Though the historical kingdom disappeared by the 12th century to be replaced by smaller political entities, the notion of Kamarupa persisted and ancient and medieval chroniclers continued to call a part of this kingdomKamrup.[13] In the 16th century theAhom kingdom came into prominence and assumed for themselves the legacy of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom and aspired to extend their kingdom to theKaratoya River.[14]
The earliest use of the nameKamarupa to denote the kingdom is from the4th century,[15] whenSamudragupta'spillar inscription mentions it as a frontier kingdom.Kamarupa finds no mention in the epicsMahabharata orRamayana and in the early and late Vedic, Buddhist, and Jain literatures the references to Kamarupa are not about a kingdom.[16] An explanation of the nameKamarupa emerged first in the 10th-centuryKalika Purana, six centuries after the first use of the name, as the kingdom whereKamadeva (Kama) regained his form (rupa).[17]
The namePragjyotisha, on the other hand, is mentioned in the epics, but it did not become associated with the Kamarupa kingdom till the 7th century when Bhaskaravarman associated his kingdom with the Pragjyotisha of the epics and traced his dynastic lineage toBhagadatta andNaraka.[18] In the 9th century,Pragjyotishpura is named as the legendary city from which Naraka reigned after his conquest ofKamarupa.[19][20]
"Kamarupa" is not included in the list of sixteenMahajanapadas from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE;[21] nor does it find any mention in theAshokan records (3rd century BCE).[22][23] The term "Kamarupa" first appears in theAllahabad pillar inscription ofSamudragupta. During the 5th to 2nd century BCE, historical records mention the existence of a region calledLauhitya instead of Kamarupa, suggesting a potential absence ofBrahmanical influence in the area during that period.[24]
The 3rd–2nd century BCEBaudhayana Dharmasutra mentionsAnga (easternBihar),Magadha (southern Bihar),Pundra (northernBengal) andVanga (eastern and southern Bengal), and prescribes that aBrahmin must undergo purification after visiting these regions.[25] The absence of any mention of Kamarupa in such texts indicates that the region was beyond the ambit and recognition of Brahmanical culture during the second half of the first millennium BCE.[26]
Early dated mentions come from thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century) andPtolemy'sGeographia (2nd century) which call the regionKirrhadia after theKirata population.[27]Arthashastra (early centuries of the Christian era[28]) mentions "Lauhitya", which is identified withBrahmaputra valley by a later commentator.[29] These early references speak about the economic activity of a tribal belt, and they do not mention anystate.[30]
The earliest mention of a kingdom comes from the 4th-centuryAllahabad inscription of Samudragupta that calls the kings of Kamarupa andDavaka frontier rulers (pratyanta nripati).[31] The corpus ofKamarupa inscriptions left by the rulers of Kamarupa at various places in Assam and present-dayBangladesh are important sources of information. Nevertheless, local grants completely eschew the name Kamarupa; instead they use the name Pragjyotisha, with the kings calledPragjyotishadhipati.[32]
The fragmentaryNagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscription, written in Sanskrit and probably a land grant, is dated to approximately the 5th century. It was found inSarupathar in theGolaghat district of Assam. It supports the idea that Sanskritisation spread to the east very quickly.[33] While this dating coincides with the time-span of the Varman dynasty, the inscription does not identify the state formation that issued the grant; the Varman dynasty may not have been responsible. One cannot completely "rule out the possibility of several simultaneous political powers in different sub-regional levels of north-eastern India around or even before the fourth century." Indeed, archaeological discoveries in theDoiyang Dhansiri Valley suggests that early state formation in the region may have begun before the second century.[34]
The findspots of inscriptions[35] associated with the Kamarupa kingdom give an estimate of its geographical location and extent.
Over the course of its prevalence, the boundaries of Kamarupa had fluctuated.[36] Nevertheless, the traditional boundary of Kamarupa is held by scholars to be—Karatoya River in the west,[37]Sadiya in the east,[38][39][40][41] between theDhaka andMymensingh districts in Bangladesh in the south,[42] andKanchenjanga in the north.[43] The traditional boundaries are drawn from the textual references two of which are contemporneous—Xuanzang (7th century),[44] andKalika Purana (10th century)—and a late medieval sourceYogini Tantra (16th century)[45] though none of these claims are backed by any inscriptional record.[46] Thus based on these references Kamarupa is considered to span the entire Brahmaputra Valley andNortheast India and at various times thought to include parts of present-dayBhutan,Bangladesh andNepal.[47]
Kamarupa is not understood to have been a homogeneous unified entity.[48] The Kalika Purana mentions a second eastern limit atLalitakanta nearGuwahati.[49]Shin (2018) interprets this to mean that within Kamarupa the region between Karatoya and Lalitakanta was wheresedentary life was the norm and the eastern region was the realm of non-sedentary society.[50] These internal divisions came to be understood in terms ofpithas, which were abodes of goddesses.[51]
Various epigraphic records found scattered over the regions are used to postulate the size of the kingdom.[1] The kingdom is believed to have broken up entirely by the 13th century into smaller kingdoms
Kamarupa, first mentioned onSamudragupta's Allahabad rock pillar as a frontier kingdom, began as a subordinate but sovereign ally of theGupta Empire around present-dayGuwahati in the 4th century:[53]
It finds mention along with Davaka, a kingdom to the east of Kamarupa in the Kapili river valley in present-dayNagaon district, but which is never mentioned again as an independent political entity in later historical records. Kamarupa, which was probably one among many such state structures, grew territorially to encompass the entire Brahmaputra valley and beyond. As theGupta Empire weakened, the Varmans, of indigenous origin, began asserting themselves politically by performing horse sacrifices and culturally by claiming semi-divine origins.[54] Under the rule of Bhaskaravarman Kamarupa reached its political zenith and the lineage of the Varmans fromNarakasura, a demon, became a fixed tradition.[55] TheMlechchha dynasty, another set of indigenous rulers and thePala dynasty (Kamarupa) that followed, too asserted political legitimacy by asserting descendancy from Narakasura.[56]
Pushyavarman (350–374) established the Varman Dynasty, by fighting many enemies from within and without his kingdom; but his son Samudravarman (374–398), named after Samudragupta, was accepted as an overlord by many local rulers.[59] Nevertheless, subsequent kings continued their attempts to stabilise and expand the kingdom.[60] Kalyanavarman (422–446) occupiedDavaka and Mahendravarman (470–494) further eastern areas.[9] Narayanavarma (494–518) and his sonBhutivarman (518–542) offered theashwamedha (horse sacrifice);[61] and as theNidhanpur inscription of Bhaskarvarman avers, these expansions included the region of Chandrapurivisaya, identified with present-daySylhet Division. Thus, the small but powerful kingdom that Pushyavarman established grew in fits and starts over many generations of kings and expanded to include adjoining possibly smaller kingdoms and parts of Bangladesh.
After the initial expansion till the beginning of Bhutivarman's reign, the kingdom came under attack fromYasodharman (525–535) ofMalwa, the first major assault from the west.[62] Though it is unclear what the effect of this invasion was on the kingdom; that Bhutivarman's grandson, Sthitavarman (566–590), enjoyed victories over theGauda Kingdom ofKarnasuvarna and performed twoaswamedha ceremonies suggests that the Kamarupa kingdom had recovered nearly in full. His son, Susthitavarman (590–600) came under the attack of Mahasenagupta of East Malwa. These back and forth invasions were a result of a system of alliances that pitted the Kamarupa kings (allied to theMaukharis) against theGaur kings of Bengal (allied with the East Malwa kings).[63] Susthitavarman died as the Gaur invasion was on, and his two sons, Suprathisthitavarman and Bhaskarvarman fought against an elephant force and were captured and taken to Gaur. They were able to regain their kingdom due probably to a promise of allegiance.[64] Suprathisthitavarman's reign is given as 595–600, a very short period, at the end of which he died without an heir.[65]Supratisthitavarman was succeeded by his brother, Bhaskarvarman (600–650), the most illustrious of the Varman kings who succeeded in turning his kingdom and invading the very kingdom that had taken him captive. Bhaskarvarman had become strong enough to offer his alliance withHarshavardhana just as theThanesar king ascended the throne in 606 after the murder of his brother, the previous king, byShashanka of Gaur. Harshavardhana finally took control over the kingless Maukhari kingdom and moved his capital to Kanauj.[66] The alliance between Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarman squeezed Shashanka from either side and reduced his kingdom, though it is unclear whether this alliance resulted in his complete defeat. Nevertheless, Bhaskarvarman did issue the Nidhanpur copper-plate inscription from his victory camp in the Gaur capitalKarnasuvarna (present-dayMurshidabad,West Bengal) to replace a grant issued earlier by Bhutivarman for a settlement in the Sylhet region of present-day Bangladesh.[67]
After the death ofBhaskaravarman without an heir and a subsequent period of civil and political turmoil, the kingdom passed into the hands ofSalasthambha (r. 655–670), possibly a former local governor[68] and a member of an aboriginal group referred to as theMlechchhas. This dynasty also claimed descent from theNaraka dynasty, although it had no dynastic ties to the precedingVarman dynasty.
The capital of the Mlechchha dynasty was established atHaruppeshvara, now identified with modernDah Parbatiya nearTezpur. During this period, the kingdom developed feudal characteristics,[69] with political authority distributed between the king and subordinate rulers titledmahasamanta andsamanta, who exercised considerable autonomy.[70] The last known ruler of this dynasty wasTyāgasimha (r. 890–900).
After the death of Tyāgasimha without an heir, a member of theBhauma family,Brahma Pala (r. 900–920), was elected as king by the ruling chieftains—similar to howGopala I of thePala Empire of Bengal had been elected.[71] The original capital of this dynasty was Hadapeshvara, which was later shifted toDurjaya byRatna Pala (r. 920–960), near modern-dayGuwahati. The most prominent ruler of the dynasty was Dharma Pala (r. 1035–1060), who established his capital atKamarupanagara, now identified withNorth Guwahati. The last known ruler of this line wasJaya Pala (r. 1075–1100).
During this period, Kamarupa faced external invasions, and its western territories were conquered byRamapala of thePala Empire of Bengal.[72]
Ramapala could not keep control for long, and Timgyadeva (1110–1126) ruled western Kamarupa independently for some time. His sonKumarapala sent Vaidyadeva against Timgyadeva who installed himself at Hamshkonchi in theKamrup region. Though Vaidyadeva maintained friendly relationships with Kumarapala, he styled himself after the Kamarupa kings issuing grants under the elephant seal of erstwhile Kamarupa kings and assuming the title ofMaharajadhiraja, though he did not call himselfPragjyotisadhipati like the Kamarupa kings did. He controlled a portion of Kamrup, Goalpara and North Bengal but not Kamarupanagara, the seat of the last Kamarupa kings.[73]
Central Kamarupa
It is estimated that with the withering away of the Kamarupa kingdom, parts of Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur districts on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River came under the control of one Bhaskara.[74] A single inscription (1185) gives a list of four rulers that have been called the Lunar dynasty—Bhaskara, Rayarideva, Udayakarna and Vallabhadeva—with their reign dated to 1120–1200.[75]
Southern Kamarupa
In the Sylhet region, there emerged rulers called Kharabana, Gokuladeva, Narayana and Kesavadeva.[74]
Kamarupa Proper
Kamarupa proper was confined to the south bank of Brahmaputra, with the power center still at Kamarupanagara,[76] with three rulers associated with it:Prithu, Samudrapala andSandhya.[77]
In 1206 the Turko AfghanBakhtiyar Khalji passed through Kamarupa against Tibet which ended in disaster, the first of many Turko-Afghan invasions. The ruler of Kamarupa at this point wasRaja Prithu (d. 1228, called Britu inTabaqat-i Nasiri),[78] who is sometimes identified with Visvasundara, the son of Vallabhadeva of the Lunar dynasty, mentioned in the Gachtal inscription of 1232 A.D.[79] Prithu withstood invasions (1226–27) fromGhiyasuddin Iwaj Shah ofGauda[78] who retreated back to his capital to defend it fromNasiruddin Mahmud but was defeated, captured and killed in 1228.[80] Nasir-ud-din installed a tributary king but after his death in 1229 the control of Kamarupa lapsed back to local rulers.[81]
At that time, western Kamarupa was the domain of theKoch andMech peoples.[84] In other parts of the erstwhile Kamarupa theKachari kingdom (central Assam, South bank),Baro Bhuyans (central Assam, North bank), and theChutiya kingdom (east) were emerging. TheAhoms, who would establish a strong and independent kingdom later, began building their state structures in the region between the Kachari and the Chutiya kingdoms in 1228.
The extent of state structures can be culled from the numerous Kamarupa inscriptions left behind by the Kamarupa kings as well as accounts left by travellers such as those from Xuanzang.[85] Governance followed the classicalsaptanga structure of state.[86]
Kings and courts: The king was considered to be of divine origin. Succession was primogeniture, but two major breaks resulted in different dynasties. In the second, the high officials of the state elected a king, Brahmapala, after the previous king died without leaving an heir. The royal court consisted of aRajaguru, poets, learned men and physicians. Different epigraphic records mention different officials of the palace:Mahavaradhipati,Mahapratihara,Mahallakapraudhika, etc.[citation needed]
Council of Ministers: The king was advised by a council of ministers (Mantriparisada), and Xuanzang mentions a meeting Bhaskaravarman had with his ministers. According to the Kamauli grant, these positions were filled by Brahmanas and were hereditary. State functions were specialised and there were different groups of officers looking after different departments.[citation needed]
Revenue: Land revenue (kara) was collected by special tax-collectors from cultivators. Cultivators who had no proprietary rights on the lands they tilled paiduparikara. Duties (sulka) were collected by toll collectors (Kaibarta) from merchants who plied keeled boats. The state maintained a monopoly on copper mines (kamalakara). The state maintained its stores and treasury via officials:Bhandagaradhikrita andKoshthagarika.[citation needed]
Grants: The king occasionally gave Brahmanas grants (brahmadeya), which consisted generally of villages, water resources, wastelands etc. (agraharas). Such grants conferred on the grantee the right to collect revenue and the right to be free of any regular tax himself and immunity from other harassments. Sometimes, the Brahmanas were relocated from North India, with a view to establishvarnashramdharma. Nevertheless, the existence of donees indicate the existence of a feudal class. Grants made to temples and religious institutions were calleddharmottara anddevottara respectively.[citation needed]
Land survey: The land was surveyed and classified. Arable lands (kshetra) were held individually or by families, whereas wastelands (khila) and forests were held collectively. There were lands calledbhucchidranyaya that were left unsurveyed by the state on which no tax was levied.[citation needed]
Administration: The entire kingdom was divided into a hierarchy of administrative divisions. From the highest to the lowest, they werebhukti,mandala,vishaya,pura (towns),agrahara (collection of villages) andgrama (village). These units were administered by headed byrajanya,rajavallabha,vishayapati etc.[86] Some other offices werenyayakaranika,vyavaharika,kayastha etc., led by theadhikara. They dispensed judicial duties too, though the ultimate authority lay with the king. Law enforcement and punishments were made by officers calleddandika, (magistrate) anddandapashika (one who executed the orders of adandika).[citation needed]
^"... (it shows) that in Ancient Assam there were three languages viz. (1) Sanskrit as the official language and the language of the learned few, (2) Non-Aryan tribal languages of the Austric and Tibeto-Burman families, and (3) a local variety of Prakrit (ie a MIA) wherefrom, in course of time, the modern Assamese language as a MIL, emerged." (Sharma 1978, pp. 0.24–0.28)
^(A)ccording to the Yogina Tantra—a product of seventeenth-century Assam—the entire religion of Kamarupa is itself described as kirata dharma, that is, the religion of the northeast hill tribes"(Urban 2011:237)
^"The government of Kamarupa state was absolute monarchy in nature with the king at the top of the political structure." (Boruah 2005:1465)
^"Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa had emerged as an 'early state' by covering a large part of present north-east India, part of neighbouring west-Bengal and Bangladesh in the period between the 4th to the 12th century." (Boruah 2005:1464)
^Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma - 2005,"Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, ... - Volume 3", Page 248, Davaka (Nowgong) and Kamarupa as separate and submissive friendly kingdoms.
^ab"As regards the eastern limits of the kingdom, Davaka was absorbed within Kamarupa under Kalyanavarman and the outlying regions were brought under subjugation by Mahendravarman." (Choudhury 1959, p. 47)
^"It is presumed that (Kalyanavarman) conquered Davaka, incorporating it within the kingdom of Kamarupa" (Puri 1968, p. 11)
^"According to theKalika Purana and theYogonitantra, the ancient Kamarupa included, besides the districts of modern Assam, Cooch-Behar, Rang-pura, Jalpaiguri and Dinajpur within its territory." (Saikia 1997, p. 3)
^"Before (the 10th century), copper plate inscriptions indicate that land around the Kushiara was more densely populated, because Kamarupa kings had granted large tracts of land to immigrant brahmans and their supporting castes, to make this region part of Assam (Khanda Kamarupa). (Ludden 2003:5081)
^In the medieval times the region between the Sankosh river and the Barnadi river on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra river was defined as Kamrup (orKoch Hajo in Persian chronicles)(Sarkar 1990:95)
^"They also looked upon themselves as the heirs of the glory that was ancient Kamarupa by right of conquest, and they long cherished infructuously their unfulfilled hopes of expanding up to that frontier." (Guha 1983:24). 'An Ahom force reached the banks of the Karatoya in hot pursuit of an invading Turko-Afghan army in the 1530s. Since then "the washing of the sword in the Karatoya" became a symbol of the Assamese aspirations, repeatedly evoked in theBar-Mels and mentioned in the chronicles." (Guha 1983:33)
^"There is no definite reference to Kamarupa in the early/later Vedic literature and the early Buddhist/Jain canonical works. The two Epics are also silent on Kamarupa, despite mentioning Pragjyotisha." (Shin 2018:28)
^Barua, Birinchi Kumar; Kakati, Banikanta (1969).A cultural history of Assam - Volume 1. p. 15.
^"Considering the historical context of the seventh century Kamarupa, especially during the reign of Bhaskaravarman when the Varmans was ascending to one of the important powers in north India, it appears that they projected Kamarupa on a larger geopolitical map by combining it with Pragjyotisha, the Epic kingdom." (Shin 2018:38)
^"The earliest name of Assam is Pragjyotisha, i.e. the territory of around the city of that name, while Kamarupa, later used as the name of the country, (was a) synonym of Pragjyotisha." (Sircar 1990a:57)
^"Pragjyotisha was, however, redefined in the Uttar Barbil and the Nowgong plates dated to the last quarter of the ninth century. Both record that Naraka, the conqueror of Kamarupa (jitakamarupa), used to live in a city (pura) named Pragjyotisha in Kamarupa." (Shin 2018:39)
^"Kamarupa was not included in the 16Mahajanapadas during the time of the Buddha."(Shin 2018:28)
^"Angas, Magadhas, Pundras and Vangas are mentioned in the Baudhayana Dharmasutra (1.2.14–6) dated to the period between the early third and mid-second centuries BCE. The Angas and Magadhas lived in eastern and southern Bihar respectively, and the Pundras and the Vangas in northern and southern Bengal, respectively. It is prescribed that abrahmana must have purification by the performance ofpunastoma orsarvarishtha after visiting their places." (Shin 2018:28)
^"ThePeriplus of the Erythraen Sea (last quarter of the first century A.D) and Ptolemy'sGeography (middle of the second century A.D) appear to call the land including Assam Kirrhadia after its Kirata population." (Sircar 1990a:60–61)
^"...the Arthashastra in its present form has to be assigned to the early centuries of the Christian era and the commentaries to much later dates." (Sircar 1990a, p. 61)
^"If we go by Bhattaswamin's commentary onArthashastra Magadha was already importing certain items of trade from this [Brahmaputra] Valley in Kautilya's days" (Guha 1984, p. 76)
^"Kautilya'sArthashastra, thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea, the Geography of Ptolemy and other early literary works only speak of economic pursuits of the tribal belt of the north-eastern region...but had nothing to say about their kingdoms." (Shin 2018, p. 28)
^"The name Kamarupa does not appear in local grants where Pragjyotisha alone figures with the local rulers called Pragjyotishadhipati." (Puri 1968, p. 3)
^The date of the Nagajari-Khanikargaon fragmentary stone inscription is considered to be earlier than that of the Umachal inscription of the Varmans. It is, nevertheless, too early to make any definite conclusion as the archaeological and inscriptional evidences are still limited to date. Furthermore, the absence of large-scale archaeological excavations in the region prevents us from tracing a detailed picture of society in the earlier period."(Shin 2018:28–29)
^"As to the spatial extent of Kamarupa, it is futile to project any fixed boundary on it. The sphere of its political influence constantly changed, and the kingdom itself never constituted a single entity." (Shin 2018:40)
^"the Karatoya in the west" (Sircar 1990a:63) "The traditional western boundary of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa is likewise supported by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-tsang who traveled in India in the second quarter of the seventh century AD." (Sircar 1990a:64)
^"Scholars identifyDikkaravasini with goddessTamresvari and locate her abode in Sadiya. It is deemed the eastern limit of Kamarupa. And this supposition is supported by the reference of the sixteenth century Yoginitantra describing the eastern limit of Kamarupa as the abode of Dikkaravasini." (Shin 2018:40)
^"There are, however, two rivers of the name Dikrang; one flowing on the east of Narayanpur in North Lakhimpur and the other in Sadiya. Dikkaravasini is perhaps the Dikrang river"(Dutta 2008:181) "The river Dikshu may, however, really be one in the Sadiya region such as the Dibang. The temple of Tamresvari-Dikkaravasini formerly stood nearPayaArchived 4 September 2021 at theWayback Machine in the same area as is indicated by an inscription of Saka 1364 (1442 AD)." (Sircar 1990a:64)
^"...the temple of the goddess Tameshwari (Dikkaravasini) is now located at modern Sadiya about 100 miles to the northeast of Sibsagar" (Sircar 1990a:63–64)
^"(T)he kingdom is demarcated as in the East, the Dikkaravasini and the river Dikshu (identified with Tamreswari temple and river Dibang of the Sadiya region respectively)" (Boruah 2007:32)
^"the confluence of the Brahmaputra" and "[T]he junction of the Brahmaputra and the Laksha (modern Lakhya) at the southern boundary now stands near the border between Dacca and Mymensingh Districts of Bangladesh." (Sircar 1990a:63)
^"The northern boundary mentioned as Mount Kanja or Kanchana in Nepala reminds us of the Kanchanjanga peak on the eastern border of Nepal." (Sircar 1990a:63)
^"He travelled from Pun-na-fa-tan-na (Pundravardhana) on the east more than 900li or 150 miles; crossed a large river and reached Kia-no-leu-po (Kamarupa). TheT'ang Shu refers to this large river as Ka-lo-tu which undoubtedly meant the Karatoya. The pilgrim further states that to the east of the country was a series of hills which reached as far as the confines of China." (Baruah 1995:75)
^"The boundaries of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa are clearly indicated in the Yogini Tantra which is not earlier than the sixteenth century and this late medieval tradition is supported by earlier evidences." (Sircar 1990a:63). "As regards the eastern boundary of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa which is also rarely mentioned, theKalika Purana, the present version of which is assigned to the tenth or eleventh century AD supports the above late tradition in clear terms." (Sircar 1990a:64)
^"Scholars identifyDikkaravasini with goddessTamresvari and locate her abode in Sadiya. It is deemed the eastern limit of Kamarupa. And this supposition is supported by the reference of the sixteenth century Yoginitantra describing the eastern limit of Kamarupa as the abode of Dikkaravasini. Based on these textual references, the so-called traditional boundary of Kamarupa is postulated. However, no inscriptional and material evidence confirms this conjecture."(Shin 2018:40)
^"(T)he kingdom of Kamarupa extended up to the river Karatoya in the west and included Manipur, Jaintiya, Cachar, parts of Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rangpur and portions of Nepal and Bhutan." (Baruah 1995:75)
^"The sphere of its political influence constantly changed, and the kingdom itself never constituted a single entity." (Shin 2018:40)
^"In the Kalikapurana, Kamarupa was defined as a region extending from the Karatoya in the west up to that place in the east Ganga, where goddess Lalitakanta resided. The location of Lalitakanta is roughly identified with the hill-streams Sandhya, which is not far from present Guwahati." (Shin 2018:40)
^"The contrast between the area from Lalitakanta to Dikkaravasini and that from the Karatoya to Lalitakanta is clear. The former was perceived as the place in which the Kiratas dwelt, while the latter denoted the place where brahmanas, sages and people of the varna order lived in. In other words, the former represented the realm of the tribal non-sedentary society, covering a vast area in the middle and upper Brahmaputra Valley, and the latter that of the Brahmanical sedentary society, occupying a small part of the region, probably limited to the present city of Guwahati and its environs." (Shin 2018:41)
^"It is worth noting thatpitha (the abode of a goddess) signified the extent of Kamarupa, that is Lalitakanta pitha and Dikkaravasini pitha." (Shin 2018:41)
^"The fact that they are supposed descent from the demon Naraka probably indicates the indigenous origin Of the ruling family, though converted to the orthodox brahmanical religion (Majumdar 1962: 88). As Gupta rightly pointed out, it is possible that when Gupta power weakened, the Varman rulers asserted themselves not only politically by performing horse sacrifices, but also culturally by announcing their semidivine origin." (Shin 2010:177)
^"In this context, a suitable sacred genealogy for the great king, Bhaskaravarman was probably reformulated and became a fixed tradition."(Shin 2010:178)
^"It may be suggested that a story was fabricated by the brahmanas at the court of these kings to explain away their aboriginal origins (Sircar 1990b:124), though the content of story was not known due to the corroded portion [of the inscription]. Nevertheless, the Mlecchas also sought their political validation from the lineage of Naraka." (Shin 2010:177)
^(Lahiri 1991:70). Though the first evidence is from the Mansador stone pillar inscription of Yasodharman, there is no reference to this invasion in the Kamarupa inscriptions.
^" The original Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa kingdom, after Jayapala could continue its political hold over a small area on the south bank of the Brahmaputra with its power centre at Kamarupanagara." (Boruah 2011:82)
^"Extant sources speak of three rulers after Jayapala who had ruled Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa till the mid 13th century. They were Prithu, Samudrapala and Sandhya." (Boruah 2011:82)
^ab"[Prithu] is believed to be the Kamarupa ruler who had to face and had successfully repulsed the first two Turko-Afghan invasions which came from Bengal in 1205-06 and in 1226-28 AD." (Boruah 2011, p. 82)
^"Visvasundara (son and successor of Vallabhadeva), (?) was perhaps to be identified with Prithu or Bartu of Minhaj." (Sarkar 1992:37–38) (Note:11)
^"Notwithstanding the attempts by some of (Iuzbak's) daring predecessors to subjugate Kamarupa between Karatoya and Barnadi, it was still virtually a land unknown to the Sultans of Bengal, politically it was not unified but parceled among the Bodo, Koch and MechBaro-Bhuyans, constituting a loose confederacy under the strongest of them." (Sarkar 1992:38)
^"The description of (Bakhtiyar Khalji's) disastrous campaign provides us with some information about the populations (Siraj 1881: 560-1):... Konch, sometimes written Koch, (the same hesitation occurs in Buchanan-Hamilton's manuscripts), is what we today write as Koch. Mej or Meg is the name we write as Mech. We can safely conclude that these names described important groups of people in the 13th century, in the area between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra." (Jacquesson 2008:16–17)
^Choudhury, P. C., (1959)The History of Civilization of the People of Assam, Guwahati
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![The 7th and 8th century extent of Kamarupa kingdom, located on the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, what is today modern-day Assam, Bengal and Bhutan.[1] Kamarupa at its height covered the entire Brahmaputra Valley, parts of North Bengal, Bhutan and northern part of Bangladesh, and at times portions of West Bengal and Bihar.[2]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKamarupa_map.png)
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