Sankaradevas Bhakti Movement and Its Impact on the Rural Economy of Assam with Reference to Nagaon and Morigaon Districts

Abstract

and#346;aand#7749;karadeva s Bhakti Movement is a remarkable incidence in the economic history of Assam. Through the Movement he was able to break the vicious circle of underdevelopment of the economy of the region. Before, and#346;aand#7749;karadeva launched the movement; there existed only low level of demand particularly in the Ahom Kingdom. The limited level of demand made it impossible to increase the production. Lower level of production results widespread poverty and backwardness. But and#346;aand#7749;karadeva s Bhakti Movement was able to overcome the situation. So, the Movement is essentially an economic movement besides a social movement. newlineThe Movement impacted the economy of Assam in a number of ways. It affected cultivation, cottage industry, sericulture, textile, dairy farming, and horticulture. The most important contribution of the movement is human resource development. It opened up the process of learning to common masses who were deprived for ages. Through various modes of informal teaching and#346;aand#7749;karadeva empowered his disciples. He taught his followers about hygiene and how to live neat and clean. His movement results the people to enjoy local self governance. newlineWith the introduction of the system of distributing Prasand#257;d after Nand#257;ma-Kand#299;rttana among the devotees and#346;aand#7749;karadeva boosted the agricultural economy besides positive impact on health. In Prasand#257;d and#346;aand#7749;karadeva included only locally available agricultural commodities like pulses (gram, green gram), rice, ginger, sugarcane and other available seasonal fruits like banana, mango, coconut etc. The Movement stimulated different indigenous industries of that time. In fact, the cultural and religious activities of and#346;aand#7749;karadeva gave a big push to the cottage industries by boosting the demand for their products. Some people also got the opportunity to earn their livelihood from the cultural legacy of and#346;aand#7749;karadeva. Thus, and#346;aand#7749;karadeva s Bhakti Movement positively impacted the rural economy of Assam.