Vol. X. No. 3.] A Forgotten Kingdom of East Bengal 87 



[N ,S.\ 



the longevity of Rajabhatta, and we know from the second plate 

 that Rajabhatta was the son of Deva Khadga. In ths second 

 plate, Rajabhatta himself is the donor, and he gives land from 

 his own private estates for the Triratna. Fortunately, this 

 pious prince is mentioned by name by It-Sing. 1 It-Sing states 

 that Rajabhatta king of Samatata was an enthusiastic adherent 

 and patron of Buddhism, and that the number of the Buddhist 

 vlonks in the capital had risen from the 2000 of Hiuen-Tsang' 

 time to 4000 in his time, who were all maintained by the king. 

 Rajabhatta's munificence is apparent in his grant of land to the 

 Triratna from his private estates, even while he was a crown 

 prince, and we are glad to learn from It-Sing that he continued 

 his charity even after coming to the throne. That the Khadga 

 family was really a Brahmin family is apparent from the name 

 of Rajabhatta. 



It-Sing stayed in India from 673 to 687 a.d. z Rajabhatta 

 therefore must have reigned in the last quarter of the seventh 

 century a.d. The names of only four kings of this dynasty 

 are known, — namely, Khadgodyama, his son Jatakhadga, his 

 son Devakhadga, and his son Rajaraja Bhatta. The first king 

 Khadgodyama therefore must have risen to power in the last- 

 quarter of the sixth century a.d., in the troubled period 

 following the dismemberment of the Gupta empire. 



The capital of the kingdom of Samatata in the time of the 

 Khadga Kings was Karmmanta, modern Kamta near Comilla. 

 It was the town of Karmmanta, therefore, which Hiuen-Tsang 

 and It-Sing visited. The town was then nearly five miles in 

 circuit. There were thirty Sangaramas in the capital in which 

 nearly 2000 monks lived. Deva temples also were numerous, 

 numbering nearly 100, and they belonged to all sects. The 

 -Nirgrantha Jaina Ascetics also lived in the capital in great 

 numbers. In the suburbs of the city was a Buddhist Stupa 

 said to have been built by Asoka Raja. Near the Stupa was a 

 kangarama containing an image of Buddha in green jade 

 8 feet in height. The ruins of the Stupa and the Sangharama 

 may perhaps still be identified on a little search and excava- 

 tion, for Mahomedan devastation did never reach up to Karm- 

 manta I p3rsonally have never had the opportunity of taking 

 up the work seriously. 8 



1 Watters' » Yuan Chwang," Vol. II, p. 188. 



* It-Sing Takakusu's Translation, Introduction. 



3 In December last I was deputed by the Dacca Shahitya Parisat 

 (a Literary and Research Society of Dacca) to exp'ore the site of the 

 ancient Karmmanta. The stupa mentioned by Hieun-Tsang still exists 

 in the shape of a big mound on the east side of the modern village of 

 l^amta. A mile to the north of Kamta lies the village of Behar mandal, 

 which contains many ruins, and which, I believe, is the site of the 

 sangharama with Buddha in gre3n jade mentioned by Hieun-Tsan^. 

 An image of the Buddhist god Jambhala is still worshipped in the village 

 a nd he is locally known as the Krishnadeva of Beharmandal. A very 



