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[VOL. XIX
over that province, prior to Bhaskaravarman. As the grant recorded in these plates is a renewal of what was made by Bhaskaravarman's great-great-grandfather Bhütivarman as noticed in the third plate, it is proved that in the 5th or 6th century after Christ, i.e., long before Bhaskaravarman, the kingdom of Kamarupa had, even in one village, a very large number of Brahmans of different gotras and Vedas. The village mentioned in it was situated in a place lying very close to the kingdom of Gauda, between the rivers Teesta and Karatoya which was the western boundary of Kamarupa, and now forms part of the district of Rangpur in Northern Bengal. Thus, the story that Adisura, a king of Gauda, had to import five-Brahmans from Kanauj on account of the paucity of Brahmans in the locality or vicinity would appear to be groundless, especially when it has not yet been confirmed by any reliable document. Further, the Sampradayika Brahmans of Sylhet with the ten götras including Katyayana, were all along asserting that they had come from Mithila or still further north west; but the discovery of this copperplate in the very place Panchakhanda-Nidhanpur forms a part of it-where they say they settled originally, would prove that they came there from Kamarups. The inscription mentions all the ten götras, and as it calls Manōratha-svamin of Katyayana götra Paṭṭakapati, it is evident that these plates came to Pañchakhanda with a (Katyayana) descendant of Manōratha-svamin. It may be stated further that there might have been other villages like this Mayurasalmalagrahara teeming with Brahman population. In fact, the ancient kingdom of Kamarupa appears to have been a refuge of the Brahmans of the neighbouring kingdoms where Buddhism flourished. So far no ancient remains of Buddhism have yet been discovered there; and as the tide of Buddhism began to subside, the Brahmans of Kamarupa also began to spread westward, and, it may be, that most of the Brahman families in the neighbouring province of (modern) Bengal are the descendants of those Brahmans from Kamarupa. These copperplate inscriptions, therefore, possess a special value as they throw much light on the social history of the Brahmans of this part of India,
246
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
TEXT.
Middle Plate: First Side.
1 Pravarabha(na?)ga-sva chaturtha-bhaga-h[i]nō 'néa[b] || Apanaga-svā ansa[b] ||
Toshanaga-Hampinaga-svamibhya[m]
2 añsach-chaturthō bhaga[b] Kasyapo Vajasaneyi Managhosha-svā añía[b] ||
Vaishnavriddhis-Chhändōgō
3 Sarppiņi(?)-svā ansa[b] || Janardana-svä ansa[b] Kausiko V(B)ähvrichya Arka-sva [a]dhy-arddh-ansa[b] || Sraddha-dasa
4 svā Arddh-na[b] | Gautamo Vājasaneyi Sanatana-svä ansa[b] H Harshaprabha(bho) götrēna saha ardh-a
5 nsa[b] Kautilyo Vajasaneyi Khandasöma-sva [a]-dhy-arddhañ-sa[h] || SreyaskaraGati-Gaurl somebhyaḥ
6 añéa[b] | Vakulasōma-svä arddh-ansa[b] || Dhritis ma-Sid(th)ha-yo(sd)masvamibhyam-arddh-äñsa[b] || Krishna
7 ttrey6 Vajasaneyi Bhāyasa[b]-svä
[a]-dhy-arddh-ansa[b] || Yajna-svā pād.
abby-adhiko 'nsa[b]
Daiva
Supra, p. 117, f.n. 2.
Sva stands for Svāmī and ambaḥ is almost always spelt as anéa. [For [b]' read [b]' throughoutEd.] So no amendment has been made as the correct form is apparent.
