1889.] Asutosh Gupta — Ruins and Antiquities of Rampal. 



18 



ing purposes. Sucli is still the case with Gaur. Many stone idola 

 of Hindu gods and goddesses have been found buried under the earth. 

 There is a huge stone idol of Vishnu near the temple of S'iva in Atpara, 

 about a mile west of Rampal, and I have seen many smaller idols col- 

 lected by a Vaishnava in 'Abdullahpur. 



Rampal appears to have been the only seat of the Sen kings up 

 to the death of Ballal Sen, but the later kings of the dynasty lived 

 at Suvarnakaragrama, Gaur and Nadiya. Suvarnakaragrama, locally 

 called Shonargaon, is also in the district of Dacca, being about four 

 miles from the existing Bandar of Baidya Bazar on the river Meghna. 

 Laehhman Sen, son of Ballal Sen, generally lived at Gaur, which, 

 according to tho Muhammadan historians, he greatly embellished, and 

 called after his name Lakknauti or Lakskmanavati. Nadiya was the 

 seat of the last Sen king of Bengal, when the Muhanimadans conquered 

 the country. It was in his time that Rampal attained the highest 

 pinnacle of its glory. The principal works, the ruins of which still exist 

 in some form or other, are attributed to him. Rampal seems to have 

 been neglected, if not altogether abandoned, after the death of Ballal 

 Sen. Laehhman Sen, his son and heir, lived principally at Gaur. 



I now approach tho solution of a problem which has already 

 evoked much animated discussion. I mean the question of the caste of 

 tho Sen Rajas of Bengal. Before submitting my own opinion on the 

 subject, I will briefly examine the different theories that have been 

 advanced, and the evidence on which they are based. I have obtained 

 much assistance from the two articles of Raja Rajondralala Mitra on tho 

 Sen Rajas of Bengal, and the Bengali work on the same subject by 

 Kaikish Chandra Sinha, to which Mr. Beveridgo, one of the honoured 

 members of the Asiatic Society, very kindly referred me, and also from 

 the Bengali book by Mahima Chandra Majumdar called ' Gaude Brah- 

 man '. Three theories have been advanced about the caste of the Sen 

 Rajas:— (1) that they were Kayasthas, (2) that they were Vaidyas 

 or of the medical caste and (3) that they were Kshatriyas. The first 

 theory is that of Abu-1-Fazl and the Muhammadan historians. It is 

 not supported by any evidence other than tho statement of the Muham- 

 madans, who are likely to hold erroneous views on the subject of Hindu 

 castes. It was never seriously entertained by the Hindus and may be 

 summarily rejected. The second theory is supported by tradition handed 

 down from generation to generation not only in Vikrampur, the old 

 seat of the Sen Rajas, but throughout Bengal, and was universally 

 be] ieved, till Raja Rajondralala Mitra in 1S65 tried to establish that the 

 Senas were Kshatriyas. This third theory is the most recent one. 

 It was first propounded by Raja Rajondralala Mitra, a very high 



