1895.] E. A. Gait — JLUtorical Rof;pnrch in Assam. 101 



5. A search for Jaintia coins would apparently be less fruitful, as 

 all wliich I have yet seen (save those of the last luler) bear the same 

 inscription, viz., " CrJ Cri Jayantapnr Puraiidarnsya.'^ No king is men- 

 tioned on these coins. The dates of the coins which 1 have seen are 

 1630, 1653, 1696, and 1704 Sak. 



6. I know very little of the Manipur coins, which were square in 

 shape. Perhaps the Political Agent might be able to make a collection. 

 As regards Tippera coins, it may be observed that these do not directly 

 concern us. They are, however, indirectly of interest as confirming or 

 contradicting the dates given in the Bdjmala, or Chronicles of the 

 Kings of Tippera, in which some references are made to the rulers of 

 Cachar or Hiramba, and as relating to a race which we know to be 

 closely allied to our Kacharis, Morans, &c., and a country which the 

 chronicles of the Mungkong Shans mention as having been conquered 

 by a section of that race many hundred yea.rs ago. 



I may mention here that it see ins highly probable that many finds 

 of coins occur, which are never reported. Last year, I addressed the 

 Agent and Chief Engineer, Assam-Bengal Railway, on the subject, 

 and, after adverting to the provisions of the Treasure Trove Act, drew 

 attention to the great importance of secni'ing the examination hy com- 

 petent autliority of all coins found. A circular was issued by the 

 Agent on the subject, but from what I have since heard, it seems doubt- 

 fal whether very great attention has been paid to it. 



7. The next source of informatirm are 

 Inscriptions. inscriptions. These again may be classi- 



fied as — 



(a) inscriptions on copper plates ; 



(b) inscriptions on temples built by Koch kings; 



(c) inscriptions on temples built by the Alioms ; 

 {d) other inscriptions. 



8. Of the copper plates yet discovered, tlie most important are 



* Journal of the Asiatic Society *^^^f ^ ^^ Yanamala* and Kumara Pala, f 

 of Bengal, IX, page 766. which tell us something of old rulers in 



February ^^1893* *"" ^""^^'^ ^'''" *^'® Brahmaputra Valley; and the two 



X Proeecdings, Asiatic Society discovered some years ago in Sylhet, 



of Bengal, 1880, page 141. These which tell of the ancestors of Gaur 



plates were brought to notice by ™ tt- :i 



Mr. Luttman- Johnson, who was at <^obind, the Hindu king who was de- 



that time Deputy Commissioner, feated by Shah Jalal.t 

 Sylhet. ^,/ ^ , , . , , 



(Jther plates contain land grants hy 



Ahom kings, and are of use for the same purpose as the inscriptions on 

 temples built by the Ahoms, to wdiich reference will be made below. 



