About the Book This book aims at presenting, as far as possible, a connected history of the old kingdom known as Pragiyotisha or Kamarupa from the car list times till the death of the Koch king, Narnarayan towards the end of the sixteenth century. It may therefore be called the history of Kamarupa during the pre-Ahom period.
About the Author Kanaklal Barua (1872-1940) was a prominent writer, essayist, historian and politician from Assam who wrote mainly in the English language. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism of Assamese literature. He was the president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1924 held at Dibrugarh district, Assam. In 1929 he was elected to Assam Legislative Assembly. He also served as a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. He was the founder president of the Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti (Assam Research Society). He was rewarded with the "Raibahadur" title by the British Government.
Preface This book aims at presenting, as far as possible, a connected history of the old kingdom known as Pragjyotish or Kamarupa from the earliest times till the death of the Koch king Narnarayan towards the end of the sixteenth century. It may therefore be called 'the history of Kamarupa during the pre Ahom period. The materials on which a full chronological record of this long period can be attempted are by no means ample but they are at least not less numerous than those now available for compiling a historical account of the neighboring province of Bengal during the same early period. About 1000 years before the Christian era the greater part of lower Bengal was probably under the sea while the greater part of northern Bengal was included in Pragjyotisha. Allusions to the, Smaller kingdoms in Bengal, then above the sea, are therefore rare in the oldest Aryan records but Pragjyotisha, which was then a powerful kingdom. is often mentioned in the epics and the Puranas, The Aryan wave extended to Kamarupa directly from Videha and Magadha long before lower Bengal became either habitable or fit for Aryan occupation.
Kamarupa was therefore Aryanized long before central and lower Bengal. The Maga dha empire was founded by Chandra Gupta in the fourth century B. C. About this time, or after, the whole of northern Bengal, to the south of the Jalpaiguri district and west of the Trisota, was absorbed in the Maurya empire together with the Tamralipti region in the south west. The Mourya empire of Asoka undoubtedly included northern Bengal between the Teesta (Karatoya) and the Kosi, for within this area stupas erected by Asoka were found by Yuan Chwang in the seventh century A. D. This area continued to be incuded in the Magadha empire at least till the sixth century A. D. During the rule of the Imperial Guptas this stretch was known as Pundravardhana. To the east and north of Pundravardhana Kamarupa continued as an independant kingdom ruled over by an indigenous line of kings who traced descent from Naraka, Bhagadatta and Vajradatta who were heroes mentioned in the epics.
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