RELIGION, POWER AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION: A POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF SRIMANTA SANKARDEVA’S REFORM MOVEMENT IN ASSAM

Abstract

                    This research article examines Srimanta Sankardeva’s religious and cultural reform movement as a political project that significantly transformed the socio-political landscape of medieval Assam. While he is popularly celebrated as a saint, poet and cultural architect, the political dimensions of his work are equally profound. The article argues that Sankardeva’s introduction of the Eka Sarana Nama Dharma, his emphasis on egalitarian devotion and his cultural innovations through the Namghar, Satra, Borgeet and Ankiya Naat collectively functioned as instruments of community reorganization, political integration and identity formation. In a period characterized by caste dominance, ritual monopoly and fragmented power structures, his movement redistributed spiritual authority, weakened Brahmanical ritual power and created new spaces of collective governance. This study also highlights the long-term political impact of Sankardeva’s ideology on Assamese identity, state formation under the Ahoms and the development of participatory political culture.