The transition from pre-state to state societies involves some ideological facets.In pre-modern states of India,especially from the post-Gupta period onwards,the ruling authorities tried to legitimize their position by claiming ancestry/lineage from Brahmanical deities.The ruling dynasties patronized Brahmanism,and in return,the Brahmanas created myths of divine genealogy,which elevated the status of the former.The pre-modern states of northeast India were not an exception to it.The rulers of northeast India established Brahmanas and claimed divine genealogy with the help of myths created by the latter.Although they patronized Brahmanism,the ruling dynasties never entirely abandoned their tribal traditions from which they originated because most of their subjects remained outside the Brahmanical faith.Thus,the ruling authorities played the role of mediator between the two different traditions,which is reflected in the contradictory nature of the royal myths created through the agency of the Brahmanas.Focusing on the early kingdoms of Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa,the Ahoms,and the Koches of the medieval period,the paper attempts to explore the conflict syndrome in their royal myths and the polity formations of these pre-modern kingdoms.It helps us understand the particularity of political processes in peripheral regions like northeast India.
展开▼
