Research Paper
Revisiting Early Medieval Upper Brahmaputra Valley of Assam: A Study through Archaeology and Palaeogeomorphology
Authors: Rashmirekha Hazarika, Kishor Goswami, Susmita Hazarika & Raktim Ranjan Saikia
Year: 2026, Volume: 17, Page/Article: 255-276, DOI: https://doi.org/10.47509/AA.2026.v17i.14
Abstract
The state of Assam is situated in the extreme eastern part of India. It has a long and rich history of state formation from the 5thcentury CE onward. In the conventional historiography of state formation of this region, the eartern part of Assam which is also known as the Upper Brahmaputra valley, believed to witness this process only after the emergence of states like the Chutia, Kachari and the Tai-Ahom kingdom in the medieval period roughly from 13th century CE. However, a closer scrutiny of the archaeological remains in the Upper Brahmaputra valley along with the use of Paleogeomorphology and Paleo-seismic data indicates that this region experienced the extension and continuity of socio-political and economic traditions that had originated well before the establishment of the Chutia, Kachari and the Tai- Ahom kingdom during the 13th and 14th centuries. Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach and locating the distribution of archaeological ruins of sacred spaces in various part of the Upper Brahmaputra valley, the paper tries to argue that prior to the 13th century CE, contrary to the understanding of the existing historiography, this region experienced socio-political formation and introduction of wet rice cultivation. Viweing from this perspective, the paper argues that the emergence of states in the Upper Brahmaputra valley during the 13th and 14th centuries can be seen as a continuation of earlier tradition rather than a disjunction.
Keywords: Upper Brahmaputra Valley, Archaeological remains, Sacred space, State formation, Landed intermediaries.