Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The early history of Cooch Behar has to be sought in the history of Assam. In early times the territory was known as Pragjyotisha, which is mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It appears that the western part of the original territory of Pragjyotisha came to be known as Kamarupa in later times. Kamarupa remained under the suzerainty of the Guptas and Palas for some time. According to tradition Kamarupa was conquered by Muslim Army in A.D.1498, but they could not keep the kingdom for long. After the expulsion of the Muslim army the Kamta kingdom was engulfed in anarchy. During that period, rise of Koch king started.
