Chapter 7
Itellectual, Cultural and Religious Heritage
Exercises
1. 1. (a) What does the word 'history' mean?
Answer: The word 'history' means a storehouse of knowledge about what is unknown.
(b) Who is the author of the Darang Chronicles?
Answer: Suryakhari, the author of the Darang dynasty, is a fortune teller.
(c) Who wrote the Hastividyarnava?
Answer: Hastividyarnava was written by Sukumar Barkaith.
(d) Which particular doctrine was introduced by Shankaracharya?
Answer:
(e) From whom did Srimanta Sankaradeva get the essence of the Bhagavad Gita?
Answer: Srimanta Sankaradeva got the essence of the Bhagavad Gita from Madhavade.
(f) Who painted the book 'Hastividyarnaba'?
Answer: The illustrations of the book 'Hastividyarnaba' were painted by Dilbar and Dosai.
2. 2. What is historical literature? Describe its application in understanding the state of contemporary society.
Answer: History is a storehouse of knowledge about what is unknown. Many histories were written during the reign of the Ahoms. Chukapha ordered the scholars of the royal court to write down all the news from birth to death. The histories were in Tai but later written in Assamese.
The application of historical literature in understanding the state of contemporary society is that with the spread of Vaishnavism, many other books, including the Bhagavad Gita, were translated into Assamese. There are many different types of characters in the film, but the most important one is the character of the heroine. The history of medieval Assam had to be studied with the help of Vaishnava literature, including charit puthi and genealogies.
Many translations of literature were produced in the royal courts of the Ahom and Konch kings. The Assamese translation of the Brahma Vaivartha Purana by Kabiraj Chakravarti was the main one.
3. 3. 3. Discuss how religious traditions gained momentum in Assam.
Answer: The following is a discussion of how religious traditions gained momentum in Assam:
The Ahom era was a long period. The Ahom kings ruled from the eleventh to the nineteenth centuries for six hundred years. There were many changes in the religious beliefs of the people of Assam at that time. There was no territory surrounded by Assam. The establishment and justification of a king's sovereignty is governed by religion. In ancient times, that religion was Brahmanical Hinduism. All dynasties except the Islamic dynasties learned justice and rationality from Hindu Brahminism.
In the early eleventh century AD, Brahmanical 'Hinduism' was the predominant religion in the Brahmaputra Valley. They worshiped the gods Shiva, Ganesha, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, and Indra and introduced Vedic sacrifices. By the time of Mahapurusha Sankaradeva, the ancient temples were not in full condition. When the Konch kingdom was established, the temple of Goddess Kamakhya, built by Vishwa Singh and his son Naranarayan, was found in ruins in the jungle.
While the Vedic rituals and the religious beliefs and rituals of the royal auxiliary classes continued, the common people believed in gods, goddesses, demigods and ghosts. Shivaraj was worshiped among the Koch, Mech, and Boro tribes of the southern Brahmaputra Valley.
4. The Discuss how the Nava Vaishnava movement played a role in the development of social life and literature and culture in Assam.
The Nava Vaishnava movement played a role in the development of social life and literature and culture in Assam. The pioneers of the new devotional movement in Assam were Mahapurushas Sankardev, Madhavdev, Damodardev and Haridev. Sankaradeva and his chief disciple Madhavadevas were subjects of the Ahom kingdom. Sankaradeva first started the religious reform movement during the reign of Swargadeo Chuhungmong Dihingia. He respected the lower castes of tribal and Hindu society and gave them equal seats in religious places. He translated the complexities of the Scriptures into simple language that people could understand. He laid the foundation of Vaishnavism on the one hand.
Music, instruments, and dance were all gifts of the Neo-Vaishnava era. It gave a new life, a new state and a new literature to Assam. Vaishnava gurus developed their art and literature. Thus, tribal and non-tribal groups came together. The Nava Vaishnavism shaped the life of the Assamese nation in all aspects.
5. 5. Prepare a note on the importance of painting in Assamese cultural life.
The importance of painting in Assamese cultural life is discussed below
Since ancient times, people have resorted to the fine arts for entertainment. Those fine arts include dance, song, musical instruments, and painting.
Painting: Early people painted different parts of their bodies to decorate themselves. They painted the events on the walls of the caves. In the seventh century, Kumara Bhaskar Varman, king of Kamarupa, gave it as a gift to Harshavardhana, king of Kanauj. Paintings are made from the materials needed for painting such as bird feathers, horsehair and cotton. These are the primary sources of the 'Adi Dasham Skanda Bhagavat' by Srimanta Sankaradeva .
There are three types of painting styles in Assam, and they are - 1) Satriya, 2) General Ornament and 3) Royal. Sankaradeva painted the seven heavens through the Chihnajatra Bhaona and displayed them among the illiterate people. Sankaradeva used the word 'yatra' to describe drama. 'Sign journey' means drama shown through pictures.
6. 6. What is music? Discuss the development of music in Assam with reference to different types of musical instruments.
Answer: Music means songs, instruments and dances. Two genres of music have been prevalent in India and they were (a) Margi and (b) Desi. In Margi music, notes, verses and rhythms are all governed by strict rules. Desi music, on the other hand, is music performed for general entertainment. Music is developed in Assam with various types of instruments, e.g
Folk instruments : Musical instruments are needed to accompany songs and dances. Such instruments have always been in use in the state in modified forms. These folk instruments included the flute, the tambourine, the drum, the percussion instrument, the harp, the bagpipe, the mridang, the khol, the daba, and the conch.
Drums are used by the people of different ethnic groups in Assam during festivals . For example, Bihu, Ali-I-Lringa, etc., are celebrated by the sound of the drums. There are different types of drums like Bardhol, Dhepadhol, Kamrupi Dhol and Jaydhol. The instruments of that class included the daba, dholak, nagara, dhak, dogar and mridang. The khol is one of the most important dance, song and instruments used by Srimanta Sankardeva to instill devotion among the Assamese people.
Sushi instruments : Sushi instruments are instruments that produce sound and transmit melody by exhaling air through a special medium. The conch is the oldest sushi instrument in India. These include the flute, the horn, the tambourine, the flute and the gogna.
Tatvadya: The tatvadyas in ancient literature are the bipanchi, rudrak bilas, and rudra beenar. Tatbadyas are instruments that transmit the sound of strings. Instruments of that class include the Lao Tokari, Anand Lahari, and the Dotra or Tokari. And the other is
Percussion instruments : Percussion instruments are sounds produced by cutting metal, wood and bamboo to a certain size and striking each other. These include the small flute, the large flute, the rhythm, the bell, the junuka, the dagger and the napur.
