1893.] 
273 
E. A. Gait — The Koch Kings of K&marupa. 
Krishna’s grandson, Aniruddha, carried off Usha, the daughter of 
Bana Raja, king of S'onitapura, the city of 
blood, now known by the Assamese equivalent, 
Tezpur — in consequence of which he was caught by that monarch 
and imprisoned. The subsequent invasion of Bana Raja’s kingdom by 
Krishna and the rescue of Aniruddha is described in the Bhdgavata 
Purana and elsewhere. From the Kalikd Purana it appears that Raja 
Bana was the contemporary and friend of Kanaka.* 
From these stories, all that we can gather with certainty is that 
Conclusion to be drawn the Brahmaputra Valley was known to the 
from these legends. Aryan invaders of India at a very early pe _ 
riod, and that the process of converting the aboriginal tribes to Hin- 
duism, which is going on before our eyes to-day, commenced long be- 
fore the time of which we have any authentic record. 
Kamarupa appears to have been a famous place for pilgrimages and 
devotions, and the fame of Kamakhya and the Brahmakunda had spread 
abroad at a very early date. In the Tantras it is said : “ Elsewhere 
deities are scarce, but in Kamarupa, they are found in every house.” 
At the beginning of the S'akaditya era, a king named Devesvara 
ruled somewhere in Kamarupa, but the site 
of his capital is unknown. He was a Sudra 
by caste, and is said to have tried to prevent the spread of Buddhism 
and to propagate the worship of Kamakhya, but without any very 
great success. 
In the Yogini Tantra, mention is made of Nagasahkara or Kaga- 
khya, who is said to have been born of the 
Nagasankara. Karatoya river, about 378 A. D., and to have 
founded a dynasty which ruled for four larndred years. His capital 
was above the Nagasahkara temple at Pratapgarh, in Vishnunatha 
(Bish nath). 
Our earliest authentic knowledge of the country is derived from 
Hiuen Tsiang’s account the writings of Hiuen Tsiang, the celebrated 
of Kamarupa. Chinese traveller and pilgrim. He visited 
Kamarupa about 640 A. D., at which time a Hindu prince named 
Devesvara. 
# Vishnu Purana, Book V, Chaps. 32, 33, and Kalika Purana, p. 94. The 
events described here form the subject of one of the earliest known epics in the 
Assamese language. It is known as Kumdra-harana, and is said to have been written 
by S'ri Chandra Bharati. 
It should be noted that Tezpur is not the only place which claims to be the 
site of Raja Bana’s capital. The remains of what is said to be the city of this king, 
are still pointed out at a place a few miles south of Dinajpur, which to this day 
is known as Ban Rdjdr garh. (Anandnram Borua’s Sanskrit Dictionary, p. 113.) 
