The findspots of inscriptions[1] associated with the Kamarupa kingdom give an estimate of its geographical location and extent.

The Kamarupa inscriptions are a number of 5th-century to early 13th-century rock, copper plate and clay seal inscriptions associated with the rulers and their subordinates of the Kamarupa region. The common language of these inscriptions is Sanskrit. The earliest of these inscriptions, the Umachal and Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions, belong to the 5th century and written in a script which was nearly identical to the eastern variety of the Gupta script.[2] There is a steady evolution in the script over the centuries, and last of the scripts, for example the Kanai-boroxiboa inscription using a proto-Assamese script.[3] The script in this period is called the Kamarupi script, which continues development as the Medieval Assamese script from the 13th to the 19th century and emerges as the modern Assamese script.

9th-century Nagaon Copper Plate Inscription of Valavarman III. Text: trailokya vijaya tuṅga yenāpahṛtaṃ yaśo mahendrasya Kāmarūpe jitakāmarūpaḥ prāgjyotiṣākhyaṃ puramadhyuvāsa rājāprajāraṇjana labdhavarṇṇo.
Kanai-boroxiboa rock inscription, 1207 CE, shows proto-Assamese script.

Though the language is Sanskrit, there appear systematic Prakriticisms that indicate an underlying colloquial Indo-Aryan language, called Kamarupi Prakrit.[4]

List of inscriptions

The list below is from (Lahiri 1991, pp. 26–27), and the numbers in the list correspond to the ones given in the find spot map.

Name Kind Ruler Date Find spot Find Year
1 Umachal Rock Surendravarman 5th century Nilachal Hills, Guwahati
2 Nagajari-Khanikargaon Rock - 5th century Khanikargaon, Golaghat
3 Barganga Rock Bhutivarman 6th century Barganga river, Nagaon
4 Dubi Copper plate Bhaskarvarman 7th century Dubi village, Kamrup
5 Nidhanpur Copper plate Bhaskarvarman 7th century Nidhanpur village, Sylhet, Bangladesh
6 Nalanda Clay seals Bhaskarvarman 7th century Nalanda, site-1, monastery 1
7 Sankara Narayana Image Sri Jivara 8th century Deopani, Golaghat
8 Hari-Hara Image Diglekhavarman 8th century Deopani, Golaghat
9 Tezpur Rock Harjaravarman 830 CE Tezpur
10 Hayunthal Copper plate Harjaravarman 9th century Hayunthal, Karbi Hills
11 Deopani Vishnu Image - 9th century Deopani, Golaghat
12 Tezpur Copper plate Vanamalavarmadeva 9th century Tezpur
13a Parbatiya Copper plate Vanamalavarmadeva 9th century Parbatiya village, Tezpur
13b Kaliabor Copper plate Vanamalavarmadeva 9th century Dighali village, Nagaon
14 Uttarbarbil Copper plate Balavarman III 9th century Uttarbarbil village, Karbi Hills
15 Ulubari Copper plate Balavarman III 9th century Ulubari village, Darrang
16 Nagaon Copper plate Balavarman III 9th century Sutargaon village, Nagaon
17 Bargaon Copper plate Ratnapala 1035 CE Naharhabi village, Tezpur
18 Suwalkuci Copper plate Ratnapala 1036 CE Suwalkuci village, Kamrup
19 Coratbari Copper plate Ratnapala 11th century Coratbari village, Nagaon
20 Gauhati Copper plate Indrapala 1058 Barpanara village, Kamrup
21 Guwakuci Copper plate Indrapala 1071 Guwakuci village, Nalbari
22 Gachtal Copper plate Gopalavarman 1080 Gachtal village, Nagaon
23 Subhankarapataka Copper plate Dharmapala 12th century (not known)
24 Pushpabhadra Copper plate Dharmapala 12th century Pushpabhadra river bed, North Guwahati
25 Khonamukh Copper plate Dharmapala 12th century Khonamukh village, Nagaon
26 Kamauli Copper plate Vaidyadeva 1142 Kamauli, Uttar Pradesh
27 Assam Copper plate Vallabhadeva 1185 Tezpur
28 Kanai-Boroxiboa Rock (not known) 1206 North Guwahati
29 Ambari Stone Samudrapala 12th-13th centuries Guwahati
30 Gachtal Pillar (not known) 12th-13th centuries Gachtal, Nagaon
31 Surya Image (not known) 9th century Kaki, Nagaon
32 Gauhati Copper bell Srikumara 8th century Guwahati

Notes

  1. ^ (Lahiri 1991:26–28)
  2. ^ (Lahiri 1991, pp. 58–59)
  3. ^ (Lahiri 1991, pp. 57–58)
  4. ^ "... (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)

References

  • Bora, Mahendra (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script. Jorhat, Assam: Assam Sahitya Sabha.
  • Lahiri, Nayanjot (1991). Pre-Ahom Assam: Studies in the Inscriptions of Assam between the Fifth and the Thirteenth Centuries AD. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
  • Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978). Inscriptions of Ancient Assam. Guwahati, Assam: Gauhati University.
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