[Assam] About the name Assam

[kamal deka]

On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 6:22 PM, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:

> Does S N Sarma refer to any proof or is it a conjecture? And at what time
> frame did the name Asam came to be the defining name of the kingdom? Will it
> be reasonable to surmise that it was much before the British came?
>
> *Assam and other derivatives *
>
> The earliest mention of "Assam" is found in the Bhagavat of Sankardeva,
> composed in the 15th and 16th centuries. The relevant stanza [*Srimandbhagavat,
> skandha 2, H Dattabaruah and Co., Nalbari, pp-38*] is (in [*
> http://www.aczoom.com/itrans/#itransencoding iTrans*] )
>
> kiraTa kachhaari khaachi gaaro miri yavana ka~Nka govaala
> asama maluka dhobaa ye turuka kubaacha mlechchha chaNDaala
>
> One of the first unambiguous references comes from Thomas Bowrey in 1663
> about Mir Jumla's death: "They lost the best of Nabobs, the Kingdome of
> Acham, and, by consequence, many large privileges". [*Bowrey, Thomas, "A
> Geographical Account of Countries around Bay of Bengal", ed Temple, R. C.,
> Hakluyt Society's Publications*]
>
KJD

>
>
> The Sanskritized form is a pure and unadulterated conjecture of modern
> times.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> At 5:46 PM -0500 3/16/09, kamal deka wrote:
>
>> According to historian Satyendra Nath Sarma, [*Sarma, Satyendra Nath
>> (1976)
>> "Assamese Literature", Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.*]
>>
>> While the Shan invaders called themselves Tai, they came to be referred to
>> as "ÅsÇm", "Åsam" and sometimes as "Acam" by the indigenous people of the
>> country. The modern Assamese word "Åhom" by which the Tai people are known
>> is derived from "ÅsÇm" or "Åsam". The epithet applied to the Shan
>> conquerors
>> was subsequently transferred to the country over which they ruled and thus
>> the name KÇmar•pa was replaced by ÅsÇm, which ultimately took the
>>
>> Sanskritized form "Asama", meaning "unequalled, peerless or uneven"
>> [*Banikanta
>> Kakati: "Assamese: Its Formation and Development", p2*]
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Dilip and Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com
>> >wrote:
>>
>>  The debaters on this subject are looking at only two facets - the
>>> Tai-Ahom
>>>  connection and the possible Sanskritization. There is a third one to
>>> look
>>>  at. The Bodo-Kacharis have been in Assam longer than anyone else and
>>> their
>>>  people are spread all over Assam.
>>>  What did they call the land? Many rivers in Assam still have their Bodo
>>>  names.
>>>  What did they call the Tais who came to Assam in the 13th century?
>>>  Is there "xo" sound in Bodo language?
>>>  It is very possible that some words in Bodo were at the root of "Oxom",
>>>  "Assam", "Asom" or whatever else. Please do not throw away Dr. A. Guha
>>> or
>>>  Baden Powell(is that the name?) yet.
>>>
>>>  I don't know a word of Bodo language. Could someone who knows Bodo
>>> comment
>>>  on the above?
>>>  I did go to the website http://www.bodoland.org/language1.htm and found
>>>  some interesting words but not much that would help the debate.
>>>  Dilip Deka
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  ________________________________
>>>  From: Rajen Barua <barua25 at hotmail.com>
>>>  To: assamnet <assam at assamnet.org>
>>>  Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 8:21:13 AM
>>>  Subject: Re: [Assam] About the name Assam
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Why would Mr Wahid confront anybody?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  What Prof Amalendu Gauha wrote about 'Ha-Sam' was not based on his own
>>>  research work. He simply borrowed the writing from Mr Baden Powell even
>>>  without quoting Mr Powell. I also wrote about the word 'Ha-Sam' in my
>>>  article  but I quoted Mr Baden Powell. Also Prof Guha was writing based
>>> on
>>>  his communistic outlook, not much as history of the word Assam.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  There are many ignorant educated people in Assam. There are again some
>>>  educated intellectuals with different agendas.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Let people read Mr. Wahid's writings and confront him if they have any
>>>  problem.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Rajen Barua
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  > Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:03:37 -0500
>>>  > From: kjit.deka at gmail.com
>>>  > To: assam at assamnet.org
>>>  > Subject: [Assam] About the name Assam
>>>  >
>>>  > I am wondering what prevents Mr.Saleh from confronting people like
>>>  > Prof.Priyam Goswami of Gauhati University or Prof.Amalendu Guha with
>>> his
>>>  > newly-found Dutch document which will certainly make them
>>>  laughter-evoking
>>>  > buffoons for being so ignorant about Assam's history ?
>>>  > KJD
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