“Does Kamatapur exist?” is a question asked by many people in Assam and North Bengal, for different reasons. Some have heard about Kamatapur in history classes. Others have seen the name on banners calling for a new state. Still others have read about the Kamatapur Autonomous Council.
In short, the question has three answers:
- Kamatapur existed in history. It was the capital city of a medieval kingdom, and its ruins can be found at Gosanimari in present-day Cooch Behar district, West Bengal.
- Today, there is no state called Kamatapur. The name is associated with a statehood movement seeking a new state from parts of West Bengal and Assam.
- There is a Kamatapur Autonomous Council in Assam. It was created in 2020 for the Koch-Rajbongshi community.
This is the story of those three answers, told across more than seven centuries.
Who are the Koch-Rajbongshi people?
Koch-Rajbongshi, also written Koch Rajbanshi or Rajbongshi, is one of the key communities of lower Assam and northern West Bengal. Some also live in neighbouring areas of Bihar, Meghalaya, Nepal and Bangladesh. The history of this community is linked to the rulers of the Koch dynasty, which once dominated this region.
The language spoken by this community has various names, such as Kamtapuri and Rajbanshi. In 2018, West Bengal amended its Official Language Act and recognised Kamtapuri and Rajbanshi for official use in areas where they are spoken by more than 10 per cent of the population.
The Kamata kingdom
The earliest phase of this history is also the most uncertain one.
After the fall of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom, a kingdom rose in the west of the region with its capital at Kamatapur. Twentieth-century historians such as K. L. Barua suggested that Sandhya, a ruler of the time, shifted his capital from Kamarupanagara to Kamatapur around 1257. However, this is only a theory, since no inscriptions or coins confirm it.
Later traditions speak of a line of rulers known as the Khen dynasty. Niladhvaj is said to have been the first Khen ruler, followed by Chakradhvaj and Nilambar. What we know about these rulers comes from later literary sources such as the Gosani Mangala.
The Khen dynasty came to a violent end. The Sultan of Bengal, Alauddin Hussain Shah, laid siege to Kamatapur and deposed the last Khen ruler in 1498. By 1502, the Sultanate had extended its influence eastwards as far as Hajo, but local chiefs known as the Baro-Bhuyans revolted and expelled the Sultanate from the area.
Kamatapur was never rebuilt as a capital city. Its ruins can still be seen at Gosanimari in Cooch Behar district, a site known locally as Rajpat.
The rise of the Koch dynasty
The Koch kings rose out of these turbulent times.
Around 1515, Biswa Singha defeated the Baro-Bhuyan chiefs and founded the Koch dynasty, which inherited the old Kamata lands. Biswa Singha ruled until his death in 1540. At its height during his reign, the kingdom stretched from the Karatoya river in the west to the Barnadi river in the east.
The golden era: Nara Narayan and Chilarai
The Koch dynasty saw its greatest days under Biswa Singha’s sons.
Nara Narayan ruled for nearly half a century, until his death in 1587. His reign is remembered for a flowering of culture in the region, including the neo-Vaishnavite movement of Srimanta Sankardev, who found support at the Koch court.
His brother Shukladhwaj, popularly known as Chilarai, led the army. Chilarai is still revered in Assam as a legendary warrior. In 1562, he captured the Barak valley from the Twipra (Tripura) kingdom and built a fort there.
A kingdom divided: Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo
The kingdom did not stay united for long.
Nara Narayan had appointed his nephew Raghudev, Chilarai’s son, as governor of the eastern part of the kingdom. In 1581, Raghudev asserted his independence, and when Nara Narayan died in 1587, the split became permanent:
- Koch Bihar, the western kingdom, passed to Nara Narayan’s son Lakshmi Narayan.
- Koch Hajo, the eastern kingdom, was ruled by Raghudev.
The boundary between them roughly matches today’s border between Assam and West Bengal, which is one reason the Koch-Rajbongshi people today live in both states.
The two kingdoms went very different ways. Koch Bihar allied with the Mughals, and in 1612 Mughal forces, with Koch Bihar’s support, attacked and occupied Koch Hajo. In the east, the Ahom kingdom then allowed a branch of the Koch family to rule Darrang as a tributary state between the Barnadi and Bharali rivers. Darrang remained under Koch rulers, paying tribute to the Ahoms, until the British annexed it in 1826.
Cooch Behar: from princely state to district
Koch Bihar, later known as Cooch Behar, survived as a kingdom for much longer. During British rule it was a princely state, governed by its own Maharajas under British supremacy.
After Indian independence, Cooch Behar’s future was settled in three stages, according to the Cooch Behar district administration:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 28 August 1949 | The Maharaja of Cooch Behar signed an agreement ceding the state’s authority to the Government of India |
| 12 September 1949 | The Government of India took over administration |
| 19 January 1950 | Cooch Behar was merged into West Bengal as a district |
The merger is still debated. Some Koch-Rajbongshi organisations argue that Cooch Behar should have remained a separate state or joined Assam. These arguments feed directly into the modern Kamatapur movement.
The modern Kamatapur movement
In recent decades, “Kamatapur” (also spelt Kamtapur) has become the name of a proposed new state. Supporters argue that the Koch-Rajbongshi people and the old Koch heartland deserve their own state to protect their language, culture, land and political rights.
The movement has taken different forms:
- Peaceful campaigns. Political and student organisations in both Assam and West Bengal have campaigned for statehood, recognition of the language and related demands.
- Armed insurgency. The Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), formed in the 1990s, took up arms for a separate state of Kamtapur made up of districts of northern West Bengal and lower Assam. Its chairman is Jibon Singha (Jeevan Singha Koch).
Even supporters of the demand do not agree on the borders of the proposed state. Various maps have been put forward, and the proposed areas also include many people from other communities.
Where things stand today
1. Kamatapur Autonomous Council (Assam)
The Assam Legislative Assembly passed the Kamatapur Autonomous Council Act in 2020 to set up a council for the “development and protection” of the Koch-Rajbongshi community. The council’s area covers the erstwhile undivided Goalpara district, excluding areas under the Bodoland Territorial Council and the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council. Its headquarters are at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon district.
The Act provides for a 30-member council, with 26 directly elected members and 4 nominated by the Governor. Elections could not be held before the 2021 Assam Assembly elections, so an interim council was appointed in February 2021. No council elections had been reported by late 2026, and the council continues to be led by appointed office-holders. In July 2024, for example, the state government replaced its Chief Executive Member without an election.
The Kamatapur Autonomous Council is often confused with the statehood demand. However, it is not a state. It is an autonomous body within Assam with development responsibilities.
2. The KLO peace process
In 2023, KLO chief Jibon Singha announced a ceasefire and the start of peace talks with the government. In June 2024, he entered India to join the talks, and in July 2024 a faction leader told reporters the talks were at a “final stage”, with only a formal declaration awaited. The demands raised included a separate state of Kamatapur, inclusion of the Kamatapuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, and Scheduled Tribe status for the Koch-Rajbongshi community.
Talks were still continuing in June 2026, with former KLO members choosing representatives for further consultations in New Delhi, and no final peace agreement had been announced. A breakaway faction, KLO-KN, has rejected the talks and continued armed activity.
A common mix-up: in March 2026, Assam signed peace agreements with four armed groups, one of which was abbreviated “KLO/KLA”. That was the Kuki Liberation Organisation, a different group, not the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation.
3. The demand for Scheduled Tribe status in Assam
The Koch-Rajbongshi community is one of six communities in Assam that have long demanded Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The other five are the Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak and Tea-Adivasi communities.
On 29 November 2025, an interim report of a Group of Ministers, chaired by minister Ranoj Pegu, was tabled in the Assam Assembly. The report recommended:
- including Koch-Rajbongshis living in undivided Goalpara and old Kokrajhar districts in the existing ST (Plains) list; and
- creating a new “ST (Valley)” category for the other five communities and for Koch-Rajbongshis living elsewhere.
The report drew strong reactions. Opposition leaders argued that the proposed ST (Valley) category carried no real benefits, such as reserved seats or job quotas. In January 2026, a consultative group of the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA), representing existing tribal communities, rejected the proposal entirely. It argued that the six communities do not meet ST criteria and that their inclusion would dilute the rights of existing Scheduled Tribes.
Any change to the ST list needs approval from the Central Government and Parliament. In January 2026, the Centre confirmed in the Lok Sabha that it had received Assam’s proposal, which must be examined by the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. In July 2026, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister said the process would need more time, and Koch-Rajbongshi student groups continued their protests into September 2026. The final outcome is still undecided.
4. Language recognition
In West Bengal, Kamtapuri and Rajbanshi received official language status in areas where they are widely spoken, under amendments passed in 2018. Inclusion of the language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution remains a demand.
So, does Kamatapur exist?
| Meaning of “Kamatapur” | Does it exist? |
|---|---|
| The capital of the medieval Kamata kingdom | Yes, historically. Its ruins (Rajpat) lie at Gosanimari, Cooch Behar district |
| A separate Indian state called Kamatapur | No. It is a demand, not a state |
| The Kamatapur Autonomous Council | Yes. A council within Assam created in 2020, still run without elections |
| The Koch-Rajbongshi people and their culture | Yes, living across lower Assam, North Bengal and neighbouring areas |
Timeline at a glance
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| c. 1257 | Capital of the region possibly moved to Kamatapur (modern reconstruction, uncertain) |
| 1498 | Alauddin Hussain Shah of Bengal ends the Khen dynasty |
| c. 1515 | Biswa Singha founds the Koch dynasty |
| c. 1540 | Nara Narayan becomes king |
| 1562 | Chilarai’s campaign in the Barak valley |
| 1581 | Raghudev asserts independence in the east |
| 1587 | Nara Narayan dies; kingdom permanently divides into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo |
| 1612 | Mughals, with Koch Bihar’s support, occupy Koch Hajo |
| 1826 | British annex Darrang |
| 1949 | Cooch Behar agreement with India (28 August); administration taken over (12 September) |
| 1950 | Cooch Behar becomes a district of West Bengal (19 January) |
| 2018 | West Bengal grants official status to Kamtapuri and Rajbanshi in specified areas |
| 2020 | Assam passes the Kamatapur Autonomous Council Act |
| 2021 | Interim Kamatapur Autonomous Council appointed (February) |
| 2023 | KLO announces ceasefire and peace talks |
| 2025 | Assam GoM interim report on ST status tabled (29 November) |
| 2026 | CCTOA group rejects the ST proposal; Centre confirms it is examining it (January) |
Conclusion
Kamatapur was once the capital of a real kingdom, and the Koch dynasty that inherited its lands became one of the most influential dynasties of north-eastern India. The Koch kings shaped the political and cultural life of the region, and their descendants ruled Cooch Behar until 1949.
Today, there is no state called Kamatapur. The name lives on in a statehood movement and in an autonomous council in Assam, while the Koch-Rajbongshi people continue to carry the heritage of the old kingdom. Questions of statehood, Scheduled Tribe status and the KLO peace process remain unresolved, and they affect several communities who share the same land.
References
- Wikipedia. Kamata Kingdom and Koch dynasty.
- Cooch Behar District Administration. Official website (district history and merger dates).
- Wikipedia. Kamtapur Autonomous Council.
- Pratidin Time (10 July 2024). Gakul Barman steps down as Kamatapur Autonomous Council CEM.
- Wikipedia. Kamtapur Liberation Organisation.
- Assam Times (June 2026). Talks between Centre and KLO on Kamtapur demands spark debate.
- The Sentinel. KLO-KN refuses peace talks.
- India Today NE (15 March 2026). Assam signs final peace pacts with four armed groups.
- India Today NE (30 November 2025). GoM submits interim report suggesting three-fold classification.
- Free Press Journal. GoM’s ST report and the new ST-Valley category.
- The Assam Tribune (January 2026). CCTOA panel rejects ST status proposal for six Assam communities.
- The Assam Tribune (30 January 2026). Centre receives Assam govt proposal seeking ST status for six communities.
- The Assam Tribune (23 September 2026). Koch Rajbongshi students’ body warns of fresh stir over ST status demand.
- Millennium Post (2018). Kurukh, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali to soon find official use.
- Further reading: Edward Gait, A History of Assam; N. N. Acharyya, The History of Medieval Assam; D. Nath, History of the Koch Kingdom, c. 1515–1615.