Koch dynasty
Koch Kingdom Koch Dynasty | |||||||||||||||
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1515–1949 | |||||||||||||||
Flag of Koch Bihar | |||||||||||||||
Status | Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
Capital | Chikana Hingulabas Kamatapur | ||||||||||||||
Common languages | Koch Garo[1] Mech[2] Bhutia[3] Rabha[citation needed] Rajbanshi[citation needed] Assamese[citation needed] Sanskrit (for religious and court usage) | ||||||||||||||
Religion | Hinduism, Tribal religion[4] | ||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
Maharaja | |||||||||||||||
• 1515–1540 | Biswa Singha | ||||||||||||||
• 1540–1587 | Nara Narayan | ||||||||||||||
• 1922-1947 | Jagaddipendra Narayan | ||||||||||||||
Historical era | Medieval India | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 1515 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1949 | ||||||||||||||
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The Koch dynasty (Pron: kɒʧ; 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.[5][6] The dynasty came to power by removing the Baro-Bhuyans, who had earlier removed the short-lived rule established by Alauddin Hussain Shah.
The dynasty split into three among the descendants of Biswa Singha's three sons; two antagonistic branches Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo and a third branch at Khaspur. Koch Bihar aligned with the Mughals and the Koch Hajo branch broke up into various sub-branches under the Ahom kingdom. Koch Bihar became a princely state during British rule and was absorbed after Indian independence. The third branch at Khaspur disappeared into the Kachari kingdom.
Etymology
The name Koch denotes a matrilineal ethnic group to which Biswa Singha's mother belonged;[7] and the king as well as most of the population of the kingdom (Koch Bihar) belonged to the Koch community.[8]
History
Historical background
After the fall of the Pala dynasty of Kamarupa, the kingdom fractured into different domains in the 12th century. Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara (present-day North Guwahati) moved his capital further west to present-day North Bengal in the middle of the 13th century and the domain he ruled over came to be called Kamata kingdom.[9] The buffer region, between the eastern kingdoms and Kamata was the domain of the Baro-Bhuyans chieftains. Alauddin Husain Shah of Gaur defeated Nilambar of Kamata in 1498, occupied the region and placed his son, Sayyid Danyal in charge. Within a few years, the Baro-Bhuyans, led by one Harup Narayan of the Brahmaputra valley defeated, captured and executed Daniyal, and the region lapsed into Bhuyan confederate rule.[10]
Origins of Biswa Singha
It was in this context that a tribal alliance was formed when Hariya Mandal, a Mech clan leader of Chikina hills,[11] married two sisters Hira and Jira, daughters of Hajo, a Koch chief.[12][13]Hariya Mandal's domain was in Chiknagram located about 80 kilometers north of modern-day Dhubri town between the Sankosh River and the Champabati River in Kokrajhar district of Undivided Goalpara district of Assam.[14] Bisu,[15] who was later to become Biswa Singha,[16] born to Hariya and Hira, was able to unite the Mech and Koch peoples and establish the Koch dynasty and kingdom.[17]
Consolidation of power
Bisu sought the alliance of tribal chiefs, later to be identified as Koch, Mech, Kacharis, Bhutias etc,[19][20] against the more powerful Baro-Bhuyans and began his campaign around 1509.[21] Successively, he defeated the Bhuyans of Ouguri, Jhargaon, Karnapur, Phulaguri, Bijni and Pandunath (Pandu, in Guwahati).[22] He was particularly stretched by the Bhuyan of Karnapur, and could defeat him only by a stratagem during Bihu. After subjugating the petty rulers, he announced himself the king of Kamata bounded on the east by Barnadi river and on the west by the Karatoya river[23] in the year 1515.[24] He moved his capital from Chikana to Hingulabas (near present-day Samuktala) and then finally to Kamatapur (now called Gosanimari) which is just a few miles southeast of the present-day Cooch Behar town.[25] Bisu after establishing himself discarded the ethnic identiy of his father and instead adopted the Koch identity of his mother, he later embraced Hinduism and came to be known as Biswa Singha after his coronation as the king.[26]
The Koch dynasty in Kamata was one of several tribal formations that developed into statehoods around 15th century in northeast India—Ahom, Chutia, Dimasa, Tripura, Manipur, etc.[27]
Sanskritisation
Later, Brahman pundits created a legend that lord Siva was the father of Biswa Singha to give legitimacy to his rule[28] and conferred on him the status of the Kshatriya varna and the subsequent interaction with Brahmans led to the Hinduization of his tribesmen.[29] Though this process of hinduisation was much slower in the lower strata of the society.[30] The king Biswa Singha with his tribal origin claimed Rajbanshi kshatriya status,[31] however the lower class Koch took the name after the 18th century.[32]
Zenith
Biswa Singha's two sons, Naranarayan and Shukladhwaj (Chilarai), the king and the commander-in-chief of the army respectively, took the kingdom to its zenith. During the reign of Nara Narayan, Koch Behar saw the propagation of eksarana-namadharma by Sankardev along with his two disciples Madhavdeva and Damodardev,[33][34] which helped brought a cultural renaissance to the kingdom.[35] However, the introduction of this new religious movement was initially resisted by the Koch, Mech and Kachari people residing in the Koch-Kamata kingdom,[36] though it was subsequently accepted.[37]
Later, Nara Narayan made Raghudev, the son of Chilarai, the governor of Koch Hajo, the eastern portion of the country. After the death of Nara Narayan, Raghudev declared independence. The division of the Kamata kingdom into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo was permanent.
Branches
Rulers of undivided Koch kingdom
- Biswa Singha (1515-1540)
- Nara Narayan (1540-1586)
Rulers of Koch Bihar
- Lakshmi Narayan
- Bir Narayan
- Pran Narayan
- Basudev Narayan
- Mahindra Narayan
- Roop Narayan
- Upendra Narayan
- Devendra Narayan
- Dhairjendra Narayan
- Rajendra Narayan
- Dharendra Narayan
- Harendra Narayan
- Shivendra Narayan
- Narendra Narayan
- Nripendra Narayan[38]
- Rajendra Narayan II
- Jitendra Narayan (father of Gayatri Devi)
- Jagaddipendra Narayan
- Virajdendra Narayan
Rulers of Koch Hajo
- Raghudev (son of Chilarai, nephew of Nara Narayan)
- Parikshit Narayan
Rulers of Darrang
The Mughal Subah, in alliance with Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar, attacked Parikshit Narayan of Koch Hajo in 1612. Koch Hajo, bounded by Sankosh River in the west and Barnadi river in the east, was occupied by the end of that year. Parikshit Narayan was sent to Delhi for an audience with the Mughal Emperor, but his brother Balinarayan escaped and took refuge in the Ahom kingdom. The region to the east of Barnadi and up to the Bharali river was under the control of some Baro-Bhuyan chieftains, but they were soon removed by the Mughals. In 1615 the Mughals, under Syed Hakim and Syed Aba Bakr, attacked the Ahoms but were repelled back to the Barnadi river. The Ahom king, Prataap Singha, then established Balinarayan as a vassal in the newly acquired region between Barnadi and Bharali rivers, and called it Darrang. Balinarayan's descendants continued to rule the region as a tributary to the Ahom kingdom till it was annexed by the British in 1826.[39]
- Balinarayan (brother of Parikshit Narayan)
- Mahendra Narayan
- Chandra Narayan
- Surya Narayan
Rulers of Beltola
History of South Asia |
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- Gaj Narayan Dev (brother of Parikshit Narayan, ruler of Koch Hajo, brother of Balinarayan, first Koch ruler of Darrang).
- Shivendra Narayan Dev (Son of Gaj Narayan)
- Gandharva Narayan Dev (Son of Shivendra Narayan)
- Uttam Narayan Dev (Son of Gandharva Narayan Dev)
- Dhwaja Narayan Dev (Son of Uttam Narayan Dev)
- Jay Narayan Dev (Son of Dhwaja Narayan Dev)
- Lambodar Narayan Dev (Son of Jay Narayan Dev)
- Lokpal Narayan Dev (Son of Lambodar Narayan Dev)
- Amrit Narayan Dev (Son of Lokpal Narayan Dev)
- Chandra Narayan Dev (Son of Lokpal Narayan Dev) (died 1910 CE)
- Rajendra Narayan Dev (Son of Chandra Narayan Dev) (died 1937 CE)
- Lakshmipriya Devi (wife of Rajendra Narayan Dev) (reign:1937-1947 CE died: 1991 CE)
Rulers of Bijni
The Bijni rulers reigned between the Sankosh and the Manas rivers, the region immediately to the east of Koch Bihar.
- Chandra Narayan (son of Parikshit Narayan)
- Joy Narayan
- Shiv Narayan
- Bijoy Narayan
- Mukunda Narayan
- Haridev Narayan
- Balit Narayan
- Indra Narayan
- Amrit Narayan
- Kumud Narayan
- Jogendra Narayan
- Bhairabendra Narayan
Rulers of Khaspur
The Barak valley was obtained by Chilarai in 1562[40] from the Twipra kingdom during his expedition when he subjugated most of the major rulers in Northeast India and established the Khaspur state with a garrison at Brahmapur, that eventually came to be called Khaspur (Brahmapur→Kochpur→Khaspur). The Koch rule began with the appointment of Kamal Narayan (step-brother of Chilarai and Naranarayan) as the Dewan a couple of years after the establishment of the garrison.[41] Kamalnarayan established eighteen clans of Koch families that took hereditary roles in the state of Khaspur and who came to be known as Dheyans (after Dewan).[42] The independent rule of the Khaspur rulers ended in 1745 when it merged with the Kachari kingdom.[40]
The rulers of the Koch kingdom at Khaspur were:[41]
- Kamal Narayan (Gohain Kamal, son of Biswa Singha, governor of Khaspur)
- Udita Narayan (declared independence of Khaspur in 1590)
- Vijay Narayana
- Dhir Narayana
- Mahendra Narayana
- Ranjit
- Nara Singha
- Bhim Singha (his only issue, daughter Kanchani, married a prince of Kachari kingdom, and Khaspur merged with the Kachari kingdom.)
See also
Gallery
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Shri Sir Nripendra Narayan, Maharaja of Cooch Behar.
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H.H. Maharaja Shri Sir Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, KCSI, 1913.
Notes
- ^ (Nath 1989:23–24)
- ^ (Shin 2021:33)
- ^ (Shin 2021:33)
- ^ (Sheikh 2012:252)
- ^ (Nath 1989:2–11)
- ^ "Kamarupa 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 on the eastern regions beyond the Manah (Manas river) was lax." (Sarkar 1992, pp. 40–41)
- ^ "(I)t becomes clear that Biswa Singha's father was a Mech and mother was a Koch and both the tribes were "rude" and "impure", hence non-Aryan or non-Hinduised." (Nath 1989:17)
- ^ "The dynasty was Koch and the name of kingdom was Koch Bihar because the king himself and most of the population belonged to the Koch community" (Das 2004:559)
- ^ (Gogoi 2002, p. 17)
- ^ (Nath 1989:21)
- ^ "Hariya Mondal, a Mech clan leader of Chikina hills of Khuntaghat (present Kokrajhar district of Assam), together with the Koches"(BARMAN 2014:18)
- ^ "The Koches 'who had a number of chiefs, at first indenpendent, but who gradually united under the authority of one of themselves named Hajo" (Nath 1989:17)
- ^ "(Hajo) had two daughters, Hira and Jira of whom Hira was married to Hariya, a member of the "impure tribe" called Mech."(Nath 1989:17)
- ^ (Sarkar 1992:70f)
- ^ "The original name of Bishwa Singha was Bisu..(Nath 1989:16)
- ^ (T)he Koches were adapted to tribal ways of living at the time and Bisu's family members largely cultivated cottons on the hills. However, when he acquired power to control the surrounding situation, the Brahmanas as pointed out by Gait, soon found him out and Hinduised him and his family, and called him Biswa Singha..(Gogoi 2002:18)
- ^ "Biswa Singha's father was a Mech and mother a Koch and both tribes were 'rude' and 'impure' hence non-Aryan or non-Hinduised. Biswa Singha united both and mobilised their strength for laying the foundation of a kingdom." (Nath 1989:17)
- ^ (Sarkar 1992:91)
- ^ "Visva placed considerable dependence on tribal force in warfare. Tribal militia, consisting of the Meches, Koches, Kacharis, Bhutias and so forth, continued to participate in aggressive warfare under Naranarayan, resulting in a great expansion of the Koch territory (Barman 2007: 83-87)"(Shin 2021:33)
- ^ "...Dimarua, Panbari, Beltola, Rani, Moirapur, Borduar, Bholagram, Pantanduar, Chaigaon, Bogaduar, Bongaon, Baku, Luki, Hengerabari. Biswa Singha received the allegiance of these states including those of Darrang, Karaibari, Atiabari, Kamtabari, and Balrampur. The ruling family of these states till the annexation of the lower Brahmaputra valley to the British in 1826 were Koch, Mech or Garo and some of them claimed the continuity of their rule since centuries back" (Nath 1989:23–24)
- ^ (Nath 1989:28–29)
- ^ "It is stated that Biswa Singha subjugated the Bar Bhuyan then the Saru Bhuyan and then the Bhuyan of Ouguri. After this he defeated the Daivajnya Chuti Bhuyan and thereafter Kusum Bhuyan, Dihala Bhuyan, Kalia Bhuyan and the Bhuyans of Jhargaon, Kabilash Bhuyan, the Bhuyans of Karnapur, Phulaguri, and Bijni, and finally Pratap Rai Bhuyan of Pandunath, Guwahati. The Gurucaritas also mention Gandhanva Rai, the Bhuyan of Banduka and Sriram Khan of Sajalagram." (Nath 1989:24)
- ^ (Nath 1989:23–24)
- ^ (Nath 1989:28)
- ^ (Shin 2021:31)
- ^ "It is interesting to note that Bisu, the founder of the dynasty and son of Haria Mandal, a chieftain of the Tibeto–Burman origin, discarded the tribal affinity of his father, but retained Koch identity of his mother (Bisu’s mother, Hira belonged to the Koch origin) adopted Hinduism and assumed the name Biswa Singha after his coronation (Barpujari 2007: 69–71; Gait 2008: 49–50)." (Roy 2020)
- ^ Guha (1983, p. 5)
- ^ "It is common to believe Biswa Singha's origin as son of Siva was nothing but creation of the Brahmans..The Brahmans needed royal patronage and the king wanted legitimacy which could be obtained through the universal religion to teach the people to be obedient, patient and submissive"(Sheikh 2012:250)
- ^ (Gogoi 2002:18)
- ^ "So among the mass people the process of Hinduization was slower than in the folds of the royal family. With the embracing of Hinduism, they were left with a somewhat despised name 'Koch' and adopted the name Rajbansi, a Kshatriya status which means literally 'of royal race', confined predominantly within the cultivators and the respectable classes. The name Koch was used by the palanquin bearers. Thus Koch Behar was undergoing religious transformation and developing a caste hierarchy under an impact of Brahminical Hinduism though it was much slower in the lower strata of the society "(Sheikh 2012:252)
- ^ (Sheikh 2012:250):"(K)ing Biswa Singha with his tribal origin embraced Hinduism and claim Kshatriya status. He is also known as Bishu succeeded in establishing his authority, styling himself as Raja, he first claimed Rajbanshi Kshatriya status"
- ^ "But it is interesting to note that neither in the Persian records, nor in the foreign accounts, nor in any of the dynastic epigraphs of the time, the Koches are mentioned as Rajvamsis. Even the Darrang Raj Vamsavali, which is a genealogical account of the Koch royal family, and which was written in the last quarter of the 18th century, does not refer to this term. Instead all these sources call them as Koches and/or Meches."(Nath 1989:5)
- ^ "The process of sankritisation was further advanced by the advent of Srimanta Sankardeva, along with his two disciples Madhavdeva and Damodardev in the mid sixteenth century. They introduced neo-vaishnavite movement in Koch Behar"(Sheikh 2012:251)
- ^ "Democratic values and simplicity advocated by Sankardeva had profound influence on the heterogenous people of the Tista-Brahmaputra basin. So all communities including the Koch, Kalita, Kayastha, Chandal, Garo, Ahom, Bhutia, Miri, Muslim and even the brahmins had embraced Sankardeva’s Vaishnavism. Madhavadeva and Damodar Deva, the disciples of Sankardeva also touched the hearts of the heterogeneous communities through their religious teachings and transformed the neo-Vaishnavism into a popular cult of the region."(BARMAN 2014:21)
- ^ "Satra and namaghar of the neo-Vaishnavism appeared as two powerful institutions with capacity for social control. So Naranarayan and Chilarai encouraged the foundation of satras in Sub-Himalayan Bengal and Lower Assam to popularize Koch rule among the follower of Vaishnavism. They not only established close relations with Sankardeva but also became great patron of the neo-Vaishnavism. Lakshmi Narayan (1587-1637), Raghudeva Narayan (1581-1618), Parikshit Narayan (1603-1618), Bir Narayan (1627-32) and Prana Narayan (1632-1665A.D.) also continued the state’s support to the building of the satras in the kingdom "(BARMAN 2014:22)
- ^ "Hinduism was not accepted by all people like the Koch, Mech and Kachari people of the Kamata-Koch kingdom"(Sheikh 2012:252)
- ^ "So among the mass people, the process of Hinduization was slower than in the folds of the royal family"(Sheikh 2012:252)
- ^ "Princess Daisy of Pless: The Happy Years. An exhibition at Castle Pless". www.rvondeh.dircon.co.uk.
- ^ (Nath 1989:102–104)
- ^ a b "The Khaspur state originated with Chilarai's invasion in 1562 AD and remained in existence till 1745 when it merged with the Dimasa state of Maibong." (Bhattacharjee 1994:71)
- ^ a b (Bhattacharjee 1994:71)
- ^ (Bhattacharjee 1994:72)
References
- Shin, Jae-Eun (2021). "Sword and Words: A Conflict Between Kings and Brahmins in the Bengal Frontier, Kāmatāpur 15th-16th Centuries". Journal of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums. 3. Government of West Bengal: 21–36.
- BARMAN, RUP KUMAR (2014). State Formation, Legitimization and Cultural Change A Study of Koch Kingdom (PDF). Vol. 12. The NEHU Journal. pp. 17–35.
- Das, Jitendra Nath (2004). "The backwardness of the Rajbansis and the Rajbansi kshatriya movement (1891-1936)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 65: 559–563. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44144770.
- Urban, Hugh (2009), The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 9780857715869
- Jacquesson, François (2008). "Discovering Boro-Garo" (PDF). History of an Analytical and Descriptive Linguistic Category.
- Bhattacharjee, J B (1994), "Pre-colonial Political Structure of Barak Valley", in Sangma, Milton S (ed.), Essays on North-east India: Presented in Memory of Professor V. Venkata Rao, New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company, pp. 61–85
- Gogoi, Jahnabi (2002), Agrarian system of medieval Assam, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi
- Nath, D. (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom, C. 1515-1615, Mittal Publications, pp. 5–6, ISBN 8170991099
- Sarkar, J N (1992), "Chapter IV: Early Rulers of Koch Bihar", in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. 2, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board
- Royal History of Koch Bihar, retrieved 5 December 2007
- Sheikh, Amiruzzaman (2012). "The 16th century Koch kingdom: Evolving patterns of sankritization". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 73: 249–254. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44156212.
- Roy, Gautam Chandra (2020), "Negotiating with the Changing Landscape: The Case of the Rajbanshi Community", Political weekly, 55 (39)