274 
E. A. Gait — The Koch Kings of Kdmarwpa. 
[No. 4, 
Kumara Bhaskara Yarman* was on the throne. He describes this ruler 
as a Brahman, but by this it seems doubtful whether he meant any- 
thing more than that he was a Hindu and not a Buddhist. Barman is 
a well known Kshattriya title, and is one which is commonly adopted to- 
day by Kachans, when they accept Hinduism and assume the sacred 
thread, on the fiction that they are concealed Ksliattriyas. The method 
of conversion by fictions such as this is, doubtless, of very ancient date, 
and from the fact that this prince described himself as “ Barman, it, 
seems not unreasonable to presume that he was a Hindu convert from 
some aboriginal tribe. The presumption is strengthened by the fact 
that his subjects are described as being of small stature with dar’k yel- 
low complexions, and by our knowledge that subsequent rulers, e.g., the 
Khyen and Koch kings, were nothing more than Hinduised aborigines. 
Hiuen Tsiang reports that the people adored and offered sacrifices 
to the Devas, and adds that although Buddhism was not forbidden, its 
votaries were scarce. 
The soil is described as being deep and fertile, and the towns were 
surrounded by moats filled with water brought from rivers or banked 
up lakes. f The people were fierce in appearance, but upright and 
studious ; their language differed somewhat from that spoken in Mid- 
India. In his time, as now, the country was famous for wild elephants, 
which were especially numerous in the south-east. J 
After Hiuen Tsiang’s account, we are again left with no autlien- 
End of ETaraka’s dy- *ic information regarding the country. It is 
nast,y ‘ said that Subahu was born in the 19th genera- 
tion beginning from Naraka, in the lineage of Bhagadatta. Subahu 
became an ascetic and went to the Himalayas, and was succeeded by 
his son Supnrua who was killed by his ministers. 
Then a Kshattriya Sannyasi named Jitari, came from the west and 
founded a kingdom. He deserted Gauhati and 
built a capital further west. His contempo- 
rary J alpesvara had his capital where the S'akta temple of Jalpesvara 
( which he founded) now stands, in the Jalpaiguri District. Jitari was 
succeeded in turn by Subali, Padma Narayana, Chandra Narayana, 
* S i-yu-'ki. Beal’s trans. II. p. 196. 
f The Ahom capitals were in the same way encircled by moats, and the old 
Kac.hari capital at Dimapur was similarly protected on two sides, while the Dhan- 
siri flowed along the third side. 
t These animals appear always to have been plentiful, for we read in the 
Raghuvamsa that the king of Kamarupa or Pragjyotisha gave many elephants 
as tribute to Raghu ( IV— 83 ), and in the Vishnu Purana ( p. 81 ) it is stated 
that Krishna took 6,000 elephants from Naraka’s capital, after he had defeated and 
slain that monarch. 
Jitari. 
