1889.] Asutosh Gupta — Buins and Antiquities of Bdmpal. 15 



sprung from Brahman as on the father's side and Kshatriyas on the 

 mother's. We have it from the Mahabharata that when the Kshatriya 

 race was being exterminated by Parasurania, the women of that caste 

 began to marry Brahmanas, and Vasishtha himself is credited with 

 having married Kshatriya women. From that time the race of pui-e 

 Kshatriyas is said to have become extinct. In Adhyaya 24, part IV, 

 of the Vishnu Parana, Mahanandi is said to be the last king of the 

 Kshatriya race. His son Mahapadmananda was born of a Sudra mother, 

 and from him began the reign of Varnasankara kings or ' kings of 

 mixed castes.' 



The above will I think be sufficient to show that Dr. Mitra's 

 interpretation of the word Brahma-kshatriya is most probably not the 

 correct one. I have now to consider the description of the Sen Rajas 

 as descendants of the lunar race. It is a well-known fact that all the 

 princes of India, whether real Kshatriyas or not, have tried to trace 

 their descent from the solar or lunar race of that caste. Even the 

 Rajas of Chutiya Nagpur, whom Colonel Daltou very rightly thinks to be 

 of the aboriginal Cole or Munda origin, claim to be real Rajputs, and 

 following their lead, the inferior landholders, who are undoubtedly 

 aboriginal Mundas, are gradually setting up claims to be Hindu Rajputs. 

 I found this process in full operation when I was in Chutiya Nagpur 

 three years ago. If the Sen kings belonged to the Sankara race or 

 any of the mixed castes, is it not very likely that they would aspire to 

 be Kshatriyas aud trace their descent from the lunar race, and their 

 panegyrist TJmapati Dhar, a poet and a famous adept in the art of ex- 

 aggeration, would exalt them into members of the race of the moon ? 

 Even now the Siidras of Bengal are looking up. Some time ago there 

 was a movement among the Kayasthas for taking the yajnopav/ta or ' the 

 sacred thread,' on the assertion that they were originally Esh&triyaS ; 

 and at the present moment there is a similar movement among the 

 Suvarnavarnikas, who now claim to have been originally Vaisyas. 



In the Baqarganj plate, found by Mr. Prinsep, the title of 

 S'ankara Gaudeswara is repeatedly applied to the Sen Rajas. The 

 word Gaudeswara, no doubt, means the king of Gaur or Bengal, but it 

 is not easy to explain the real meaning of the word s'ankara here. It 

 is said to be written with palatal s. Dr. Mitra takes it to mean 

 ' excellent,' but he has not shown any reason for assuming this 

 meaning, which cannot bo found in the ordinary Sanskrit dictionaries 

 and is certainly not the commonly accepted import of the term. Ac- 

 cording to the dictionaries and the common usage of the word, it is, 

 when a substantive, a synonym for S'iva or Mahadova, and when an 

 adjective, it means ' auspicious. ' I find Mr. Prinsep translating the 



