Kamata Kingdom | |||||||||||
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| c. 1257–1587 | |||||||||||
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| Capital | Kamarupanagara(present-dayNorth Guwahati) Kamatapur(present-dayGosanimari) | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Early Assamese (eastern part),Proto Kamta (western part) | ||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Late Medieval period | ||||||||||
• Established by Sandhya | c. 1257 | ||||||||||
• Durlabh Narayan receives Candivara | unknown | ||||||||||
• Sasanka seizes power | unknown | ||||||||||
• Niladhwaj establishesKhen dynasty | unknown | ||||||||||
• Alauddin Hussain Shah defeats the last Khen ruler | 1498 | ||||||||||
• Biswa Singha forms theKoch dynasty | 1515 | ||||||||||
• Division of Koch dynasty intoKoch Hajo andKoch Bihar | 1587 | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | India (North Bengal,Lower Assam) Bangladesh | ||||||||||
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TheKamata KingdomAssamese:কমতা ৰাজ্য,romanized: ˈkʌmətɑ; in the easternSivalik Hills, emerged in westernKamarupa probably whenSandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE.[1] Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarupa kingdom, and covered most of the western parts of it, the kingdom is also sometimes called as Kamarupa-Kamata.
It covered a region corresponding to present-day undivided districts ofKamrup,Goalpara,Jalpaiguri, andCooch Behar district inIndia andRangpur and northern parts ofMymensingh inBangladesh.[2] The rise of the Kamata kingdom marked the end of the ancient period in thehistory of Assam and the beginning of the medieval period. The last rulers were the Khens, who were later displaced in 1498 byAlauddin Hussain Shah, the ruler of theBengal Sultanate. Though Hussain Shah developed extensive administrative structures, he lost political control to a confederation ofBaro-Bhuyan within a few years.[3]
In 1515,Biswa Singha removed the Baro-Bhuyan confederacy and established theKoch dynasty.[4] The Koches were the last to call themselvesKamateshwar (the rulers of Kamata), but due to the far-reaching extensive influence and expansions the kingdom is sometimes called the Koch Kingdom. In the following century the kingdom split inKoch Bihar andKoch Hajo. The eastern kingdom, Koch Hajo, was absorbed into theAhom kingdom in the 17th century. The western portion of the Kamata kingdom, Koch Bihar continued to be ruled by a branch of theKoch dynasty and later merged with the Indian territory after the independence of India from the British domain.[5] The boundary between Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo is approximately the boundary between West Bengal and Assam today.
The political history of the Kamata kingdom region prior to the rise of the Koch dynasty remains uncertain and is largely reconstructed from traditions and scattered sources. Historians have relied on limited epigraphic evidence alongside later literary works, genealogical traditions, and retrospective chronicles, resulting in reconstructions that remain tentative.[6]
Sandhya, was a ruler of Kamarupanagara, the capital of the erstwhileKamarupa.[7] After withstanding an attack fromMalik Ikhtiyaruddin Iuzbak in which Iuzbak was killed (1257)[8] Sandhya moved his capital to Kamatapur, near present-dayCooch Behar town. Sandhya styled himselfKamateswara and the kingdom came to be known as Kamata.[9]
Pratapdhvaj was a minister of Singhadhvaj when he usurped power. At his death, his cousin Dharmanarayan seized power. He was challenged by Pratapdhvaj's son Durlabhnarayan and they decided to settle. Durlabhnarayan assumed power Kamrup, Goalpara, Jalpaiguri, Koch Bihar, along with the capital Kamatapur, while Dharmanarayan retained Rangpur and Mymensingh.[10][11] As part of the settlement, Durlabhnarayan received from Dharmanarayan the custody of fourteen families ofBrahmans andKayasthas, one among whom was Candivara, the great-great-grandfather ofSankardev.[12] The court poets of Durlabhnarayan (Hema Saraswati andHarivara Vipra) and Indranarayan produced literary works that are considered to be the first examples ofEarly Assamese.[13]
Separately, an epigraphic record, from 1428, of a king named Durlabhnarayan (mentioned as son of Dharmanarayan), found in Sadiya-Chepakhowa, mentions that his grandfather Ratnanarayana (identified with Satyanarayana from late 14th century), after defeating the enemies of Kamdeva, became the king ofKamatapura[14] which might indicate that the eastern region ofSadhaya was politically connected to the western region of Kamata.[15]
The invasion of Assam bySikandar Shah (1357–1390) weakened Indranarayan. Though Sikander Shah had to retreat from central Assam because of an attack on Bengal byFiruz Shah Tughlaq, Indranarayana was sufficiently damaged that a Bhuyan fromDarrang, Arimatta, was able to usurp power.[16]
The Khen dynasty,[17] ofKheng-Bhutanese origin,[18] replaced the weak rulers ofKamata kingdom following Arimatta in the middle of the 15th century. Niladhvaj Khen, the first king, united several Baro-Bhuyan chieftains of the area and removed the last of Arimatta's successors—Mriganka. There were only three Khen rulers:
The last king, Nilambar expanded the kingdom to include the present Koch Bihar districts of West Bengal and the undivided Kamrup andDarrang districts of Assam and northernMymensingh in Bangladesh as well as eastern parts ofDinajpur district, though he was removed by Alauddin Husain Shah in 1498.[citation needed]
Alauddin Hussain Shah, aSultan of Bengal, removed the last Khen ruler in 1498.[19] This followed a long siege that likely started in 1493 soon after Alauddin's ascension and ended in a treacherous win with 24,000 infantry, cavalry and a war flotilla.[20] Alauddin destroyed the city and eventually annexed the region up toHajo by 1502,[21] removed the local chieftains, and established military control over the region.[22] He established his sonShahzada Danyal as an administrator and issued coins in his own name as the "conqueror of Kamru and Kamata ...".[23] This rule was short since the Baro-Bhuyans rose up in revolt soon after and exterminated Sultanate rule.[3]
Nevertheless, the Muslim rule had lasting effects. Hussein Shah's coins continued to be used till 1518, when the Koch dynasty began consolidating their rule. Ghiasuddin Aulia, a Muslim divine figure fromMecca, established a colony at Hajo. His tomb, which is said to contain a little soil from Mecca, now called "Poa Mecca" ("a quarter Mecca"), is frequented by Hindus and Muslims alike.[24]
Alauddin Hussain Shah's representative in Kamata, his sonShahzada Danyal and his officers, was seized and killed by theBaro-Bhuyans of the region and the region lapsed into their confederated style of governance till the Koches took over.[4] Though it is not known when theBaro-Bhuyan rule began, historians estimate thatBiswa Singha's campaign against the Baro-Bhuyans began in 1509.[25]
The Kamata kingdom then passed into the hands of theKoch dynasty, with Biswa Singha consolidating his control over the Bara-Bhuyans one after another and establishing theKoch dynasty with its dominion from theKaratoya River in the west to theBarnadi river in the east.[26] In the 1581 Raghudev, the son ofChilarai and the nephew ofNara Narayan, affected a split in the kingdom[27]—Koch Hajo andKoch Bihar.[28] Though Raghudev had accepted the suzerainty of his uncle,[27] the two parts of the original Kamata kingdom split for good in 1587 when Naranarayan died,[29] the boundary between them forming roughly the administrative boundary between the present-dayAssam andWest Bengal.
Koch Hajo, the eastern kingdom, soon came under attack from theMughal, and the region went back and forth for between the Mughal and theAhoms, finally settling with the Ahoms. Koch Bihar, the western kingdom, first befriended the Mughals and then the British, and the rulers maintained the princely state till the end of the British rule.[citation needed]
Yuvaraj: Biswa Singha appointed his brother Sisu as theYuvaraj. The descendant of Sisu became theRaikat kings ofJalpaiguri.
Karjis/Karzis: Biswa Singha appointed twelve minister from his tribesman to form aKarjee, this position was hereditary. Two importantKarjee andYuvaraj form a cabinet.
Senapati: Commander of a standing army.
Paik: Individual male
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