Place Names associated with Sankaradeva

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Sarat Kumar Phukan is a known name in the fields of Onomastics and Toponymy of North-East India as well as India for the last few decades. Phukan has been closely associated with United Nations Group of Experts on Geographic Names (UNGEGN), Ottawa; Standardization of Place Names Body under UNGEGN; American Name Society (ANS), Alberta Name Society, English Place Name Society (EPNS), Scottish Place Name Society (SPNS), Vietnam Place Name Society, Australian Place Name Society (APNS), Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographic Names (CPCGN); Geographical Names Board of Canada; The International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS), Belgium; The Russian Geographical Society (RGS); International Symposium on Language and Linguistics: Pan-Asiatic Linguistics ISLL:PAL; Korean Place Name Society (KPNS); Vietnam Name Society (VNS); Epigraphic Society of India, and Place Names Society of India, Mysore and so on. Phukan presented several research papers in both International and National Seminars.

A well travelled Phukan has so far contributed Toponymy of Assam, Anthroponymy of Assam, Genesis of Surnames of Assam, Hydronymy of Assam, Oronymy of Assam, The Study of Hodonymy, A few aspects of Place Names study with special ref- erence to Assam, Onomastics in Folk Literature of Assam, Ono- mastics Assam I, II and III, Namtatva, Genesis of Ancient Toponymy of Central and Lower Assam and Echerenga Rodar Kachiyalit, etc. Phukan's other historical works are: Lanmakhru, Lord Siva and Sri Sri Sri Bilveswara Maharudra, Opajamati, Jaymati Kunwari and Virangana Mulagabharu,etc.

A systematic geologic, geographic, anthropologic, historic, religious, socio-cultural and linguistics work on Place Names associated with Sankaradeva is connected with the Neo-Vaishnavite movement in medieval Assam in 15-16th century. Sankaradeva- Madhavadeva and their disciples lived in this great land and professed their religio-cultural activities in a critical historic juncture. During that period, Assam was divided into numerous sects of religion and there was no concrete bonding among the various division of the society. Sankardeva not only courageously preached a new religion but he also laid the foundation of greater Assamese society. At that time, Assam needed a bold, scholastic, wise activist cum spiritualist leader to spearhead a Sanskritik Biplava, a big cultural movement. Sankaradeva along with his fully dedicated disciples culminated as a forceful agency to change the entire landscape in the fields of religion, philosophy and culture. Assarn had already a stable polity mastered by the great Tai-Ahom king Chaolung Chukapha and his descendants with centuries of long standing arduous martial efforts combining the ethnic elements of Nora (Khamyang), Naga, Moran, Borahi, Mattack, Chutiya, Bhuyan, Kachari, Gauda, Kamata and Koch also the neighbouring few Hill tribes.

The work tries to reveal the cultural renaissance i.e. mass-movement sponsored by Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva along with their disciples or companions in medieval Assam so much so introduced this rich cultural tenets of Eastern Assam to the rest of India. Both the gurus excelled and displayed their extra-ordinary intellectual talents and propriety through acculturation of varied colourful rich culture of Eastern India to the rest of India's scholars, pundits and saints. Similarly both of them brought back home the rich mainland Indian culture to this geo-politically isolated land right in middle of 15-16th centuries in a cordial, cohesive and congenial manner. In fact, Sankaradeva systematically sowed Indian cultural seeds to this historically rich land. It is in this context; Sankaradeva will be remembered in Assam as well as throughout India. In fact Sankaradeva was the epitome of physically South-East Asian and culturally a great India. The medieval Vaishnavi saints of the mainland like Tulsidas, Tukaram, Mira Bai, Nanakji, Chaitanya, Kabir and Ramananda and others though they propagated the Vaishnavi concept in a bigger way in their respective locality, Sankaradeva uniquely expanded the horizon un-competitively beyond medieval Assam's geo-political boundary.

Place names associated with Sankaradeva, title immediately draws the questions such as -What is a place name? Why the place name? How it will help us in our day to day life? Place name study and its inter-alia and so on. The work comprised of the place names associated with Sankaradeva's forefathers, their migrations to Assam, Sankaradeva's birth, childhood and activities, study, his associates and disciples, his marriage, his offspring's, his first pilgrimage or religious march to the west and all India march, his thought, new religion and philosophy, activities after his return from pilgrimage, second pilgrimage to Puri-Jagannath and other shrines, and propagation of his religion and culture, his associates their life and association with Vaishnavite movement and so on.

Now let us examine the subject toponymy, a branch of Onomastics and its paraphernalia thoroughly. Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The words are from the Greek: onomastikos, 'of or belonging to naming' and onomatologia, from onoma 'name.' Toponymy or toponomastics, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of onomastics. Anthroponomastics is the studies of personal names, first names, nicknames, pseudo names, conceal names, pennames and surnames and so on.