Silsako

Kamrup, as Guwahati was previously called, was the ancient city which had a huge stone bridge over Barnadi which is now commonly referred to as the Brahmaputra today. This stone bridge was known as the Silsako Bridge. The Silsako Bridge was an important factor to have started the trade route in ancient and medieval time-period and was used by many barter traders. Also, historically the bridge holds huge importance for the people of Assam as several invaders including Muhammed Bin Bukhtiyar used the Silsako Bridge to enter and invade the Kamrup town in modern Day Assam.

The historical bridge was destroyed in a horrid earthquake that rattled Assam in 1897.

Geography

The bridge has been built over Brahmaputra River. The river originates from a glacier in Tibet and is known as the Tsang Po River in Tibet. The river enters the Indian land through Arunachal Pradesh and cuts through the state of Assam before finally meeting the tributaries of Ganga River. The river with a total length of more than 2900 kms also has a highest depth of 30 meters.

The river also cuts through the city of Guwahati where the historical city of Kamrup once existed. Kamrup was the place that made way for the Silsako Stone Bridge. Guwahati, the modern day Kamrup, is an important industrial, educational and political city of Assam. Dispur, the political capital of Assam can be accessed here as well as the IIT Guwahati.

North Guwahati in particular is the northern most part of the city and forms another important place of settlement for the Kamrup Communities of Assam. This town abounds in historical places and picnic spots. National Highway 31 passes through North Guwahati

Description of the Bridge

There was a great amount of detailing in several artworks on the bridge which included extensive chiseling and even stone work. There was a huge amount of time involved in joining together the several components of the work as a whole. Considering the fact that huge sizes and weights were involved, the finished product ends up being one of the best in its time. The Pillars revealed that the bridge was held up using huge iron which were wrought in the lower parts of the bridge and hence, managed the upper part. There were four of the pins that actually went all the way through the bridge’s centre and one on every side of the huge square in the bridge’s shaft. The slabs of the raised area were highlighted using clamping holes. Moreover, on the periphery of the exterior slabs were 3 holed squares of 3 inches each (3 inches square). They were intended to provide way for wooden balustrades.

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