Vol. X, No. 9.] Notes on Ancient Ahga. 327 



[NJS.] 



"Gupta'' l in another. Bana would not have certainly applied 

 the complimentary epithet of "Narendra" to the murderer 

 of Rajyavarddhana, the elder brother of his patron, had it 

 not been his real name. The discrepancy about the country 

 he governed may be reconciled by the supposition, which is 

 not an unreasonable one, that Narendra Gupta — the S'asfihka 

 of Hiuen Tsiang — had extended his dominion over Gauda. 

 though he was still known as king of Karnasuvarna. 



Karnagarh or the fort of R^ja Karna in Cainpanagar near 

 Bhagalpur, Karnachaura in Monghir, and a high mound also 

 known as Karnagarh on the west side of Sultanganj in the dis- 

 trict of Bhagalpur said to be the remains of a fort, are all as- 

 sociated with the name of Karna who was either the founder of 

 Karnasuvarna or a prince of his house sent to govern the pro- 

 vince of Ahga. That Anga was under the sway of the kings of 

 Karnasuvarna is further confirmed by the tact that the con- 

 struction of the ruined fort on the Kherhi hill in the same dis- 

 trict is ascribed to Sa4anka, the last king of Karnasuvarna. 

 The governors were called by the dynastic name of Karna and 

 their administrative headquarters was at Karnagarh near Cam- 

 pa where the remains of a fort still exist. These Karna kings, 

 as they were called, were traditionally not less than seven in 

 number. 2 It is curious that the names of all Karnas of Anga, 

 whether a king or a nobleman, were associated with riches and 

 benefactions, and all of them had a valuable ornament for the 

 ear [karna)' 6 This tradition and that of the raining down of 



gold by Bibhisana indicate that the kings of the Karna dynasty 

 did not lack in riches, resources and influence, and they would 



have perhaps extended their dominion to the west had not 

 their career been checked by the superior military genius of 

 Klrttivarman or Harsavarddhana of Kanouj. 



In the latter part of the 6th century a.d., there being no 

 paramount power, it was easy for Klrttivarman I, son of Pula- 

 kesi I, to conquer Ahga, Banga, Kaliriga and other countries 

 of Northern India, Ahga being then under the sway of the kings 



word of the pa-sage of which this word forms a part. Compare 

 " ^T^STfwvre^ftfaw n mA *' ^S^rfe^^T n ^ the same chapter at p. 





1 Ibid., ch. vii, p. 603: " %Wf$ Jit ft ^I«WW* *yWTW ^ *zft% 

 (Kanouj)." 



* Martin: East. Ind., ii ; Asia. Res., ix. 



2 Mbh. 9 hi, 305; Arch. Surv. Rep., x\ . 16, 17; J.A.S.B.. xxii, 

 282: Sruta-virhSati-koti or &rona-koti-virh6a, a nobleman of Hiranya- 

 parvata (Monghu ) had an ear ornament worth 20 kotis : Sruta or Srona 

 means Karna or ear (see Beal : Records, 186) : another nobleman was 

 Srona-kot '-karna, whose karna (ear) ornament was worth a koti or crore 

 (Avadana-kalpalata. ch. 29, v. 5). 



