Sanskrit Kamboja vs Cambodia and The Raga Kambhoji
It is often stated by some writers that ancient Sanskrit name Kamboja refers to Cambodia. This is not true. The earliest attestation of term Kambuja for Cambodia appears in the Baksei Chamkron Inscriptions of Cambodia date 869 AD. But the Kamboja country and people located in north-west India as referred to in ancient Sanskrit texts go back to remote antiquity.
Based on the similar misconception, some people also attribute the origin of raga Kamboji (or Kamboji) to Cambodia. This again is wrong. Raga Kamboji being a jana raga is now believed by numerous scholars to have originated during the jana (tribal) stage which stage had preceded the janapada stage in Indian history. Thus basic tune of raga Kamboji or Kambhoji must have originated in the epic stage which had preceded the Buddhist period. On the contrary, the Indian colonisation of Kambuja had occurred not earlier than 5th century ADE. Hence it is wrong to assume that raga Kamboja or Kambhoji had originated in Kambuja or Cambodia and it got its name from that country.
Here are some opinions from the scholars.
Scholars like O. P. Ganguli and Dr J. L. Kamboj believe that the Kambhoji raga or ragini had originated in the jana rather than the janapada stage. This implies that the basic tune of Kamboji or Kambhoji must have evolved during epic or even in pre-epic times. Hence its origin must be attributed to the ancient Kamboja jana and janapada known to have been located in north-east Afghanistan.
Dr V. V. Srivatsa wrote the following in his notes on Raga Surati:
"The names of some ragas are indicative of the region from where they originated, e.g., raga Kambhoji from Kambhoja desha (Cambodia), Gurjari from Gujara desha (N.W.F.P.), Sindhubhairavi from Sindh, Malavi from Malwa etc"
But a little later, Dr V. V. Srivatsa wrote the following in his notes on Raga Yadukula-Kambhoji:
"Names of some ragas indicate the region of their origin. Examples are Gurjari, Malavi, Kannada Gowla, Gowda Mallar, Sindhubhairavi and some others. Even in one raga, different versions can be found in different regions, as can be visualised from names like Kannada Gurjari, Dravida Gurjari etc. Bharat, our land, comprised 56 confederation in days bygone, one of which was the territory Kambhoji. The raga that originated here was Kambhoji" .
It needs to be remembered here that the Puranic list of 56 countries of the Bhuvana-kosha spanned seven divisions of ancient Indian subcontinent. The Uttarapatha was one of these seven divisions and had extended from Pehova in Haryana to as far as deep into the Central Asia. The Kamboja was one of the Bhuvana-kosha countries and it adjoined the Daradas, Chinas, Tusharas, Pahlavas, Shakas etc. which were all included in the Uttarapatha division. This shows that Kambhoji of Dr V. V. Srivatsa refers to the Kamboja of Uttarapatha located between river Kabol and the Hindukush mountain ranges.
It is therefore, fair that Dr Srivatsa had soon corrected his mistake.
Encyclopedia of Indian Culture observes: “Raga Sauvira is believed to have emanated from Sauvira (s.v.), raga Andhari from Andhara, raga Gandhari from Gandhara (s.v.), raga Kambhoji from Kambhoja (ancient country between Punjab and Balkh), raga Sanidhavi foim Saindhava or the Sindhu or Indus region, raga Karnataki from Karnataka, raga Gaudi from Gauda (s.v), raga Khamhavati from Khambayat (Cambay) (s.v.), raga Daksinatya from Deksina region………etc ”.
Shri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati, Paramacharya of Kanchi has given his scholarly views on the origin of raga Kambhoji. And he correctly connects it with north-western Kamboja rather than with Cambodia.
Another noted musicologist from Carnatica, Shri P. P. Narayanaswami, also rejects the Kambhoji connection with Cambodia. Rather he likes to connect it with the Indian Kamboja located in north or north-west of India. His views on the precise location of Kamboja however seem to be in little error.
According to Amir Khusrau Memorial Volume (1975), in olden days the regions or Desh formed independent cultural entities. The Gandhara and Kamboja lay beyond the western borders, Multan and Delhi in the west, Mithila and Gauda in the east, Ujjain and Malava on the road to south, Gurjar Desh by the sea and Simhala Desh and Karnātakā in the south. In these various regions arose regional tunes the most prominent and enduring among them were Gandhari, Kamboji, Multani, Gauda, Malava Pancam, Gurjari etc.... Tune 'Ghara' came from Ghore (Afghanistan) in the wake of Kamboji = Khammaj/Khamach... This reference also relates the Kamboji to northwest Kambojas rather than Cambodia.
Uma Prasad Thapliyal writes: "The Scythians contributed three melodies to Indian Raga System viz: Saka Raga, Saka Tilaka and Saka Mishrita. Saka Raga was a melody known as Sadharana Giti. Saka Misrv and Kamboji were allied with the Kukuva Raga indicating thereby the foreign antecedents of the latter. Raga Kamboji, of course, was contributed by the Kamboja people. Kamboji is mentioned along with the Saka-Misrita..." . It is also important to note that the same author locates the Kambojas and Sakas in the north-west division.
O. Gosvami comments: "Kambhojas were a tribe of the Punjab who got assimilated in the Aryan stock and contributed the Kambhoji melody which is still prevalent and has become popular in the form of Khambaj. The surname Kambhoja is still retained by some people of Punjab".
Front ranking Indian historian, Dr Romila Thapar, while writing on the Barbarians of north-west, also refers to the respective melodies or tunes of the Gandharas, Kambojas and the Sakas etc.
Sheldon Pollock also observes that the musical compositions were produced in the Kamboja, Saka and Nagna countries or their various regions. Again, these Kambojas, Sakas of Sheldon Pollock's reference belonged to north-west and not to south-east Asia.
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