Old Kamrupi language

"The Old Kamrupi language", also known as "Kamrupi Apabhramasa," represents an early Indo-Aryan linguistic variant that was spoken in the classical Kamarupa region, encompassing present-day Western Assam and North Bengal.¹ This linguistic entity, while currently existing as dialects within the Assamese and Bengali languages,² traces its origin to the separation from Magadhi Prakrita, alongside other middle Indo-Aryan languages such as Radhi, Vanga, and Varendari.² This linguistic evolution occurred north of the Ganges River and ultimately gave rise to the contemporary Assamese language.^{3 4}

The Sporadic Apabhramsa, which characterizes the Kamrupi language, is a composite linguistic form comprising elements from Sanskrit, Prakrit, and colloquial dialects prevalent in the Kamrup region.⁵ The linguistic fusion of these diverse influences has contributed to the unique character of Kamrupi Apabhramasa, marking it as an essential historical precursor to the present-day Assamese language. 

 

 

Characteristics

Nalanda Seal of Bhaskar Varman

                                                                
    The replacement of ṣ and s by ś is one of the main characteristics of the Magadha Prakrita, as warranted by Vararuci's rule, ṣasau śah. But in the Kamarupa inscriptions, we find the reverse of it, i.e the replacement of ś by s as in the word suhańkara, substituted for the Sanskrit śubhańkara, as seen in line 32 of the Subhankarpataka grant of Kamrupi king Dharmapala.

    Though the Kamrup epigraphs were written in classical Sanskrit in kavya style of a high degree, they abound in corrupt and unchaste forms.

• Loss of repha and reduplication of the remaining concerned consonants.
• Shortening of vowels.
• Lengthening of vowels.
• Substitution of one vowel for another.
• Avoidance and irregularity of sandhis.
• Loss of initial vowel.
• Substitution of Y by i.
• Total loss of medial Y.
• Reduplication of consonants immediately followed by r.
• Absence of duplication where it is otherwise necessary.
• Varieties of assimilation.
• Wrong analogy.
• Varied substitution for m and final m.
• Substitution of h by gh and susbstitution of bh by h.
• Indiscriminate substitution of one sibilant for another.
• Irregularity of declension in case of stems ending in consonants.
• Absence of visarga even where it is invariably necessary.

Script

Nidhanpur Inscription of Bhaskar Varman

 

 The Kamrupi script was a writing system employed for the ancient Kamrupi language, which persisted until the mid-nineteenth century. This linguistic and scriptural heritage was primarily associated with the historical region of Kamrup, situated in present-day Assam, India. The Kamrupi script played a pivotal role in documenting and preserving the linguistic nuances of the Kamrupi language, which was once prevalent in the region.

Dating back to an era preceding the nineteenth century, the Kamrupi script is recognized for its unique set of characters and symbols tailored to represent the phonetic intricacies of the Kamrupi language. This script served as a medium for literary and cultural expression, encompassing a diverse range of texts including religious manuscripts, historical chronicles, and literary compositions.

As the primary means of written communication for the Kamrupi-speaking populace, the script contributed significantly to the intellectual and cultural legacy of the region. Unfortunately, with the passage of time and the advent of colonial influences, the Kamrupi language and its associated script underwent a gradual decline. By the mid-nineteenth century, the use of the Kamrupi script had diminished, and the language itself experienced a decline in prevalence, giving way to other linguistic influences and scripts.

Despite its historical significance, the Kamrupi script and language are no longer actively used in contemporary contexts. However, scholarly endeavors and cultural preservation initiatives seek to document and revive aspects of this linguistic and scriptural heritage, shedding light on a bygone era in the cultural tapestry of the Kamrup region.
 

Works

The specimen of the old Kamrupi language are found in different inscriptions scattered around eastern and northern India, such as Bhaskar Varman's inscriptions. Daka, a native of Lehidangara village of Barpeta composed an authoritative work labelled Dakabhanita in 8th century A.D.^6 7 Charyapada carry samples of Kamrupi, besides other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.⁸

Dialect continuum

During British India at some point Kamrup was divided into two big districts for administrative grounds, one added to Assam and other to Bengal. Slowly after this division, the very Kamrupi acquires dialect footing of Assamese and Bengali, as Kamrupi dialect and North Bengali. Kamrupi today is an endangered language and it will probably go to "dead" state like Latin and Sanskrit. In recent times, the South Kamrupi dialect has been used in the works of the writer Indira Goswami with dramatic effects. Poet and nationalist, Ambikagiri Raichoudhury uses Kamrupi in his works to inordinate extent.²⁵

Similarity with the Assamese language

 Kamrupi today denotes a dialect of Assamese Language spoken in the undivided Kamrup district (Kamrup region) of Assam, India. The four main dialects that form this group are West Kamrupi (Barpeta), Central Kamrupi (Nalbari) and South Kamrupi (Palashbari).¹⁶ These dialects are spoken in the present districts of Kamrup (rural & metro), Nalbari, Barpeta in Assam.¹⁶ The name is derived from region (Kamrup) it constitutes.

Similarity with the Bengali language

The modern Bengali scholars like Suniti Kumar Chatterjee and Sukumar Sen have named the dialect of Bengali spoken in North Bengal as Kamrupi.⁹ The Assamese Kamrupi and the Bengali Kamrupi are very similar according to Suniti Kumar Chatterjee. The division possibly occurred due to political reasons.¹⁰ Today the two dialects form a dialect continuum.¹⁰

Apabhramsa

Charyapada

Kamarupa was the most powerful and formidable kingdom in the region which provided the political and cultural influence for the development of the Kamrupi apabhramsa. Hiuen-Tsiang's mention that the language spoken in Kamarupa was a 'little different' from the one spoken in mid-India is provided as evidence that this apabhramsa existed as early as the 7th century.

Archaic forms found in epigraphic records from the Kamarupa give evidence of this apabhramsa, of which there are numerous examples. The Buddhist Charyapadas from the 8th to 12th century are claimed by different languages: Assamese, Bengali, Oriya and Maithili languages. But the geographical region of its composition was the Kamarupa pitha and many of the composers were Kamrupi siddhas. Therefore the language in the Charyapadas is the best example of this apabhramsa. Haraprasad Shastri, who discovered these poems in Nepal, termed the language sandhya bhasha (twilight language) and this is nothing but the Kamrupi apabhramsa.

Endangered language

Kamrupi today is an endangered language. The language is defined by uniquely identifiable Kamrupi grammar where Sanskritize pronunciation is used to compose present perfect form. This grammar is heavily used by Kamrupi speakers all over greater Kamrup now including in Assam and West Bengal. At least 95% of the "sloka" composed in yesteryear scriptures use this unique Kamrupi grammar.
Kamrupi came to endangered language during British India when for administrative reasons Kamrup was divided into two big districts one added to Bengal and the other to Assam. Thus, Kamrupi since then has seldomly written but only spoken and do not have a state language status in India.

Geographical vicinity

Assamese, or more precisely, the precursor to the contemporary Assamese language, Old Kamrupi language, originated in the historical region of Kamrup or Western Assam.¹¹ The linguistic evolution of Assamese is intricately tied to the ancient Kamrupi dialect, which laid the foundation for the language. Scholars such as Kaliram Medhi and Golockchandra Goswami have noted that in the early stages of the development of Assamese, the Western Assamese dialect held prominence and influence, extending its linguistic sway across the entire region.^12 13

The transition from the Kamrupi dialect to what is now recognized as Assamese is a process that unfolded over centuries. According to observations by Upendranath Goswami, Kamrupi language gradually entered Kamarupa or Western Assam, where it underwent linguistic transformations and was eventually characterized as Assamese. This linguistic shift is substantiated by historical accounts, including the writings of the Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler Hiuen Tsang, who visited the Kingdom of Kamarupa in the first half of the seventh century A.D. during the reign of Bhaskar Varman.¹¹

Hiuen Tsang's records provide valuable insights into the linguistic landscape of the region during that period, indicating the emergence of a distinct speech that would later be identified as Kamrupi language. The assimilation of various linguistic elements, coupled with cultural interactions, contributed to the development of Kamrupi as a distinct language within the broader linguistic context of the Indian subcontinent.

The recognition of Kamrupi as a distinct language in the historical Kingdom of Kamarupa marks a crucial milestone in the linguistic history of the region. The observations of early scholars and the historical accounts of travelers collectively attest to the complex and gradual process through which Kamrupi language emerged from its precursor, the old Kamrupi language, solidifying its identity as a language with a rich cultural and historical heritage in Western Assam.

  See also

• Kamrupi language
• Kamrupi script 
• Kamrup
• Kamrupi culture

Sources

1. Goswami, Upendranath (1970),  A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 4 "Assam from ancient times, was known as Kamarupa till the end of the Koch rule (17th century) and ancient Kamarupa comprised the whole of North Bengal including Cooch-Behar, and the Rangpur and Jalpaiguri districts of Bengal. Its permanent western boundary is said to have been the river Karatoya in North Bengal according to the Kalika Purana and Yoginitantra, both devoted to geographical accounts of ancient Kamarupa. So the Aryan language spoken first in Assam was the Kamrupi language spoken in Rangpur, Cooch-Behar, Goalpara, Kamrup district and some parts of Nowgong and Darrang districts. As also put by K.L. Barua "the Kamrupi dialect was originally a variety of eastern Maithili and it was no doubt the spoken Aryan language throughout the kingdom which then included the whole of the Assam Valley and the whole of Northern Bengal with the addition of the Purnea district of Bihar”. It is in this Kamrupi language that the early Assamese literature was mainly written. Up to the seventeenth century as the centre of art, literature and culture were confined within western Assam and the poets and the writers hailed from this part, the language of this part also acquired prestige. The earliest Assamese writer is Hema Saraswati, the author of a small poem, Prahrada Caritra, who composed his verses under his patron, King Durlabhnarayana of Kamatapur who is said to have ruled in the latter part of the 13th century. Rudra Kandali translated Drone Parva under the patronage of King Tamradhvaja of Rangpur. The most considerable poet of the pre-vaisnavite period is Madhava Kandali, who belonged to the present district of Nowgong and rendered the entire Ramayana into Assamese verse under the patronage of king Mahamanikya, a Kachari King of Jayantapura. The golden age in Assamese literature opened with the reign of Naranarayana, the Koch King. He gathered round him at his court at Cooch-Behar a galaxy of learned man. Sankaradeva real founder of Assamese literature and his favourite disciple Madhavadeva worked under his patronage. The other-best known poets and writers of this vaisnavite period namely Rama Sarasvati, Ananta Kandali, Sridhar Kandali, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharyya, Dvija Kalapachandra and Bhattadeva, the founder of the Assamese prose, all hailed from the present district of Kamarupa. During Naranaryana's reign "the Koch power reached its zenith. His kingdom included practically the whole of Kamarupa of the kings of Brahmapala's dynasty with the exception of the eastern portion known as Saumara which formed the Ahom kingdom. Towards the west the kingdom appears to have extended beyond the Karatoya, for according to Abul Fasal, the author of the Akbarnamah, the western boundary of the Koch kingdom was Tirhut. On the south-west the kingdom included the Rangpur district and part of Mymensingh to the east of the river Brahmaputra which then flowed through that district," The Kamrupi language lost its prestige due to reasons mentioned below and has now become a dialect which has been termed as Kamrupi dialect as spoken in the present district of Kamrup."
2. Barma, Sukhabilasa (2004), Bhawaiya, ethnomusicological study, Global Vision Publishing House, "Based on the materials of the Linguistic Survey of India, Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay has divided Eastern Magadhi Prakrita and Apabhramsa into four dialect groups (1) Radha-the language of West Bengal and Orissa (2) Varendra-dialect of North Central Bengal (3) Kamrupi-dialect of Northern Bengal and Assam and (4) Vanga-dialect of East Bengal." 
3. Birendranatha Datta (1999), Folkloric Foragings in India's North-East, p.134 "Scholars have shown that it is rather through the western Assam dialects that the development of modern Assamese has to be traced". 
4. Goswami, Upendranath (1975), Grammatical Sketches of Indian Languages With Comparative Vocabulary And Texts, Linguistic Survey of India, Census of India 1971, p.35 Thus it is clear that Kamrupi dialect does not only claim as the mother of modern Assamese, but also that this speech continued to exert its appreciable influence on Assamese literature, both prose and poetry. It is worth mentioning here that Assamese Vocabularies may greatly be enriched by incorporation of certain important words and expressions, still in vogue in the modern district of Kamrup proper, in modern Assamese lexicon.
5. The Kamrupi Apabhramsa  (1968) in Journal of the Assam Research Society - Volume 18, p.81, "Though Apabhramsa works in Kamrupi Specimens are not available, yet we can trace the prevalence of early Kamrupi Apabhramsa through the window of archaic froms as found in the grants or Copper-plates mentioned above. This sort of Sporadic Apabhramsa is a mixture of Sanskrit, Prakrit and colloquial dialects of Assam."
6. Choudhury, Dr. Pratap Chandra (1959), The history of civilisation of the people of Assam to the twelfth century A.D., Dept. of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Gauhati, p.395 "The best specimens of wise sayings are contained in a work, 'Dakabhanita', attributed to Daka, written in old Kamarupi dialect. The work provides an important specimen of the ancient literature of Assam. It is, however, too early to ascribe the work to the 6th century A.D., as done by D.N. Bezbarua. It may have been composed about the 8th century A.D.  It is true that Daka flourished at a time when the written literature of Assam had scarcely taken its birth. The place of the nativity of Daka is given in the work, which states that he was the native of the Lehidangara near modern Barpeta."
7. Choudhary, Abhay Kant (1971), Early Medieval Village in North-eastern India, A.D. 600-1200:Mainly a Socio-economic Study, Punthi Pustak (India), page 253, pages 411 "Daka is stated to have belonged to village Lehidangara near Barpeta in the district of Kamrup, and the Dakabhanita, a work in the old Kamarupi dialect, said to have been composed about the 8th century A D."
8. Goswami, Upendranath  (1970), A study on Kamrupi: a dialect of Assamese, Department of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam, Page 4 "They cannot furnish the grammatical structure of Kamrupi or Assamese for which we are to turn our attention to the songs of the Buddhist Siddhacaryas, known as Caryas, composed in between 8th to 12th centuries A.D."
9. Barma, Sukhbilas (2007), Socio-Political Movements In North Bengal (A Sub-Himalayan Tract), "Suniti Kumar Chatterji, in "The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language" published in 1926 has given to this dialect of North Bengal the name 'Kamrupi'."
10. Barma, Sukhabilasa (2004), Bhawaiya, ethnomusicological study, p.103, Global Vision Publishing House,"Acharya Suniti Chattopadhyay has commented that Assam was practically an extension of North Bengal, from its geographical position, so far as its speech and early history were concerned. Dr. Sukumar Sen says, Oriya and Assamese have intimate relations with Bengali. All three were the same language initially. There is not much difference between Kamrupi dialect of Bengali and Assamese. Assamese has differed from Kamrupi in the modern period because of inclusion of innumerable Deshi words."
11. Goswami, Upendranath (1970),  A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 1 "Assamese entered into Kamarupa or western Assam where this speech was first characterised as Assamese. This is evident from the remarks of Hiuen Tsang who visited the Kingdom of Kamarupa in the first half of the seventh century A.D., during the reign of Bhaskaravarman."
12. Medhi, Kaliram (1936), Assamese Grammar and Origin of the Assamese Language, Sri Gouranga Press, p. 66 "The language of the pre-Vaisnava and Vaisnava was the dialect of Western Assam while the language of the modern literature is that of Eastern Assam. This latter has been accepted by the common consent as the literary language of the country. Political power thus determined the centre of literary activity and also of the form of literary language."
13. Golockchandra Goswami (1982), Structure of Assamese, Department of Publication, Gauhati University, p. 11 "The Eastern and Central dialects may be regarded as uniform to a certain extent in their respective areas, while Western Asamiya is heterogeneous in character, with large regional variations in the east, west, north and south. There must have been in early times as well, diverse dialects and dialect groups as at present. But then, there seems to be only one dominant literary language prevailing over the whole area; and that was Western Asamiya, the sole medium of all ancient Asamiya literature including the Buranjis written in the Ahom courts. This was because the centre of all literary activities in early times was in western Assam; and the writers were patronized by the kings and local potentates of that region. In the later period, however, even though the centre of literary activities moved to eastern Assam in the Ahom period, the writers continued to accept and use the existing model of the literary style of that time".
14. Goswami, Upendranath (1970),  A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 14 "Politically, socially and culturally Kamrup formed a separate unit and its speech also was compelled to take a shape to form a distinct dialect. It is only by chance that this dialect had to lose its prestige and had to remain as a dialect".
15. Medhi, Kaliram (1936), Assamese grammar and origin of the Assamese language, Publication Board, Assam, Page 84 "Prose had also been used by the Maithili poets, Vidyapati, Harsanatha and others,--in their dramas. But whereas the Maithili poets prose was in Sanskrit and their songs alone in Maithili Sankara Deva's prose and songs were both in Kamrupi."
16. Goswami, Upendranath (1970). A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 28 "The sub-dialectical varieties of Kamrupi may be grouped mainly into three divisions —western, central and southern. The variety spoken in the area comprising Barpeta, Sundardiya, Patbausi, Bhabani- pur etc. is western, that of Nalbari and its surrounding areas is central and that of Palasbari, Chaygong, Boko etc. is southern."
17. Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1926), The origin and development of the Bengali language, Volume 1, Calcutta university press, "One would expect one and identical language to have been current in North Central Bengal (Pundra-vardhana) and North Bengal and West Assam (Kamarupa) in the 7th century, since these tracts, and other parts of Bengal, had almost the same speech." 
18. Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (1926) The origin and development of the Bengali language, Volume 1 "Eastern Magadhi Prakrita and Apabhramsa has four dialect groups (1) Radha-the language of West Bengal and Orissa (2) Varendra-dialect of North Central Bengal (3) Kamarupa-dialect of Northern Bengal and Assam and (4) Vanga-dialect of East Bengal."
19. Goswami, Upendranath (1975), Grammatical Sketches of Indian Languages With Comparative Vocabulary And Texts, Linguistic Survey of India, Census of India 1971, p. 36. "This Kamrupi dialect, with a long history of its own differs greatly from the eastern variety of Assamese."
20. Goswami, Upendranath (1975), Grammatical Sketches of Indian Languages With Comparative Vocabulary And Texts, Linguistic Survey of India, Census of India 1971, p.31 "Assamese, or more appropriately the old Kamarupi dialect entered into Kamrup or western Assam, where this speech was first characterized as Assamese."
21. Panth, Rabindra (2004), Buddhism and Culture of North-East India, p.8, p.p 152 "it bears a close resemblance to modern Assamese language, the direct offspring of the old Kamarupi dialect."
22. Goswami, Upendranath (1970). A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese. Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. ii. "Dr. U. N. Goswami, the author of the present work, already a well known writer on the science of Assamese language, has, however, made an honest attempt at the treatment of the linguistic study of Assamese, based on the Kamarupi dialect."
23. Kāmarūpa Anusandhān Samiti, Assam (India). 1983. The Journal of the Assam Research Society - Volume 27.  p. 27. "The Kamarupi script developed into the medieval Assamese script and the latter into the modern Assamese script. The Assamese script maintains some relationship with the Bengali and the Maithili scripts."
24. Bangladesh Itihas Samiti (1999), Sylhet: History and Heritage, Page 591 "Suniti Kumar Chatterjee in his Origin and Development of Bangla Language (ODBL) divided the Bangla dialect into four groups in accordance with the name of the regions such as Rada, Pundra or Barindra, Banga and Kamrupi."
25. Sarma, Arabindanath (1986), Writing in Assamese in Indian literature: Volume 30 (1987), Sahitya Akademi, Page 31 "Ambikagiri set a new trend in Assamese by his abundant use of Kamrupi language in his writings."
26. Barua, Kanak Lal (1933), Early History of Kāmarupa, Page 31 "It seems that in the sixth or the seventh century this kingdom of Davaka was absorbed by Kamarupa, for according to Yuan Chwang's account the Kapili valley was included in Kamarupa."
27. Choudhary, Radhakrishna (1976), A Survey of Maithili Literature, Page 16 "According to Kanak Lal Barua, the Kamrupi dialect was originally a variety of eastern Maithili and it was, no doubt, the spoken Aryan language throughout the kingdom which then included the whole of Assam valley and whole of North Bengal with the addition of the district of Purnea. The language of the Buddhist Dohas is described as belonging to the mixed Maithili - Kamrupi language."
28. Sengupta, Madhumita (2016). Becoming Assamese: Colonialism and New Subjectivities in Northeast India. Routledge. p. 100. "Recent scholarship has also focussed on the fact that Kamrupi Prakrit or Kamrupi Apabhramsa differed vastly from the Sibsagariya group of dialects in terms of phonology, morphology and vocables and that the latter contains a large number of Perso-Arabic words presumably derived from the region's close association with Mughal India. The antiquity of Kamrupi has also been confirmed, with scholars recognising definite traces of this Prakrit in pre-Ahom inscriptions of Kamrup, despite conscious efforts on the part of the authors to produce in authentic Sansktit. It has been pointed out that even after the twelfth century the Kamrupi apabhramsa was continue to be used for composing popular songs and ballad, in mantra puthis or popular incantation of Dak."
29. Barua, Kanak Lal (1933), Early History of Kamarupa, p. 318 "The Kamarupi dialect was originally a variety of eastern Maithili and it was no doubt the spoken Aryan language throughout the kingdom which then included the whole of the Assam valley and the whole of northern Bengal with the addition of the Purnea district of Bihar. It is not therefore at all strange the language of the Buddhist Dohas, composed in Kamarupa during the tenth and the eleventh centuries, should be a mixed Maithili-Kamrupi language bearing close resemblance to modern Assamese, the direct offspring of the old Kamarupi dialect."