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{{about|the modern region|the historic kingdom|Kamarupa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kamrup
| native_name =
| other_name = Kamarupa
| settlement_type = [[Regions of India|Region]]

| image_skyline =
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| image_shield =
| image_map1 = Kamrup-1931-gazateerofindia.png
| motto =
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = [[India]]
| subdivision_type1 = Ancient capital
| subdivision_name1 = [[Pragjyotishpura]], [[Durjaya]]
| subdivision_type2 = City
| subdivision_name2 = [[Barpeta]], [[Guwahati]], [[Nalbari]], [[Palashbari]], [[Rangiya]]
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| coordinates = {{coord|26.25|N|91.5|E|display=inline,title}}
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| population_as_of = 2011
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| population_total = 6000000
| population_density_km2 = auto
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| timezone1 = UTC+05:30 (IST)
| utc_offset1 = +5.30
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| postal_code_type = 781xxx
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| blank_name = Area codes
| blank_info = 0361

| website = {{URL|www.barpeta.nic.in}}<br>{{URL|www.kamrupmetro.nic.in}}<br>{{URL|www.kamrup.nic.in}}<br>{{URL|www.nalbari.nic.in}}
| footnotes =
}}
[[File:Kamakhya1.JPG|right|thumb|250px|{{center|[[Kamakhya Temple|Ancient Kamakhya temple]]}}]]
[[File:Madan Kamdev 1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|{{center|[[Madan Kamdev]], [[Baihata]]}}]]
'''Kamrup''' is the modern region situated between two rivers, the [[Manas River|Manas]] and the [[Barnadi River|Barnadi]] in [[Western Assam]], with the same territorial extent as the Colonial and post-Colonial "[[Undivided Kamrup district]]".<ref>Pratap Chandra Choudhury, ''The history of civilisation of the people of Assam to the twelfth century'', Page 448, 1959 The Kamapitha of the Tantras was no other than Kamarupa and Kamakhya.</ref><ref>"These theoretical divisions are not known from the early epigraphic records and may have been fabricated in the late medieval period." {{harv|Sircar|1990|p=68}}</ref> It was the capital region of two of the three dynasties of [[Kamarupa]] and Guwahati, the current political center of Assam, is situated here. It is characterized by its [[Kamrupi culture|cultural artifacts]].<ref>Upendranath Goswami (1970), ''A Study on Kāmrūpī: A Dialect of Assamese''</ref>

==Etymology==
The origin of name, its original form being Kamarupa, is attributed to a legend in the [[Kalika Purana]] which mentions that it is in this region that [[Kamadeva]] regained his form.<ref>Hemanta Kumar Sarma (1992), ''Socio-Religious Life of the Assamese Hindus: A Study of the Fasts and Festivals of Kamrup District'', p.4, p.p.262, Daya Publishing House</ref>

==Ancient Kamrup (350–1140)==
{{Main|Kamarupa}}
The history of the Kamrup region dates back to the 4th century under [[Kamarupa Kingdom]]. The kingdom was successively ruled by three dynasties - the [[Varman dynasty|Varman]], the [[Mlechchha dynasty|Mlechchha]] (Salasthambha dynasty) and the [[Pala dynasty (Kamarupa)|Pala]] dynasties. Among these, the capitals of the Varman Dynasty and the Pala Dynasty, called [[Pragjyotishpura]] and [[Durjaya]] respectively, were in Kamrup, whereas the capital of the Mlechchha dynasty was in Tezpur outside the Kamrup region.

[[Samudragupta]]'s 4th-century [[Allahabad Stone Pillar Inscription of Samudra Gupta|Allahabad prasasti]] mention Kamarupa as well as [[Davaka]] ([[Nagaon district]] in central Assam) and it is presumed that a later Kamarupa king absorbed Davaka.<ref>"It is presumed that (Kalyana Varman) conquered Davaka, incorporating it within the kingdom of Kamarupa" {{harv|Puri|1968|p=11}}</ref> Though the kingdom came to be known as Kamarupa, the kings called themselves the rulers of Pragjyotisha (''Pragjyotishadhipati''), and not Kamarupa.<ref>"The name Kamarupa does not appear in local grants where Pragjyotisha alone figures with the local rulers called Pragjyotishadhipati." {{harv|Puri|1968|p=3}}</ref> Vaidydeva, an 11th-century ruler, named Kamarupa as a ''mandala'' within the Pragjyotisha ''bhukti''.<ref>{{harv|Puri|1968|p=3}}</ref> According to Sircar, the Kamarupa mandala is congruent to undivided Kamrup of the modern times.<ref>{{harv|Sircar|1990|p=70}}</ref>
[[File:Silsako Bridge, Kamrup in 1851.jpg|right|thumb|250px|{{center|[[Silsako|Historic Silsako bridge]]}}]]

==Medieval Kamrup==

===Kamata (1250-1581)===
{{main|Kamata kingdom|Baro-Bhuyan}}
The Kamarupa region soon lost a unified political rule. [[Sandhya (ruler of Kamarupa)|Sandhya]], a 13th-century ruler in the Kamarupanagara ([[North Guwahati]]), moved his capital to present-day [[North Bengal]] and his new kingdom came to be called Kamata;<ref>"Hema Saraswati in his ''Prahrada-carit'' says that Durlabhanarayan was the unequaled king of Kamata-mandala" {{harv|Neog|1980|p=40}}</ref> or sometimes as Kamata-Kamrup.<ref>{{harv|Gogoi|2002|p=17}}</ref> Though Kamata included [[Cooch Behar district|Koch Bihar]], [[Darrang district|Darrang]], [[Kamrup district|Kamrup]] districts, and northern [[Mymensingh Division|Mymensingh]] in general,<ref>{{harv|Sarkar|1992|p=44}}</ref> its control over the Kamrup region was lax.<ref>"The invasion of Mughisuddin, though abortive, had shaken the Kamarupa kingdom. It was reorganized as a new state. 'Kamata' by name with Kamatapur as capital. The exact time when the change was made is uncertain. But possibly it had been made by Sandhya (c1250-1270) as a safeguard against mounting dangers from the east and the west. Its control over the eastern regions beyond the Manah (Manas river) was lax." {{harv|Sarkar|1992|pp=40–41}}</ref> In the extreme east of the erstwhile Kamarupa kingdom the [[Chutiya kingdom|Chutiya]], [[Kachari kingdom|Kachari]] and the [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] kingdoms emerged, with the [[Baro-Bhuyan]]s in Kamrup, Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Darrang providing the buffer between these kingdoms in the east and the Kamata kingdom in the west.<ref>{{harv|Sircar|1990|p=171}}</ref><ref>{{harvcol|Gogoi|2002|p=23}}</ref>

===Koch Hajo (1581-1612)===
{{main|Koch Hajo}}
In the beginning of the 16th century [[Viswa Singha]] filled the vacuum left by the destruction of the [[Khen dynasty]] of Kamata and consolidated his rule over the Baro-Bhuyan chieftains ruling over the Kamrup region, and by the time of [[Nara Narayan|Naranarayana]], the kingdom extended a firm rule between the [[Karatoya River|Karatoya]] and the [[Kameng River|Bhareli]] rivers. Even though the Koch kings called themselves Kamateshwars (lords of Kamata),<ref>{{harv|Nath|1989|p=}}</ref> their kingdom came to be called the Koch kingdom and not as Kamrup.

In 1581 the Koch kingdom was bifurcated with Raghudev gaining control over the portion to the east of the [[Sankosh River]] up to the Bharali River<ref>Though [[Chilarai]] and Naranarayana established control up to [[Subansiri River]] via the [[Treaty of Majuli]], the [[Sukhaamphaa]] recovered control between [[Bhareli River|Bhareli]] and Subansiri soon after.</ref> in the north bank; and east of the Brahmaputra in present-day Bangladesh. Raghudev's kingdom came to be called [[Koch Hajo]] in Muslim chronicles, and Kamrup in [[Ekasarana Dharma|Ekasarana]] documents.<ref>"The eastern division (of the Koch kingdom) was known as 'Kamrup' in the local sources and as 'Koch Hajo' in the Persian chronicles." {{harv|Nath|1989|p=86}}</ref> As the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] established the rule of the [[Bengal Subah]] in [[Dhaka]], Koch Bihar entered into an alliance with them against Parikshitnarayana, the son and successor of Raghudev. The Mughals pushed eastward, removed Parikshit from power and consolidated power right up to the eastern border of Kamrup by 1615 (up to the Barnadi River). Though the Mughals pushed further east they came into direct military conflict with the [[Ahom kingdom]] and finally settled the boundary at Barnadi River following the [[Treaty of Asurar Ali]] in 1639.

===Sarkar Kamrup (1612-1682)===
[[File:Hajo Powa Mecca.jpg|thumb|Ahom King Rudra Singha, is said to have continued to pay great attention to Powa Makkah Mosque in Hajo even after the expulsion of the Mughals from Assam in 1682.]]
The Mughals established four [[Sarkar (administrative division)|sarkar]]s in the newly acquired land---among which were Dhekeri (between Sankosh and Manas) and Kamrup (between Manas and Barnadi).<ref>{{harv|Gogoi|2002|p=99}}</ref> Kamrup was also renamed as Shujabad, after [[Shah Shuja (Mughal prince)|Shah Shuja]], the [[Subahdar]] of [[Bengal Subah|Bengal]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tripurachronicle.in/ArticleDetails.aspx?WhatId=60|last=Balakrishnan|first=Srinivasan|title=The Masjid atop the mountain|publisher=Tripura Chronicle|archive-date=5 September 2020|access-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905200258/https://tripurachronicle.in/ArticleDetails.aspx?WhatId=60|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Mughal governors were called ''Faujdars of Shujabad''.<ref name=back>{{cite book|first=Rajmohan|last=Nath|title=The back-ground of Assamese culture|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126984/page/n16 3]|url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126984|year=1948|publisher=A. K. Nath|chapter=Appendix}}</ref> The sixth faujdar, [[Lutfullah Shirazi]], built a hilltop [[mosque]] in [[Koch Hajo]] in 1657. The mosque contained the [[mazar (mausoleum)]] of Prince Ghiyath ad-Din Awliya of [[Iraq]], who is commonly credited for introducing Islam to the region.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Unfinished Autobiography|last=Goswami|first=Māmaṇi Raẏachama|page=67|year=2002|chapter=Down Memory Lane}}</ref> The Mughals lost Kamrup forever in 1682 after the [[Battle of Itakhuli]].
Incomplete list of Faujdars of Guahati:
#Makram Khan (1612-1614)
#Mir Sufi (1614-1616)
#Shaykh Kamal (1616-1632)
#Abd as-Salam (1632-1638)
#Noorullah (1638-1656)
#[[Lutfullah Shirazi]] (1656-1658)

===Borphukan's domain (1682-1820)===
After the [[Battle of Itakhuli]] (1682), the [[Ahom kingdom]] established control over Sarkar Kamrup, and it became the domain of the [[Borphukan]], based in Guwahati. The region continued to be called Kamrup and its eastern and western boundaries were identical to the later British district.<ref>"Camroop (Kamrup), on the west, or towards Bengal, is bounded by the Manaha river (Manas river); on the north by Raotan, on the east by Bushnudeee (Barnadi river) which separates it from Dehrungh (Darrang) and on the south by Berhampooter (Brahmaputra river)", Wade, Dr John Peter, (1805) "[https://books.google.com/books?id=WItJAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA119 A Geographical Sketch of Assam]" in Asiatic Annual Register, reprinted {{harv|Sharma|1972}}</ref> In addition to the Kamrup region, the Borphukan's domain included the additional region to the east up to [[Kaliabor]]. The Koch prince that oversaw [[Darrang district|Darrang]], too, reported to the Borphukan. The Ahoms did not impose their administrative system fully over Kamrup, and the resultant ''pargana''-based system was a mixed Mughal-Ahom system, in contrast to the [[Paik system]] in the rest of the kingdom in the east.<ref>{{harv|Gogoi|2002|p=98}}</ref>

===Burmese empire (1821-1824)===
The region became part of the [[Konbaung dynasty|Burmese empire]] between 1821 and 1824.

==Colonial Kamrup (1833–1947)==
{{main|Undivided Kamrup district}}
The region came under Burmese control in 1822. The British, in control over the region to the west of the Manas river since the transfer of Bengal in 1765, marched into Guwahati on 28 March 1824 at the beginning of the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] and established administrative control by October.<ref>{{harv|Bannerje|1992|pp=5–6}}</ref> The [[Undivided Kamrup district|Kamrup district]] that the British constituted in 1833/1836 was largely congruous to the Mughal Sarkar Kamrup of 1639.<ref>{{harv|Bannerje|1992|pp=53–54}}</ref>

[[File:IIT Guwahati guesthouse as viewed from hill top.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Indian Institute of Technology]] in [[North Guwahati]]]]

==Modern Kamrup==
After Indian Independence in 1947, the Kamrup district maintained its form. The district was divided, beginning in 1983,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Law |first=Gwillim |date=September 25, 2011 |title=Districts of India |url=http://www.statoids.com/yin.html |access-date=September 23, 2024 |website=Statoids}}</ref> and the original district is occasionally called "[[Undivided Kamrup district]]". The Kamapitha, Sarkar Kamrup of 1639 and the Undivided Kamrup district from the Colonial as well as the Independent periods is today defined as the Kamrup.

==See also==
* [[Kamrupi (disambiguation)|Kamrupi]]
* [[Dewangiri]]

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Bannerje |first=A C |editor-first=H K |editor-last=Barpujari |title=The Comprehensive History of Assam: Modern Period |publisher=Publication Board, Assam |place=Guwahati |year=1992 |pages=1–43 |chapter=Chapter 1: The New Regime, 1826-31 |volume=IV}}
*{{Citation |last=Gogoi |first=Jahnabi |year=2002 |title=Agrarian System Of Medieval Assam |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |place=New Delhi}}
*{{Citation| last = Nath| first = D| title = History of the Koch Kingdom: 1515-1615| publisher=Mittal Publications| place=Delhi| year=1989}}
*{{cite book| last = Neog| first = Maheshwar|author-link=Maheswar Neog| title = Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Assam| publisher = Motilal Banarasidass| year = 1980| location = Delhi}}
*{{cite book| last = Puri| first = Baij Nath | title = Studies in Early History and Administration in Assam| publisher = Gauhati University| year = 1968}}
*{{Citation |last=Sarkar |first=J. N. |contribution=Chapter II The Turko-Afghan Invasions |editor-last=Barpujari |editor-first=H. K. |title=The Comprehensive History of Assam |volume=2 |pages=35–48 |publisher=Assam Publication Board |place=Guwahati |year=1992}}
*{{Citation| last = Sircar| first = D C| contribution = Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa| year = 1990| title = The Comprehensive History of Assam| editor-last = Barpujari| editor-first = H K| volume = I| pages = 59–78| place = Guwahati| publisher = Publication Board, Assam}}
*{{cite book | editor-last=Sharma | editor-first=Benudhar | title=An Account of Assam | publisher=Assam Jyoti | place=Gauhati | year=1972}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Kamrup region}}

{{Western Assam}}

[[Category:Kamrup region| ]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]
[[Category:Regions of Assam]]
[[Category:Regions of India]]

Kamrup region - Revision history

Veronaiqr at 21:36, 29 January 2026