1895.] E. A. Gait — Historical Research in Assam. 103 



and Khaspur, &c., might be more carefully examined than they have 

 yet been, and that ruined temples, such as the one on the hill at Silghat, 

 might also receive some attention. We have not yet, I think, given to 

 these ruins the attention which they deserve. 



12. Excluding the State archives in Manipur, the only historical 



documents which I am acquainted with are 

 Historical documents. those of the deodhais of Sibsagar. There 



* The Goramur Gosain told ^^Y ^^ ^ ^^W with the Gosains of the 

 me last cold weather that he had Majuli, * and the high families of State 

 a huranji which was taken away „ , ■ t ± i i ± • . ■, 



by Mr. Stack for examination, ^^® ^^^^ ^^^^ *» have kept private buranps, 

 and was never returned to him. some of which are doubtless still in exist- 

 ence. The deodhais' buranjis were exam- 

 ined by Ka9i Nath Tamuli Phukan in connection with the Asdm Buranji 

 compiled by him. My proposals for their transcription and translation 

 will be found further on. 



13. Of the works of a g'^ia5^-historical nature, the most important 



by far is the Yamgavali of Raja LaksmI 

 Qitasi-historical writings. Narayan, which contributed a large^ por- 



tion of the matter contained in my paper 

 on the Koch Kings. Raja Prasiddha Narayan has also a Yamgavali, 

 which, however, is much more brief and less reliable. Neither of these 

 were written at the time, but both were composed while kings of the 

 Koch dynasty were on the throne, when the events which transpired in 

 early reigns may be thought to have been still fresh in the minds of the 

 people. 



There are doubtless other similar works, but my knowledge of them 

 is limited. The Kumara Harana, which deals with the conflict between 

 Krsna and Ban Raja, is almost, if not quite, mythical, and the incident 

 is taken almost in its entirety from the Bhagavata Purana. The inter- 

 est attaching to this work lies chiefly in the peculiar old Assamese in 

 which it is written (e. gr., ^t:s^ instead of ^c^, &c.), and it is of no great, 

 value for our present purpose. It has, however, been printed (long ago) 

 in puthi form, and it would be as well to acquire a copy if this could be 

 done for a reasonable price. A more interesting work is that known as 

 " Arimatta's puthi," in which Sankar Deb is supposed to recite to the 

 Koch King Nar Narayan, the history of ancient rulers in the province, 

 including that of Arimatta and of the Baro Bhuiyas. 



I saw a copy on paper of this puthi recently, but am told that there 

 is a very much more ancient copy on sdcl bark in the possession of Sis- 

 huram Mauzadar of Baugfang in North Lakhimpur. 



Enquiries might be made with advantage with a view to findino- out 

 what other puihis are in existence. It is quite possible that there may 



