THE RAJ SABHA AT SILCHANG: DOLMENS AS ADMINISTRATIVE SEATS OF ANCIENT KHOLA KINGDOM IN ASSAM, INDIA

Authors

  • Manjil Hazarika Cotton University http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9068-1206
  • Raktim Patar Assistant Professor, Department of History, Gargaon College, Simaluguri, Assam, India
  • Mr. Sanathana Y.S. PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India
  • Jayanta Roy Former MA Student, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India
  • Jutimala Misra PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7152/jipa.v44i0.15677

Abstract

Northeast India is well known for the widespread megalithic structures found in different geographical and cultural contexts. Construction of megaliths is also a living tradition among many of the ethnic communities of this region. The dolmen, a megalithic structure made with a large undressed or roughly shaped stone slab supported by several upright stones at the base, is invariably found in all the megalithic cultural traditions across India. In the northeastern parts of India, dolmens are often constructed as resting and meeting places of a community. This paper presents the association of such dolmens with a traditional Raj Sabha (royal assembly) of the Khola king of the Tiwa community of Assam. The Raj Sabha, even today held annually at the Silchang megalithic site, is a unique tradition of a royal assembly functioning symbolically on a cluster of dolmens, and is significant to understanding the functional variability of the megaliths and the use of megaliths as a seat of power in an archaic society.

Author Biographies

Manjil Hazarika, Cotton University

Assistant Professor and Head (i/c)

Department of Archaeology

Cotton Universty, Assam, India

Raktim Patar, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Gargaon College, Simaluguri, Assam, India

Assistant Professor, Department of History, Gargaon College, Simaluguri, Assam, India

Mr. Sanathana Y.S., PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

Jayanta Roy, Former MA Student, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

Former MA Student, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

Jutimala Misra, PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India

PhD Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam, India
The king and the court members after taking their respective seats at the Silchang dolmens, Assam. Photograph by Manjil Hazarika.

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Published

2020-12-23

Issue

Vol. 44 (2020)

Section

Articles

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