Table Of ContentGOVERNMENT OF INDIA
AROHAOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
CENTRAL
ARCHAOLOGICAL
LIBRARY
NEW LIGHT
ON
HISTORY OF ASAMIYA LITERATURE
(pmo mes mam Ro THN PERCE =F)
micwDINe
AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ANTECEDENTS
DIMBESWAR NEOG
Gusiat, Asam, Bharat
wre
merRopuCTIO“
EY
‘Su BISNURAM MEDE,
“Gonrnir of Maties, Okie
PREFACE,
BY
Da, SUNITE KUMIAR CHATTER,
eerie Prefer, Chatrast. Veet Bee! Cost
BI MOT aon
Nee 3
Prorscen JULES TLOCH,
Chaire de Inngue 8 Litertane Sorsertey,
aR SCTE
By
Lire Ds, BEXI MADEAY BARTA,
riptctaserss, Pofonsr, Caleta U
MONSET S280 AMANETAT LAR,
Ovi & Fo
A Riiea Rovroed
Xuwaut Prakis
(einuar Poncarone)
Bing, Gauhet,
‘hoc, Tle
Prieo Re, 20:00
ira Publis
Picnl 91 @ 8 Ro
2, Nenulngapurm Stect,
Most Bovd, Modoc.
INTRODUCTION
K bave gceat pleasure in coveyiiny lbs invilan fo viride this fotron
Gactoa to this authoritative acd exhaustive History of Literature of
ay own mothe:stongue, Assan, and I eoosider it 2 privilge ta ton
Fuce the zuthor Shui Duabeswar Neoy wo the Bagiishwadiag public.
Fes ism great scholar and has devored us whole IZe aid has under~
‘akon heveulees labeur and ssamente pains fo= she last forty yeat® la
caleotirg impor-ane saator'els to give @ comzzehensive ides of ance
rmallgar:] ani modern devslapment and trend ef Amemere Ltersvure
acd ow #t has played che mast Important pars ty syelting togeber
vvoricus people of the Norih-Rastcrn comer of Téin into a single nix
agual sanity.
‘The Teale the Hills end the Plaine have dreely adopted what
fever thay found in our way of Iie, our Iunguage snd exllure. In the
sume way; Flains peuple bave adopted many of thelr etslus, instiu-
ong snd practices. The Anacasse peovle axe comgosed of Tsible and
hhauiTvibals. ‘Thy Assaunese .antuaze Js a composite struwure of words
borrowed ficm Ssnicrt, Persian and tecsel languages. Even the rest
of thy Assuccose, their customs and emusements cepresent a mixture
of ‘riba and uouuibal slemente. About seve Inkhs of Trials nes
fiiag i che Plains i the clecest of friendship wich the rest of #
population of the Lirahmaritra Valley. Amang the Negas there ox
22 substibes soeskicg differest dialec's and one sub-trbe anno wader
tend the dislact of the other aubteTan. Aramere leaguage serves a
a Tingus-franee in the ontira oven of Noga Fille and Tuonsang ard lhe
‘people Thyng sheve exehamge thelr ‘dons farvagh Avaunese Tanguaye
“ich fs thet Hriguacfremo.
{feel great'y relioved to think that my tack of writag this poefsce
hres been nenfersd eorparativaly easier as waineat Orieatalists and
syorlé-fameris scholaon like Puof, Jules Blech ard D=. Sunfti Kurcar
Chatter} have eonmanced the work t> che Unqhch renders of the
world rnd Inte Tripitakacseva De, Beuimadhae Barus cf iniernat!onnl
fame hrs even. giver © Hfeskets: of tae author. They hive lett very
® mtRoDUeTion
sta for me exrap: to place an record ray honvtfet feitntions to the
4zuther for binging out ts palime ia Englith to reach the wider
able
‘Ooe canst but bs improsrod immontely by the steals; devotion
fof Shri Neog to the Bierary culture of Asssm for a geoerstic: daszite
Immense ofds. Tis ccntvibucien ‘both in the creative ané. citieal
spheres ie quite considerable, Ta the creative Tine his exiginal wrecks,
both tm prose ard verse, and more expocilly 4 che liter, ante int
1 high plage arong the living atchora and inthe Lteresure of the State.
Hic eatsibucion in clleating and eding ths fa: Htawctare ra writing
lip Lowrey history n general and that of the Valgavite period in
parliee is praiseworly
Tam glad ty say that his publications ia both of these Zines In
Assamese number about £2 and covar & Jeng raage ef subseos, including
fedocation, science andl religic=. Tle was also a journalist avd bis cone
‘athusian te foneasls and sutede the State eth £2 Aewimess aad fs
inglish are Tumercus in various subject
Shot Toeg'soarlee efforts tn preparing thls history emvstet= of halt
's denen lcteros of tha Literature of dileren! pariods and his antho.
legis of Assumes grove ain poole, fur macy of whieh he got cor
peli peiaes and wiedsis. Hie Englisa works eomested wilh Lae au
jeot iulace “introduction to Asem—the county, the >evple and che
syeech, published ky esi, Vora & Ce, Hembay and "Ikstory of
Molar: Assarsse Literature” published by (22 Gangansth Jha Research
Inmiter, Allahabad,
‘hoi Noog is 9 sersalle sobels> of Amscm end an Edueationiat ard
Iistorian of the llerstuze cod cule o! the State of Assam. I feo hat
hove sem be baller quipped and bells Ele Guan Sk ecg %
abalacly sluy Zor th lask of weling an aulbetic
ods of Astaneae Imguage,
[ish bie work and labour will be widely appreciated,
has tive, Gods a
ln, Bape Ms
‘December 24, 1900, wor of Madras,
The Caleutte Uaiccusity, Bull al cw Kove) Antatis Sect
Hlusy, Monives, Societe’ Asiaic, Paris and Amévican Oriental Soriety|
Aruese le one of che 1¢ main blerey Janguayes of India, eking
Hie place keside Hindi, Uns, Uenali, Oriva, Nopal, Punjabi, Kashmiri,
‘Sind Gujeset, Marathi ca the cue band, cad Telayu, Kanrads, Tam’,
‘and Malayalam on the otte=
For the 1sst one thoucard years, Assamese ns been the cultural
vvohinla of she iisbitants uf on imporlart part cf The, the valley’ of
‘hy Beah:sayutra siver; and this New-ingo-Arvan Speech hag been the
cst important factor in welding togecher the various yeoplee of the
North-ltsetera corer of India :nte 2 single ariinzual unt, pevoles of
diverse ethnic crigin, like the Aryans, the Dravidians, the Auetics
(Oko 9+ Nahas poxples), and spect Impertert for Assem and Nosthe
Rast Taé's, the Indo-Mongololda (or Wires, ex they were known to
‘encion: Hindus).
the chee cesters-most spevches of the gawal Jade-Eurepean family
uf languages, Assenese, Benge aud Oriya, ae closely liked lh each
other; iu fact they are Wee uterine sisters within che family. A hous
sand or tuelve hundred years ar, Assamese, Henge, ane Oriva, wists
ly forced one airgle speech, Their diforentincion ints chnee stent
Titeemy sposches nm veb‘nles of three lghtly different forma of the
sare Pan-trdior. took place se a reeuls of the nological politcal snd
ins tn Asam, Bengal wel Orcas ducing he lak Tew
hundred yours, Grumaticaly this agrosmeut is very close indead.
lis anainly in the recently socentuated habits of pronciation bat the
‘citferences are noxworthy.
‘the Bterary ouput 4a chess threo Tmguags have a very close
emily cesereblance. All Goce three bavo a mumber of common metses
‘amonget themselves partisalasly tae metras known a; Payir and as
# PREECE
“Tripnd! c= Taeetvs fn Rengnll Ta bot form and content, thers ie nt
uh diverity. SUigk? crhographie eaanges will make pacagea ef
Barly Asaurase poss an good ce Easly Bangall and elao-vorca, ané paws
‘ues of Bengali cr Amuse en be sade lo gues as Oriya, Tt ia the
aol thal Uhe Brubucine of Orisca sad those of Bengal and of Asam
id zol form a single Lalersscrving eommumicy cosbined with the
poli siabica sn Assam: and Orssa as independent Had lauds a
contranel wich Bengal as beirg under Mehammaéen “we, that war
Tenaely iespondihle Sor che gadis! esaklchment 9? local speecles
ef Henge’, Amtim ond Osan e9 separa:s le=guages. Assam wes uncer
‘he rale of the vigorous and siaterlal Aher peeps (who were inane
cf Siemese) from 1228. Ry 1680 the Annas deeave very largely
Hiedu'red. ‘They eontibuled a great deal im che evolution of Amcamece
caluire, and oas.of their gil to Assn wos Uke wrliing of Hitery.
"The Ahom word for hislory, “Borsa, a word of TH o Tihely Chinese
‘origi, ha Yous aiopled im the Indo-Aryan Acsansae co Lae egulvalen
of what woul be celud ia Suashru Ilia. Felowing the Anom
istcive, x good many of which aw estas the Aryan Assunew came
to be posszised o! a nuaber of very zerazkeble historical works, whiels
fora Us most distinctive eontsvation of Assamese to Indian Inerstuxe,
Apart doom the Euvenjs, Assamess Keneatise, whether in Baely
Ascamene or fn Meslena dams, & oft pleen sith Bengali or ©
tr Find! Inecatare, ‘he ole Ite mainly tm presey, ane $8
religious nits mein genres. "The medzrm “teratare tn an Tndian lar
uaye 1s more secular and is largcly a roflex of English Utcrature.
‘he tremenécss Intluenee of English in tho domain vf Lteraturs in
prewalday india is appareat evarywhors aad Amaare haz not hoon
able to asmpe
Dr. Distbeswar Ness is a versatile scholar of Asus, who is a
student of science, a port, an edusatinist and a histosien uf Ue lite
ature and culture nt hs province, all ia one. Us studies fo Asesshooe
Uteratume have been very fouitily his ssegman vps unalog up to
several hundred pages (hich we hope i will be possible te publish
suca) ill osm one of the rast campbersive histeries cf the Lbs.
‘roture of s Moder Indian language reemnted an Za,
ho Trees, Calon Sos Koman Cosson
25th Sune, 1948, Homa Cs
FOREWORD
by
Seuss Broce
Chatre de langue ex Titterncure Sorscrices, Parte
"Bors ‘5 1800, are
Pondycher', Poona and Chandra “ogoor ]
‘Adter having published in his mothertongue severe] books and
yn on Amwmene Trarntere, Mr. Diheewer Nong is row plessag
Trelore a Targcr public the results of many years of stveruons and dise
fnteresled Iebous,
Before 3t was printed, a for as Tam aware, no full desceiplien of
Assume Llerutury was W hand lo be compared with the mumeroas
Listunies of Bengali litexzxure or the recent exiaustive History cf
Maithili Literatere die an Lit. Jayateanta: Michra,
New thanks to Mr. Dimbuswar Neog, all indians will be asquainiel
wilh snow crvarute 2! prodlelisas Cue lo the Kade ads aad not
focly Uniane but feiauds of Incia eve:ywhere, smoogst which being one,
T wish the present sehoritative Sook che success which the devotion
aud energy of is autor deserves,
Paris, 1955 ous Brest
