Literary account of 'Buranji' in Narration of History: From the Perspective of Lakshminath Bezbarua

Abstract

‘Buranji’ can be defined as the truth and objective information laden explanation of the past. The Assamese word ‘Buranji’ covers writings of the past in Assam and in this sense, it is analogous to the English term ‘Chronicles’ in meaning. In fact, the word ‘Buranji’ is not a synonym for the word ‘History’. Buranji is one specific medium of the many mediums of conservation of History. ‘Buranji’ and History are two separate subjects from this perspective. Again, Buranji loses its stature of history in case it deviates from historical truths. The history writing art of Assam tries to corroborate the position of history but it fails to present an accomplished conceptualization of history. A definition of history can thus be referred to in this context; Webster’s Third New International Dictionary mentions it as record of events (as affecting a city, state, nation, institutions, science or art) and use including a philosophical explanation of the cause and origin of such events-use, distinguished from annals and chronicle.