Kamboi
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Kamboi is an ancient village/town located in Limkheda taluka, in Patan district, in the modern Indian State of Gujarat. This place is at a distance of 16 km from Chanasma on Harij-Mehsana Road. It has post office Postcode number of 384230.
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[edit] Geographical Location of Kamboi
Geographically Kamboi has a latitude of 23° 41’N and longitude of 72° 02’E.
[edit] Antiquity of Kamboi
The history of Kamboi is said to be very ancient. The town is first mentioned in the 10th century in the Daan Patras (gift letters) of the Chalukya rulers and is referred to as Kamboika [1].
[edit] Etymology of Kamboi
Kamboika is stated to have been evolved from the Pali Kambojaka or Kambojika as follows:
Kambojika == > Kamboyika == > Kamboika since hard palatal j is known to change to soft y in Indo-Aryan languages and further yi == > i.
The change of palatal j to soft y is not unusual. The Shabazgarhi Inscriptions of king Ashoka also write Kamboja as Kamboya where j is replaced with y.
To give a few more illustrations, the terms SamJogita, SamaJa, Jajman, Jadu, Jogi and GaJni etc are also found written as SamYokita, SamaYa Yajman Yadu, Yogi and GaYni where also the j has become soft y.
And lastly, the penultimate letter k being sandwiched between two vowels gets eliminated in ancient Indo-Aryan languages following a documented procedure as noted by ancient Prakritic Grammarians. According to third century Prakritic grammarian Acharya Varuchi, the consonants k, g, ch, j, t, d, p etc. falling between two vowel sounds usually get elited [2].
Hence KamboiKa == > Kamboi
Thus, the 15th century records refer to this town as Kamboi [3].
[edit] Ancient Jain Tirtha
The Kamboi town also has an ancient and famous Jain tirtha (pilgrim place) by the same name located in the centre of the Kamboi town. There is also a Railway Station at Kamboi.
[edit] Land-locked Trade Port
Recent archaeological excavations have discovered that even though land-locked now, the Kamboi and Kambay had been once well known sea ports on the western coast of Gujarat. Similarly also, there was a port named Gandhar localized in Taluka Bhroach (ancient Bharukachcha) contiguous to Narbada. [3].
[edit] Ancient Kamboj-Saurashtra connection
For ancient connections of the Kambojas with Saurashtras, it would be interesting to see : Kamboja-Dvaravati Route
[edit] Epilogue
[edit] Epilogue 1
As the name itself suggests, Kamboi is apparently connected with well known ancient term Kamboja of Sanskrit/Pali literature.
During the 2nd century BC, a section of Kambojas from Central Asia had joined the great tribal movement originating in Central Asia, and in alliance with the Sakas, Pahlavas, Abhiras and even the Yavanas etc, they are known to have spread into western and south-western parts of India.
See: The Kambojas in West/Southwest India [4]
One section of those Kambojas appears to have given their name to Kamboi.
According to International Initiative for Justice (IIJ) report (2003), there is another village called Khambhoj located in Anand district, north of Kambay, in Saurashtra peninsula [5]
Needless to say this Khambhoj is also a variant of Sanskrit Kamboj.
According to many scholars, the name Cambay/Kambay (Khambat/Kambat) is also connected with the Kambojas and it is an Apbhransh of Sanskrit Kamboja [4]. Otherwise also, the name Kambat/Khambat can be shown to be a linguistic variant of Sanskrit Kamboja.
The Kamboh mountain [6] and Kamba river in Sindh province of Pakistan [5] also embody the relics of the ancient movements of the Kambojas from the north-west to this region (Dr J. L. Kamboj).
The Kamboj/Kambohs of Karnal (Haryana) claim their origin from Gajni (Garh Gajni Nikaas, Lachhoti Ghaggar Vaas)[6]. And interestingly, Gajni is also said to be the ancient name of Cambay/Kambay/Vallabhi [7].
Based on the traditions of the Karnal Kambohs/Kambojs, British ethnographer H. A Rose has connected the Kambohs of Punjab with this Gajni/Kambay of Gujarat [8].
This may indicate that one section the Kamboj groups in northern India may indeed have migrated from Gujarat/Saurashtra. This may also indicate that the name Cambay [9] Kamboi, Khambhoj, Gambhu, Kambha-riviji etc found in Surashtra/Gujarat may indeed have in them the relics of ancient Sanskrit Kamboja, and may have been colonised by the migrant Kambojas after their migration from Central Asia in the wake of great nomadic movements of the 2nd Century BC.
[edit] Epilogue 2
On critically examining the Kamboj/Kamboh traditions [10] and the detailed traditions recorded by James Tod about the Guhilots/Rajputs of Mewar principality [11], as well as in the light of later discoveries made in the field of Indology, an alert and perceptive reader may be able to see strong similarities, and possibly the origin of the Maitrakas/Guhilots/Sisodias from the ancient Kambojas of Saurashtra, if these traditions do mean anything.
The Kamboj traditions recorded by H. A. Rose refer to the flight of the Karnal Kambojs from Vallabhi/Gajni as a result of its sack and the mass slaughter of Kamboj by an unnamed hostile king in remote antiquity [12]. The traditions of Guhilots/Sesodias of Mewar also speak of their flight as a result of the sack of Vallabhi/Gajni and the mass slaughter of their ancestors by some unnamed hostile king around 6th century. What is more striking, the crisis in both cases was caused by the treachery of their Parohit ministers. Again, the Iranian affinities of the Kambojas may also be compared to the Iranian affinities of the Guhilot/Sissodia clan as noted by James Tod [13]...both being originally fire and sun worshippers. This is, in spite of the fact that both the Guhilots/Sesodias as well as the Kambohs of Karnal trace their origin from the Solar line of Indo-Aryans...a usual fad among all Rajputs!.
Lastly, Maitraka, an ancient cognomen of the Guhilot/Sesodia clan, is stated to derive from Mithra, the Sun or Sun Deity, also a synonym of Mihira, (old Persian Mihr). The Maitrakas identified with Mihiras (Zoroastrians) are regarded as sun-worshippers of foreign origin [14] which compares to the Iranian Kambojas.
In fact, there are a host of other pointers and indicators which strongly point to a probable remote connection between the Maitrakas/Guhilots of Vallabhi and the ancient Kambojas who had settled in Saurashtra around the start of Christian era as noted above.
[edit] References
- ^ See: Indian Antiquary VI, 1877, pp 191-92, G. Buhler
- ^ See: E. B. Cowel, The Prakrita Prakasha, preface pp ii-iv.
- ^ See: History and Culture of Indian People, The Delhi Sultanate, p 155, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar.
- ^ Epigraphia Indica, Vol XXIV, pp 45-46; Vangar Jatya Itihaas, Rajanya Kanda (in Bengali,), Nagendra Nath Vasu; The Spirit of Islam Or the Life and Teachings of Mohammad: or the life and teachings of Mohammed, 2002, p 359, Ameer Ali Syed; Asiatick Researches: Or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for Inquiring Into the..., 1801, p 129, Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India); Encyclopedia of Religions Or Faiths of Man 1906, 2003 Edition, p 282, J. G. R. Forlong; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990, p 232, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Published 1990, Cambridge University, Press for the Royal, Asiatic Society [etc.]; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 305, 332; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, pp 161, 216; Kim (by Rudyard Kipling - 1901), Chapter XI, Page 266, line 23, Notes on the text by Sharad Keskar; cf: Ancient India, 1956, p 383, Dr R. K. Mukerjee.
- ^ Ref: Sind, p44, M. C. Lambrick.
- ^ See: Glossary of Tribes, Vol I, 1914, p 444ffn , H. A. Rose.
- ^ See: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, James Tod, p 178, 71; Op cit, H. A. Rose, p 444ffn
- ^ See: Glossary of Tribes, 1914, H. A. Rose, pp 444ff; Also Hindu Polity, A constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, Part I & II, p 139, Dr K. P. Jayswal; See also: Kamboh entry in Panjabi Mahan Kosh, Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha.
- ^ The other variant names recorded in history are Kambaya/Kanbaya of Arab writers; Kambaet, Khambat, Khambayat, Khambavat, Khambavati etc in Sanskrit or vernacular (see: Die Reise des Arabers Ibn Batuta Durch Indien Und China (14 Jahrhundret) Ibn Batuta, 1911, p 471).
- ^ See: Glossary of Tribes, p 444ff, 1914, Lahore, H. A. Rose.
- ^ See: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, pp 174-195, James Tod.
- ^ Glossary, 1914, pp 444, note 1, H. A. Rose.
- ^ op cit. 1997, p70/71, but more details on pp 174-195, James Tod
- ^ Dr Fleet, H. A. Rose and other scholars.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol I, James Tod
- Glossary of Tribes of Panjab abd North-West Frontrier Provinces, Vol I, H. A. Rose
- Hindu Polity, A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, Part I & II, 1978, Dr K. P. Jayswal
- History and Culture of Indian People, The Delhi Sultanate, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar
- Indian Antiquary, VI, 1877, pp 191-192, G. Buhler
- Kamboja Itihaas, Panjabi) 1972, H. S. Thind
- Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, Dr J. L. Kamboja
- The Sind, M. C. Lambrick
- Epigraphia Indica, Vol XXIV, pp 45-46
- Vanger Jatya Itihaas (Vanglala), Rajanya Kanda, Nagendra Nath
- Internet Websites [7], [8], [9], [10] etc.
