Kamtapur is an
autonomous area
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...
in the
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
state of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
administered by the
Kamatapur Autonomous Council
The Kamatapur 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 Goalpar ...
.
History
Kamatapur emerged as a
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...
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
Gosanimari (also known as ''Khalisa Gosanimari'') is both a village and an archaeological site in Dinhata I CD block, in the Dinhata subdivision of the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, north-eastern India. The name of this site was taken fro ...
was attacked by the invading army of
Alauddin Husain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ( bn, আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (1494–1519)Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.215-20 was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who ...
of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
.
The ancient kingdom of Kamatapur was located in the western
Brahmaputra Valley
The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India.
The valley consists of the Western Brahmaputra Valley covering the regions of Goalpara and Kamrup; the Central ...
. 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 emerged with its capital at Hingulavas in the
Dooars
The Dooars or Duars ( as, দুৱাৰ, duar, rkt, দুৱাৰ, duar, bn, দুয়ার, duyar) () are the alluvial floodplains in eastern-northeastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas and north of the ...
.
Nilambar was the last ruler of Kamatapur. He was defeated by
Alauddin Husain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ( bn, আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (1494–1519)Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.215-20 was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who ...
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.
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, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...
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 three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
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
TAL or Tal may refer to:
Acronym
* Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (IATA code: TAL), in Tanana, Alaska
* TAL – Transportes Aéreos Ltda, the original name of TAC – Transportes Aéreos Catarinense, a Brazilian airline
* TAL effector, a fam ...
leaves, and bamboo. Kitchens in Koch Rajbongshi households are made from mud.
[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.]
See also
*
Koch Rajbongshi people
The Rajbanshi, also Rajbongshi and Koch-Rajbongshi, are peoples from Lower Assam, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, Terai region of eastern Nepal, and Bhutan who have in the past sought an association with the Koch dynasty. Today, they speak v ...
*
Koch dynasty
Koch may refer to:
People
* Koch (surname), people with this surname
* Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India
* Koch family
* Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...
*
Kamata Kingdom
The Kamata Kingdom (pron: ˈkʌmətɑ) 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 Kamarupa kingdom, a ...
*
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 di ...
*
Kamtapur Liberation Organization
The Kamtapur Liberation Organisation ( KLO) is a militant organisation based in Northeast India whose objective is to Separate the Kamtapur nation from West Bengal and Assam. The proposed state is to comprise six districts in West Bengal and fou ...
References
External links
KamatapurA documentary on the demand of independence country of KamtapurKamatapur Association{{Proposed states and territories of India
Northeast India
Regions of West Bengal
Proposed states and union territories of India