SOME THOUGHTS
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE KALITAS OF ASSAM
Hira Charan Narjinari
A few Assamese scholars like Kaliram Medhi, Kanaklal
Barua, P.C. Choudhury, etc., tried to identify races like Colubae, Kudutai,
Kalatiai as mentioned by the Greek writers in their works that relate India with
the Kalitas of Assam. Some scholars even tried to establish the fact that the
kings of the Naraka line of ancient Assam were Kalitas by race. One scholar
claimed that as Assam is the home of the Kalitas the civilisation of Assam is
predominantly Kalita civilisation. This study is, therefore, undertaken to find
out whether these scholars’ claims are reasonable or not.
As to the racial origin of caste in the Brahmaputra
Valley, E.A. Gait has clearly stated in the Census Report for 1891 in the
following words:
“Now, what is the present position of caste in the
Brahmaputra Valley? We have the Brahman and the Kalita, and we have also the
different race castes, that is to say, we have the castes of Manu, except that
the Kalita takes the place of the Kshettriya, Vaisya and Sudra. The modern
profession castes, which have taken the place of the Kshettriya, Vaisya and
Sudra in other parts of India, are none of them found here. There are, of
course, gardeners, barbers, potters, blacksmiths, etc., but the persons
following these occupations do not constitute separate castes. The oilman is
generally Kewat, the potter a Kalita, a Kewat, or a Chandal, the barber is
usually a Kalita, and so for all the rest. The profession castes are
non-existent.”
This was the position of caste system in the
Brahmaputra Valley during the Census in 1891. In other words, caste rigidity
was not found in Assam even towards the end of the 19th century. We
have noticed above that the Kalitas performed the duty of a Kshatriya, of a
Vaisya and of a Sudra and they were generally potters and usually barbers.
Now, writing about the Koch people B.H. Hodgson in 1849
conisdered the Kalitas as one of the divisions of the Koches. He says, “In
Assam they are divided into Kamthali and Madai or Shara, and Kolita or Kholta, and in Rangpur, &c.,
into Rajbansi and Koch. Their first priests were Deoshi, their next Kolita or
Kholta, and their last, the Brahmanas or Mullahs.”[On the Origin, Location,
Numbers, Creed, Customs, Characters and Condition of the Koch, Bodo and Dhimal
People, JASB Vol. xviii, 1849, p. 706]. Referring to this statement of Hodgson,
E. T. Dalton states that no one who has studied the physical characteristics of
the Kalitas can for a moment suppose them to be relations of the Bodo, or doubt
their distinct Aryan origin. [Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, 1872, p.79].
As to the origin of the Kalitas, E.T. Dalton in 1872
said that no one knows how they got to Assam or where they came from. However,
he infers that the Kalitas of Assam are the remanants of the earliest colonists
of the Assam valley. Regarding the physical features of the Kalitas Dalton
states that they are not only themselves a good-looking race, but they are the
people to whom the Assamese population generally owe the softening of feature
which has so improved those of the Mongolian descent. The Kalitas exhibit a
geater variety of complexion, and, on the whole, are not so fair as the Ahoms
and Chutias or as the people of the hills, but they have oval faces,
well-shaped heads, high noses, large eyes, well-developed eye-lids and
eye-lashes, and the light, supple frame of the pure Hindu.[Descriptive
Ethnology of Bengal, 1872, p.79].
Lt.-Colonel L.A. Waddel of Indian Medical Service personally
made precise measurment of the tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley to record their
physical type so as to trace their racial elements and their affinities. Among
these tribes he has also included the Kalitas. The result of his measurement of
the Kalitas shows that they have a slight Mongoloid type of feature. He,
however, presumes that they are the mixed descendants of the Kayasth who came
up the Brahmaputra to officiate as priests to the Koch, Kacharis and others
when these tribes were adopting Hinduism.[The Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley,
JASB, Vol. LXIX, Pt. Iii, 1900, pp.49-50].
In 1901, B.C. Allen has supplied us with more detailed
account about the origin of the Kalitas. He writes thus: “The popular explanation is
that Kalitas are Kshatriyas, who fleeing from the wrath of Parasu Ram,
concealed their caste and their persons in the jungles of Assam, and were thus
called Kul-lupta. Other theories are that they are Kayasthas degraded for
having taken to cultivation, an explanation which in itself seems somewhat
improbable, and is not supported, as far as I am aware, by any evidence, or
that they are the old priestly caste of the Bodo tribe. The latter theory can
hardly be said to account for their origin, as their feature are of an Aryan
type, and though it is possible that Kalitas may have acted as priests to some
of the early Kachari converts, this fact throws little or no light on the
problem of what the Kalitas are. The most plausible suggestion is that they are
the remains of an Aryan colony, who settled in Assam at a time when the
functional castes were still unknown in Bengal, and that the word ‘Kalita’ was
originally applied to all Aryans who were not Brahmans.” [Census of India, 1901
Vol. IV, Assam, Part I, Report, pp.132-133].
In the Hemkosa
the Kalitas are described as degraded Kayasthas which according to Kali Ram
Medhi is erroneous. He thinks that the Kalitas are pure Aryan and purer than the Kayasthas.
He says that the Assam Kshatriyas concealed their caste from the axe of
Parasuram who waged war against the Kshatriyas by calling themselves as Kula-lupta or Kalita. He also says that
the Kalitas were the earliest Aryan immigrants.[Assamese Grammar and Origin of the Assamese Language, 1st
published 1936, 2nd Edition 1978, pp.27-28]. He further states that
reference to the Kalitas is not found in the Sanskrit literature and that they
cannot be the same people as the Kiratas of the Sanskrit literature. Yet he
thinks that it is possible etymologically to derive the word Kalita from
Kirata.[Ibid, p.39].
According to M.M. Chatterji the
Kalitas of Assam may have been the original Aryan settlers in Kamarupa who had
adopted Buddhism and who were stigmatized by later Brahman immigrants, during
the rule of the Pushyavarman dynasty, as Kula-lupta i.e. people who lost or
dropped their caste or varna. [J.P.A.S.B. Vol. XXVI 1930, quoted in K.L.
Barua’s Early History of Kamarupa,
1933, p.22 fn.]. K.L. Baruah supposes that “as the earliest Aryan colonists in
Assam were the Kalitas the kings of the Naraka line were probably Aryan
Kalitas.”[Early History of Kamarupa,
1933, p.25].
R.C. Muirhead Thomson says that the Kalitas
are usually supposed to be the descendents of the first Aryan immigrants into Assam by women of
the country. While many of them are indistinguishable in appearance from the
typical Mongolid Assamese, others have a distinctly Aryan cast of countenance,
resembling that of the classical Hindu type.[Assam Valley Beliefs and Customs
of the Assamese Hindus, 1948, p15].
The authour of the Fathiya-i-Ibriyah
Shihabuddin Talish who accompanied Mir Jumla in his expedition to Assam says
that the “ancient inhabitants of this country belong to two nations, the
Assamese and the Kulita.” The author states that the Kulitas were superior in
all respects except in war to the Assamese while Assamese were far better in
war than the Kulitas. [H. Blochmann, Koch
Bihar Koch Hajo Assam, JASB, 1872, Vol.xli,(i), p.81]. Gait opines that
this statement was apparently intended to apply only to the country round
Garhgaon as the writer refers elsewhere to the Miris, Nagas and other
tribes.[E.A. Gait, A History of Assam,
1906, p. 138]. If we are to believe Shahabudin Talish who had written the Fathiya-i-Ibriyah or the History of the Conquest of Assam between
9th August 1662 and 13th May 1663, then we are inclined
to say that the Assamese and the Kalitas are two different races. If the
present Kalitas are the descendants of those Kalitas referred to by Shahabuddin
Talish then the Kalitas cannot be called
Assamese in the true sense of the term.
As I have referred to in the beginning that a few
Assamese scholars tried to identify Colubae, Kalatiai etc., with the Kalitas of
Assam I would deal with that subject now.
Dr. P.C. Choudhury opines that the classical writers
from about the 5th century B.C. have referred to the people and
place names of ancient Assam. This statement appears to be entirely conjectural
and not based on firm ground. Dr. Choudhury writes, “Hecataeus of Miletus (500
B.C.) mentions such people as the Indoi, Kakatiai, Opiai, etc., of India” [The
History and Civilisation of Assam etc. 1959, p.18] and tries to identify Kakatiai with the Kalitas
of Assam. However, Hekataeus has not at all spoken of Kakatiai but he mentioned the name of Kallatiai. In the Geography
of Hekataeus of Miletus are mentioned some Indian names like Indoi, Indus,
Kallatiai, Argante, Gandarii, Kaspapyros, and Opiai who are a people on the
Indus.[ J.W. McCrindle, Ancient India as
Described in Classical Literature, 1901, p. xiv]. Herodotus mentions Kalantiai or Kalatiai and the Pandaioi
along with Gandarioi. [J.W.
McCrindle, Ancient India as Described by
Megasthenes and Arrian, 1877, p.6 fn]. Since Kallatiai of Hekataeus and Kalantiai
or Kalatiai of Herodotus are said to
have lived near about the Indus or western Punjab then it is presumptuous to
say that by referring to Kallatiai, Kalantiai or Kalatiai, Hekataeus and Herotodus intended to refer to the Kalitas
of Assam.
Dr. Choudhury then referring to Pliny’s work, writes, “Pliny
next mentions beyond the Ganges a number of people including Colubae or Koluta,
Orxulae, Abali and others,” and then states “the Colubae or Koluta were the
Kalitas.”[The History of Civilisation of
the People of Assam to the Twelfth Century A.D., 1959, p.19]. It is not
understood why Dr. Choudhury mentions Colubae
or Koluta when the text does not
mention Colunae or Koluta at all. Let us hear what Pliny(23-79
A.D.) says: “There is an Island in the Ganges of great size, containing one
Nation, named Modogalica. Beyond it are seated the Modubae, Molindae, where
standeth the fruitful and stately City Molinda; the Golmodresi, Preti,
Calissae, Sasuri, Fassalae, Colubae, Orxulae, Abali, and Taluctae.” [Caius
Plinius Secundus, Natural History,
edited by Wernerian Club, 1847-48, p. 123]. In the text Pliny mentions only Colubae and not Colubae or Koluta.
According to the 4th book of the Ramayana, the Kâulûta or Kolûta are one
of the races of the west. In the Varah Sanhita in the list of the people they
were placed in the north-west. In the Mudra Rakshasa they were located
somewhere near the Upper Jamna. Yule places the Kolubae on the Gandaki in the north-east of Gorakhpur and
north-west of Saran. [J.W. McCrindle, Ancient
India as Described by Megasthenese and Arrian, 1877, p.137]. If so, then
Dr. Choudhury’s identification of Pliny’s Colubae
with the Kalitas of Assam is entirely unfounded.
Referring to Pliny’s description of various races, Dr.
Choudhury again states that Pliny has also spoken of “races from the chain of
the Exodus, of which a spur is called the Imaus.”[Ibid. P. 19]. Interestingly, in
the text of Pliny there is a mention of Emodi
and not of Exodus. Pliny writes, “The
Nations which is not irksome to name, from the Mountains Emodi, of which the
Promontory is called Imaus, which signifieth in the Language of the
Inhabitants, Snowy: there are the Isari, Cosyri, Izgi, and upon the very
Mountains, the Ghisiotosagi: also the Brachmanae, a Name common to many
Nations, among whom are the Maccocalingae.”[Caius Plinius Secundus, The Sixth Book of the History of Nature,
edited by Wernerian Club, 1847-48, p. 121]. Neither has Megasthenese (c. 350-290 B.C)
mentioned the name of Exodus. What he
writes is: “The races which we may enumerate without being tedious, from the
chain of Emodus, of which a spur is called Imaus (meaning in the native
language snowy), are the Isari, Cosyri, Izgi, and on the hills the Chisiotosagi.”
[Ancient India as described by
Megathenese and Arrian, p.132]. McCrindle states that other forms of Emodus
are Emoda, Emodon and Hemodes and that Emodus was generally designated that
part of the Himalayan range which extended along Nepal and Bhutan and onward
toward the ocean.[Ancient India as Described by Megasthenese and Arrian, 1877, p.132].
By Emodus
was generally designated that part of the Himalayan range which extended along
Nepal and Bhutan and onward toward the ocean. Other forms of the name are Emoda, Emodon, Hemodes. Lassen
derives the word from the Sanskrit haimavata,
in Prakrit haimota, ‘snowy.’ If this
be so, Hemodus is the more correct
form. Another derivation refers the word to Hemadri(hema, ‘gold,’ and ari, ‘mountain’), the ‘golden mountains, ‘- so called either
because they were thought to contain gold mines, or because of the aspect they
presented when their snowy peaks reflected the golden effulgence of sunset.
Imaus represents the Sanskrit himavata,
‘snowy.’ The name was applied at first by the Greeks to the Hindu Kush and the
Himalayas, but was in course of time transferred to Bolor range. [McCrindle, Ibid.,
p.132]. So, it is clear from the accounts of Megasthenese and Pliny that neither of them mentions Exodus.
Another scholar, B. K. Barua mentions that “Hiuen
Tsiang refers to the name Kolika or Kolita”[ A Cultrual History of Assam, 1951,
p.113] and there he stops without giving any explanation. It may be noted that
Hiuen Tsiang visited a country of K’iu-lu-to
(Kuluta) which country had situated to the north-east of Jalandhar. It would
therefore be unjustified to say that by K’iu-lu-to
or Kuluta Hiuen Tsiang intended to
signify the Kalitas of Assam. Hiuen Tsiang writes, “Going north-east from this (Che-lan-tólo
or Jalandhar), skirting along some high mountain passes and traversing some
deep valleys, following a dangerous road, and crossing many ravines, going 700
li or so, we come to the country of K’iu-lu-to (Kuluta).”[Samuel Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, Tr.
Vol. I, 1884, pp.176-177] The kingdom of Kiu-lu-to
is placed by Hiuen Tsiang at 700 li or 117 miles, to the north-east of
Jalandhar, whcih corresponds exactly with the position of the district of Kullu
in the upper valley of the Byas river. The Vishnu Purana mentions a people
called Uluta or Kuluta, who are most probably the same as the Kaulutas of the Ramayana and the Brihat Sanhita. As this form of
the word agrees precisely with the Chinese Kiuluto,
Alexander Cunningham, who is considered as the Father of Indian Archaeology,
concluded that the modern Kullu, must be only an abbreviation of ancient name of
Kíu-lu-to.[ Alexander Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India, 1871,
p.142]. In the Sabhaparva(II,24,4) the form Kuluta
occurs the variants of which are Uluta,
Uluka and Kauluta. Dr. Chandra opines that the Ulukas mentioned in the Mahabharata(M.B. I, 177,20; 56,23) without
doubt represented the Kulutas or the
people of modern Kulu Valley.[Dr. Moti Chandra, Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahabharata: Upayana Parva,
1945, p.55].
There is a mention of gold coin called Caltis or Kaltis in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Dr. Choudhury
suggests that the coin bears the name of the Kalitas of Assam, who for a long
time might have ruled Assam. [Choudhury, p.31]. In another place he states that
if Benfey is right in deriving the gold coin ‘Kaltis’ mentioned in the
Periplus, from the Kalitas, it may be held that these coins recall the ruling
family of the Kalitas, probably of Bhagadatta. P.108.]. The Periplus of the
Erythraean Sea records that the last land near the coast of the Ganges was Chryse.
There was a market-town on the bank of the Ganges which had the same name as
the river, Ganges. Through this place are brought malabathrum and Gangetic
spikenard and pearls, and muslins of the finest sorts, which are called
Gangetic. It is said that there are gold-mines near these places, and there is
a gold coin which is called Caltis.[Schoff,
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,
47-48.]. Benfey thinks the word is connected with the Sanskrit Kalita, i.e., numeratum. [McCrindle, The Commerce and Navigation of the
Erythraean Sea, 1879, pp.30-31]. So, according to Benfey Kaltis means number. If so, then in what
way Kaltis (number) relates to Kalita
caste of Assam is confusing.
Dr. Choudhury again picks up the name Kudutai from Ptolemy and tried to explain
that the name Kodutai has been
derived from Koluta which stands for
Kalitas.[Ibid. p.108]. Gerini without hesitation takes Ptolemy’s Kudutai to be the same people as the Ká-to or Ká-t’o, whom Garnier found exactly in the territory of the
Yuan-chiang. According to Lacouperie the Ká-t’o
speak a language of the Lo-lo family,
closely connected with that of the Ho-ni.
If so, they would belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. Gerini opines that Ká-t’o
appears to be the corruption of an older term, Khadu, Kadu, or Kudu; perhaps
Kudut or Kuduta, in which case it might prove traceable to some toponymic or
tribal name, Kuluta, Kulūta, etc., introduced by the early
Indu immigrants. From Kulūta the
derivation Kudutai could be easily
accounted for, and with it could be eventually connected Kuo-lo or Kwo-lo, one of
the names borne by the Lo-lo or Lu-lu. Ptolemy himself locates Kudutai people south of the Khalkitis, the Karajang, or Black Lolos
of Eastern Yunnan, and makes them, together with the Barrhai, extend to the Great Gulf of Tonkin. In De Donis’ map they
are marked, under the name of Codupe,
to the north of Doana(Luang Phrah Bang)
and between the Doanas(Me-Khong) and
the Dorias (Nam Tau or Red Rover).
Their habitat becomes thus fixed at about half-way betwixt the Me-Khong at
Luang Phrah Bang and the head-waters of the Red River at Yuan-chiang, straight
away north. [Col. G.E. Gerini, Researches
on Ptolemy’s Geography of Eastern Asia, 1909, p.356-358]. Evidently, it may
be presumed that by Kudutai Ptolemy
did not mean the Kalitas of Assam.
As to the civilisation of Assam, Kali
Ram Medhi claims that as Assam was the home of the Kalitas, the civilisation of
Assam is predominantly a Kalita civilisation.[Assamese Grammar and Origin of the Assamese Language, 1st
published 1936, 2nd published 1978, p.27]. How far this claim is
justified I cannot say. But during the time of the composition of Yogini Tantra
(16th century A.D.) or before, the religion or dharma of Assam was
not definitely of Kalita origin. Because the Yogini Tantra giving an account of the
Sakta holy places and Sakta rituals in Assam frankly confesses that the
religion of the Yogini Pitha is of Kirata origin: “Sidhesi Yogini pitha dharmah
Kairatajah matah.” [“O Queen of all Siddhas(=Uma), in the holy shrine of the
Yogini (i.e., Kamarupa) the dharma (ritual or religion) is considered to be of
Kirata origin.”]. [Quoted by B.K. Kakati in his The Mother Goddess Kamakhya, 1948, p. 10]. In other words, in the
matter of ritual or religion of Assam, the Kiratas or the Mongolian people of
Assam had greater influence in the life of the people of Assam.
Can we ignore the civilisation of the Kacharis or Bodos
of Assam altogether? At least one great Assamese scholar named Dr. Surya Kumar
Bhuyan has frankly acknowledged the contribution of the Kacharis or Bodos when
he made a glowing tribute to the Kacharis saying, “The Kacharis have left indelible
traces of their civilisation in different parts of Assam. The ruins of Dimapur
and the rock-cut temple at Maibong bear testimony to their attainments in
sculpture, architecture and engineering. One king of Cachar was the patron of
Madhav Kandali, who flourished before the age of Sankar Deva and who translated
the Ramayana into Assamese. Queen Chandraprabha, consort of the Kachari Raja
Tamradhwaj Narayan and mother of Suradarpa Narayan, commissioned the court-poet
Bhubaneswar Bachaspati to translate into Assamese the voluminous
Naradiya-Kathamrita. The names of Assam rivers with the prefix Di point to the
fact that the Kacharis had lived almost in every place in the Brahmaputra
valley.”[Dr. S.K. Bhuyan, Kachari Buranji,
ed. 2nd Edn. 1951, Introd. Xviii-xix].
What emerges from the above
discussion is that a few Assamese scholars whose great intellect is certainly beyond
dispute had rather opted for erroneous explanation of the words or names
occurred in the Greek accounts relative to India. Their wild speculations also
prove that they have paid least attention to the annotations made by the
translators of the Greek works under reference. Whatever it may be, it is
apparent from the above discourse that the identification of Colubae, Kalatiai, Kudutai, etc.,
with the Kalitas of Assam is in no way rationale or logical.
