GUWAHATI, Feb 13 - With new breakthroughs emerging on the antiquity of the Assamese script, thanks to research that shows the Assamese script to be far older than previously thought, learned quarters have called for according it the status of Indian Classical Language.
Generally the Indian Classical Language status is given to languages which have a rich heritage and are of independent nature. The status is awarded by the Government of India and so far this honour has been bestowed on six languages of India � Tamil in 2004, Sanskrit in 2005, Telugu in 2008, Kannada in 2008, and Malayalam in 2013, with Odia being the latest addition to the list in 2014.
Languages declared as classical get three primary benefits. First, two major international awards for those who contribute significantly to Indian Classical Languages are presented every year. Secondly, the government has to set up a Centre of Excellence for the study of Classical Languages. Thirdly, Central universities can give grants for Professional Chairs for Classical Languages.
According to eminent scholar and litterateur Dr Nagen Saikia, the Assamese language deserves the status of classical language. �If the Odia language can get the classical language status, why cannot our Assamese language get the same recognition? The Assamese language has a long glorious history dating back to the prehistorical times. We hope the Government of Assam will take this issue seriously and positively, and make a strong case for its recognition as classical language before the Government of India,� he said.
Stressing the need for establishing the Assamese language as a classical language, Dr Sampak Saikia, assistant professor of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev University, said that the required data, records were already available to meet the criteria for classical language. �We hope that the State government makes the initiative in this regard so that the Assamese language gets its rightful place as a classical language,� he said.
According to Ashok Sarma, who is doing extensive research in Kamrupi civilisation, script, and language, the Assamese language has much more antiquity than ever thought.
�We can trace the written form to the 4th century BC, i.e., the language found in the Mahasthangarh stone inscription (now in Bangladesh). It should be noted that today�s Bangladesh was within the territory of ancient Kamrup in the manner the ancient Indian civilisation of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are now in Pakistan. The language of the Mahasthangarh inscription was in Prakrit language and it did not belong to Ashoka�s empire. The language of this inscription cannot be Magadhi Prakrit either because the contemporary language of the Ashokan edicts was not found anywhere after his reign. If the language was to be the language of Magadh, then it could not be extinct,� he said.
Reasoning that many Assamese words are found in Kautilya�s Arthasastra written in the 4th century BC, Sarma said the inscriptions found so far in different corners of Assam carried many local words which were not Sanskrit. �It means a local language or Prakrit must have been there in Assam. These data and resources surely help us to put the antiquity of Assamese language at over 1,500 years � which, incidentally, is the basic criterion for getting the classical language status,� he said.
The criteria evolved by the Government of India to judge the eligibility of a language to be declared as classical language include (a) high antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1,500-2,000 years, (b) a body of ancient literature/text which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers, (c) the literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community, and (d) the classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.
According to Sarma, the origin of the Assamese script, on which little research had been done previously, has gathered enough new information in terms of historical, archaeological and inscriptional evidence and findings.