1893.] 
E. A. Gait — The Koch Kings of Kamarupa. 
301 
Dates op the kings mentioned in the VamsXvali. 
Raja Lakshmi Narayana ’s Vamsdvali mentions only one date — that of 
the erection of the Kamakhya temple, and it is not very easy to fix the 
exact dates of the kings to whom it refers. Sone dates are given in 
the Vamsdvali of Prasiddha Narayana, in Gunabhiram’s A'sam Buranji, 
in Buchanan Hamilton’s account of Rangpnr and elsewhere,* but these 
authorities often differ amongst themselves, and it is therefore necessary 
to examine the matter in some detail. 
It will perhaps be easiest to arrive at the truth by dealing in the 
Dates of Kaja Nara Nara- first instance with the dates of Raja Nara Nara- 
yana. Three different dates are assigned for 
the time when he ascended the throne in succession to his father Visva 
Simha, viz., 1528 A. D. by Gunabhiram, 1534 in Prasiddha Narayana’s 
Vamsdvali, and 1555 by Babu Ram Chandra Ghosh. 
His death is said to have occurred in 3584 A. D., and Prasiddha 
Narayana s Vamsavali and Gunabhiram’s A.sdm Buranji agree in fixing 
3581 as the date of Raghu’s accession to power in the eastern part of 
the old Koch kingdom, while the inscription in the Hayagriva temple at 
Hajo, which was built during his reign and bears date 1583 A. D., helps 
to confirm this as the date of the division of the kingdom. 
It is recorded in the Ahharndmah that Lakshmi Narayana who had 
then succeeded his father, made his submission to the Delhi Emperor 
and paid his respects to Raja Man Singh in 1596 A. D. On the other 
hand, the Musalman historians refer to Nara Narayana as still reigning in 
1578. f It is thus certain that Nara Narayana died between 1573 and 
1596 A. D. and we may therefore, I think, confidently accept 1584 as 
the approximate date of his death. J 
* I do not refer to the dates given in the manuscript copy of the Yogini 
Tantra in the possession of a Brahman of Haul! Mohanpur, as it appears that they 
are not trustworthy, so far as these earlier kings are concerned. Prior to the 
accession of Mahondra Narayana in 1660, only four dates are given, viz., the erection 
of Hajo and Kamakhya and tho accessions of Visva Singh and Raghu Deva. The 
two former, which could always be ascertained from the inscriptions in the temples 
thomselves are correct, but the two latter — 1495 A. D. and 1555 A. D. are obviously 
wrong. It seems probable that the collection of dates in this volume was not 
commenced until long after the time of these two kings, and that when it was 
undertaken, their dates were filled in by guess work. 
t Blochmann, J. A. S. B. 1872, page 53. 
J Blochmann, J. A. S. B. 1875, page 306. The name of the ruler mentioned in 
the Musalman account is Bal Gosain, but this is clearly only another name for Nara 
Narayana. Blochmann says that Bal Gosain was the son of Nara Narayana and father 
of Lakshmi Narayana, but this must be a mistake, as neither in the very full account 
contained in the Vamsdvali nor in any other local narrative, is mention made of any 
