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Kamrup is historical region encompassing entire Brahmaputra Valley with Western part (of valley) serving most important role as capital while North Bengal as Western and parts of Bangladesh as southern boundaries. It has a very important role in North Eastern part of India, containing the metropolitan area of Guwahati formerly Pragjyotishpura and Durjaya. Modern Kamrupi cultural area though limited to Old Kamrup district. The Kamrup region has a distinct cultural identity, and usually cultural artefacts from this region are called Kamrupi.

Ancient---Kamarupa (4th-12th century)

Kamarupa within Pragjyotisha

The first historical mention of Kamarupa comes from Samudragupta’s 4th century Allahabad prasasti, where it is mentioned along with Davaka and Samatata as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta empire. Davaka, currently in Nagaon district, is not mentioned in historical texts again, which indicates that the kings of Kamarupa must have absorbed it. Even though the kingdom came to be known as Kamarupa, the kings called themselves the rulers of Pragjyotisha (Pragjyotishadhipati), and not Kamarupa. Vaidydeva, an 11th century ruler, named Kamarupa as a mandala within the Pragjyotisha bhukti. According to Sircar, the Kamarupa mandala is congruent to undivided Kamrup of the modern times.

The historic use of “Kamarupa”

Even though the epigraphic records define Kamarupa as a smaller region within the historic kingdom, the 9th-10th century shakta work Kalika Purana names the kingdom Kamarupa. Yogini Tantra provides the traditional boundary: Karatoya river in the west, Dikkaravasini (Sadiya) in the east and the Brahmaputra-Lakhya river confluence in the south forming a triangle. Both the western boundary as well as the name agrees with the 7th century account left by Hiuen Tsang, who identified the kingdom as Kamarupa (Ka-mo-lu-po) which was located to the east of the Karatoya (Ka-lo-tu). Thus the ancient kingdom covered not just the present undivided Kamrup region, but also the rest of the Brahmaputra valley as well as most of the northern parts of Bangladesh. The medieval and modern usage of “Kamrup” does not cover this vast region.

Medieval---Kamrup

Kamata/Koch (1255-1581)

The Kamarupa region soon lost a unified political rule. Sandhya, a 13th century ruler in the Kamarupanagara (Guwahati), moved his capital to present-day North Bengal and his kingdom came to be called Kamata; or sometimes as Kamata-Kamrup. This kingdom was a part of the original Kamarupa kingdom and included in general Koch Bihar, Darrang, Kamrup districts, and northern Mymensing. In the extreme east of the erstwhile Kamarupa kingdom the Sutiya, Kachari and the Ahom kingdoms emerged, with the Baro-Bhuyans providing the buffer between these kingdoms in the east and the Kamata kingdom in the west. In the beginning of the 16th century Viswa Singha filled the vacuum left by the destruction of the Khen dynasty of Kamata and consolidated his rule over the Baro-Bhuyan chieftains ruling over the Kamrup region, and by the time of Naranarayana, the kingdom extended a firm rule between the Karatoya and the Bhareli rivers. Even though the Koch kings called themselves Kamateshwars (lords of Kamata), their kingdom came to be called the Koch kingdom.

Kamrup/Koch Hajo(1581-1615)

In 1581 the Kamata kingdom was bifurcated with Raghudev gaining control over the portion to the east of the Sankosh river up to the Bharali river in the northbank; and east of the Brahmaputra in present-day Bangladesh. Raghudev’s kingdom came to be called Koch Hajo in Muslim chronicles, and Kamrup in Ekasarana documents. As the Mughal gained power in Dhaka, Koch Bihar entered into an alliance with them, and arraigned themselves against Parikshitnarayana, the son of Raghudev, who had come to power in Koch Hajo in the meanwhile. The Mughals pushed eastward, removed Parikshit from power in Koch Hajo/Kamrup by 1615 (upto the Barnadi river), and came into direct military conflict with the Ahom kingdom; and after the first round of battles, they established control over nearly the entire Koch Hajo, right up to Barnadi river.

Modern---Kamrup

’’Sarkar’’ Kamrup (1639-1681)

The Mughals established four sarkars in the newly acquired land---among which were Dhekeri (between Sankosh and Manas) and Kamrup (between Manas and Barnadi). The name “Kamrup” that was used for this tract of land in 1639 continues to be used today. The Ahoms recovered Kamrup (but not Dhekeri) in 1682, and when the British established their administration in 1833, they named this very region Kamrup.

Thus, the region of Kamrup, since 1639, has been the land between Manas and Barnadi rivers on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river (and a corresponding part in the south bank). Even though the Ahoms consolidated its rule over the Kamrup region in 1681, it maintained the administrative and economic structures of its recent past, and a unique culture flourished in this region. The region to the west between Manas and Sankosh rivers transferred to the British within a few decades after 1681, and came to be known as the Goalpara region.

Borphukan's domain (1682-1824)

After the Battle of Itakhuli (1682), the Ahom kingdom established control over Sarkar Kamrup, and it became the domain of the Borphukan, based in Guwahati. In addition to the Kamrup region, the Borphukan's domain included the additional region to the east up to Kaliabor. The Koch prince that oversaw Darrang, too, reported to the Borphukan. The Ahoms did not impose their administrative system fully over Kamrup, and the resultant pargana-based system was a mixed Mughal-Ahom system, in contrast to the Paik system in the rest of the kingdom. The region came under Burmese control in 1822. The British marched into Guwahati on March 28, 1824 at the beginning of the First Anglo-Burmese War and established administrative control by October.

Undivided Kamrup district (1833-1983)

The Kamrup district that the British constituted in 1833 was largely congruous to the Mughal Sarkar Kamrup of 1639. After Indian Indeppendence in 1947, the Kamrup district maintained its form. The district was divided further, beginning in 1983, and the original district is often called "Undivided Kamrup district". The Sarkar Kamrup of 1639 and the Undivided Kamrup district from the Colonial as well as the Independent periods is today defined as the Kamrup region.

The ancient epics Ramayana and Mahabharata refer to this region as Pragjyotish, not as Kamrup. The Puranas, written after the Mahabharata, mention the same Pragjyotish region as Kamrup. The Vishnu Purana describes Kamrup to spread 450 miles in all directions from the Kamakhya Temple (today in Gauhati). The Kalika Purana calls Kamakhya Temple the center or heart of Kamrup. The Yogini Tantra composed thereafter gives the geographical area of Kamrup as the entire Brahmaputra Valley, Bhutan, Rangpur (Bangladesh), Mymensing (Bangladesh), Cooch Behar. The Chinese pilgrim to India, Xuanzang, gives a detailed account of ancient Kamrup. Staying for a period of three months in what is current Guwahati, he observes life, culture and politics in Kamrup. The first millennium of the common era sees the expansion of the geographical, political and cultural influence of Kamrup. Ancient Kamrup consists of Pithas.

In medieval times, it became a battlefield of different powers trying to gain control over Kamrup in absence of strong local rulers, but none could hold Kamrup for long. Thus it remain untouched by any foreign cultural influences including in its language. Though Kamrup underwent such a hostile period, it had major literary activities in this time. Chandra Bharati, Bhattadeva, Ananta Kandali, Madhava Kandali, Sankardeva composed epics in the Kamrupi language. in early modern times, Kamrup became the bone of contention between the Mughal Empire and the Ahom Kingdom.

In the colonial period, the size of Kamrup was greatly reduced and limited to an administrative district separated from most of North Bengal areas.

In the twentieth century, Kamrup became a center of major industrial development. Guwahati, the largest city of the region, became a major urban center with the character of a veritable metropolis. Thus, the cultural and political capital of ancient Kamrup became the major hub of culture and business again.

See also

• Kamarupa
• Pragjyotishpura
• Durjaya
• Kamarupa of Bhaskar Varman

Notes

1. Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma - 2005, North-East India: A Panoramic View The Kalika Parana refers to the temple of Kamakhya, near Gauhati, as being situated in the centre of Kamarupa, and the Vishnu Purana adds that the country extended around the temple for 100 yojanas in all directions.
2. Sukhabilāsa Barmā, Bhāwāiyā: Ethnomusicological Study The geographical boundaries of Kamrup was as mentioned earlier--Mahananda in west, Brahmaputra in the east, Himalayas in north and Brahmaputra in South.
3. (Puri 1968, p. 11)
4. (Puri 1968, p. 3)
5. (Puri 1968, p. 3)
6. (Sircar 1992, p. 70) harv error: no target: CITEREFSircar1992 (help)
7. (Sircar 1990, pp. 63–64)
8. (Sircar 1990, p. 64)
9. (Gogoi 2002, p. 17)
10. (Sarkar 1992, p. 44) harv error: no target: CITEREFSarkar1992 (help)
11. (Sircar 1990, p. 171)
12. (Nath 1989) harv error: no target: CITEREFNath1989 (help)
13. Though Chilarai and Naranarayana established control up to Subansiri river via the Treaty of Majuli, the Sukhaamphaa recovered control between Bhareli and Subansiri soon after.
14. (Neog 1980)
15. Treaty of Asurar Ali
16. (Gogoi 2002, p. 99)
17. (Banerjee 1992, pp. 53–54) harv error: no target: CITEREFBanerjee1992 (help)
18. (Gogoi 2002, p. 98)
19. (Bannerjee 1992, pp. 5–6) harv error: no target: CITEREFBannerjee1992 (help)
20. Sen, Dineschandra (1988). The Ballads of Bengal - Volume 1. Mittal Publications. p. 375. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
21. Bahāristān-i-Ghaybī, a history of the Mughal wars in Assam, Cooch Behar, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during the reigns of Jahāngīr and Shāhjahān. Guwahati, Assam: Gov. of Assam in the Dep. of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Narayani Handiqui Historical Inst. 1992. {{cite book}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
22. Saksena, Banarsi Prasad (1932). History of Shahjahan of Dilhi. Allahabad: Central Book Depot. p. 115f. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
23. Alam, Khorshed (2001). Guwahati: the gateway to the east. Concept Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

References

• Bannerje, A C (1992). "Chapter 1: The New Regime, 1826-31". In Barpujari, H K (ed.). The Comprehensive History of Assam: Modern Period. Vol. IV. Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam. pp. 1–43. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gogoi, Jahnabi (2002), Agrarian System Of Medieval Assam, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company
• Neog, Maheshwar (1980). Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Assam. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Puri, Baij Nath (1968). Studies in Early History and Administration in Assam. Gauhati University. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sircar, D C (1990), "Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa", in Barpujari, H K (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. I, Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam, pp. 59–78 {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• Western Assam
• Kamarupa
• Historical Indian regions