddha have been found in this land, but all of them are portable and they are evidently imported from the neighbouring regions where the Law of Buddha had its strong hold. However, it is not known how and when they were Impoirbed to Assam. It is not unlikely that some section of the people of Assam in the early mediaeval period were tanpted to

36. See, BJC. Barua, op. cit. p. 1!»5 and Choudhury, op. cit.. pp. 487-428 37 accept the Law of Buddha, as this religion was veiy popular In Bengal,

Bihar, Nepal and Bhutan, the States bordering Assam, In the hey>-days of Buddhism; and it also may be Inferred that those few Images mi^t have been brought to Assam by scsne traders or some people who wanted to introduce the religion in Assam but could not do so as the royal authori­ ties were Hindus*

Regarding the existence of Buddhism in Assam, not a single digraph of the early rulers gire any direct hint. The expression of

**dhanDa” and *tathagata" which occur respectlTely in the BhaskaraTaxnan* s and Indrapala*s grants have led some scholars like K. L. Barua^^ and others to conclude that Buddhism existed in Assam. P. Bhattacharya^^ has rightly shown that the Nidhanpur grant of Bhaskaravarman in ;diich the word

"Dhama" occurs was issued from Earnasuvarna, the place of victory

(of Bhaskar), which was in Bengal. Probably the locality of the grant had scHnethlng to do with Qharma. We know from^ousL Chwang's description of Karnasurar^ that the place had many Buddhist statues and temples. Bhaskara, vho had bec(»ne liberal in views on account of his long associa­ tion with the king Harsa idio was a patron of Buddhist, tried probably to gain popularity by the insertion of a passing tribute of respect to the loodZ creed In his inscription^^. However, we cannot say, basing on this passing expression, that Buddhism flourished in Assam*

Zn all the epigraphs of the rules of Assam, excepting the

Badga^a inscription of Bhutivarman, prior to Dharmapala (ISth century A.Qi

37. Op. cit . p. 97.

58. Tol. zn, p. 70. 59. Ibid. ^ 0 word*tathagata* mentioned in the Qauliati grant of Indrer pala leads K. M. dapta to infer theexistence of a Surya teiqple. See I.H.g.t Tol. 3XVZ, p. SSf. The same word occurs in the Pu^abhadra grant of I&armcg>ala also. InTooations are made to SlTa. But a Dharmapala at last oaine forward to

give up the traditional tutelary deity, Sira, and to accept Vienu as

the tutelary deity, who is invoked in the beginning of his Puspabhadra

grant* Dharmapala was probably influenced by Jayadera, the propagator

of Valsnarism of Bengal in IBth oentiiry A.D. Therefore, if there would

hare been any change in the religion, it would have been certainly indica­ ted in the inscriptions of the local rxilers.

On the other hand, we do not find any indication as regards the existence of Buddhism, in the writings of Tuan Ghwang* He >i»i« men** tioned that in 7th century A«D« the people of Kmnaxupa worshipped the

Devas and did not believe in Buddhism, ^ain, he has remarked that hund­ reds of fteva ten^ples existed in Assaa^. Moreover, Bhaskaravaman himself was a devotee of Siva. Ofcoxirse, it is true that Bhaskara had a deep respect for this Buddhist pilgrim and out of his good feelings of the heart he invited the Master to pay a visit to Assam.

There is a strong tradition current in Nepal and Bhutan that the Mal^parinirvana of Buddha took place in Eusinara or £usinagara, a town in l^marupa. WaddUe^ identified it with the modem town of

/ _ Soalkuchi, near Gauhati and in the proximity of Hajo, nAiere the

Hayagrlva-lfcidhava temple exists. This Soalkuchi and also Ha Jo are visited

the Bhutanese Buddists. But the identification of Waddlle is quite

40. Watters, On Yuan Ohwang*s travels in India. Vol. II, pp. 186f.

41. Buddhism of Tebet, pp. 307f. misleading. That Buddha breathed his last at Eusinagara» a plaoe in

Uttar Pradesh is an established fact, which has been aooepted all seho- lars. K. L* Barua rightly says that WaddUe*s identification is evidently wrong^. The Bbatanese (or Tibetan?) tradition is based on soti® ’’jiauthenti^t information* The Bhutanese also come to visit Bajo and some of them say that Buddha died at Hajo. Similarly, some of the Buddhist Bhutanese t

Singri regularly with the same intention i.e. to pay homage to the Lord.

The Tibetan historian Tiranatha ,in his history of Buddhism, compiled in 1606, refers to the fact that the people of Ksnarupa were the worshippers of the imn prior to the adrent of the Buddhist monk Dhitika^ who came there to conrert the people from Sun worship to Buddhism. In order to persuade the Sun*^orshippers to listen to him, DhitUca started pretending thd^lie was an envoy of the Sun god; and having attracted their attentioit in this way, he revealed the Buddhist gospel there^. In the same way, it is now clear that the people of Butan and Nepal (also

Tibet?) were miss led by the Buddhist monks. Therefore, it is to be sure, that their tradition is based on some wrong information. And, in this way the Buddhist monks tried to attract and convert the people of

Assam. But they were not given any recognition by the Hindus.

P. C. Choudhury has gone a step further to find evidence in some Buddhist works oor^iled at far off places from Assam, to make his argument strong that Buddhism did flourish in Assam^. &. R. Choudhuxy

4£. J.A.R.3.. Vol. II, pp. 39f.

43. Sehiefner, Taranathe de Doctrinae Buddhicae in India Propagatlione. p. S4l; also B. K. Barua, op. cit., p. 155.

44. Op. cit.. pp. 399-406. 40

tries to prove that the Kaiaakhya tenple was originally a Buddhist stupa^.

U. C, Talukdar^® opines that Buddha died at Haj«. The theories of these scholars are not at all oonyineihg due to laok of oorroboratire eridenoe. Thereforei on the basis of the above discussion, we can safe­ ly conclude that Buddhism was not accepted at all by the people of old

Assam, as to-day, and extend our support to the theories of B. K. Barua^ and others who plaad that Buddhism could not enter Assam.

Hinduism is the principal religion of Assaai at present.

The sa’ne past culture of the Aryans still exists in the Brahiaaputra Talley with slight modification here and there. However, almost all the M n tribes have become Christian during the British rule. During the Mo^al period, as a result of the attei^ts of the Masllm to Invade Assam, majQT

Muslims were left in the state. Now their number has been increased*

Amongst the pure Assamese people there are Christians. But they are microscopic minority. Buddhists in the State are extremely rare, as in the other States of India in the present time. I 'Xh.r6^~u

45. See, Buddhistic Remains in the Mllacala-Hlll.

4Ca. See, The Place of Mahaparimirvana Gautama Buddha.

4A* ®