Kamrupi Brahmin (Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

: )Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.
Brahman

Brahman

In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...

, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self. Brahmin or Brahmana refers to an individual, while the word Brahma

Brahma

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

 refers to the creative aspect of the universal consciousness.
is a name used to designate a member of one of the four varnas in the traditional Hindu society. The English word brahmin is an anglicised form of the Sanskrit word a. In the Smriti

Smriti

Smriti literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was...

 view there are four "varnas", or classes: the Brahmins, the Kshatriya

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

s, the Vaishya

Vaishya

Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...

s, and Shudra

Shudra

Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...

s. The Atreya smriti 141-142 enjoins that

Introduction

Brahmins living in undivided Kamrup

Kamrup

Kamrup district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India, named after Kamarupa, a name by which Assam was previously known in ancient times. The district, however, is now a small western part of Assam, with a distinctive native Kamrupi culture and dialect . The distinctive...

 or sometimes Lower Assam

Lower Assam

Lower Assam or Western Assam is a region of Bharat situated in the great plains of the Brahmaputra valley. It was home to the mighty kingdom of Kamarupa . Guwahati, the largest city of North-East India is located here while Dispur, the capital of Assam is in Guwahati.-History:Ancient Lower Assam,...

 are known as Kamrupi Brahmins.They generally now occupies places like Guwahati

Guwahati

Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...

, Nalbari

Nalbari

Nalbari is a city and a municipal board in Nalbari district in the Indian state of Assam. Nalbari is headquarter of Nalbari District.-Education:...

, Barpeta

Barpeta

Barpeta is the headquarters of Barpeta district, Assam, India. The city is located about north west of Guwahati.Barpeta is renowned in the Historical map of Assam as the "Land of the Satras"...

. Surnames used by this groups are Sarma/Sharma,Bhagawati,Chakraborty etc.

History

Kamrupi Brahmins are prosperous during the reign of Varman dynasty

Varman dynasty

The Varman dynasty ruled Kamarupa from 350 to 650. Pushyavarman the first historical ruler of Assam established this dynasty in c350 AD...

 of Kamarupa. Kamrupi

Kamrupi

Kamarupi or present Kamrupi is the language that was spoken in the Kamarupa kingdom in the first millennium, which, some linguists claim, gave rise to or influenced various eastern Indo-European languages like Assamese and Bengali.During British India at some point Kamrup was divided into two big...

 king Bhaskarvarman regularly gives land grants to Kamrupi Brahmins. Copper plates are also used to be donated to Kamrupi Brahmins.

Portion of the copper-plate grant of Bhaskaravarman states Rigvedic, Samavedic and Yajurvedic Brahmanas lived in Kamarupa before the time of Bhaskaravarman. Of these three classes of Brahmanas the followers of the Bahvrichya branch of the Rigveda were divided into the gotras of Kasyapa, Kausika, Gautama, Parasarya, Bharadvaja, Varaha, Vatsya, Varhaspatya and Saunaka ; those following the Chhandoga branch of the Samaveda belonged to the gotras of Paskalya ; the followers of the Taittiriya branch of the Yajurveda belonged to the gotra of Kasyapa and those of the Charaka branch to the gotra of Katyayana ; the followers of the Vajasaneya branch belonged to the gotras of Angirasa, Alambayana, Gargya, Gautama, Bharadvaja, Yaska, Sakatayana, and Salankayana besides the six gotras mentioned before.

In all these three groups of Brahmanas living in Kamarupa had 26 gotras * But in after ages no traces could be found of
the Samavedic and Rigvedic Brahmanas. Most probably they had changed their residence or their lines came to an end.
The following lines occur in Raja Harendra Narayan's Raja- vansabali —

"The Brahmanas living on the northern bank of the Lauhitya were all followers of the Yajurveda. They were all saddcharis and ritvijas (Vedic sacrificers)".