The Cross-Cultural Kingship in Early Medieval Kāmarūpa

Blood, Desire and Magic

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3603324
AutoresPaolo Rosati (0000-0001-8143-0026, Sapienza University of Rome, autor de correspondencia)
Año2017
Volumen8
Número10
Páginas212
Fecha de publicación2017-09-29
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel8100212
OpenAlexW2760664000
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas26

Kingship in early medieval Kāmarūpa (Assam) was influenced by the collision of orthodox and heterodox Brahmanic traditions with various tribal cultures. Since the last part of the Śālastambha period (seventh-tenth century) the royal tutelary deity of Kāmarūpa was the menstruating Kāmākhyā, an ancient kirāta goddess. According to the Puranic tradition, the cult of Kāmākhyā was absorbed within Hindu religious folds by the mytho-historical king Naraka of Kāmarūpa. According to textual and epigraphic records, Naraka was conceived by Pṛthvī (Earth goddess) during her menstrual period, through a sexual intercourse with varāha (boar form of Viṣṇu). All early medieval dynasties of Kāmarūpa traced back their origins to Naraka, connecting their lines to the divine power but also to the menstrual blood-a substance considered extremely impure though powerful in Vedic and post-Vedic traditions. The king operated as a cross-cultural mediator: he was the only actor who was able to harness the produced polluted forces, through the Tantric rituals, in order to strengthen the political power. Thence, this essay aims to demonstrate, through inter- and intra-textual evidences, epigraphic records, and ethnographic data, that in Assam throughout the early medieval ages, the kingship grounded its roots in an osmotic cross-cultural process which was influenced by tribal traditions and orthodox and heterodox Hindu sects

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Cult · Ethnography · Hinduism · Literature · Monarchy · Mysticism · Political science · Politics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts