102 
E. A. Gait —Historical Research in Assam. 
[June, 
I am told that there are in existence copper plates of land grants 
by the kings of Jaintia. These would 
* The search for old inscrip- b e 0 f greater value than those of the 
tions which was instituted in Colo- . T . ,. . 
nel Keatinge’s time seems to have -A.homs, as Jaintia is one of the old king- 
been less thorough in Sylliet than doms of which our knowledge is at pre- 
to bo hoped tor from further en- sent most fragmentary. It is not im- 
quii'ies now. probable that other local rulers in the 
Surma Valley made grants of land on 
copper plates; and it would probably bring some useful information 
to light if a systematic enquiry were instituted in that district into 
the origin of the lahhiraj grants there. The proceedings under the old 
Resumption Regulation of 1819 would probably show where further 
enquiry would be useful.* 
A few older plates may also from time to time come to light; but 
their discovery must apparently be a matter of chance rather than of 
systematic enquiry. 
9. Two useful inscriptions on temples built by Koch kings are 
. 0 ,, „ , known, viz., those at Hai5 and Kama- 
t See my paper on the Koch . 0 
Kings of Kamariipa, Journal of the khya;T others may perhaps be included 
Asiatic ^Society of Bengal, 1893, amongst the inscriptions noticed below 
pa 0 e 29o. as no t yet deciphered. 
10. There are numerous inscriptions on temples erected under 
Ahom auspices. All of these bear dates of the reign of Rudra Siriilia 
(1695-1714 A.D.) and subsequent kings, and are of use chiefly in check¬ 
ing the dates given in the huranjis , and in showing the extent of country 
ruled by the princes in question, and the degree to which they were 
dominated by Hindu influences. Most of the inscriptions of this class 
were copied under Colonel Keatinge’s auspices, and all that remains 
to be done is to collate these copies and see what additions to our exist¬ 
ing knowledge of Ahom history and chronology can be derived from 
them. 
11. Amongst “ Other inscriptions ” may be mentioned two on 
rocks on the bank of the Brahmaputra near Tezpur, which have never 
yet attracted the attention which they seem to deserve, a deciphered 
inscription at Khaspur and another undeciphered at Maibong, and two 
inscriptions which were said to be undecipherable in the enquiries made 
in Colonel Keatinge’s time, viz., one on the door of the Siddhe^vara 
temple in Sarubangsar mauza in Kamrup, and another on the temple of 
Chandika in the same district. No doubt further search would bring 
other inscriptions to light; I think that ruined palaces, such as that of 
Bhishmaka near Sadiya, of Harmati in North Lakhimpur and of Bhal- 
uka at Bhalukpung, and the old Kachari capitals at Dimapur, Maibong, 
