The political history of the Kamata kingdom region prior to the rise of the Koch dynasty remains uncertain and is largely reconstructed from traditions and scattered sources. Historians have relied on limited epigraphic evidence alongside later literary works, genealogical traditions, and retrospective chronicles, resulting in reconstructions that remain tentative.
Early rulers Sandhya, was a ruler of Kamarupanagara, the capital of the erstwhile
Kamarupa. After withstanding an attack from
Malik Ikhtiyaruddin Iuzbak in which Iuzbak was killed (1257) Sandhya moved his capital to Kamatapur, near present-day
Cooch Behar town. Sandhya styled himself
Kamateswara and the kingdom came to be known as Kamata.
List of early Kamata rulers • Sandhya • Sindhu Rai • Rup Narayan • Singhadhwaj
Middle rulers Pratapdhvaj was a minister of Singhadhvaj when he usurped power. At his death, his cousin Dharmanarayan seized power. He was challenged by Pratapdhvaj's son Durlabhnarayan and they decided to settle. Durlabhnarayan assumed power Kamrup, Goalpara, Jalpaiguri, Koch Bihar, along with the capital Kamatapur, while Dharmanarayan retained Rangpur and Mymensingh. As part of the settlement, Durlabhnarayan received from Dharmanarayan the custody of fourteen families of
Brahmans and
Kayasthas, one among whom was Candivara, the great-great-grandfather of
Sankardev. The court poets of Durlabhnarayan (
Hema Saraswati and
Harivara Vipra) and Indranarayan produced literary works that are considered to be the first examples of
Early Assamese. Separately, an epigraphic record, from 1428, of a king named Durlabhnarayan (mentioned as son of Dharmanarayan), found in Sadiya-Chepakhowa, mentions that his grandfather Ratnanarayana (identified with Satyanarayana from late 14th century), after defeating the enemies of Kamdeva, became the king of
Kamatapura which might indicate that the eastern region of
Sadhaya was politically connected to the western region of Kamata.
List of middle Kamata rulers • Pratapdhvaj • Dharma Narayan • Durlabh Narayan • Indra Narayan
Baro-Bhuyan rule The invasion of Assam by
Sikandar Shah (1357–1390) weakened Indranarayan. Although Sikandar Shah was forced to retreat from central Assam following
Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s attack on Bengal, Indranarayana appears to have been damaged enough that, according to some reconstructions based on later traditions, a Bhuyan chief from
Darrang, Arimatta, was able to seize power. • Sasanka (Arimatta) • Gajanka • Sukranka • Mriganka
Jungal Balahu Khen dynasty Although no contemporary historical evidence survives, some scholars, drawing on the Gosani Mangala (1823), have suggested that the Khen dynasty, of
Kheng-Bhutanese origin, replaced the weak rulers of
Kamata kingdom following Arimatta in the middle of the 15th century. Niladhvaj Khen, the first king, united several Baro-Bhuyan chieftains of the area and removed the last of Arimatta's successors—Mriganka. There were only three Khen rulers: •
Niladhwaj •
Chakradhwaj •
Nilambar (c. 1498) In 1492–93 CE,
Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah of Bengal invaded and conquered at least parts of the Kamata kingdom, and subsequently issued coins bearing the title
Kamata Mardan.
Bengal Sultanate rule Alauddin Hussain Shah, a
Sultan of Bengal, removed the last Khen ruler in 1498. This followed a long siege that likely started in 1493 soon after Alauddin's ascension and ended in a treacherous win with 24,000 infantry, cavalry and a war flotilla. Alauddin destroyed the city and eventually annexed the region up to
Hajo by 1502, removed the local chieftains, and established military control over the region. He established his son
Shahzada Danyal as an administrator and issued coins in his own name as the "conqueror of Kamru and Kamata ...". This rule was short since the Baro-Bhuyans rose up in revolt soon after and exterminated Sultanate rule. •
Danyal (1498-????) Nevertheless, the Muslim rule had lasting effects. Hussein Shah's coins continued to be used till 1518, when the Koch dynasty began consolidating their rule. Ghiasuddin Aulia, a Muslim divine figure from
Mecca, established a colony at Hajo. His tomb, which is said to contain a little soil from Mecca, now called "Poa Mecca" ("a quarter Mecca"), is frequented by Hindus and Muslims alike.
Baro-Bhuyan Interregnum Alauddin Hussain Shah's representative in Kamata, his son
Shahzada Danyal and his officers, was seized and killed by the
Baro-Bhuyans of the region and the region lapsed into their confederated style of governance till the Koches took over.
Koch kingdom •
Biswa Singha (1515–1540) •
Nara Narayan (1540–1587) The Kamata kingdom then passed into the hands of the
Koch dynasty, with Biswa Singha consolidating his control over the Bara-Bhuyans one after another and establishing the
Koch dynasty with its dominion from the
Karatoya River in the west to the
Barnadi river in the east. In the 1581 Raghudev, the son of
Chilarai and the nephew of
Nara Narayan, affected a split in the kingdom—
Koch Hajo and
Koch Bihar. Though Raghudev had accepted the suzerainty of his uncle, the boundary between them forming roughly the administrative boundary between the present-day
Assam and
West Bengal.
Koch Hajo, the eastern kingdom, soon came under attack from the
Mughal, and the region went back and forth for between the Mughal and the
Ahoms, finally settling with the Ahoms. Koch Bihar, the western kingdom, first befriended the Mughals and then the British, and the rulers maintained the princely state till the end of the British rule.
Administration system Yuvaraj: Biswa Singha appointed his brother Sisu as the
Yuvaraj. The descendant of Sisu became the
Raikat kings of
Jalpaiguri.
Karjis/Karzis: Biswa Singha appointed twelve minister from his tribesman to form a
Karjee, this position was hereditary. Two important
Karjee and
Yuvaraj form a cabinet.
Senapati: Commander of a standing army.
Paik System Paik: Individual male • Thakuria: in charge of over 20
paiks. • Saikia: in charge of over 100
paiks. • Hazari: in charge of over 1000
paiks. • Omra: in charge of over 3000
paiks. • Nawab: in charge of over 66,000
paiks. ==See also==