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Open Forum
Whats in a name ~ Assam, Asom or
Oxom?
For weeks, Assam has been troubled by the state
governments decision to change the official name from Assam to Asom.
It is an issue that provokes political anger, irritation, suspicions,
literary as well as ethnic and linguistic concerns. We publish below
two views on the issue.
By Rajen Barua
The Government
of Assams hasty decision to propose to change the name of the state
to Asom on the basis that the name Assam is not indigenous but is a
word coined by the British during the colonial rule for their own
convenience shows that there are also some serious misconceptions
regarding the origins of the name.
Records show that the British
first spelt the place name as Asham in 1590 which was later on changed
to Asam and finally to Assam. They did not coin those names for their
own convenience but because the phonetic pronunciation Assam was the
name in vogue. Records in fact show that the phonetic place name Assam
is much older than Oxom, which I prefer. The facts are as
follows.
When the Shan (Syam) invaders first came to Assam from
upper Burma in the 13th century, they called themselves Tai. After
settling in Assam, they later on took the name of Ahom while the name
of the country became known as Oxom with the typical Assamese
guttural X pronunciation. It has puzzled scholars over the last 100
years as to how these two terms actually came to be. We believe that
the following may be offered as the most logical, and phonetically
acceptable, explanation of the derivatives of these names.
First,
when the Syam people conquered Kamrup, they were initially given the
name of Acham, Asam or Asyam by the local tribes in Assam. This is
possibly either because, as Dr Banikanta Kakoti puts it, the hybrid
terms (A+Sam) or (A+Cham) were coined to mean undefeated, and the
Syams were given this name because of their swift military success in
Kamrup; or as Mr Debanada Bharali explains, the term (A+Syam) is
simply the plural of the word Syam. According to Sao Noan Oo, the Shan
author, on the other hand, the term Shan, Siam and Asam all had been
derived from the word Sian (Hsian, Sein), which designates the Tai
group of mountainous people who originally migrated down from Yunnan
province in the 6th century AD to the Shan state. The name Acham or
Asam was used for the country itself, and that is how the country had
been known since that time by all people outside of Assam. It may be
mentioned Assam has another possible derivation from Bodo word Ha+Com,
meaning low or level country (Baden Powell).
Inside Assam however,
the development took some twists. These terms when recorded in
Assamese, were recorded as Axam or Axom or Oxom and these were
pronounced with a guttural X pronunciation of the sibilants changing
the S sound to X. Thus the Tai people eventually came to be known as
Oxom or Axom, transformed further to Ahom.
Outside Assam however,
the name of the country remained as Acham or Asam and the British used
the English phoneme SS as in issue or tissue to settle on Assam.
The dual names, Oxom and Assam, make perfect sense since they are
indigenous words. The proposal to change the existing state name does
not have any merit; not only is it phonetically wrong but, to
eliminate the original Tai phonetic name Asam, will be a grave
historical error.
In a democratic country, an important issue like
the changing of the name of a state cannot be taken so lightly without
any discussion or debate. The Government of Assam should immediately
rescind its decision on the name change. If it really wants a change,
then let it be done through a democratic process with open discussions
with the people and public organisations.
(The author is an
oil engineer based in Katy, Texas.)
Is public opinion
inconsequential?
By Robin Borthakur
We have cast off a hated
Raj legacy. The opinion of a well known author has come at the most
opportune time for our government to give another gift to the people
of the state by putting its seal on it. But had any public opinion
been sought on the subject? Is public opinion totally inconsequential
in a democracy?
As on many earlier occasions, many people seem to
have lapped up this change without so much as an argument. Perhaps we
want to be different from the rest of the Argumentative Indians!
That three of our metros have changed their names, is good enough
argument to change the name of our state? Is it indeed our topmost
priority?
We have done precious little to pull our society out of
the abysmal depth of corruption and have, in effect, given indirect
approval to it by giving the corrupt undue importance in society.
Corruption and inefficiency has irretrievably damaged our educational
system which has ruined the future of countless young talents of the
state, forcing the few who can afford to go outside the state. And yet
we have not been able to build up a healthy systematic movement to
reform the structure, except perhaps occasional knee-jerk
reactions.
Ours is a state of a composite culture with a variety of
languages and ethnic heritage. Have we spared a thought as to how our
various ethnic groups will react to this change? We have, in the past,
witnessed the horrendous consequences of forcing things on others.
History repeats itself because we do not learn its lessons. After so
many years of the Official Language Act, we have not been able to
implement it in government offices and establishments. Let us ask
ourselves, why?
People find it difficult to tolerate any
discordant note on a matter of public sentiment. And yet I cannot help
asking myself as to what are the pluses and minuses of this decision.
On the plus side, we shall have the satisfaction of feeling that the
true ethnic meaning of the name will be expressed by Asom, although
for all practical purposes we use the words Asom and Asomiya, at
times even in English. But nationally and internationally our state is
known as Assam with all its special virtues. After all, as Shakespeare
said ~ whats in a name?
On the minus side, a great deal of
controversies will arise over the spelling of Asom (Axom) and
Asomiya (Axomiya). Besides, some non-Asomiya may pronounce these
words in ridiculous ways and may make a caricature of it. This will
harm the well-established reputation of things like Assam silk or
Assam tea at the national and international levels. A phenomenal
amount will have to be expended in changing various records,
documents, bill boards, etc. in government, semi-government, private
offices and institutions leading to loss of valuable time, precious
government revenue and private resources. Of course, it is still moot
what the reactions of the various ethnic groups will be.
All this,
coming from an insignificant person like me, may not generate any
public debate. But it will certainly help in getting at least a part
of the frustration out of my system.
(The author is
Vice-Chairman, Bharatiya Cha Parishad, based in Dibrugarh,
Assam.)
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