Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state"Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa had emerged as an 'early state' by covering a large part of present north-east India, part of neighbouring west-Bengal and Bangladesh in the period between the 4th to the 12th century." during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam.Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma - 2005,"Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, ... - Volume 3", Page 248, Davaka (Nowgong) and Kamarupa as separate and submissive friendly kingdoms. The Kamrupa word first appeared in the Samudragupta Allahabad Edict before that there is no mention of existence of this word.
Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 1140 CE, Davaka was absorbed by Kamarupa in the 5th century CE."As regards the eastern limits of the kingdom, Davaka was absorbed within Kamarupa under Kalyanavarman and the outlying regions were brought under subjugation by Mahendravarman." "It is presumed that (Kalyanavarman) conquered Davaka, incorporating it within the kingdom of Kamarupa" Ruled by three dynasties from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, North Guwahati and Tezpur, Kamarupa at its height covered the entire Brahmaputra Valley, parts of North Bengal,"According to the Kalika Purana and the Yogonitantra, the ancient Kamarupa included, besides the districts of modern Assam, Cooch-Behar, Rang-pura, Jalpaiguri and Dinajpur within its territory." Bhutan and northern part of Bangladesh, and at times portions of what is now West Bengal, Bihar and Sylhet."Before (the 10th century), copper plate inscriptions indicate that land around the Kushiara was more densely populated, because Kamarupa kings had granted large tracts of land to immigrant brahmans and their supporting castes, to make this region part of Assam (Khanda Kamarupa).
Though the historical kingdom disappeared by the 12th century to be replaced by smaller political entities, the notion of Kamarupa persisted and ancient and medieval chroniclers continued to call a part of this kingdom Kamrup.In the medieval times the region between the Sankosh river and the Barnadi river on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra river was defined as Kamrup (or Koch Hajo in Persian chronicles) In the 16th century the Ahom kingdom came into prominence and assumed for themselves the legacy of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom and aspired to extend their kingdom to the Karatoya River."They also looked upon themselves as the heirs of the glory that was ancient Kamarupa by right of conquest, and they long cherished infructuously their unfulfilled hopes of expanding up to that frontier." . 'An Ahom force reached the banks of the Karatoya in hot pursuit of an invading Turko-Afghan army in the 1530s. Since then "the washing of the sword in the Karatoya" became a symbol of the Assamese aspirations, repeatedly evoked in the Bar-Mels and mentioned in the chronicles."
Etymology The earliest use of the name Kamarupa to denote the kingdom is from the 4th century, when Samudragupta's pillar inscription mentions it as a frontier kingdom. Kamarupa finds no mention in the epics Mahabharata or Ramayana and in the early and late Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain literatures the references to Kamarupa are not about a kingdom."There is no definite reference to Kamarupa in the early/later Vedic literature and the early Buddhist/Jain canonical works. The two Epics are also silent on Kamarupa, despite mentioning Pragjyotisha." An explanation of the name Kamarupa emerged first in the 10th-century Kalika Purana, six centuries after the first use of the name, as the kingdom where Kamadeva (Kama) regained his form (rupa).
The name Pragjyotisha, on the other hand, is mentioned in the epics, but it did not become associated with the Kamarupa kingdom till the 7th century when Bhaskaravarman associated his kingdom with the Pragjyotisha of the epics and traced his dynastic lineage to Bhagadatta and Naraka."Considering the historical context of the seventh century Kamarupa, especially during the reign of Bhaskaravarman when the Varmans was ascending to one of the important powers in north India, it appears that they projected Kamarupa on a larger geopolitical map by combining it with Pragjyotisha, the Epic kingdom." In the 9th century, Pragjyotishpura is named as the legendary city from which Naraka reigned after his conquest of Kamarupa."The earliest name of Assam is Pragjyotisha, i.e. the territory of around the city of that name, while Kamarupa, later used as the name of the country, (was a) synonym of Pragjyotisha." "Pragjyotisha was, however, redefined in the Uttar Barbil and the Nowgong plates dated to the last quarter of the ninth century. Both record that Naraka, the conqueror of Kamarupa (jitakamarupa), used to live in a city (pura) named Pragjyotisha in Kamarupa."
History Antecedents "Kamarupa" is not included in the list of sixteen Mahajanapadas from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE;"Kamarupa was not included in the 16 Mahajanapadas during the time of the Buddha." nor does it find any mention in the Ashokan records (3rd century BCE). The term "Kamarupa" first appears in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta. During the 5th to 2nd century BCE, historical records mention the existence of a region called Lauhitya instead of Kamarupa, suggesting a potential absence of Brahmanical influence in the area during that period.
The 3rd–2nd century BCE Baudhayana Dharmasutra mentions Anga (eastern Bihar), Magadha (southern Bihar), Pundra (northern Bengal) and Vanga (eastern and southern Bengal), and prescribes that a Brahmin must undergo purification after visiting these regions."Angas, Magadhas, Pundras and Vangas are mentioned in the Baudhayana Dharmasutra (1.2.14–6) dated to the period between the early third and mid-second centuries BCE. The Angas and Magadhas lived in eastern and southern Bihar respectively, and the Pundras and the Vangas in northern and southern Bengal, respectively. It is prescribed that a brahmana must have purification by the performance of punastoma or sarvarishtha after visiting their places." The absence of any mention of Kamarupa in such texts indicates that the region was beyond the ambit and recognition of Brahmanical culture during the second half of the first millennium BCE.
Early dated mentions come from the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century) and Ptolemy's Geographia (2nd century) which call the region Kirrhadia after the Kirata population."The Periplus of the Erythraen Sea (last quarter of the first century A.D) and Ptolemy's Geography (middle of the second century A.D) appear to call the land including Assam Kirrhadia after its Kirata population." Arthashastra (early centuries of the Christian era"...the Arthashastra in its present form has to be assigned to the early centuries of the Christian era and the commentaries to much later dates." ) mentions "Lauhitya", which is identified with Brahmaputra valley by a later commentator."If we go by Bhattaswamin's commentary on Arthashastra Magadha was already importing certain items of trade from this [Brahmaputra] Valley in Kautilya's days" These early references speak about the economic activity of a tribal belt, and they do not mention any state."Kautilya's Arthashastra, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the Geography of Ptolemy and other early literary works only speak of economic pursuits of the tribal belt of the north-eastern region...but had nothing to say about their kingdoms."
The earliest mention of a kingdom comes from the 4th-century Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta that calls the kings of Kamarupa and Davaka frontier rulers (pratyanta nripati). The corpus of Kamarupa inscriptions left by the rulers of Kamarupa at various places in Assam and present-day Bangladesh are important sources of information. Nevertheless, local grants completely eschew the name Kamarupa; instead they use the name Pragjyotisha, with the kings called Pragjyotishadhipati."The name Kamarupa does not appear in local grants where Pragjyotisha alone figures with the local rulers called Pragjyotishadhipati."
The fragmentary Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscription, written in Sanskrit and probably a land grant, is dated to approximately the 5th century. It was found in Sarupathar in the Golaghat district of Assam. It supports the idea that Sanskritisation spread to the east very quickly.The date of the Nagajari-Khanikargaon fragmentary stone inscription is considered to be earlier than that of the Umachal inscription of the Varmans. It is, nevertheless, too early to make any definite conclusion as the archaeological and inscriptional evidences are still limited to date. Furthermore, the absence of large-scale archaeological excavations in the region prevents us from tracing a detailed picture of society in the earlier period." While this dating coincides with the time-span of the Varman dynasty, the inscription does not identify the state formation that issued the grant; the Varman dynasty may not have been responsible. One cannot completely "rule out the possibility of several simultaneous political powers in different sub-regional levels of north-eastern India around or even before the fourth century." Indeed, archaeological discoveries in the Doiyang Dhansiri Valley suggests that early state formation in the region may have begun before the second century.Art and archaeology of the Doiyang Dhansiri valley of Assam. Hemendranath Dutta, author. Guide: Phukan, J N. PhD thesis. Page 219. Chapter 6. Conclusion. Gauhati University, completed 28 February 1997. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10603/66569 Downloaded from https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/66569/13/13_conclusion.pdf 7 January 2022
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