A Treatise on the Bodos

2012·0.92 MB·Bodo

by  Shri Bakul Chandra Basumatary

A Treatise on the Bodos

By

Shri Bakul Chandra Basumatary
Published by:
Shri Niran Chandra Basumatary
Village – Dhauliguri,
P.O. – Balimari –via- Gossaigaon
District – Kokrajhar,
Assam.

1st Edition – February 2012

Writer – Bakul Chandra Basumatary

Copy Right @ the writer

Price: Rs.200.00

Printed at:
Samson Printers
1 Printing House, 24, Police Court Lane,
Fort, Mumbai - 400001
This book is dedicated to Jagadish Chandra Brahma, Ex-Principal, Kokrajhar
College, Kokrajhar, Assam who is no more with us.
Index

1. Pragjyotishpur: Its roots are in Bodo Prakrits 01

2. Unearthing the origin of the term ‘Kamarupa’ 18

3. Indo­European Theory: A Bodo Perspective          32 

4. Bodos: Their Evolution with the Hinduism 53

5. Assamese Muslims: A Bodo Perspective of Their Identity 101

6. Treaties between the British Government and the Kings belonging 117
to the Bodo race

7. Reconstruction of the History of Ancient Bengal 224
Preface

The purpose of writing this book is to cater to the needs of redesigning the road map for
writing a true and authentic ancient history of Assam, Bengal and Bangladesh. While
writing the ancient history of Assam, Bengal and Bangladesh, it appears, fanciful and
mythological stories are given preference to the facts and as such, the ancient history of
these regions with reference to the people representing the mass autochthonous has been
distorted beyond recognition. I have made serious efforts to salvage the lost glories of the
ancient indigenous people living in these regions. I am of the firm opinion that there is a
strong need in rewriting the ancient history of Assam, Bengal and Bangladesh. I have
therefore, collected material records that are impeccable and placed them in this book
along with logical analysis highlighting therein the irresistible conclusions.

In its ultimate objective, this book will be in tandem with my books, ‘Bodo Civilization
in India’ and ‘Boro Rao Arw Pali, Prakrit, Sanskritjwng Beni Swmwndw’. Those two
with this compilation, according to me, will be able to give an exhaustively clear picture
of the Bodos and their lost ancient glory. Besides, these three books will help provide
insight to rethink in terms of writing a comprehensive and new ancient history of Assam,
Bengal and Bangladesh.

This book covers aspects relating to the evolution of the Bodos in respect of their faith,
culture, language and social traditions. The treaties whereby the kings of the Bodo
dynasties had at last, surrendered their sovereignty to the British Government have also
been reproduced in this book for information of all concerned. All the writers of fame and
repute may like to review the ancient history of these regions on the basis of the data put
forward in this book. The readers may like to compare the facts brought out in this book
with those of the history books already in circulation and thereafter, I am sure, they
would appreciate the undesired treatments meted out to these regions and the
authoctonous people, the Bodos in particular. I repeat that on reading these three books it
would seem irresistible that there is a strong need to correct the incoherent, biased and
unsubstanciated pictures painted in our history books in respect of the ancient history of
Assam, Bengal and Bangladesh.

As the book is now on the stand, I request all our esteemed readers to read the book at
least for once. Thanking all in anticipation,

Bakul Chandra Basumatary
Village – Dhauliguri,
P.O. – Balimari –via- Gossaigaon
District – Kokrajhar,
Assam
Pragjyotishpur: Its Roots are in the Bodo Prakrits

As stated in the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Upa-Puranas, during the pre-Christian
era, the region comprising of the modern Assam, Tripura, Bengal and Bangladesh was
known as Pragjyotishpura of King Bhagadatta of the Bhauma dynasty founded by
Narakasura, the son of Lord Vishnu. D. C. Sircar is of the opinion, “The early kingdom
of Pragjyotisa comprised major parts of modern Assam together with the Jalpaiguri,
Cochbehar, Rangpur, Bogra, Mymensingh, Dacca and Tippera Districts and parts of the
Pabna District in Bengal and probably also the eastern areas of Nepal.” (Studies in the
Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, P.160) Scholars and historians are however,
not unanimous as regards the reason why this region was called Pragjyotishpura.
According to Upa-Puranas and the Puranas, the region was famous for astrology, i.e.,
Jyotish Shastra and since it was the eastern frontier of India, it was called Prag + Jyotish
+ Pur = Pragjyotishpura. Thus the historians who support and believe in the statements
made in the Puranas including the Upa-Puranas hasten to say that the term
Pragjyotishpura is the derivative of the said three Sanskrit words. While propounding the
theory of the Sanskrit origin of Pragjyotishpura, they tend to suggest that Pragjyotishpura
might have been the abode of the Sanskrit speaking people. The theory of the Sanskrit
origin of the term ‘Pragjyotishpura’, according to us, is full of flaws and it cannot be
accepted for reasons amongst others, as discussed below.

The name of a place generally goes with the name and nomenclature of the people living
in the area. Therefore, almost all the countries of the modern world are known and called
after the names of the people predominantly living in those countries. Following this
principle, one may have to first make a sincere attempt to unearth the true identification
of the people that were living in the kingdom, known and called as Pragjyotishpura,
before and/or during the era when the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Upa-Puranas
were written. One would invariable find in the great Epic that the Kiratas and the Cinas
are stated to be the inhabitants of the kingdom. Admittedly, the Kiratas and the Cinas are
of Mongoloid origin and the modern Bodos of India are their progenies. They spread
from the Indus River in the West to the Dihing, Disang and Dibong in the East and even
far beyond. However, the names of their clans, groups and sub-groups differ from each
other at different times and in different regions. This has been testified by Thomas
William Rhys David as well, which fact is discussed later in this writing. None the less,
Indian historians including Dr. S. K. Chatterjee have classified the Bodos as the people of
Kirata origin and as such no further discussion on the Kiratas is required to be made in
this writing. The Kalika Upa-Purana declares this region as the abode of the Mlecchas,
the followers of the Lord Shiva, who lived with practices of their own faith and modes of
worship that were at variance with the practices of the people of the Western India. ‘Shi’
or ‘Si’ and ‘Bwrai’ are two Bodo ‘Tad Sama’ words which mean ‘Life’ or ‘Atma’ and
‘Supreme’ or ‘Parama’ respectively. Sibwrai is therefore, the Supreme Soul for the
Bodos.

In ancient texts, namely, the Manu Smriti and the Mudrarakshasa, the Kiratas have been
classified as the Mlecchas and they were grouped together with all the people who did
not practice the Brahminic Hinduism. The Kalika Upa-purana is supposed to have been
composed sometime around the tenth century AD and as such, it would have to be
accepted that the Bodos had been living in this region since the age of Mahabharata till at
least the tenth century AD. “The Kiratas formed a series of allied yet distinct tribes or
clans inhabiting the Himalayan range and its Southern slopes from Punjab to Assam and
Chittagong.” (Ancient India – by R. C. Majumdar, P.515) “Gauda (West and North
Bengal) was ruled by a Kambu family.” (Ancient Indian History and Civilization – by
Sailendra Nath Sen, P.280) “Khambu (Rai), Mech, Limbu, Yakha, Magar, Suwar,
Gurung and Bhujel of Nepal and Sikkim constitute very important section of the Kirata
communities. They are Mongoloids in origin.” (Researches into the History and
Civilization of the Kiratas – by G. P. Singh, P.86)

Hiuen-Tsang, the Chinese traveler who visited this region in the first half of the seventh
century AD (643 A.D.) has left an account to the effect that “The frontier of Kamarupa
kingdom extends 10,000 Li (approx 1700 miles) and that of the capital is around 30 Li.
Although the land has slopes but it is very productive. It is being cultivated on a regular
basis. People here are involved in the farming of jackfruit and coconut. Dams are erected
on rivers or lakes bringing forth the streams, which keep flowing all the time. As regards
the climate of the region is tropical and wet. People belonging to this place are simple
and honest and modest by nature. They are fair in complexion with a copper or yellow
tinge and have short height and flat nose. The language they speak varies from that of the
people of Central region of India. These people are aggressive and wild in nature. More
so they have sharp minds and are very intelligent. Bhaskar Burman offered prayers to
Shiva.”

Turks invaded this region in the beginning of the thirteenth century AD and had left an
account on the people living in the region. The Tabaqat-I-Nasiri of Minhaj, the Muslim
writer narrates, among others, that the regions representing the modern Bangladesh and
North Bengal were inhabited by the people called the Coches, the Meches and the
Tharus, all of them having similar countenance to that of the Turks. They spoke a
language different to that of the language spoken in Mid-India. The testimony of Minhaj
would unfold before us that in the beginning of the thirteenth century AD too, the people
living in this region were of the Bodo group, the Tibeto-Burmans who did not speak the
Sanskrit. As stated earlier, generally the name of a place is derived from the term and/or
the nomenclature of the indigenous people living in the region and/or it is named by the
indigenous people in their own words to obviate the purpose of identification to the
people of other regions and/or places. Ancient Assam had nothing to do with ‘Jyotish’
(astrology) and the Sanskrit was unknown to the people of the region. As such it would
be too difficult if not absurd to say that the name ‘Pragjyotishpura’ is derived from the
Sanskrit words ‘Prag’ and ‘Jyotish’ as if the Bodos living in this region were either the
Sanskrit speakers or they had no language of their own to borrow some Sanskrit words to
name their place of abode. In fact the Sanskrit itself is a ‘tad bhava’ language created to
serve the purposes of the Brahminic Hinduism which has reached the eastern regions
including Bengal not earlier than the era post tenth century AD. The entire region from
Bengal to the far-east was not even within the pale of the Mauryan and the Gupta
Buddhist empires. History testifies further that during the age post Gupta period no
dynasty including the dynasty of Harshavardhana ever annexed this region to their
kingdoms. Undoubtedly, this region maintained independence till the Mughals annexed
some parts of it to their kingdom.

The people of this region, namely the Bodos have been maintaining their racial origin
from the pre-Christian era till to-day. However, they were swept away by the tides of
different religions at different times. Originally, they were devoted worshipers of
innumerable gods with Shiva as their Supreme God; and during the Palas’ regime they
opted to follow the religious principles of the Buddhism to develop the tenets of the
Vajrayana Buddhism. With the decline of the Buddhism in India and particularly during
the reign of the Senas in Bengal, they reverted back to their original religion which was
based on the principles of polytheism. The strong wave of the Brahminic Hinduism that
was fast expanding towards east gradually submerged in it all the elite sections of the
Bodos including the royal families and as such, beginning the fourteenth century A.D.,
the Bodo kings of Kamatapur, the Kachari kings of Cachar, the Mech-Bodo kings of
Cochbehar and the Borok kings of Tripuara got converted into the Brahminic Hinduism
and declared themselves as the Kshatriyas. Then again the Muslim rule over the region
found them converted into the Islam in large numbers. The demography of the then East
Bengal (modern Bangladesh) became over a night the one of Muslim majority. This
factor contributed to the idea of merging the then East Bengal with Pakisthan. Even then,
vast majorityof the Bodos survived with their own faith, culture, language and traditions.
The Census Reports of the British Government testify this fact. With the expansion of the
Brahminic Hinduism, these people discovered innovations to modify their Bodo language
to that of the Assamese and the Bengali Apabhrangshas. The Apabhrangshas, namely the
Assamese and the Bengali were developed in this region from out of the Prakrit, i.e., the
Bodo language. The Sanskrit was never a spoken language of the region nor was it an
official language of any king. In view of this, it is highly unlikely that the name
‘Pragjyotishpura’ is derived from the Sanskrit words, ‘Prag’ and ‘Jyotish’. We may have
to reject this theory as false and baseless.

As stated earlier, Assam was the abode of the Kiratas and Cinas since the Mahabharata
era till to-day. However, in the beginning of the thirteenth century A.D., the Kachari
kingdom of Assam experienced a serious jolt from the Ahom intrusion. The Bodos were
no doubt, the rulers of entire Assam when the Ahoms entered into Assam sometime in
1215 A.D. But the Ahoms were successful in capturing certain parts of the Kachari
kingdom in or about 1228 A.D. when they first established Ahom kingdom in upper
Assam. As stated by George Van Driem in his book, ‘Languages of the Himalayas’, “The
Ahoms were led by Sukapha, a prince who had left his ancestral kingdom of Nara.
Sukapha left the village of Maulung and crossed the Patkai range in 1215 A.D. with eight
noblemen and nine thousand commoners. He had with him two elephants and 300
horses.” (P.328) Jasmine Saikia writes that their number was depleted to about one
thousand by the time they crossed the Patkai range where they met strong resistance from
the Nagas. Therefore, initially, the Ahoms had to live in harmony with the local people
who were mostly the Bodos. They entered into marriage alliances with the Bodos as there
were no Ahom females when they came to Assam. Therefore, George Van Driem has
recorded correctly, “Many indigenous people of Assam now profess to be Ahoms, and
they have adopted many Ahom rites and customs; their language, however, is