Abstract: The earliest inhabitants of Assam were non-Aryans and their language belonged to extra- Aryan families of language. Three kinds of languages in Assam existed; these are mainly Sanskrit as the official language, non-Aryan tribal languages of the Austric and Tibeto-Barman and a local variety of Prakrit . It was assumed that Assamese script was derived from Brahmi and Devanagari through success stages until it reached its final form. Macdonnell points out that Assamese possess an important literature and its literary style does not suffer like Bengali from the excessive use of Sanskritisations. Assamese literature is as old as the Bengali. Like Oriya, Assamese is a sister, not a daughter of Bengali. Ancient Assamese literature consists of much unwritten poetry and proverbs and these are mainly pastoral ballads, bihu folk songs, and cowherd and boat songs and so on. The writing materials used in ancient period were mainly inner bark of the bhurja patra, also wood and Sanchipat tulapat or cotton cloth, wooden board, palm leaves, animal substances, clay, metal stone, brick etc. Ancient education system and curriculum in kamrupa were prescribed by the dharmasastra and education was centred round the guru-griha. Two types of education were in ancient Assam viz. vidya and kala. Vidya is literary study and Kala is professional activity. Education in ancient Assam was not spread over a large area and people as it is today.
Keywords: Assam; Education; Early; Language; Literature.
Title: Literature and Education in Ancient Assam
Author: Rabindra Das
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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