1840.] Memoir of Sylhet^ Kachar, ^ adjacent Districts. 829 



under the old system was obtained from the whole of the Sayer Mahal, 

 and I think this branch of revenue quadrupled itself in five years, 

 thus affording another verification of the principle in finance, — that low 

 duties by encouraging consumption, will be found more productive 

 than high ones, which on the contrary check it. 



The sources of revenue in Jynta were very dissimilar to those of 

 Kachar, as the Raja of that country having acquired the plains by 

 conquest, appears to have abrogated the hereditary rights of the land- 

 holders, and to have allowed none to hold except on terms annually 

 granted or renewed at his pleasure, and which were very various. 

 The plains of Jynta were probably conquered from Sylhet since the 

 days of Akbar, one of the Mahus in the " Ayin Akhbari" being called 

 Chyntar, which may well be a mistranscription, the Persian letter ^ 

 having been mistaken for ^« 



History and people. — My notices of the history and people of these 

 countries will necessarily be brief, as I do not propose to record the 

 story of their petty dissensions and change of governors, but rather 

 to collect and point attention to such facts whether derived from 

 tradition or otherwise, as may throw light on the origin and mi- 

 grations of the races which inhabit them, and this the more especially, 

 as I am not aware that in so doing, I shall suppress any thing of 

 real interest. 



Kacharis. — According to records preserved among the family of the 

 last princes of Kachar (which however are but traditions reduced to 

 writing) the Kacharis conquered the kingdom of Kamrup, and gave to 

 it a succession of Rajas from whom the late royal family of Kachar, of 

 the line of Ha-tsung-tsa, derive their descent. The term Kachari 

 is of modern date, the proper name by which that people call them- 

 selves being Rangtsa, and the country from which they trace their 

 origin being situated in the north-east of Assam. 



It is known that Kamrup extended anciently to the southward as far 

 as the confluence of the Megna with the Brahmaputra ; and the Kacharis 

 appear to have established themselves in the countries east of that line, 

 including Assam, Sylhet, Tippera, and modern Kachar, or Hirumbha, 

 in all of which, except Sylhet, they are found as a distinct people 

 differing in appearance, religion, and customs from the other inhabit- 

 ants. 



