Guwahati stand_ the brahmaputra
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Answer:
beside
Explanation:
I hope this will support you
Answer:
Maharajdhiraja shri surendravarmana kritam bhagavatah valabhadra swminayay idam guham
These lines are from a rock inscription found in the Nilachal Hills, a few kilometres from Guwahati. It reads: “This cave (-temple) of the illustrious Lord Balabhadra has been constructed by Maharajadhiraja Sri Surendra Varman."
The inscription is estimated to date back to the 5th century AD, which makes it one of the earliest found in North-East India. Interestingly, it refers to a temple dedicated to Balabhadra, a god of the Vaishnavite pantheon, but the location of the temple—the Nilachal Hills—was largely the site with a Shaivite tradition. Notably, the inscription also helped historians establish the line of the Varman kings. (It mentions a “Surendra Varman").
For the rest of us, though, it signalled something else—the existence of a city, Guwahati, for more than 1,500 years of recorded human history. The Nilachal rock inscription is incontrovertible proof that Guwahati has been home to a sizeable settlement for at least two millennia. The North-East has rarely figured in the imaginations of the bulk of Indian historians, and yet it has stood the test of time in its voyage through the ages.
The earliest description of the city of Guwahati cannot be distinguished from the mention of Pragjyotishpura kingdom, which, is estimated to date back far before the beginning of recorded history. As the legend goes, the kingdom of Pragjyotishpura was inhabited by the Kiratas and the Mleccha—generally depicted as addicted to meat and wine; their king Ghatak tall and powerfully built. Eventually, though, a king named Naraka defeated them and settled his own twice-born (Dvija, or Aryan) people in the region. (Today, about 5 km south of modern Guwahati, is a place surrounded by low-lying hills named Narakasur Gaon.)
Legend also has it that Naraka’s son Bhagadutta, a powerful ruler, organized the swayamvara of his daughter on a platform constructed in the middle of a large water body. Karna, the great warrior of the Mahabharata, won the tournament, but at his insistence, the princess’s hand was given to Duryodhana. The water body where this exchange is said to have taken place is called the Dighali Pukhuri today. In the epic tale of the Mahabharata, Bhagadutta fought for Duryodhana and the Kauravas in the final battle, and later died an honourable death.
In recorded history, the Nidhanpur plate inscription of King Bhaskarvarman clearly mention Naraka, his son Bhagadutta and his grandson Vajradutta as among the king’s ancestors. While genealogies in ancient times were often drawn in order to claim relations with a historical powerful ancestor and thereby legitimacy, the Nilachal rock inscription once again elucidates the past of the kingdom of Pragjyotishpura and the city now known as Guwahati.
Historians opine that after the death of King Bhaskarvaman, the old Guwahati was sacked (when was this?) by Salasthambha, one of Bhaskarvarman’s enemies, and it ceased to be of any prominence for the next three hundred years or so. The power vacuum perhaps lead to the growth of smaller but historically significant kingdoms like Beltola and Pandu.
Guwahati itself was taken over by the Kachari rulers in later times, and subsequently, in the early medieval period, it passed into the hands of the Mohammedans. The Koch dynasty too held it for some time, which is evident from the fact that it was Chilarai--the younger brother of Nara Narayan, the king of the Kamata kingdom in the 16th century--who built the Kamakhya temple in its present form, which was later preserved and further strengthened by the Ahom kings in the latter half of the 17th century.
The Ahom kings finally dislodged all opposition and firmly established themselves in Guwahati when the viceroy of Lower Assam, the Borphukan, entrenched himself in Guwahati. When the administration passed onto the hands of the British, they modelled the city into its present form as the gateway to the North-East.
What’s in a name?
Some of the earliest historical debates involving Guwahati were about the origins of its name. Historians at different times have given different explanations as to its origin. Gunabhiram Barooah, a nineteenth century Assamese intellectual, was of the opinion that in all probability,the name came from the “guwa", or areca nut, trees found in abundance across the city.