Lower Assam

Lower Assam
Aerial View of Guwahati

Lower Assam or Western Assam is a region of Bharat (India) situated in the great plains of the Brahmaputra valley. It was home to the mighty kingdom of Kamarupa (3-12 AD). Guwahati, the largest city of North-East India is located here while Dispur, the capital of Assam is in Guwahati.

300 A.D Kingdoms - Dvaka, Guptas, Kamarupa, Licchavis, Nagas, Pundravardhana, Samatata, Vakatakas
First Historical Kingdom of Assam
9th-10th century lion-sculpture representing powerful Kamarupa-Palas, Madan Kamdev,Assam
Kamarupa 7th-8th Century Cities

Contents

History

Ancient Lower Assam, known as Kamarupa was ruled by powerful dynasties: the Varmanas (c. 350–650 AD), the Salstambhas, (c. 655–900 AD) and the Kamarupa-Palas (c. 900–1100 AD). In the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskaravarman (c. 600–650 AD), the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang visited the region and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa-Palas), the Kamarupa tradition was somewhat extended until c. 1255 AD by the Lunar I (c. 1120–1185 AD) and Lunar II (c. 1155–1255 AD) dynasties.

Demography

The ethnic composition of Lower Assam consists of Indo-Aryans along with tribes like Bodos in the northern part of Lower Assam while Rabhas in the south and Koches in the southwest.

Festivals

Primarily festivals like Eid, Bihu, Durga Puja, Kali Puja along with dozens of other Pujas are celebrated. Harvesting festivals are also widely celebrated all around Lower Assam.

Religion

Hinduism and Islam are main religion of Lower Assam. Hinduism is further divided into Vaishnavism and Shaktism.

Culture

Villages still contained the traditional Vedic culture while in case of towns and cities it relaxed a bit. Vedic culture largely flourished in the reign of Pushya Varman (350-374), the founder of great Varman dynasty of Kamarupa Kingdom and which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskarvarman (600-650).

Kamrupi an Indo-Aryan Language

Language

Kamrupi is spoken in once undivided Kamrup district areas while Goalparya is spoken in once undivided Goalpara district areas and Bodo, Rabha, Koch languages are spoken in respective tribal belts. Genealogically, Kamrupi belongs to the group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, here marked in yellow.

See also

Notes and references

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/310471/Kamarupa
Kamarupa by Verne David Wilt
Kamarupa by Raghupatisahaya Gorakhpuri
The Social History of Kamarupa by Nagendranath Vasu
Kāmarūpa-Kaliṅga-Mithilā:a politico-cultural alignment in Eastern India : history, art, traditions by Chandra Dhar Tripathi, Indian Institute of Advanced Study


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