Kamarupa pithas

Kamarupa Pithas are old pithas or geographical divisions of Kamarupa. The division and classification of the Pithas are not uniform in the various sources, although we usually find four Pithas. As these pithas do not appear in the Kamarupa inscriptions, and are referred in the subsequent medieval texts, some authors have suggested that these divisions probably were later constructions. The Yogini Tantra (16th- 17th-century), mentions the Kamarupa Pithas, and it is the same work which provides boundaries of ancient Kamrup kingdom as well.

Number of Pithas

While the reports of the numbers of pithas usually are four, some sources mention merely three. The four Pithas were:

1. Ratnapitha, the area from the river Karatoya to the river Sonkosh,

2. Kamapitha, from Sonakosh to the river Rupali,

3. Swarnapitha, from the river Rupali to the Bharali river (Central Assam) and

4. Saumarapitha in bewteen the Bhairavi and the Dikarai river (Eastern Assam).

The Kamrupar Buranji gives the divisions as follows:

1. Ratnapitha from the Maurang kingdom to Sankosh river,

2. Kamapitha from Sankosh to Duimunisila,

3. Bhadrapitha from Kallang river to kailash river, and

4. Saumarpith from Duimunisila to Dikkaravasini.

D C Sircar gives three different versions:

• Kamapitha (Karatoya to Sankosh) Ratnapitha (Sankosh to Rupahi) Suvarnapitha (Rupahi to Bharali) Saumarpitha (Bharali to Dibang near Sadiya).

• Ratnapitha (Karatoya to Manas) Kamapitha (from Manas to Silghat on the northbank of Brahmaputra) Bhadrapitha (south bank, south of Kamapitha) Saumarpitha to the east. 

• The boundary taken from the haragaurisamvada, Ratnapitha (Karatoya to Sankosh), Kamapitha (Sankosh to Kapili), Suvarnapitha (Rupika to Bhairavi); Saumarpitha (Bhairavi to Dibang).