Umacal Rock inscription of Surendra Varman

    The Umacal is north-eastern part of Nilachala or Kamakhya hill in modern Guwahati in Kamrup region. The Umacal Rock inscription was issued by Surendra Varman (470-494), also known as Mahendra Varman, the son of king Ganapati Varman and queen Suvrata Devi, who is sixth in line of Varman dynasty of Kamarupa kingdom.

Inscription

Umacal Rock Inscription

Maharajadhiraja Sri

Surendravarma Kritam

Bhagavat Balavadra

Swaminath Idah Griha

Translation

This cave of the illustrious lord Balabhadra has been constructed by Maharajadhiraja Sri Surendra Varman.

Grammatical Sketches of Indian Languages With Comparative Vocabulary And Texts

Dr. Upendranath Goswami, noted linguist, wrote a chapter on Assamese language in Linguistic Survey of India, Census of India 1971. Download

Notable Kamrupi people

Kamrupi people are ethno-linguistic group native to Kamrup region of India. Some of the notable Kamrupi people are mentioned in the list below.

Legendary

1. Naraka - Founder of Bhauma dynasty of Pragjyotisha
2. Bhagadatta - Son of Naraka and ruler of Bhauma dynasty of Pragjyotisha 
3. Vajradatta - Son of Bhagadatta and ruler of Bhauma dynasty of Pragjyotisha 

Ancient

1. Pushya Varman - Founder of  Varman dynasty of Kamarupa kingdom
2. Samudra Varman - Son of Pushya Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
3. Bala Varman - Son of Samudra Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
4. Kalyana Varman - Son of Bala Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
5. Ganapati Varman - Son of Kalyana Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
6. Mahendra Varman - Son of Ganpati Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
7. Narayana Varman - Son of Mahendra Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
8. Bhuti Varman - Son of Narayana Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
9. Chandramukha Varman - Son of Bhuti Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
10. Sthita Varman - Son of Chandramukha Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
11. Susthita Varman - Son of Sthita Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
12. Supratisthita Varman - Son of Susthita Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
13. Bhaskar Varman - Son of Susthita Varman, brother of Supratisthita Varman and ruler of Varman dynasty
14. Avanti Varman - Ruler of Varman dynasty
15. Brahma Pala - Founder of  Pala dynasty of Kamarupa kingdom
16. Ratna Pala - Son of Brahma Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
17. Indra Pala - Son of Brahma Ratna Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
18. Go Pala - Son of Indra Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
19. Harsha Pala - Son of Go Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
20. Dharma Pala - Son of Harsha Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
21. Jaya Pala - Son of Dharma Pala and ruler of Pala dynasty
22. Lauhityapada - Litterateur
23. Daka - Litterateur
24. Minanatha - Litterateur
25. Kumarila Bhatta - Preacher
26. Chand Sadagar - Merchant

Medieval

1. Ananta Kandali1 - Litterateur
2. Bakul Kayastha - Litterateur
3. Bhattadeva1 - Litterateur
4. Bhusana Dvija - Litterateur
5. Birdatta Choudhury - Freedom fighter
6. Chandra Bharati - Litterateur
7. Damodara Deva - Litterateur
8. Dvija Kalapachandra1 - Litterateur
9. Durgabar Kayastha - Litterateur
10. Kalapachandra Dvija - Litterateur
11. Gopalacharana Dwija - Litterateur
12. Gopala Mishra - Litterateur
13. Haribara Vipra - Litterateur
14. Haradatta Choudhury - Freedom fighter
15. Hema Saraswati - Litterateur
16. Pitambar Dvija - Litterateur
17. Pitambara Sidhanta Vagisa - Litterateur
18. Rama Saraswati1 - Litterateur
19. Rudra Kandali - Litterateur
20. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya1 - Litterateur
21. Sridhara Kandali1 - Litterateur
22. Vishnu Bharati - Litterateur

Modern

1. Abani Chakraborty -  Litterateur
2. Ambikagiri Raichoudhury - Freedom fighter
3. Banikanta Kakati - Linguist
4. Bholanath Kakati - Litterateur
5. Bhumidhar Barman - Thirteenth Chief Minister of Assam, Bharat
   
6. Birendra Nath Dutta - Litterateur and singer
7. Bishnu Ram Medhi - Second chief minister of Assam
8. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed - Fifth President of India
9. Himanta Biswa Sarma - Fifthteenth Chief Minister of Assam, Bharat
10. Indira Goswami - Litterateur
11. Kaliram Medhi - Linguist
12. Kalpana Patowary - Singer
13. Lakhikanta Mishra - Litterateur
14. Mahadev Deka - Bodybuilder
15. Mahendra Mohan Choudhry - Fourth Chief Minister of Assam, Bharat
16. Parbati Charan Das - First Kargil martyr
17. Pratap Chandra Goswami - Litterateur
18. Rameshwar Pathak - Kamrupi Lokgeet artist
19. Ruchinath Kamrupi - Litterateur
20. Sarat Chandra Goswami - Litterateur
21. Taranath Chakravarty - Litterateur
22. Trailakyanath Goswami - Litterateur

Sources

1. Goswami, Upendranath (1970), A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 4 "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.''

Kamrupi people

    The Kamrupi people are an ethno-linguistic group that speak the Kamrupi language and are native to the Kamrup region of India.

Culture

    Kamrupi culture is known for following traditional Vedic culture in day to day life. It largely flourished in the reign of Pushya Varman (350–374), the founder of great Varman dynasty of Kamrup Kingdom which reached its zenith in the reign of Bhaskar Varman (600–650). Scholars believes Kamrupi culture had a distinctive mark in every sphere, whether it be science or literature. Astronomy is a Kamrupi science. Daka, the great Kamrupi poet flourished undoubtedly during the ancient period.¹

Festival

    Kamrupi people follow religious and community specific festivals around the year. Manasha Puja, Basanti Puja,² Durga Puja, Kali Puja and other Pujas; Diwali, Holi, Janmastami, Shivratri etc. are major religious festivals of the Kamrup region. The common popular term to designate the three festivals corresponding to Bihu of Eastern Assam, in Western Assam, except in West Goalpara, is "Domahi", e.g., "Baihagar Domahi", "Maghar Domahi" and "Katir Domahi".^{3 4} There is hardly any dance and music of the Bihu type so common in Eastern Assam, but a special springtime festival of this region is a fair usually held in the first week of Baihag or third week of April. It is known as "Bhatheli" in northern Kamrup, "Sori" or "Suanri" in southern Kamrup.² In certain areas the breakers of the "bhatheli-ghar" come from another village, resulting in a sort of mock fight between them and the local youth. In the southern part of Kamrup, where the festival is known as Sori, planting of tall bamboos is not seen, but bamboo posts,with the tuft at the top. People bow before the bamboos in northern Kamrup and they also touch them with reverence, but it does not look like any sort of bamboo worship.⁵

Religion

    Hinduism is the major religion of the region. Hinduism is further divided into Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Hindu way of life can be observed in dressing, food and lifestyle, an important aspect of cultural identity for people of the region.  

Language

    According to 2011 census of India, 60,000,00 people of Kamrup region identified themselves as speakers of Assamese language. In first half of seventh century Chinese pilgrimage Yuan Chwang visited the region and wrote about language, which convinced Upendranath Goswami and others that "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." Kamrupi language is also acts as lingua franca among other groups of the region.

Music

    The folk songs of Kamrup region is known as Kamrupi Lokgeet. Kamrupi dance form has been evolved from Bhaona. Falguni, Geeta, Karna-Arjuna, Ojhapali etc are forms of Kamrupi dance.⁸

Cuisine

    The Kamrupi food homogenous to certain extent with nearby eastern Indian states. Mustard seeds is generously used in cooking, while ginger, garlic, pepper and onions are extensively used. Traditional utensils are made of bell metal though stainless steel is quite common in modern times.

Sources

1. Barua, Prafulla Chandra (1967), Fragments of a lost picture, Self published, p.viii
2. Goswami, Upendranath (1970), A Study on Kāmrūpī: A Dialect of Assamese, Department of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam, p.13,14 Moreover the factors for the integration of different dialects namely war, annual fair, great religious festivals etc., where people of different and adjacent places can mix together and get the chief roughness of different dialects smoothed down, were found lacking between eastern and western Assam. The important festival in eastern Assam called the Bihu festival is not observed in the same manner in western Assam. The Kamrupi word for the festival at the same period is 'dahmi'. The custom of intermarriage between eastern Assam and Kamrup was also not in vogue. Even now-a-days the number of such marriages is not great. In other cultural items also Kamrup and eastern Assam differ considerably. In Kamrup we find 'bhathli', a kind of bamboo worship held in the middle of April. Another interesting custom in Kamrup is the custom of driving mosquitoes in winter in the form of group singing which is known as 'mahoho'. The choral songs, known as 'ojapali, connected with the story of the goddess Manasa, is also confined in western Assam. Manasa even to-day "is a living and powerful cult in Assam and she is worshipped with much adoration and ceremony, particularly in the districts of Kamrup, Goalpara and Darrang". In eastern Assam no parallel is found to these festivals and worship. Thus 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. 
3. Goswami, Praphulla Dutta (1966), The Springtime Bihu of Assam: A Socio-cultural Study, Lawyer's Bookstall, Gauhati, p. 25
4. Bīrendranātha Datta, Nabīnacandra Śarmā, Prabin Chandra Das (1994), A Handbook of Folklore Material of North-East India, Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art & Culture, Assam, p. 158
5. Goswami, Praphulla Dutta (1966), The Springtime Bihu of Assam: A Socio-cultural Study, Lawyer's Bookstall, Gauhati, p. 8 In Assamese the term domahi is more popular than the learned samkranti . Domahi means the junction of two months . Further , in lower Assam , this term tends to replace the use of the name Bihu : the Domahi of Bohag , of Kati , or of Magh .
6. Sarma, Nabinacandra (1988), Essays on the Folklore of North-eastern India, Bani Prokash, p.64
7. Baruah, P. N. Dutta (2007). A contrastive analysis of the morphological aspects of Assamese and Oriya. Central Institute of Indian Languages. p. 10.
8. Banerji, Projesh (1959), The folk-dance of India, Kitabistan, p.72 A new form of dance technique has been evolved from Bhaona which is a sophisticated type of dancing, known as "Kamrupi" dance. Probably this nomenclature was attributed to give a provincial touch to the technique, because it had its birth from Assam. There is a district even now in the State by that name. The famous ""Kamrupi" dances are "Phalguni", "Gita", "Karnarjuna",etc.

Kamrupi glossary

Kamrupi language retained many old Indo-Aryan (O.I.A) words

Kamrupi language   Old Indo-Aryan   Translation

Kurma                                                   Kutumbaka                              Relative

Bari                                                        Vatika                                      Enclosed ground with plantation

Theng                                                     Tanga                                      Leg

Pek                                                         Panka                                     Mud

Phen                                                       Phena                                     Foam

Bar                                                         Vara                                        Bridegroom

Solli                                                       Challi                                       Children

Boni                                                       Bhagini                                    Sister

Dima                                                      Dimba                                      Egg

Kake                                                      Kanikattika                              Comb

Niar                                                       Nihara                                       Fog

Common Kamrupi language words and meaning

Kamrupi language                                     Translation

Gila/Gilak                                                                                                  Plural suffix

Nun                                                                                                           Salt

Sana                                                                                                          Offspring

Taka                                                                                                          Money

Chowk                                                                                                      Town square

Manush/Manhu                                                                                        People

Bazar                                                                                                        Market

Jal/Pani                                                                                                    Water

Dhol                                                                                                         Drum

Kumra                                                                                                      Gourd

Kuchi                                                                                                       Cluster of villages

Logbhat                                                                                                   Feasting on Magh Domahi eve

Behar                                                                                                       Mustard

Mahri                                                                                                       Mosquito curtain

See also

• Goswami, Upendranath (1957), O. I. A. sibilants in Kāmrupi.
• Goswami, Upendranath (1957), Onomatopoetic and echo-words in Kamrupi.
• Goswami, Upendranath (1970), A study on Kāmrūpī: a dialect of Assamese, Dept. of Historical Antiquarian Studies, Assam. p. 312.

Ruchinath Kamrupi

"Ruchinath Kamrupi" was linguist from Kamrup region of India. He was early advocate of distinctness of "Kamrupi language" from Assamese language.

Early life

He was born in later half of eighteenth century, probably in Kamrup.

Notable works

In 1810 he compiled a manuscript of Sanskrit-Asamiya-Kamrupi vocabulary named "Vocabularies of the Ashami and Camarupa Languages" (Sanskrit-Assami-Kamrupi Sabdakosh), which is preserved in the India Office Library, London; where he shown linguistic differences between Kamrupi language and Assamese.   

Kamrupi dance

    "Kamrupi dance" is group of dances originating in ancient Kamrup,1 forming one of the cultural norm of Kamrup region.

Origin

Kamrupi dance originated from Bhaona dance.3

Types

    Phalguni, Gita, Karnarjuna and others are variants of Kamrupi dance.3  "Phalguni" depicts the story of how Arjuna, another name of Phalguni, was invited by the gods in heaven to slay the demons.  He went there and found it difficult to overcome them. Eventually he took help of  the "Pashupat" arrow which was presented to him by Shiva and thus became successful. "Gita" dance executes the theme that Arjuna is unwilling to fight against relations in the battle of Kurushetra. Krishna who acts as his charioteer, takes him aside from battlefield and divulges out his power as supreme god, and teaches him the doctrine of Karma whereby he preaches that Arjuna is the means and is not the actual killer. Thereafter Arjuna joins the fight and expresses from his movements that he is the meas employed by the gods. "Karnarjuna" is a duet dance showing the fight between the two heroes of Mahabharata, Arjuna and Karna.  The Ojapali dance belongs to the Kamrup region, and it is therefore sometimes spoken of as Kamrupi dance.

Sources

1. Banerji, Projesh (1959). The folk-dance of India. Kitabistan. p. 72. A new form of dance technique has been evolved from Bhaona which is a sophisticated type of dancing, known as "Kamrupi" dance.
2. Bhavan's Journal, Volume 8, Issues 1-13. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 1961. p. 49. The devadasis who performed this dance, it may be mentioned, were attached to temples of Shiva as well as of Vishnu. The Ojapali dance belongs to the Kamrup district, and it is therefore sometimes spoken of as Kamrupi dance. There are two types of Ojapali, the Sakta and the Vaisnava
3. Banerji, Projesh (1959). The folk-dance of India. Kitabistan. p. 72. Probably this nomenclature was attributed to give a provincial touch to the technique, because it had its birth from Assam. There is a district even now in the State by that name. The famous ""Kamrupi" dances are "Phalguni", "Gita", "Karnarjuna",etc.