The Cross-Cultural Kingship in Early Medieval Kamar ¯ upa: Blood, Desire and Magic
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2017, Vol 8, Issue 10
Abstract
Kingship in early medieval Kamar ¯ upa (Assam) was influenced by the collision of orthodox ¯ and heterodox Brahmanic traditions with various tribal cultures. Since the last part of the S´alastambha ¯ period (seventh–tenth century) the royal tutelary deity of Kamar ¯ upa was the menstruating K ¯ am ¯ akhy ¯ a, ¯ an ancient kirata ¯ goddess. According to the Puranic tradition, the cult of Kam ¯ akhy ¯ a was absorbed ¯ within Hindu religious folds by the mytho-historical king Naraka of Kamar ¯ upa. According to textual ¯ and epigraphic records, Naraka was conceived by Pr.thv¯ı (Earth goddess) during her menstrual period, through a sexual intercourse with varaha ¯ (boar form of Vis.n. u). All early medieval dynasties of Kamar ¯ upa 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.
Authors and Affiliations
Paolo Eugenio Rosati
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25804
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8100212
- Views 313
- Downloads 8
Reasons Why High Religiosity Can Co-exist with and Precipitate Discontinuation of Anti-retroviral Therapy among Different HIV Clients in Uganda: An Exploratory Study
In-depth interviews were conducted with 39 very religious people living with HIV (16 had ever and 23 had never discontinued antiretroviral therapy—ART) to assess the role of religion in these treatment decisions and in...
‘It’s Not the Money but the Love of Money That Is the Root of All Evil’: Social Subjection, Machinic Enslavement and the Limits of Anglican Social Theology
Maurizio Lazzarato argues that contemporary capitalism functions through two central apparatuses: Social subjection and machinic enslavement. Social subjection equips individuals with a subjectivity, assigning them ide...
The Role of Religion among Sex Workers in Thailand
This qualitative research seeks the understanding of the role of religion in the lives of sex workers in Thailand. It is based on interviews conducted among sex workers working in karaoke bars in Bangkok. Findings show...
Geoffrey Hill’s “Hard-Won Affirmation”: The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy
Sir Geoffrey Hill, long hailed as Britain’s greatest living poet, was devoted to remembering the deceased, those forgotten in the debased din of mass culture—some of them worthy of our emulation, others edifying by the...
‘The Altars Are Holding the Nation in Captivity’: Zambian Pentecostalism, Nationality, and African Religio-Political Heritage
The study draws on ontocracy political theory to investigate Zambian Pentecostal interpretations of politics as a sacred realm of contestations between forces of good and evil. It argues that Zambian Pentecostal theolo...