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Revision as of 05:53, 21 August 2012
Indian literature |
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Ancient |
Early Medieval |
Medieval to early Modern |
Assamese literature (Assamese: অসমীয়া সাহিত্য) is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes popular ballads in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contemporary form. The literary heritage of the Assamese language can be traced back to the c. 9-10th century in the Charyapada, where the earliest elements of the language can be discerned.
History
The history of the Assamese literature may be broadly divided into three periods:
Early Assamese (6th to 15th century)
The Charyapadas are often cited as the earliest example of Assamese literature.[1] The Charyapadas are Buddhist songs composed in 8th-12th century. These writings bear similarities to Oriya and Bengali languages as well. The phonological and morphological traits of these songs bear very strong resemblance to Assamese some of which are extant.
After the Charyapadas, the period may again be split into (a) Pre-Vaishnavite and (b) Vaishnative sub-periods. The earliest known Assamese writer is Hema Saraswati, who wrote a small poem Prahlada Charita. In the time of the King Indranarayana (1350–1365) of Kamatapur the two poets Haribara Vipra and Kaviratna Saraswati composed Asvamedha Parva and Jayadratha Vadha respectively. Assam is known as the state of Ekasarana Dharma. Because two great apostles, Srimanta Shankardeva and Madhabdev had undertaken pivotal roles in Assamese literature. The Kirtan Ghosa, Dasham, Ankia Nat, Gunamala, Namghosa are the most popular and widely held books in Assam. Srimanta Sankardeva And Madhabdev has changed the literature of Assam by writing these books. The Borgeet written by both Sankardev And Madhabdev is known as the soul song of Assam. The Ankia Nat and Jumura are the first Indian cultural drama and these are acts that came before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. Another poet named Rudra Kandali translated Drona Parva into Assamese. But the most well-known poet of the Pre-Vaishnavite sub period is Madhav Kandali, who rendered Valmiki's Ramayana into Assamese verse (Kotha Ramayana, 14th century) under the patronage of Mahamanikya, a Kachari king of Jayantapura.
Middle Assamese (17th to 19th century)
This is a period of the prose chronicles (Buranji) of the Ahom court. The Ahoms had brought with them an instinct for historical writings. In the Ahom court, historical chronicles were at first composed in their original Tibetan-Chinese language, but when the Ahom rulers adopted Assamese as the court language, historical chronicles began to be written in Assamese. From the beginning of the 17th century onwards, court chronicles were written in large numbers. These chronicles or buranjis, as they were called by the Ahoms, broke away from the style of the religious writers. The language is essentially modern except for slight alterations in grammar and spelling.
Modern Assamese
Effect of British rule
The British imposed Bengali in 1836 in Assam after the state was occupied in 1826. Due to a sustained campaign, Assamese was reinstated in 1873 as the state language. Since the initial printing and literary activity occurred in eastern Assam, the Eastern dialect was introduced in schools, courts and offices and soon came to be formally recognized as the Standard Assamese. In recent times, with the growth of Guwahati as the political and commercial center of Assam, the Standard Assamese has moved away from its roots in the Eastern dialect.
Influence of Missionaries
The modern Assamese period began with the publication of the Bible in Assamese prose by the American Baptist missionaries in 1819. The currently prevalent standard Asamiya has its roots in the Sibsagar dialect of Eastern Assam. As mentioned in Bani Kanta Kakati's "Assamese, its Formation and Development" (1941, Published by Sree Khagendra Narayan Dutta Baruah, LBS Publications, G.N. Bordoloi Road, Gauhati-1, Assam, India) – " The Missionaries made Sibsagar in Eastern Assam the centre of their activities and used the dialect of Sibsagar for their literary purposes". The American Baptist Missionaries were the first to use this dialect in translating the Bible in 1813.
The Missionaries established the first printing press in Sibsagar in 1836 and started using the local Asamiya dialect for writing purposes. In 1846 they started a monthly periodical called Arunodoi, and in 1848, Nathan Brown published the first book on Assamese grammar. The Missionaries published the first Assamese-English Dictionary compiled by M. Bronson in 1867. One of the major contributions of the American Baptist missionaries to the Assamese language is the reintroduction of Assamese as the official language in Assam. In 1848 missionary Nathan Brown published a treatise on the Assamese language.[2] This treatise gave a strong impetus towards reintroducing Assamese the official language in Assam. In his 1853 official report on the province of Assam, British official Moffat Mills wrote:
...the people complain, and in my opinion with much reason, of the substitution of Bengalee for the Vernacular Assamese. Bengalee is the language of the court, not of their popular books and shashtras, and there is a strong prejudice to its general use. …Assamese is described by Mr. Brown, the best scholar in the province, as a beautiful, simple language, differing in more respects from, than agreeing with, Bengalee, and I think we made a great mistake in directing that all business should be transacted in Bengalee, and that the Assamese must acquire it. It is too late now to retrace our steps, but I would strongly recommend Anandaram Phukan’s proposition to the favourable consideration of the Council of Education, viz., the substitution of the vernacular language in lieu of Bengalee, and completion of the course of the Vernacular education in Bengalee. I feel persuaded that a youth will, under this system of tuition, learn more in two than he now acquires in four years. An English youth is not taught in Latin until he is well grounded in English, and in the same manner, an Assamese should not be taught in a foreign language until he knows his own.[3]
Beginning of Modern Literature
The period of modern literature began with the publication the Assamese journal Jonaki (জোনাকী) (1889), which introduced the short story form first by Lakshminath Bezbaruah. Thus began the Jonaki period of Assamese literature. In 1894 Rajanikanta Bordoloi published the first Assamese novel Mirijiyori (মিৰি জীয়ৰী).
The modern Assamese literature has been enriched by the works of Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla, Birinchi Kumar Barua, Hem Barua, Atul Chandra Hazarika, Nalini Bala Devi, Navakanta Barua, Dwijendra Mohan Sharma, Mamoni Raisom Goswami, Bhabendra Nath Saikia, Saurav Kumar Saliha and others.
In 1917 the Oxom Xahityo Xobha (অসম সাহিত্য সভা) was formed as a guardian of the Assamese society and the forum for the development of Assamese language and literature. Padmanath Gohain Baruah was the first president of the society
Contemporary literature
Contemporary writers include Arupa Kalita Patangia,Monikuntala Bhattacharya,Mousumi Kondoli, Monalisa Saikia, Amritjyoti Mahanta.
See also
- List of Assamese writers with their pen names
- Assamese short story
- Assamese Poetry
- List of Assamese poets
- Indian literature
- Bhabananda Deka
External links
- Life and Works of Bhattadeva, the Father of Assamese Prose
- Assamese Poetry Blog in Assamese
- My Xofura's Assamese Literature Archive
- Laureate Bhabananda Deka
Notes
- ^ Mahesh Neog, Assamese Literature before Sankardeva, (kakati 1953, pp. 21–23)
- ^ Brown, Nathan (1848). Grammatical Notices of the Assamese Language. American Baptist Missionary Press, Sibsagor, Assam
- ^ Mills, A.G. Moffat (1853). Report of A.G. Moffat Mills, Judge, Sudder Court, Mymensingh dated 24th July 1853, on the province of Assam
References
- Ayyappa Panicker, K, ed. (1997), Medieval Indian Literature: Assamese, Bengali and Dogri, vol. 1, Delhi: Sahitya Akademi
- Kakati, Banikanta, ed. (1953), Aspects of Early Assamese Literature, Gauhati: Gauhati University
- Barpujari, H K, ed. (1990). "Language and Literature". The Comprehensive History of Assam. Vol. 1. Guwahati: Publication Board.