[Assam] About the Name Assam

[kamal deka]

Dilipda,
Thank you very much for the spectacular explanation.
I cling to the belief that the words " Assam " and "Assamese "are
Anglicised.
Kamal

On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 2:50 PM, Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Kamal,
> In today's parlance, you are absolutely correct. The local people call the
> land "Oxom" and, themselves "Oxomiya". When those words are written
> as "Assam" and "Assamese", it is an attempt to anglicize the locally used
> words.
>
> Now whether Oxom was derived from another word that was local to the area
> and non-Sanskrit in its origin is another issue.
> As we all know the region (at least the western part) was called Kamrupa in
> ancient literature. For the name Kamrupa to change to Oxom, it is almost
> impossible. There is no resemblance between the two words. So the natural
> assumption would be that the transformation to Oxom did not happen with the
> so called Hindu settlers of Assam from the west. It is more likely it
> happened with the domination of Assam by the Ahoms, who for the first time
> in a long time brought the people of the region under one rule through
> political acumen.
>
> I have in my possession books written/compiled by British officers where
> the word Assam is used. But I wouldn't use these books nor a book written in
> another European language (Dutch) to prove that Assam is an indigenous word.
> There needs to be more research done by Xahitya Xobha, digging into the
> Buranjis of the Ahoms and whatever remains of the Ahom language.
>
> I am told by my Ahom friends that many Buranjis were burnt during the
> waning years of Ahom rule. I am also told many Buranjis are still available
> in the Ahom villages kept as family heirloom. Does anyone know how to read
> and decipher these tomes?
> Isn't there a scholar in all of Assam who could trace through the
> transformation of Ahom language from 1228 to the British days
> to see if the name Oxom was coined by the Ahoms to describe their kingdom?
>
> When I am on a roll, let me also ask how the Shans from Burma renamed
> themselves as Ahoms and when it happened.
> If all of this is known to some netter, please publish it, so that some of
> us not exposed to recent findings in Assam can learn and stop arguing over a
> name.
>
> Dilip Deka
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: kamal deka <kjit.deka at gmail.com>
> To: adhazarika at yahoo.com; A Mailing list for people interested in Assam
> from around the world <assam at assamnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, March 8, 2009 10:23:39 AM
> Subject: Re: [Assam] About the Name Assam
>
> In my humble view,the very word " Assam" is an Anglicised one.As an
> adjective," Assamese " pertains to the characteristic of the people of
> Assam and their culture.As  a noun,it means the native of Assam or the
> language of Assam.
> In view of the above fact.Assam Sahitya Sabha may not be in error.
> Kamal
>
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 9:47 PM, Ajoy Hazarika <adhazarika at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Dear Oxom Xahityo Xobha:
> >
> >
> > I agree with Chandan Mahanta.  If you do not know anything about it,
> > an article written by H. Borgohain.  I could not find the article,
> > otherwise I could have forwarded to you.
> >
> > Hi Chandan, Rajen, if you have that article please forward that to . Oxom
> > Xahityo Xobha
> > Oxom Xahityo Xobha.  It will also help if Oxom Xahityo Xobha study
> > the Bodo language.  There are other historical facts.  Chandan and Rajen
> > can help.
> >
> > A. D. Hazarika
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Mon, 3/2/09, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
> > From: Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net>
> > Subject: [Assam] About the Name Assam
> > To: info at axomxahityaxobha.org
> > Cc: assam at assamnet.org
> > Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 9:05 PM
> >
> > Dear Oxom Xahityo Xobha:
> >
> >
> > >In 1917 the Asom Sahitya Sabha was formed as a
> > >guardian of the Assamese society and the forum for the
> > >development of Assamese language and literature.
> > >The word Assamese is an English one, built on the same
> > >principle as Cingalese, Canarese, etc. It is based on the
> > >English word Assam by which the tract consisting of the
> > >Brahmaputra valley is known.
> >
> >
> > *** It is pretty sad that you don't know the origins of the name
> > Assam, that you claim is an English name.
> >
> > It is such display of ignorance of our history and an absence of
> > intellectual curiosity to know what it truly is, that makes the likes
> > of Oxom Xahityo Xobha irrelevant to our cultural heritage
> >
> > Sondon Mohonto
> >
> > USA
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> >
> >
> >
> >
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