88 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [March, 1914. 



The kingdom of Samatata does not seem to have been a 

 small one. That the kingdom extended up to a pretty distance 

 westwards is shown by the grant of land by the kings of 

 Karmmanta at Asrafpur in the Narayanagunge Subdivision of 

 Dacca. The old Brahmaputra on which stands the Tirtha 

 of Langalbandha seems to have marked the western boundary 

 of the kingdom of Samatata. The kingdom seems to have 

 included the districts of Tipperah, Noakhali, Barisal, Faridpur 



kingdom fell 



and the east half of the Dacca District. 



Who „ 

 are at present wrapped in obscurity. A little light is thrown 



as regards the state of Karmmanta after the fall of the KhacU 

 gas by the new Comilla inscription. 



The inscription is at the pedestal of an eighteen-armed 

 image of the God Shiva performing the Tandava dance. The 

 inscription designates him as Nartteswara. The worship of 

 Nartteswara seems to have been very current in India from 

 the sixth century a.d. onwards. Images of the god are met 

 with all over India. Four of these images are preserved in the 

 Madras Museum, but all of them are four-handed. The images 

 at Elephanta, Ellora ' and Badami 2 have more than four hands ; 

 the Badami one in particular has eighteen hands and is quite 



like the Comilla image. 



We give below a transcript of the new inscription and a 



translation of the same. 



Text. 



(1) Srimallayaha Chandra Devapadi I ya Bijaya Rajye 



Astai shna Chaturdasyam Tithau Brhaspati Bare 



Pushya Nakashatrei Karmmantapala Srii 



(2) Kushumadeva Suta Sri Bharudevai Karita Sri Nart- 

 teswara Bhatta | Ashadha Dine 1 4 



Khanitancha RatokenaSarbbaksharah | Kasbanitancha 



Madhusudaneneti. 



Translation. 



(1) In the eighteenth year of the victorious reign of his 

 glorious majesty Layahachandradeva, on Thursday, in 

 the dark Chaturdasi Tithi and in the star Pushya. 



fine image of Dhyani-Buddha was removed from this village to a 

 village near by where it receives worship as Basudeva. People around 

 consider the name of Beharmandal as inauspicious. They never utter 

 its name in the morning but always signify it by the terms, — east 

 village, west village, north village or south village as the case may be. 

 This is a curious remnant of the later Hindu hatred of Buddhism. 

 The site of the palace of the kings of Karmmanta lies nearby, surrounded 

 by a broad ditch. 



1 Havell's *' Ideals of Indian Art." pi. xxvii and xxix. 



2 Arch. Surv. of West India, Vol. I, by Burgess, pi. xvii. 



