chapter iii background of assamese …（第三章阿萨姆邦的背景u2026）.pdfVIP

Chapter III BACKGROUND OF ASSAMESE SOCIETY AND CULTURE There is a famous English proverb which says that Rome was not built in a day. Similarly the culture of a particular society can never evolve in a single day. It takes hundreds and hundreds of years for any culture to establish itself. However it is very difficult to pin-point the exact date as to when a particular culture evolved. In English the word culture has been derived from the Latin word Cultura(root word being cult).1 Understanding culture is trying to understand people. When delving into the historical evolution of Assamese culture it is essential to remember that the rich culture of Assam is composed of different stages and it is also a mixture of many diverse elements. Culture is about people. In the words of Malinowski, culture is a total system of life and includes all the mental, social and physical means which make life run its course.2 In order to gain knowledge of Assamese culture it is imperative to first delve into the history of how Assam became home to a large population of various ethnic groups. Assam has developed a composite culture resulting out of the assimilation and amalgamation of the cultures of the diverse ethnic groups inhabiting the state. During the pre-historic age, the earlier occupants of the hills of Assam were the Negritos. The next racial elements to migrate to Assam were the Australoids. According to certain historians it was as early as 3000 BC that different racial elements first migrated to Assam. In the age of the Ramayana 89 and the Mahabharata Assam was known as Kamrupa with Pragjyotispur as its capital. It is said in the Mahabharata that Bhagadatt, the then king of Pragjyotispur took active part in the battle of Kurushetra. The Indian epic Mahabharata was believed to have been written before the comi