140 On the Sena Rajds of Bengal. [No. 3, 
Dénasdgara ; but the second may be true, and if so, Vira Sena may 
well be taken to be the same with Adis’tira. The name Adis'fra does 
not sort either with the Palas or with the Senas. The word s’wra 
is a synonym of Véra a hero, and the ddi is indicative of the initial 
position which Vira Sena occupies in the genealogy of the dynasty. It 
is stated in the genealogical tables of the Kayasthas that when Ballala 
established his system of Kula the original five Kayasthas of Ka- 
nauj had multiplied to 56 families. Assuming that each generation 
of the original Kayasthas had multiplied two-fold, five generations from 
Adis’tra to Balléla would give eighty individuals, who may well repre- 
sent the alleged number of families. Of the Brahmans the total number 
of families that lived at the time of Ballila is not known. But it is 
evident that it was not large, for we find that he included only ten 
families in the ranks of his nobles, viz. two of the descendants of 
Bhattanirayana, two of those of Daksha, one of those of 8’ri Harsha, 
three of those of Chhandada, and two of those of Vedagarbha. They do 
not suggest a longer period than would be covered by five generations, 
It should be noted that the editor of the Venisanhira,* Muktarama 
Vidydvagis’a, in his genealogical table of the Tagore family makes 
Haléyudha minister of Lakshmana Sena, to be the 16th in descent 
from Bhattanarayana; but inasmuch as his statement hhas been con- 
tradicted by the author of the Khités a-vaisdvali-charitat who would 
have him to be the third in descent from Bhattanarayaya, and both 
have been contradicted by Haléyudha himself, who calls his father 
Dhanafijaya, whereas the one makes him the son of Nipu and the 
other that of Ramariipa, we may well reject his testimony as inad- 
missible. It must, however, be admitted that the identity I suggest is 
a mere conjecture, and I hope it will be taken as such and no more. 
There is one more circumstance in connexion with the Senas to 
which I wish to allude, before I conclude,—it is with reference 
to their caste. The universal belief in Bengal is, that the Senas were 
of the medical caste, and families of Vaidyas are not wanting in the 
present day who trace their lineage from Ballala Sena. There is, 
however, nothing authentic to justify this belief. It is well known 
that a great many of the pedigrees given in Burke’s Landed Gen- 
try are utterly worthless, and it is notorious that many families of 
* Kd, Calcutta, 1855. {+ Pertche’s Hd. p. xvi. 
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