- Koch dynasty
The Koch dynasty of
Assam andBengal , named after the Koch tribe of Tibeto-Burmese affiliation, took control of theKamata kingdom in1515 after the fall of theKhen dynasty in1498 . The capital was located atCooch Behar town.Beginning of the Koch dynasty
The first major king was Vishwa Singha, who established himself in
1515 as the ruler of theKamata kingdom after theKhen dynasty was defeated by Alauddin Hussein Shah in1498 . According to J N Sarkar Viswa Singha belonged to one of the dominant Koch tribes, [Harvcol|Sarkar|1992|p=69] which were a collection ofMongoloid tribes, [Harvcol|Sarkar1992|p=69f. "Minjahuddin found the features of the Koch, Mech and Tharu tribes similar to a south Siberian tribe. Bryan Hodgson (JASB) xviii (2) 1849, 704-5, classes the Koches with theBodo and Dhimal tribes. Buchanan agrees. Dalton takes them to be Dravidian. But Risley thinks they represented a fusion of Mongoloid and Dravidian stock, with the later predominating. According to Waddell Mongoloid type of Koches predominated in Assam."] loosely allied to the Meches, Garos, Tharus and also Dravidians. They had adopted Hinduism a few generations before Vishwa Singha and claimed the Kshatriya varna. The earliest known ancestor of Viswa Singha was Haria Mandal, [Harvcol|Sarkar|1992|p=70f] from the Chiknabari village inGoalpara district , the head of the twelve most powerful Koch families. He was married to Jira and Hira, daughters of a Koch chief named Hajo, after whomKoch Hajo was named. Viswa Singha was the son of Haria Mandal and Hira. [Harvcol|Sarkar|1992|p=70f. But according to some Koch chronicles, a son of Haria Mandal, Chandan, became the king in 1510. Vishwa Singha, another son of Haria Mandal, became the king after Chandan.]Viswa Singha's two sons, Naranarayan and Shukladhwaj (
Chilarai ), the king and the commander-in-chief of the army respectively, took the kingdom to its zenith. Nara Narayan made Raghudev, the son of Chilarai, the governor ofKoch Hajo , the eastern portion of the country. After the death of Nara Narayan, Raghudev declared independence. The division of the Kamata kingdom intoKoch Bihar andKoch Hajo was permanent.Nara Narayan was impressed by the
bhakti saintSrimanta Sankardeva who became a member of his court in the last three years of his life and who established a sattra in the kingdom.Early history
In earlier time in the north eastern frontier of India which was known as
Pragjyotisha , which later came to be known as Kamarupa. Ancient Kamrup was divided into four parts, namely Kampith, Ratnapith, Subarnapith and Soumarpith. Ancient Kamrup was ruled by many dynasties.History of Cooch Behar
The princely state known as Cooch Behar during the British rule was a part of the
Kamarupa Kingdom from4th century –12th century ruled by the Varman, Mlechchha and Pala dynasties. From 12th century, the area became a part ofKamata kingdom , first ruled by theKhen dynasty from their capital at Kamatapur. The most important Khen rulers were Niladhaj (1440-1460), Chakradhaj (1460-1480) and Nilambar (1480-1498) The Khens were an indigenous tribe and they ruled till about 1498 CE when they fell into the trick ofAlauddin Hussain Shah , the independent Pathan Sultan of Gour and lost their empire. The new invaders came into conflict with the localBhuyan chieftains and theAhom kingSuhung , and lost control of the region.After the Muslims left the area there was confusion and commotion in the country. During this time independent Bhuiyans started ruling over small areas. Among these a Koch Bhuiyan named Hajo had two daughters named Jira and Hira. On the other side there was a small territory at Chikna Mountains situated between the
Sankosh River and theChampabati River about 80 kilometers north ofDhubri in present-dayGoalpara District ofAssam . This territory was ruled by Haridas Mondal, a Mech chieftain. To establish unity with Chikna, Hajo wedded off his daughters to Haridas. In due time Jira gave birth to Madan and Chandan while Hira gave birth to Sishu (Sisya Singha) and Bishu (Biswa Singha). Among the four brothers Bishu was the cleverest and strongest.One day the four brothers were praying to
Goddess Bhagwati in a playful mood and they offered one of their friends for sacrifice; it is believed that mysteriously the head of the friend was cut off his body.Turka Kotwal ordered their arrest; fearing capture they took shelter in the forest.Later they collected soldiers, elephants and horses and attacked the Turka Kotwal. Madan was killed in the battle; to take revenge Biswa Singha killed Turka Kotwal. To please stepmother Jira, whose son Madan was killed instead of becoming himself the king, Biswa Singha enthroned Chandan as the King. In this way in
1510 theKoch kingdom was started.Kings
Rulers of undivided Koch kingdom
*
Maharaja Chandan
*Biswa Singha (1515 -1540 )
*Nara Narayan (1540 -1586 )Rulers of Koch Bihar
* Lakshmi Narayan
* Bir Narayan
* Pran Narayan
* Basudev Narayan
* Mahindra Narayan
* Roop Narayan
* Upendra Narayan
* Devendra Narayan
* Dhairjendra Narayan
* Rajendra Narayan
* Dharendra Narayan
* Harendra Narayan
* Shivendra Narayan
* Narendra Narayan
* Nripendra Narayan [ [http://www.rvondeh.dircon.co.uk/cooch1.html An Introduction to Shri Sir Nripendra Narayan] ]
* Rajrajendra Narayan
* Jitendra Narayan
*Jagaddipendra Narayan Rulers of Koch Hajo
* Raghudev (son of
Chilarai , nephew of Nara Narayan)
* Parikshit Narayan
* Bali NarayanRulers of Darrang
* Sundar Narayan (son of Bali Narayan)
* ...Rulers of Beltala
* Gaj Narayan (brother of Bali Narayan)
* ...Rulers of Bijni
* Chandra Narayan (son of Parikshit Narayan)
* Joy narayan
* Shiv Narayan
* Bijoy Narayan
* Mukunda Narayan
* Haridev Narayan
* Indra Narayan
* Amrit Narayan
* Kumud Narayan
* ...
* Bhairabendra NarayanRulers of Khaspur
* Kamal Narayan (Gohain Kamal, son of Viswa Singha, governor of Khaspur)
* Udita Narayan (declared independence of Khaspur)
* ...
* Bhim Simha (his only issue, daughter Kanchani, married prince Lakshmichandra ofKachari kingdom , and Khaspur merged into the Kachari kingdom.)Notes
References
*
* Citation
last =
first =
title = Royal History of Koch Bihar
url = http://coochbehar.nic.in/Htmfiles/royal_history.html
accessdate = 2007-12-05
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