Kamarupa inscriptions

The findspots of inscriptions associated with the Kamarupa kingdom give an estimate of its geographical location and extent.

The Kamarupa inscriptions are a number of 5th-century to early 13th-century rock, copper plate and clay seal inscriptions associated with the rulers and their subordinates of the Kamarupa region. The common language of these inscriptions is Sanskrit. The earliest of these inscriptions, the Umachal and Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions, belong to the 5th century and written in a script which was nearly identical to the eastern variety of the Gupta script. There is a steady evolution in the script over the centuries, and last of the scripts, for example the Kanai-boroxiboa inscription using a proto-Assamese script. The script in this period is called the Kamarupi script, which continues development as the Medieval Assamese script from the 13th to the 19th century and emerges as the modern Assamese script.

9th-century Nagaon Copper Plate Inscription of Valavarman III. Text: trailokya vijaya tuṅga yenāpahṛtaṃ yaśo mahendrasya Kāmarūpe jitakāmarūpaḥ prāgjyotiṣākhyaṃ puramadhyuvāsa rājāprajāraṇjana labdhavarṇṇo.

Kanai-boroxiboa rock inscription, 1207 CE, shows proto-Assamese script.

Though the language is Sanskrit, there appear systematic Prakriticisms that indicate an underlying colloquial Indo-Aryan language, called Kamarupi Prakrit.

List of inscriptions

The list below is from (Lahiri 1991, pp. 26–27), and the numbers in the list correspond to the ones given in the find spot map.

	Name	Kind	Ruler	Date	Find spot	Find Year
1	Umachal	Rock	Surendravarman	5th century	Nilachal Hills, Guwahati
2	Nagajari-Khanikargaon	Rock	-	5th century	Khanikargaon, Golaghat
3	Barganga	Rock	Bhutivarman	6th century	Barganga river, Nagaon
4	Dubi	Copper plate	Bhaskarvarman	7th century	Dubi village, Kamrup
5	Nidhanpur	Copper plate	Bhaskarvarman	7th century	Nidhanpur village, Sylhet, Bangladesh
6	Nalanda	Clay seals	Bhaskarvarman	7th century	Nalanda, site-1, monastery 1
7	Sankara Narayana	Image	Sri Jivara	8th century	Deopani, Golaghat
8	Hari-Hara	Image	Diglekhavarman	8th century	Deopani, Golaghat
9	Gauhati	Copper bell	Srikumara	8th century	Guwahati
10	Tezpur	Rock	Harjaravarman	830 CE	Tezpur
11	Hayunthal	Copper plate	Harjaravarman	9th century	Hayunthal, Karbi Hills
12	Surya	Image	(not known)	9th century	Kaki, Nagaon
13	Deopani Vishnu	Image	-	9th century	Deopani, Golaghat
14	Tezpur	Copper plate	Vanamalavarmadeva	9th century	Tezpur
14a	Parbatiya	Copper plate	Vanamalavarmadeva	9th century	Parbatiya village, Tezpur
14b	Kaliabor	Copper plate	Vanamalavarmadeva	9th century	Dighali village, Nagaon
15	Uttarbarbil	Copper plate	Balavarman III	9th century	Uttarbarbil village, Karbi Hills
16	Ulubari	Copper plate	Balavarman III	9th century	Ulubari village, Darrang
17	Nagaon	Copper plate	Balavarman III	9th century	Sutargaon village, Nagaon
18	Bargaon	Copper plate	Ratnapala	1035 CE	Naharhabi village, Tezpur
19	Suwalkuci	Copper plate	Ratnapala	1036 CE	Suwalkuci village, Kamrup
20	Coratbari	Copper plate	Ratnapala	11th century	Coratbari village, Nagaon
21	Gauhati	Copper plate	Indrapala	1058	Barpanara village, Kamrup
22	Guwakuci	Copper plate	Indrapala	1071	Guwakuci village, Nalbari
23	Gachtal	Copper plate	Gopalavarman	1080	Gachtal village, Nagaon
24	Subhankarapataka	Copper plate	Dharmapala	12th century	(not known)
25	Pushpabhadra	Copper plate	Dharmapala	12th century	Pushpabhadra river bed, North Guwahati
26	Khonamukh	Copper plate	Dharmapala	12th century	Khonamukh village, Nagaon
27	Kamauli	Copper plate	Vaidyadeva	1142	Kamauli, Uttar Pradesh
28	Assam	Copper plate	Vallabhadeva	1185	Tezpur
29	Kanai-Boroxiboa	Rock	(not known)	1206	North Guwahati
30	Ambari	Stone	Samudrapala	1232	Guwahati
31	Gachtal	Pillar	(not known)	1362	Gachtal, Nagaon

References

• Bora, Mahendra (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script. Jorhat, Assam: Assam Sahitya Sabha.
• Lahiri, Nayanjot (1991). Pre-Ahom Assam: Studies in the Inscriptions of Assam between the Fifth and the Thirteenth Centuries AD. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
• Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978). Inscriptions of Ancient Assam. Guwahati, Assam: Gauhati University.
• Saikia, Mrigakhee (March 2020). "Inscriptions of the Kapili-Jamuna Valley of Assam: A Historical Analysis". Studies in Indian Place Names. 40 (69): 11–16. Retrieved 1 July 2026.