Assamese Brahmin

Assamese Brahmins or Bamun are the Brahmins present in the Assamese society. There are two classes in Assam Bamun and Ganaks. Brahmins were originally priests. Religious worship in temples is generally carried out by them.[4]

Assamese Brahmins
Illustration_from_the_Daily_Prayers_of_the_Brahmins_(1851)_by_Sophie_Charlotte_Belnos,_digitally_enhanced_by_rawpixel-com_21
A Brahmin priest performing daily prayers
Regions with significant populations
Assam, India
Languages
Assamese
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Maithil Brahmin, Utkala Brahmin, Kanyakubja Brahmin, Bahun, Bengali Brahmins, Sakaldwipya Brahmins
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There they promoted learning, Vedic religion and astrology, as well as imparting general vedic knowledge to the public.[5] The Brahmins of Assam are the descendants of early migrants from the Gangetic valley and a succession of influences, ideas and cultures entered Assam with them. The Brahmins and Kayasthas came to Assam from Videha (Mithila) and Kannauj.[6]

History

Brahmins are considered to be one of the oldest Hindu settlers in the region and held the highest positions in society.[7][8]

Assamese Brahmins are the community in that state who are considered to have Caucasoid origins.[9]

The earliest historical evidence of settlement of Brahmins in Assam comes from epigraphic sources of the Varman dynasty (350–650).[10] In the late medieval period beginning with the early 16th century, a number of Brahmins from Mithila, Benaras, Kanauj, Bengal and Puri (Srikshetra), were settled in western Assam by the Koch kings for performing Brahminical rites.[11][12][13] During the reign of Nara Narayan (1554-1587) of the Koch dynasty, two Brahmins named Siddhantavagisa and Vidyavagisa were brought from Gauda and Siddhantavagisa was responsible for the spread of Hinduism in the Koch kingdom[14] Even during the reign of Koch king Prannarayana (1633-1655), Brahmins were brought from Mithilia to serve in the Koch kingdom[15] and this process was later continued by the Ahom state especially under the Tungkhungia Ahom kings with Siva Singha donating 19 out of the 48 landgrants by the Ahom kings to brahmins.[16] The migration of Brahmins into Assam took place from Central Himalayas as well.[17] Most of these migration took place due to the foreign invasions in North India and on the invitation by the local rulers.[18]

Tradition and culture

Lagundeoni

Traditionally, the ceremony of Lagundeoni – one of the Sanskaras or rites of passage marking acceptance of a student by a Guru, is a quite prevalent ritual within the community.[19] A sacred thread – Lagun, given by a Pujari during the ceremony is a symbolic reminder to the young male born to the Brahmin family of his purpose at school, as well as a social marker of the student as someone who has embarked his journey into formal education, where education itself is not limited to ritual and philosophical speculations, but extends to all practical aspects of culture and life in general. The ceremony is typically performed between ages 12 – 14 among Brahmin males.

Death rituals

Brahmins of the Assam valley follow a different death ritual as opposed to the other indigenous communities in Assam. A religious rite, known as Caturthā is performed on the 4th day of a person's demise unlike Tiloni, performed on the 3rd day of person's demise by non–Brahmin indigenous communities.[20]

Pujas

Most Brahmin families are involved in performing religious rituals.[21] These are known as Pujas. The main Pujas are as follows - Satyanarayan Puja, Durga Puja, Laxmi Puja, Shiva Puja, Ganesha Puja, Saraswati Puja, Annapura Puja, Jagadhatri Puja, and others.

Lifestyle

Although in general Brahmins observe all the customary rituals, they appear usually less rigid[22] in some of their traditional lifestyle choices, such as they may eat meat, fish, unlike their counterparts in other parts of India like the North and the South.[web 1]

Present

The Brahmins constitute one of the Forward classes of Assam[web 2] based on the classifications of Government of India, although the recent trend on economic condition has not been very well within the community. Assam's former Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi announced setting up of development councils for several communities in the state, including Brahmins.[web 3]

See also

Notes
  1. "639 Identifier Documentation: aho – ISO 639-3". SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics). SIL International. Retrieved 29 June 2019. Ahom [aho]
  2. "Population by Religious Communities". Census India – 2001. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 1 July 2019. Census Data Finder/C Series/Population by Religious Communities
  3. "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. 2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01 MDDS.XLS
  4. (Barua 2000, p. 1-3)
  5. (Dikshit & Dikshit 2013, p. 397)
  6. (Dikshit & Dikshit 2013, p. 390)
  7. (Bose 1989)
  8. "Culture – Social Life, Social Institutions, Women". Government of Assam. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  9. (Patra 2011, p. 15)
  10. "On the other hand, this story may reflect the historical process of the expansion of agrarian settlements of the brahmanas which has been recognized from the Bhauma-Varman dynasty." ( & Shin 2010:10)
  11. Shin (2010), p. 22: "It is suggested that under the Koch kings, patronage of brahmans began earlier and more vigorously than in the Ahom kingdom. Encouraged both by the Koch kings and the regional bhuiyan landlords, a number of brahmanas from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal migrated into western Assam in the sixteen century"
  12. (Adhikary 2018): Apart from this Maharaja Biswa Singha (Koch dynasty) invited a large number of Brahmins from Kanouj, Benaras and other learning places and provided them rent free lands to perform religious practice. He also appointed Ballabhacharya, the chief priest of Kamakhya Temple to Koch Kingdom."
  13. (Sheikh 2012, p. 251): "He (Biswa Singha) brought some learned Brahmanas from Mithila, Benaras, Kanauj, and Srikshetra (Puri) to his kingdom in order to perform the Brahminical rituals"
  14. (Sheikh 2012:251)
  15. (Shin 2021:32)
  16. Das (2014), p. 158: "The practice of giving grants to gain religious merit can be seem in full blossom in Ahom times"
  17. (Witzel 1993:266)
  18. (Witzel 1993:266)
  19. "Assam State Gazetteer Vol. 1, page 317 – Government of Assam". Mr. Amlan Baruah and S.B. Roy Choudhury. 1999. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  20. (Sarma 1990, p. 54)
  21. "Religion and Caste". Assam On–line Portal, Government of Assam. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  22. (Bose 1989, p. 44)

References

Published-sources

Internet
  1. "Assam Government Withdraws Meat Sale Ban at Cultural Festival After Social Media Outcry"The Wire
  2. "Sabha lists NRC demands – Assam literary body seeks changes in legacy data provision"The Telegraph
  3. "Gogoi announces development councils for Brahmins, others"India Today
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