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The earliest epigraphic mention of the Assam region comes from the [[Samudragupta]]'s Allahabad stone pillar from fourth century CE, where it is called ''Kamarupa''. The pillar lists the frontier kingdoms (''pratyanta nripati'') and lists Kamarupa along with Davaka, a region in the undivided Nagaon district.<ref>{{harv|Sharma|1978|p=0.15}}</ref> Therefore, during the fourth century, the eastern boundary of the Kamarupa did not extend beyond Nagaon. The Kalika Purana and the Yogini Tantra refer to Kamarupa as a kingdom from Karatoya in the west to Dikkaravasini in the east. Dikkaravasini is identified with present-day Sadiya.<ref>{{harv|Sircar|1971|p=163}}</ref> The copper-plate inscription from Vaidyadeva calls Kamarupa a ''mandala'' within his own kingdom. Later epigraphic sources from Assam call the kingdom ''Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa''. In the early twelfth century, epigraphic sources from the [[Pala dynasty (Kamarupa)|Pala dynasty]] mention Kamarupa as a ''mandala'' of the kingdom they ruled. The invasion of western Assam by Allauddin Hussein of [[Gaur, West Bengal|Gaur]] up to Barnadi river in 1498 is recorded in coins from the early sixteenth century, declaring Hussein as the conqueror of ''Kamru'' (and not ''Assam'').
The earliest epigraphic mention of the Assam region comes from the [[Samudragupta]]'s Allahabad stone pillar from fourth century CE, where it is called ''Kamarupa''. The pillar lists the frontier kingdoms (''pratyanta nripati'') and lists Kamarupa along with Davaka, a region in the undivided Nagaon district.<ref>{{harv|Sharma|1978|p=0.15}}</ref> Therefore, during the fourth century, the eastern boundary of the Kamarupa did not extend beyond Nagaon. The Kalika Purana and the Yogini Tantra refer to Kamarupa as a kingdom from Karatoya in the west to Dikkaravasini in the east. Dikkaravasini is identified with present-day Sadiya.<ref>{{harv|Sircar|1971|p=163}}</ref> The copper-plate inscription from Vaidyadeva calls Kamarupa a ''mandala'' within his own kingdom. Later epigraphic sources from Assam call the kingdom ''Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa''. In the early twelfth century, epigraphic sources from the [[Pala dynasty (Kamarupa)|Pala dynasty]] mention Kamarupa as a ''mandala'' of the kingdom they ruled. The invasion of western Assam by Allauddin Hussein of [[Gaur, West Bengal|Gaur]] up to Barnadi river in 1498 is recorded in coins from the early sixteenth century, declaring Hussein as the conqueror of ''Kamru'' (and not ''Assam'').

==Ancient usage of current name==
The word asama or assama was used during the time when [[Bhaskar Varman]] ruled [[Kamarupa]]. At that time the present Assam used to emit poisonous gases and was uninhabitable. Some of the [[Kamrupi]] criminals used this land as shelter to hide and avoid punishment. Those people were also called asama or assama.<ref>{{cite book |title=Concise Encyclopaedia of India - Volume 3 |last=Gupta, Gupta|first=K.R , Amita |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |publisher= Atlantic Publishers & Dist. |location= |isbn=|page=1104 |pages= |accessdate=|url=}}</ref>


==Assam, ''Asam'' and variations==
==Assam, ''Asam'' and variations==

Revision as of 11:27, 28 January 2013

The origin of the name of Assam, a state in India is unclear, though there is general agreement that the name is related to the Ahom kingdom. Whatever the source of the English name, Assam is itself an Anglicization.

Current views

A number of authors have associated the name Assam with the Ahom kingdom (called Kingdom of Assam in medieval times[1]) that was established by the Shan prince Sukaphaa in the thirteenth century. According to Satyendra Nath Sarma, who quotes Banikanta Kakati:[2]

While the Shan invaders called themselves Tai, they came to be referred to as Āsām, Āsam and sometimes as Acam by the indigenous people of the country. The modern Assamese word Āhom by which the Tai people are known is derived from Āsām or Āsam. The epithet applied to the Shan conquerors was subsequently transferred to the country over which they ruled and thus the name Kāmarūpa was replaced by Āsām, which ultimately took the Sanskritized form Asama, meaning "unequalled, peerless or uneven"[3]

Nearly all current theories associate the name with the Ahoms, though the precise etymology is not clear.

Early names of Assam

Pragjyotisha

The land referred to as Progjyotisha in the Mahabharata is now accepted as present-day Assam. In the Bhismaparvan, the Pragjyotisha king Bhagadatta is said to have joined the Kurukshetra war with an army of kirata and cinas. Since the name China is derived from the Qin Dynasty (221 BCE - 206 BCE), the reference cannot be dated to earlier than the third century BCE. In the Ramayana, Pragjyotisha is situated on the Varaha mountain and not in present-day Assam; According to Shastri (2002), the author "had no idea at all of its location and was just eager to refer to it as it had already become a celebrated town".[4]

The Kamarupa kings called themselves the Maharajadhiraja of Pragjyotisha. One of the kings Vaidyadeva, referred to Pragjyotisha as a bhukti and Kamarupa as a mandala (a smaller division, possibly within Pragjyotisha).[5]

Kamarupa

See also: Kamarupa Kingdom

The earliest epigraphic mention of the Assam region comes from the Samudragupta's Allahabad stone pillar from fourth century CE, where it is called Kamarupa. The pillar lists the frontier kingdoms (pratyanta nripati) and lists Kamarupa along with Davaka, a region in the undivided Nagaon district.[6] Therefore, during the fourth century, the eastern boundary of the Kamarupa did not extend beyond Nagaon. The Kalika Purana and the Yogini Tantra refer to Kamarupa as a kingdom from Karatoya in the west to Dikkaravasini in the east. Dikkaravasini is identified with present-day Sadiya.[7] The copper-plate inscription from Vaidyadeva calls Kamarupa a mandala within his own kingdom. Later epigraphic sources from Assam call the kingdom Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa. In the early twelfth century, epigraphic sources from the Pala dynasty mention Kamarupa as a mandala of the kingdom they ruled. The invasion of western Assam by Allauddin Hussein of Gaur up to Barnadi river in 1498 is recorded in coins from the early sixteenth century, declaring Hussein as the conqueror of Kamru (and not Assam).

Ancient usage of current name

The word asama or assama was used during the time when Bhaskar Varman ruled Kamarupa. At that time the present Assam used to emit poisonous gases and was uninhabitable. Some of the Kamrupi criminals used this land as shelter to hide and avoid punishment. Those people were also called asama or assama.[8]

Assam, Asam and variations

Assam, Asam (অসম) and other variations started appearing in relatively recent times, and their uses cannot be attributed to any period earlier than the sixteenth century.[9] The names appeared primarily in three different scripts: the Assamese, Persian and the Roman scripts. The sixteenth century is the period when Srimanta Sankardeva established his Ekasarana Dharma. This was accompanied by a profusive production in literature. At the same time, Vishwa Singha established the Koch kingdom in the west and the Ahom kingdom saw both a rapid expansion in territory and an increasing Hindu and Assamese influence in its court under Suhungmung. This increased prominence of the Ahom kingdom brought it to the attention of those outside the Brahmaputra valley.

English Original Source Period Refer to
Asama অসম Bhagavata of Sankadeva early 16th century Ahom community
Asham آشام Ain-i-Akbari late 16th century Ahom kingdom
Āsām, Āsam, Asam আসাম, আসম, অসম Guru-carit 17th century Ahom community
Assam Assam Joh van Leenen 1661 Ahom kingdom
Acham Acham A Geographical Account of Countries around Bay of Bengal c1679 Ahom kingdom
Acamakshara আচামক্ষৰ CP grant of Rajeswar Singha 1764 Ahom script
Asamkshara আসামাক্ষৰ CP grant of Lakshmi Singha 1773 Ahom script
Asama অসম Darrangraj Vamshavali 18th century Ahom community
Assam Assam "A Geographical Sketch of Assam"[1] 1805 Ahom kingdom
Assam Assam Treaty of Yandabo 1826 Ahom kingdom and dependencies

Local forms

Locally, Vaishnavite writers and biographers used different forms of the name indiscriminately (e.g. Āsām [আসাম], Āsam [আসম], Asam [অসম]) to refer to the Ahom community.[9] The earliest mention of Asama (অসম) is found in the Assamese Bhagavat of Sankardeva, which was composed in early sixteenth century.[10] The relevant stanza[11] is (in iTrans):

  kiraTa kachhaari khaachi gaaro miri
          yavana ka~Nka govaala |
  asama maluka dhobaa ye turuka
          kubaacha mlechchha chaNDaala ||

The Ahoms were called Asam (অসম) in the eighteenth century Darrangraj Vamshavali of Suryya Khari Daibajna; variously as Āsām (আসাম), Āsam (আসম), and Asam (অসম) in the seventeenth century Shankar-carit of Daityari Thakur; and Acam (অচম) in Kamrupar Buranji.[12] According to a count provided by (Bhuyan 1930), the Kamrupar Buranji names the country some thirty times, of which Axam (আসাম) was used three times, Acom (আচম) was used three times, and Acam (আচাম) was used for the rest, though in other Buranjis other spellings are also seen.[13] Furthermore, Bhuyan mentions that though both "স" /x/ and "চ" /s/ have been used in the name, it is likely that it was pronounced mostly with /s/.[14]

The name asama (as well as acam, asam, asam, asam) was used in the form asamakshara to denote the Ahom script in Sanskrit-Ahom bilingual copper plate grants of the Ahom kings.[15]

Mughal forms

As opposed to the local uses, where Asam and similar formations were used to denote the Ahom community, external sources used variations of Asam to denote the kingdom ruled by the Ahoms. The Ain-I-Akbari of the sixteenth century uses the form Asham (آشام) to denote the Ahom kingdom.[16] The official chronicler of Mir Jumla also calls the place "Asam".[17]

European forms

The earliest Europeans who came in contact with Assam (and who had the opportunity to write the name in the Latin script), were travelers who went to Bengal and adventurers who accompanied military expeditions against the Ahom kingdom; these groups used variations of the name Asam to denote the kingdom. In a map of "Kingdom of Bengale", drawn by Joh. van Leenen around 1661 and published around 1662, Assam was clearly named and correctly identified.[18] One of the first unambiguous references comes from Thomas Bowrey in 1663 about Mir Jumla's death: "They lost the best of Nabobs, the Kingdome of Acham, and, by consequence, many large privileges".[19] Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's Travels in India, published in 1676 uses the spelling "Assen" for Assam in the French original.

Colonialists then followed these travelers and adventurers. Both Grierson and Gait agree that the British used Asam before finally settling on Assam. In various documents of the British East India Company relating to the last few Ahom kings, the name of country was mentioned as Assam. The 1826 Treaty of Yandabo, marking the conquest of the Ahom kingdom at the hands of the British, uses Assam to denote the area under the erstwhile Ahoms and its protectorates (Darrang Koch, Jaintias, Kacharis and some hill areas in the present Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland).

After the British took control of the region, the name Assam was extended to the province that was then much larger than the Ahom kingdom. It then included, Garo Hills and Lushai Hills (Mizoram). Since that time, the boundaries of Assam have been repeatedly redrawn, though the name Assam remained. Today, the political boundary of Assam contains roughly the historical Ahom Kingdom and its protectorates, the Kachari kingdom, Koch Hajo and a part of the Jaintia Kingdom.

Modern name Assam

According to Grierson (1967), the English word Assamese parallels other demonyms (Chinese, Sinhalese, Nepalese, etc.), building on Assam, an Anglicization of the Bengali word Asam that itself refers to the Brahmaputra Valley.[20] Other writers (most notably Banikanta Kakati[21][22] and S N Sarma[23]) have repeated this claim. Gait (1906) has mentioned that the British used Asam before finally settling on Assam; though Grierson claims that the form Assam is English, The Assam Tribune has reported the finding of a Dutch map drawn around 1661 with a label Assam.[24]

Theories on etymology

The precise etymology of the name Assam or Asam (অসম) is not known, though many explanations have been put forward. Among the different theories, one attributes the name to the terrain of the region while the rest attributes it to the Shan invaders of the 13th century.

Asama

Two different meanings of the Sanskrit word Asama have been used to explain the name. The first theory is the word for "uneven", which can refer to the terrain of the region as opposed to the plain Samatata of East Bengal. Gait (1906) rejects this explanation on the grounds that the word was never used before the advent of the Ahoms and that the Vamshavali of the Darrang kings used it to refer to the Ahom community and not to the land.[25]

The second theory is that Asama, meaning "unequal" or "peerless", was a name the local people gave the undefeated Ahoms. Gait rejects this notion as well, noting that the local tribal people would not have given a Sanskrit name to the invaders.[25]

Though Gait rejects both these explanations, he nevertheless asserts that the name is somehow associated with the Ahoms.[25] George Grierson,[26] Banikanta Kakati,[27] and Dimbeswar Neog,[28] also reject the Sanskrit origin of the name. Satyendra Nath Sharma accepts Banikanta Kakati's view in toto.[2]

Though both explanations have been rejected in the academic literature, the notion that the name Assam has a Sanskrit origin continues to hold sway in popular perceptions, due mainly to two standard dictionaries of Assamese: Hemkox and Chandrakanta Abhidhan.[29] The Hemkox forwards the second theory, associating the name to the meaning "unequaled".[30]

A-Sham

According to Grierson, the Shans (as known in Myanmar), are known to the people of Assam as Sham.[20] According to Dimbeswar Neog, the prefix a- does not necessarily mean an antonym in Assamese and it could just be a synonym (e.g. kumari/akumari, bihane/abihane), a feature that is also seen in Sanskrit (sur/asur), and therefore Asham could mean the same as Sham, and the name could be derived as Sham (শাম) > Āshām (আশাম) > Āsam (আসম) > Asam (অসম).[31]

A-cham

(Kakati 1953) derives the name from a Tai root, cham (defeated), so that a-cham would mean undefeated.[32]

Ha-sam

Baden-Powell rejected the possibility that the name Assam (Asam) could be derived from Aham (Ahom),[33] and proposed that the name could possibly derive from the Bodo Ha-com, meaning "low or level country".[34] Subsequent writers, like Amalendu Guha[35] and P. C. Choudhury[36] lend credence to this theory.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "The Kingdom of Assam, where it is entered from Bengal, commences on the north of the Berhampooter, at the Khonder Chokey, nearly opposite to the picturesque estate of the late Mr Raush at Goalpara; and at the Nagrabaree Hill on the South", Wade, Dr John Peter, (1805) "A Geographical Sketch of Assam" in Asiatic Annual Register, reprinted (Sharma 1972, p. 341)
  2. ^ a b (Sarma 1976, p. 1)
  3. ^ (Kakati 1941, p. 2)
  4. ^ Shastri, Ajay Mitra (2002) "Ancient North-East India (Pragjyotisha)", Aryan Books International, New Delhi.
  5. ^ (Sharma 1978, p. 286)
  6. ^ (Sharma 1978, p. 0.15)
  7. ^ (Sircar 1971, p. 163)
  8. ^ Gupta, Gupta, K.R , Amita (2006). Concise Encyclopaedia of India - Volume 3. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 1104. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b (Neog 1962, p. 1)
  10. ^ "Sankardeva, in one of his verses, composed in the early sixteenth century, while referring to the castes and communities of the then Assam used the term Axom to mean the Ahom." (Taher 2001, p. 2)
  11. ^ Srimandbhagavat, skandha 2, H Dattabaruah and Co., Nalbari, pp-38
  12. ^ (kakati 1941, p. 2)
  13. ^ (Bhuyan 1930, pp. a6–a7). (The page numbering in this section follows an archaic Assamese numeral.)
  14. ^ (Bhuyan 1930, p. a7). (The page numbering in this section follows an archaic Assamese numeral.)
  15. ^ In general these copper plates have inscriptions in Sanskrit on one side and in the Ahom language on the other. At the end of the Sanskrit side of the plate, there would be a reference to look on the other side for the same text in Ahom script (asamaksara). For example, etadartha-vijnapakam-acamaksarena-paraprasthe (the same meaning is carried by what is rendered in acamaksarena on the other page); etadarthakam-asamksaram-etad-apara-prstha (to get this meaning in asamksara, it is there on the other page) (Bora 1981, pp. 11–12)
  16. ^ "The dominions of the rajah of Asham [آشام] join to Kaumvrou:" Ain-i-Akbari. Note that the 1777 translation of the Ain-i-Akbari uses the long s in place of "s" in "Asham"
  17. ^ The Indian Antiquary, July 1887, pp222-226
  18. ^ "Vervarelijke Schipbreuk Van't Oostindisch Jacht Terschilling", January 1944, W. de Haan NV, Utrecht. The map.
  19. ^ Bowrey, Thomas, A Geographical Account of Countries around Bay of Bengal, ed Temple, R. C., Hakluyt Society's Publications
  20. ^ a b (Grierson 1967, p. 393)
  21. ^ (Kakati 1941, p. 1)
  22. ^ (Kakati 1953, p. 1)
  23. ^ Satyendranath Sarma, Assamese literature: Volume 9, Part 2 , Harrassowitz,1976, p. 43. "It is based on the English word Assam by which the British rulers referred to the tract covered by the Brahmaputra valley and its adjoining areas."
  24. ^ "I got a copy of Frans van der Heiden’s book in Dutch, published in 1944. Several times the name of Assam is mentioned in this publication. I was able to find a copy of the original Dutch publication, published in 1675 in the library of the Maritime Museum, Rotterdam and compared the two publications. The 1944 version has extra preface added by the publisher including a map of Bengale drawn around 1661 where the name of Assam is mentioned." (Waleh 2008)
  25. ^ a b c (Gait 1906, p. 241)
  26. ^ "This word is popularly, but incorrectly derived from the Assamese word aham [Grierson uses 'h' for 'x'] which means 'unequalled,' being the same as the Sanskrit asama."(Grierson 1967, p. 393)
  27. ^ "...Asama meaning peerless or unequaled is a latter-day Sanskritisation of some earlier form like Acham." (Kakati 1953, p. 2)
  28. ^ "... Thus little room is left for the fanciful origin of the name Asam from Sanskrit to mean 'uneven' ([terrain]) or 'unparalleled' (people)" (Neog 1962, p. 2).
  29. ^ "While scholars disagree over the precise origins of the name, Assam, there is a consensus that the name, given to the land by the 13th century Shan invaders impressed by the valour of the people they conquered (or, in another reading, given by the conquered to the people who conquered them, being impressed by their generosity in victory), is derived from the Sanskrit word, asama, meaning unequalled, matchless, with the secondary meaning, uneven, undulating, with reference to the terrain of the land. The two standard Assamese dictionaries, Hem Kosha and Chandrakanta Abhidhan, offer broadly the same definitions." (Prabhakara 2006)
  30. ^ (Barua 2006, p. 85)
  31. ^ (Neog 1967, p. 2)
  32. ^ "In Tai the root cham means "to be defeated". With the privative Assamese affix ā the whole formation Āchām would mean undefeated." (Kakati 1953, p. 2)
  33. ^ (Baden-Powell 1896, pp. 136–137)
  34. ^ (Baden-Powell 1896, p. 135)
  35. ^ "The Ahom domain of Upper Assam came to be known to the Dimasa and other Bodo people as Ha-Sam (the land of the Shams or Shans) in their language. From this the terms 'Asam' and 'Ahom' were derived in due course, and the first term came to stand for the expanded Ahom klngdom. Under the impact of the Indo-Aryan heritage of the region, the concept of 'Asam' was further extended to cover the entire area defined as 'Kamarupa' in the Kalika-Purana (c 9th-10th centuries). The Ahom statesmen and chroniclers wishfully looked forward to the Karatoya as their natural western frontier. They also looked upon themselves as the heirs of that glory that was ancient Kamarupa by right of conquest, and they long cherished infructuously their unfulfilled hopes of expanding up to that frontier." (Guha 1983)
  36. ^ (Choudhury 1966, p. 26)

References

  • Baden-Powell, B. H. (1896). The Indian Village Community. London: Longman, Greens and Co.
  • Bhuyan, S. K. (1930). "Prokaxokor Patoni (Publisher's Preface)". In Bhuyan, S. K. (ed.). Kamrupar Buranji (in Assamese). Assam: Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Bora, Mahendra (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script. Jorhat, Assam: Assam Sahitya Sabha.
  • Barua, Hem Chandra (2006), "অসম", in Barua, Debananda (ed.), Hemkosha (in Assamese) (12th ed.), Guwahati: Hemkosh Prakashan {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |trans_contribution= ignored (help)
  • Choudhury, Pratap Chandra (1966). The History of the Civilisation of the People of Assam to the 12th Century. Gauhati: Dept. of Historical and Antiquarian Studies in Assam.
  • Gait, Edward A (1906), A History of Assam, Calcutta{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Grierson, George Abraham (1967), "Assamese", in Grierson, George Abraham (ed.), Linguistic Survey of India, vol. 5, New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass, pp. 393–398
  • Guha, Amalendu (December 1983), "The Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228-1714)", Social Scientist, 11 (12): 3–34, doi:10.2307/3516963, JSTOR 3516963{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  • Kakati, Banikanta (1941), Assamese, Its Formation and Development, Gauhati: Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies
  • Kakati, Banikanta (1953), "The Assamese Language", in Kakati, Banikanta (ed.), Aspects of Early Assamese Literature, Gauhati: Gauhati University, pp. 1–16
  • Neog, Dimbeswar (1962), New Light on History of Asamiya Literature, Gauhati{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Prabhakara, M. S. (2006), "In the name of changing names", Frontline, 23 (11)
  • Saleh, Wahid (September 27, 2008), "What's in a name", The Assam Tribune, Guwahati, Assam
  • Sarma, Satyendra Nath (1976), Assamese Literature, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz
  • Sharma, Benudhar, ed. (1972), An Account of Assam, Gauhati: Assam Jyoti
  • Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978), Inscriptions of Ancient Assam, Gauhati: Gauhati University
  • Sircar, D. C. (1971), Studies In The Geography Of Ancient And Medieval India (2nd ed.), New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass,{{citation}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  • Taher, M (2001), "Assam: An Introduction", in Bhagawati, A K (ed.), Geography of Assam, New Delhi: Rajesh Publications, pp. 1–17
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