History of Assamese literature

Assamese is part of the easternmost group of the Indo-Aryan languages. History of Assamese literature can largely be classified into three periods, including: Early Assamese period (6th to 15th century A.D.), Middle Assamese period (17th to 19th Century A.D.) and, Modern Assamese (late 19th century onwards).

The history of Assam can be traced to the 4th century AD, though relics from beyond this period suggests some kind of a pre-history, through cave paintings, etchings on pots etc. The Charyapadas have almost been referred to as the earliest example of Assamese literature. The Charyapadas pertain to Buddhist songs penned within the period of 8th to 12th centuries. These writings, by the way, correspond to Oriya and Bengali languages as well. The phonological and morphological characteristics of these songs bear exceedingly powerful semblance with Assamese some of which are survive to this date. Despite the rich historical details of the pre-Ahom kingdom, literary history of Assam has been traced to the mystic lyrics, known as the “caryas”— esoteric doctrines and erotic practices of the later Sahajayana form of Mahayana Buddhism, written by 23 “siddha-purusas” (8th to 12th century A.D). The oldest Assamese writer is Hema Saraswati of the late 13th century. His Prahlada-Charita based on the Sanskrit Vishnu Purana depicts a finished Sanskritized Assamese. Other poets in the court of Kamatapur like Harihara Vipra (Harivara Vipra) and Kaviratna Sarasvati rendered into Assamese, verse episodes from the Mahabharata in the early 14th century. Kaviraja Madhava Kandali in the 14th century is the first great poet of Assam. His extant work consists of a version of the Ramayana and a narrative poem Devajit. Another great poet was Durgavara who retold the story of the Ramayana in songs. A large group of manuscripts known as the “Mantras” of unknown authorship is extant probably going back to the period before 1500. The “Mantras” contain magical formulae against snakebite, against ghosts and demons and against various kinds of diseases.

Perhaps the most important contribution of the Ahom rule was the writing of the buranji a kind of prose history of the Ahom kingdom, which besides giving the accurate history of Assam also strengthened the tradition of the written word in Assam. The post of “Likhakar Barua” was specially created for the writing of manuscripts recording the proceedings of the various departments under the King’s rule. Most of the manuscripts are written on sanchi leaves.

...
Wikipedia