Kamtapur is an
autonomous area
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...
in the
Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
state of India administered by the
Kamatapur Autonomous Council
The Kamtapur Autonomous Council is an autonomous council in the Kamtapur region of the Indian state of Assam, for development and protection of ethnic Koch Rajbongshi people. It was formed in 2020. It includes the whole of the Undivided Goa ...
.
History
Kamatapur emerged as a
sovereign state
A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...
in the middle of the 13th century, and it continued through fluctuating levels of prosperity until the year 1498, when its last capital at
Gosanimari was attacked by the invading army of
Alauddin Husain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (; ; ) was an independent late medieval Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the People of Ethiopia, Abyssinian Sultan, Shamsuddin Muzaff ...
of
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
.
The ancient kingdom of Kamatapur was located in the western
Brahmaputra Valley. Most probably,
Nalrajar Garh in
Chilapata forest was its earliest capital. Through a long course of changes and developments the capital shifted to
Maynaguri and then to Prithu Rajar Garh,
Singijani and finally Gosanimari, an ancient river port-town since the seventh century. After the kingdom's end, the
Koch Kingdom
The Kamata Kingdom ; in the eastern Sivalik Hills, emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarup ...
emerged with its capital at Hingulavas in the
Dooars.
Nilambar was the last ruler of Kamatapur. He was defeated by
Alauddin Husain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (; ; ) was an independent late medieval Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the People of Ethiopia, Abyssinian Sultan, Shamsuddin Muzaff ...
in 1498.
Distribution
The homelands of the Koch Rajbongshi people comprise their ancient Kingdom, Kamatapur, Koch Kingdom, the Kamarupa Kingdom.
Culture
Koch Rajbongshi community events and also in general day-to-day life. Women and Men of Koch Rajbongshi have sets of traditional dress and jewellery. Patani being worn by the women of this community and men wear Noucha/gamsha/dhoti and a yellow color piece of cloth surrounded in the neck for men, They wear this yellow color cloth in their neck as a mark of respect for nature, elderly people also have a tradition to wear a turban or a lengthy cloth wrapped around their head.
Women wear patani from the chest till below the knee but it does not touch the ankle, the cloth stays about 6&cm above the ground. The reason for wearing Patani not till the ground level or till the ankle because they believe that water is a sacred as it is a part of the nature so while crossing lake or river the cloth should not touch the water, it is a mark of respect to the nature and they believe that if cloth touch the water the purification of the water goes away and thus how they can not use it in their traditional ritual practice of worshiping nature, In-fact the men wear (gamasha(5 ft long ) /Naucha ( 9 ft Long), This Naucha or Gamasha they wear from the waist till the knee, it never touch the ankle because they believe that water is a sacred as it is a part of the nature so while crossing lake or river the cloth should not touch the water, it is a mark of respect to the nature and they believe that if cloth touch the water the purification of the water goes away and thus how they can not use it in their traditional ritual practice of worshiping nature. They wear a kind of Turban, in their head, it is a long length cloth wrapped in the head of the elderly men or significant person in the community to symbolist or high priest, in modern days people can wear the turban who have comparatively higher status and respect in the society.
[Chaudhuri, H. N. (1903). The Cooch Behar State and its Land Revenue Settlements (pp. 135-136). Cooch Behar, Cooch Behar Princely State: Cooch Behar State Press.]
Koch Rajbongshi women get up early in the morning and clean the house with a broom made up of bamboo. They then give water and food to all the animals first, then they take their breakfast. When they eat, if they have a pet, they also eat along with them the same breakfast; it is a ritual and tradition. Keeping
parrot
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
s as pets is a tradition of the Koch Rajbonshi (reason is still not known). Whenever Koch Rajbongshi people go for hunting, they take the permission from the elder and from the nature to allow them to go for hunting. It is a tradition of Koch Rajbongshi not to kill any animal for pleasure, but only for consumption. During spring they don not go for hunting because this is the time animal gives birth, so they don't kill animal this time, for managing spring time they dry meat before in well advanced, and they also keep ferment fish in their house to manage this time period. Koch Rajbongshi People do not eat all kinds of animal some of them they consider as bad for there community if they kill (for e.g. crow) They don't kill doves or even they don't keep as pet in the house but if a dove comes and makes a nest, it is considered as good luck for the community and for the family. Seeing a
peacock
Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
while hunting is considered good luck. Koch Rajbongshi people do not kill or eat peacock, but they do catch them to collect feathers for medicinal use before releasing the bird. Koch Rajbongshi people make fans out of coconut tree leaves,
tal plant leaves, and bamboo. Kitchens in Koch Rajbongshi households are made from mud.
[Das, A. J. (n.d.). History of Kamatapur. In Kamatapur. Retrieved 1 May 2018, from http://www.kamatapur.com/history]
See also
*
Koch Rajbongshi people
*
Koch dynasty
The Koch dynasty (; 1515–1949) ruled parts of eastern Indian subcontinent in present-day Assam and Bengal. Biswa Singha established power in the erstwhile Kamata Kingdom which had emerged from the decaying Kamarupa Kingdom. The dynasty c ...
*
Kamata Kingdom
The Kamata Kingdom ; in the eastern Sivalik Hills, emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya (ruler of Kamarupa), Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in ...
*
Koch Bihar
*
Koch Hajo
Koch Hajo (1581–1616) was the kingdom under Raghudev and his son Parikshit Narayan of the Koch dynasty that stretched from Sankosh River in the west to the Bhareli River in the east on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River. It was created by ...
*
Kamtapur Liberation Organization
References
External links
KamatapurA documentary on the demand of independence country of KamtapurKamatapur Association{{Proposed states and territories of India
Northeast India
Proposed states and union territories of India