E— 



326 On a Land- Grant of Mahendrapdla JDeva of Kanauj. [No. 3 



the first advent of the Kayasthas in Bengal, and of the period of 

 Vira Sirlha's reign. 



Of the Brahmans who came to the court of Adis'ura the most renown- 

 ed was Bhatta Narayana. He wrote the Venisdnhdra and presented it to 

 A'dis'iira, on his reception by that monarch at his palace in Ramapala. 

 He also wrote a treatise on religious ceremonies entitled Prayogaratna 

 which is still extant. He purchased five villages from Adis'tira which 

 in the time of one of his descendants Bhabananda Majumadara form- 

 ed the nucleus of a large principality, that of the Nadia Rajas, who are 

 his immediate descendants. Next to him was S'riharsha of the 

 clan (gotra) of Bharadwaja whose descendants form the present 

 Mookerjea family of the Kulina Brahmans. # No work of any note 

 as far as we know, has been attributed to him. It seems probable, 

 however, that he is the same with the author of the Naishada Oharita. 

 That work was written by a poet of Kanauj, for he prides himself at 

 the end of his poem for having been honoured with a betel leaf by his 

 sovereign. He also acknowledges himself to be the author of nine dif- 

 ferent works including among others a " history of the kings of Gauda" 

 (Qaudorvis'ha'kulapras'asti) , " a description of the ocean 1 ' (Arnava var~ 

 nana) and a refutation of some of the leading philosophical systems 

 of the Hindus (Khandana Manda Middy a). Now Bengal has al- 

 ways been described as the Bceotia of India ; its name occurs but rare- 

 ly in Sanskrit literature, and it is generally called in derision a coun- 

 try to which the Pandavas never came even for a marauding excursion, 

 JPdndava varjita des'a ; while its kings, with the exception of some of 

 the Palas, were poor, insignificant and unknown. It is not likely 

 therefore that either Bengal or its kings should have been thought of 

 as a fit subject of praise for a royal poet like S riharsha of Kashmir, or 

 to a laureate of the proud court of Kanauj in the 7th century to 

 whom the Naishada Charita and, by implication, the GaudorvisTia-* 

 hula-prasasti have at different times been attributed. The " descrip- 

 tion of the ocean" too is not a work of that kind which is likely to 

 proceed from men in the vale of Kashmir or the inland town of 

 Gadhipura. To the former the snows of the Himalaya would offer 

 a more appropriate theme for song than the distant and briny ocean. 

 These objections do not apply to the S'riharsha of Bengal. He was 



# The names of the other three Brahmans were Daksha> Yedagarbha and 

 Chhandada. 



