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Koch kings of Cooch Behar

Biswa Singha founded the Koch kingdom early in the sixteenth century, and under his son Naranarayan and the general Chilarai it was the strongest power between Bengal and the Ahom country. The Koch line went on ruling Cooch Behar until the state joined India in 1949.

  1. Biswa Singhac. 1515–1540
  2. Naranarayanc. 1540–1587
  3. Lakshmi Narayan1587–1621
  4. Raghudev (Koch Hajo)1581–1603
  5. Pran Narayanc. 1633–1665
  6. Nripendra Narayan1863–1911
  7. Jagaddipendra Narayan1922–1949
Period: c. 1515–1949 CERegion: North Bengal and western Assam; at its height from the Karatoya to the BharaliCapitals: Cooch Behar
Photo: Rupeshsarkar · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Naranarayan and Chilarai

Naranarayan was a scholar-king; his younger brother Shukladhvaja, called Chilarai, the kite, for the speed of his marches, led the armies. In the 1560s Chilarai campaigned east against the Ahoms and south into the hill kingdoms of Jaintia, Tripura and Kachar, and many of them paid tribute. In 1565 Naranarayan rebuilt the temple of Devi Kamakhya on Nilachal hill, which had been ruined; an inscription in the temple records the work, and the Koch king’s figures are carved there.

02Sankardev at the Koch court

When Srimanta Sankardev left the Ahom country, he came to Koch territory, and Chilarai, married to Sankardev’s niece, brought him before Naranarayan. Sankardev spent his last years under Koch protection at Cooch Behar, where he died in 1568. The great woven cloth showing the life of Shri Krishna, the Vrindavani Vastra, was made at Naranarayan’s request under Sankardev’s direction. The court also had Sanskrit and Assamese scholars translate the Puranas and the epics.

Naranarayan
Person · reigned 1540–1587 CENaranarayanSon of Vishwa Singha, Naranarayan made the Koch kingdom the strongest power of the north-east with his brother Chilarai as general, rebuilt the Kamakhya temple on Nilachal hill in 1565, and gave shelter to Srimanta Sankardev.Read →

03Split and survival

In 1581 the kingdom split: Chilarai’s son Raghudev took the eastern half, Koch Hajo, while Naranarayan’s line kept Koch Bihar in the west. The eastern branch was ground between the Mughals and the Ahoms. Koch Bihar survived by turns of alliance with the Mughals, the Bhutanese and, from 1773, the East India Company, and lived on as a princely state. Nripendra Narayan built the palace at Cooch Behar in 1887. Jagaddipendra Narayan signed the merger with India in 1949.

The rulers

  1. 1Biswa SinghaFounder of the kingdomc. 1515–1540
  2. 2NaranarayanRebuilt Kamakhya, 1565c. 1540–1587
  3. 3Lakshmi NarayanKoch Bihar after the split1587–1621
  4. 4Raghudev (Koch Hajo)Chilarai’s son; eastern branch1581–1603
  5. 5Pran Narayanc. 1633–1665
  6. 6Nripendra NarayanBuilt the Cooch Behar palace1863–1911
  7. 7Jagaddipendra NarayanMerged the state with India1922–1949

What they left

  • The rebuilt Kamakhya temple on Nilachal hill (1565)
  • Shelter for Srimanta Sankardev and the Vrindavani Vastra
  • The Cooch Behar palace (1887)
  • Assamese translations of the Puranas and epics

People

NaranarayanRuler
reigned 1540–1587 CE

Naranarayan

Koch king who rebuilt Kamakhya

Srimanta SankardevSaint
1449–1568 CE (Assamese tradition)

Srimanta Sankardev

Founder of Ekasarana Dharma in Assam

ChilaraiWarrior
c. 1510–1571 CE

Chilarai

Koch general of the north-east

Places

Cooch BeharStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Cooch Behar

Capital of the Koch kings, who rebuilt Kamakhya and fought the Bengal Sultans and the Ahoms, survived Mir Jumla’s occupation in 1661, and stayed a princely state until it joined India in 1949.

Kamakhya TempleRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Kamakhya Temple

On Nilachal hill above the Brahmaputra stands the most revered of the Shakti Peethas of the east, where the Kalika Purana says the yoni of Mata Sati fell. There is no murti in the garbhagriha, only a cleft in the rock kept wet by a spring.

Hayagriva Madhava Temple, HajoRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Hayagriva Madhava Temple, Hajo

The Vishnu temple on Manikuta hill at Hajo, 30 km west of Guwahati, with a frieze of elephants carved along its base. Buddhists of the Himalaya also come here, holding it a place of the Buddha.

Jalpesh Temple, JalpaiguriRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Jalpesh Temple, Jalpaiguri

The great Shiva temple of north Bengal near Maynaguri, its domed Koch-era building rising over a linga that sits in water below floor level. Shravan and Shivaratri bring pilgrims from Bengal, Assam, Bhutan and Nepal.