The first Ramayana to be translated from Sanskrit to another Indo-Aryan language, The Assamese Ramayana.
We all already know about the Kamba Ramayanam, the Tamizh Ramayana, as the first Ramayana to be translated from Sanskrit to another language. But, most of us are unaware that, the first Ramayana to be translated from Sanskrit to another Indo-Aryan language and the third Ramayana to be translated to another language, preceded only by the Tamizh and Telugu Ramayana, is actually from our own state Assam. It is called the 'Xoptokando Ramayon' (সপ্তকাণ্ড ৰামায়ণ), authored by the 14th century Assamese poet Madhav Kandali who translated the Valmiki Ramayana to Assamese. Most of the Xoptokando Ramayon was written by Madhav Kandali upon the request of the Kachari king Mahamanikya. In his court, as his court poet Madhav Kandali authored the translated version as a long poem. The poetic work uses various metres for different moods and situations. Some of the metres used are 'pada' (fourteen syllables, four lines of verses), 'jhumura' (four lines, with eight syllables each), 'dulari' (three lines, first and second has six syllables each and the third has eight syllables), and 'chhavi' (like 'dulari' but with different syllabic structure). The 'pada' metre became very popular in later Assamese compositions.
The Xoptokando Ramayon is also regarded one of the earliest written examples of the Assamese language.
A unique feature of this work is the non-heroic portrayal of Lord Rama, Sita and other characters as stated by Madhav Kandali himself which apparently made the translated version 'unsuitable' for religious purposes. Moreover, there was a critical overview of the character of Rama rather than blind praise. Plus, Sita wasn't shown as a calm and composed woman. Her emotions were shown raw. She sometimes cried while thumping her chest, or pointed fingers at those who questioned her character and was shown as a defiant woman, showing actual human feminine emotions. This feature disturbed a later post, Ananta Kandali, who was a disciple of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva, who was moved enough to comment on it. According to one tale called the 'Guru Sorito', the poet Ananta Kandali apparently tried to erase the Xoptokando Ramayon and replace it with a Ramayana of his own that was conservative in manner. After which, Madhav Kandali apparently appeared in the dream of his disciple Sankardeva and told him to preserve the Ramayana.
By then, the first and last chapters of the Ramayana were lost, called the Adikanda and Uttarakanda.
After having the dream, Sankardeva told his disciple Madhabdeva to author the Adikanda while he himself began work on translating the Uttarakanda. They both, hence completed the Xoptokando Ramayon in the 15th century. There were also undeniable later additions and refinements by poets like Ananta Kandali and others which sophisticated the work.
Sankardeva praises his teacher Madhav Kandali after the completion of the poem. This poetic work had a great influence on Sankardeva and later Assamese poets.
This work is one of the many examples of the richness of the Assamese language and Assamese Vaishnavite culture.
Source: https://w.wiki/5HhR