Genesis of Ancient Toponymy of Central and Lower Assam

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This work is a prolong and long cherished aspiration of my fruitful years of stay in Central and Lower regions of Assam that comprised of the districts -Darrang. Udalguri, Marigaon Kamrup, Nalbari Barpeta Goalpara Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baska, Kokrajhar Dhuburi and parts of districts of Sonitpur, Nagaon. In the process, have also given some glimpse on the western boundary of our great land Lauhiryadesa-Pragjyotisa-Kamrupa Le, up to the river Karataya-Kesi including a part of the ancient countries of Anga- Manga-Karnavarna-Pandravardhana etc.

There is no reservation and hesitation on my part to disclose and admit today that at times, I am really in an astonished and confused state of mind to see how juxtapose position of the ancient and medieval history in this part of the country has been channelized. Secondly, the multiplicity of various ethnic groups since time immemorial is another important investigation in my mind. Thirdly, where there is no systematic written history except some, one has to rely mostly on folktales, folklores, folksongs etc., inscriptions, old literature both secular and non-secular, neighbouring historical records and foreigners' accounts etc. In the case of archaeological materials wherever possible and feasible the post-modern techniques like-Carbon-14 for organic, Thermo-Luminisence for potteries, Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating for Quarzites etc. have been used for dating of such materials.

Geography and Toponymy (a branch of Onomastica) are my basic field of investigation and research and I always view things in a multi-disciplinary approach such as: geology, geography, ethnography (anthropology), archaeology, history, culture, language, linguistics, religious scripture, to treat the various branches of Onomastics viz. hydronymy, oronymy, hodonymy anthroponymy, surnames, eponymy, technonymy, chrematonymy, and other cultural tools etc.

Since the field area is wide and culturally complex, most of the source materials are fragmented, distorted, often mixed with one another Le, hybrid formation, hence it is awfully difficult to find out some of the roots of the word.

**Contents and Sample Pages**