Kamata Kingdom

Origins

Kamata emerged in the 13th century from the western remains of the Kamarupa kingdom. Sandhya, a ruler based at Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur after Turkic attacks around 1257, giving the kingdom its name. It then held the land between the Karatoya and the Brahmaputra rivers.

Rule and society

Little is documented about government under the early kings. In the 15th century the Khen dynasty ruled from Kamatapur, near modern Cooch Behar, where extensive earthen ramparts survive. Its last king, Nilambar, controlled a large territory and defended it against the Bengal Sultanate. Shakta Hinduism and local cults dominated.

Decline and legacy

Around 1498 Alauddin Husain Shah of the Bengal Sultanate captured Kamatapur by a ruse and ended Khen rule. Bengal's hold proved short, and the region was soon taken by the Koch dynasty, whose kingdom later split into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.