JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY, 



No. VI.— 1851. 



Notes on the " Mahapurushyas" a sect of Vaishnavas in A'sdm. — By 

 Capt. E. T. I) alton, Political Assistant Commissioner, Asam, in 

 charge of Kdmrup. 



Amongst various tribes of Vaishnavas in Asam, distinguished from 

 each other by differences in doctrinal or ceremonial points of more or 

 less importance, I know of none that for the general respectability and 

 intelligence of the disciples, their number and their success in making 

 proselytes, are more deserving of attention than the Mahapurushyas 

 or votaries of the Borpetah Shostro, a religious community widely 

 spread throughout lower Asam, and extending into Cooch-Behar and 

 N. E. Rungpore. 



The word Borpetah is variously derived. Some say it is a corrup- 

 tion for Borpata and means the great throne, great altar, or with refer- 

 ence to the grant of lands conferred on this institution, it may signify 

 great endowment. The sect have many monasteries in different parts 

 of Kamrup and elsewhere, but they are all regarded as subordinate 

 to the great establishment at Borpetah, which is situated in north- 

 western Kamrup, and gives the name to a large Pergunnah, and also 

 to a subdivision of the district and to the station of the Joint Magis- 

 trate and Deputy Collector, in charge of this subdivision. 



The Pergunnah of Borpetah and others contiguous to it are com- 

 posed of low alluvial lands liable to periodical inundation. The sites 

 of the villages are all artificially raised, and in the rains the whole 

 country presents the appearance of a vast lake, the raised villages with 



No. XLIX. — New Series. 3 n 



