CHAPTER II ORIGIN OF THE BHAUMA-KARAS

CHAPTER II ORIGIN OF THE BHAUMA-KARAS The orgn of the Bhauma-Karas of Orssa s shrouded n obscurty* Wth the scanty nformaton suppled by the nscrptons of ths dynasty t s not easy to trace ther orgn. Broadly speakng there exst two schools of thought 1 o r about ther orgnal home. B.Msra, H.Mahtab, R.C.MajumdarJ k * and N.K.Sahu hold the opnon that the Bhauma-Karas belonged to Orssa tself, whereas R.D.BanerJj^, R.P.Chanda^,K.L.Barua^, K.C.Pangrah^ and P.C.Choudhury^ beleved that they belonged to Assam and subsequently mgrated to Orssa. We examne below the dfferent theores regardng the orgn of the famly. A passage n the Vsnu Purna mentons Kalnga-Mahsarnmrnmmmgmmfmm mmmmmmmmmmmrnymml # 10 Mahendra Bhauman Guha bhoksant". whch means Guha(s) protected the Kalngas, Mahsyas and Mahendra Bhaumasn«The expresson Mahendra BhaumaH. accordng to B.Msra and R.CjMajumdar,mples that the Bhaumas were nhabtng the Mahendra regon. The Mahendra mountan range of the Eastern Ghats s regarded by many royal dynastes as ther respectve cradle-land. It was the cradle of the 1. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs. pp.80-83sjb0rs.vol.xvi. pp.69ff. 2. H.Mahtab, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.I, pp.131-132. 3. R.C.Ma3umdar (ed.) Age of Imperal Kanauj. p.63. If. N.K.Sahu, Hstory &f Orssa. Vol.I, p.v. 5. El, Vol.XV, pp.1-8. 6. Pravasl. Vol.XXXII. No.1. 7. JARS, Vol.II, p.106. 8. K.C.Pangrah, Chronology of the Bhauma-Karas and Somavamss of Orssa, p.21. 9. P.C.Choudhury, Hstory of Cvlzaton of the People of Assam. pp.198ff.! 10. Vsnu Purana. ^,2^,65*

- 3 - Eastern Gangas and the Salodbhavas, as known from ther copper / plate nscrptons. The Cuttack Museum charter of the Salodbhava kng Madhavavarma says, "The Mt.Mahendra, whose ncomparable peak s obstructed by the Eastern seas,whose surface s covered wth varous flower-bearng trees, whose caverns are resounded wth the constant fall of sprng water at the sound of whch the pancky brds fly away producng melodous sound reverberatng the caverns, stands lke the glorous Mt.Meru and s celebrated n the world j '. as Kulagr". The Santabommal charter ofthe Ganga kng Handavarman mentons that Gokamesvara, the famly dety of the Gargas 2 was nstalled on the erest of the mountan Mahendra The Gangas beleved that they "obtaned the nsgna of royalty through hs (Gokamesvara) favour".3 k < Therefore, R.C.Majumdar and B.Msra-' take the Bhauma trbes nhabtng the Mahendra regon as the ancestors of the Bhauma dynasty of Orssa. The conjecture of the former s strengthened by the fact that the captal of the Bhauma-Karas was Guhadevapataka / 1 or Guhesvarapataka, apparently assocated after GuhaCor Buhas) wth whom the Bhaumas are assocated n the Vsnu Parana^.The latter also fnds support to hs vew from the fact that Guhadevapataka or Guhesvarapataka, the place of ssue of the Bhauma grants,seems to have owed ts orgn to Guha whom he assumes as the founder of 7 the Bhauma rule n Orssa. He thus fnds a connecton between the 1. El, Yol.XXIV, pp.1**8ff; see also the Banapur charter of MadhyamarSja (ETjVol.XXIX, pp.32ff). 2. JAHBS. Vol.II,' pp.l8?ff. 3. Ibd, Vol.I, pp*122ff. : k. R.C.Majumdar (ed.) Age of Imperal Kanau.1. p.63. 5. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs. p.80. 6. R.C.Malumdar (ed.) Age of Imperal Kanau.11 p.j63, 7. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.82.< I

V: * 31 " so called Bhauma trbe of the Mahendra regon who were non-aryans and Guha (or Guhas) who has been stated n the Vsnu Purana not ' 1 as "the offshoot of any Aryan famly.** Both the scholars,therefore, trace the orgn of the Bhauma dynasty to the "Mahendra Bhaumas" of the Vsnu Purana.. "" II v z.. -,l"" 1 1 " I... The Guha or Guhas and the Bhauma or Bhaumas should not be! taken as dentcal or contemporares on the evdence of a sngle manuscrpt of the Vsnu Purana. because the menang conveyed by the expresson **Mahendra Bhauma** s not qute clear. It s uncertan whether the word Bhauma means a trbe or a place. H.H.Wlson has put hs argument In an acceptable manner and hs explanatory 1 statement deserves full quotatons "The only grammatcal readng that I fnd and t occurs n only one MSS - s as follows: Kalnga- Mahsaka-Mahendran-Bhauma-Guha bhokaant. whch makes the rulers p Guhas of Bhauma (?). Ths s, however, extremely doubtful. m The Vavu Purana clearly mentons that the Guhas ruled over the people of Mahendra mountan along wth those of Mahsya and! Kalnga when t says, "Kalnga Mahsaschava Mahendranlavaschave etan.ananadan sarvan nalavsvat ve Guhah. "3 We: do not come across the word "Bhauma" n the Vavu Purana even though the knd Guha (or Guhas) as well as the places, Kalnga, Mahsya and Mahendra are ' '! mentoned n ths text just as n the Vsnu Purna. That s why the 1. JBOBS, Vo1.XVI, pp.69-88. 2. H.H.Wlson (trans.), Vsnu Purana.(London). p.220,fn. 3* Vavu Purana, 99> 383; F.E.Pargter, Purana Text of the Dynastes ' of Kal Age, pp.53-5^# * I I!

- 32 - translaton of the concerned passage s gven by H.H.'Wlson as. follows: "The Guhas wll possess Kalrga, Mahh^ka and the moun- 1 tans of Mahendra," Of course the mportance of the Mahendra hll n the cultural hstory of Kalnga eannot be gnored, At the same tme the non-menton of ths celebrated mountan n the records of the Bhaumas as ther cradle-land cannot be explaned partcularly when ther predecessors the Salodbhavas and ther contemporares as well as successors the Eastern Gangas have pad reverence to t as ther respectve cradle-land. The Vayu Purna reveals that the kng Guha was a contemporary * 2 1 of the Gupta emperor Ghandragupta I (cr.a.d.319-335)*n.k.sahu beleves Guhasva, the kng of Kalnga, mentoned n the Dathavamaa. as dentcal wth the kng Guha of the Puranas and hence a contempo- rary of Mahasena, the kng of Ceylon^ (er.a.d.277-304). Thus Guha s assgned.to the early part of the fourth century A.D. But the Bhaumas establshed ther rule n Orssa n the!second quarter of the eghth century A.D. Ths nterval of a perod of more than four centures eannot be explaned f we presume Guha (or Guhas) and the Bhaumas to be dentcal or contemporares. ' The Kumurang plate of Dand mahadev, no jdoubt,descrbes that "Dand mahadev... shnes lke the ndcatng engsn (sc. ensgn) (so to say) of the famly of Kara kngs,; whch s long lved 1. H.H.Wlson (trans.).vsnu Purna. pp*385-386.; 2. Vavu Purana. 99, 383} F.E.Pargter, Purna Text of the Dynastes of Kal Age, pp.53-54. I 3. N.K.Sahu, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.I, p.429. I I t '

/ - 33-1 wth unbroken (successon of) descendants." On the evdence of ths passage B.Msra argues that "the Bhauma famly ruled n un- broken contnuty for a pretty long tme", and 'thereby he explans the long gap between the rule of Guha (or Guhas) and the rse of the Bhaumas, It s needless to state that there was an nterval of about two centures between the rse of the Bhauma-Karas wth Ksemankara as ther founder and the ssue of the above chapter of Dand maha-, s dev^ and that as many as fourteen Bhauma kngs';ruled n unbroken ' j contnuty durng ths perod. As such, we tentatvely suggest that the above verse n the Kumurang plate of Dand mahadev apples to ths nterval from Ksemankara to Dand mahadev and not to that from Guha to Dand mahadev.!, f If GuhasVa was an ancestor of the Bhauma-Karas, the latter, ardent Buddhsts as they were, would have been proud enough to clam ther descent from hm nasmuch as he was not only a devout worshpper of the Buddha,but also a possessor of the sacred tooth relc * of the Blessed One whch he sent to the Ceylonese kng Mahasena through hs daughter HemamaJLa and son-n-law1 2Danta Kumara^.But the 1. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.65^ 2. Ibd, p.82. _ j I 3* Dathavamsa. Chapters III and 17, The Dathavamsa Is a quasrelgous hstorcal record and s wrtten "wth the ntenton of edfyng and at the same tme gvng an nterestng story of the past, whch s more wonderful than accurate, and thus,t bears a good many marks of fary tale" (B.C.jLaw (ed.) Dathavamsa Introducton). Its clam of a collar bone of (the Buddha havng been brought to Mahargana of Ceylon cannot be accepted as hstorcal, as the sland s known to be outsde the nfluence of Buddhsm untl t was converted by Thera Mahnda n the thrd century B.C. Lkewse, ts accounts of the di strbuton_of the sacred relcs also greatly dffer from those Of the Mahaparnbbana Sutta of the Dgha Nkaya (Dgha Nkaya.11,167;Asatc Researches. Vol.XX, p.316)* N.K.Sahu hmself admts of the legendary nature of the Dathavamsa".He says,"these!accounts,however,are based on popular tradton and cannot be accepted as hstorcal" (N.K.Sahu, Buddhsm n Orssa,pA7). jl

\ - 31 * 2-3 4 5 name of Guhasva s conspcuously absent n the Bhauma records. On the plans to the south of the Mahanad n Orssa lve a class of people who eall themselves "Matvamsa" or "Kstvamsa" sgnfyng Earth's famly or famly sprung fromjthe Earth, B.Msra consders these people as 'dentcal wth the Bhauma people of the 1 ' Puranas". Ths sect does not appear to have been a martal or rulng race, nor do they have any tradton that; ther ancestors ever ruled any kngdom anywhere. Before the advent of the new, ; < * f system of.western educaton,prmary educaton of Hndu boys n Orssa was entrusted to ther care. In the,northern hlly tracts of Orssa we fnd a sect of aborgnals known' as- Bhuyans who trace ther descent to the Earth, B.Msra assumes them as "the representatves of the Bhaumas of the Puranas" snce "the 'word Bhuyan can be O! taken as a varant of Bhauma." Ths vew s endorsed by N.E.Sahu, who also says that "Bhuyan s derved from Bhauma" and opnes that "the Bhaumas were ndgenous people who produced ther own kngs. Ths opnon also fnds support wth H.Mahtab1* and R.C-.Majumdar'. Such an assumpton of these learned scholars,however,cannot ' be substantated by known facts. Just as Chalukyas and Chaulukyas r as well as Pallavas and Pahlavas were dfferent dynastes n the hstory of Inda, so also the Bhaumas and the Bhuyans were very probably two dfferent peoples n the hstory of Orssa.Of course, the connecton wth bhu (earth or land) has gven rse to several rulng famly ttles, and n Orssa they are Bhdan and Bho,whch are held by Ksatryas and Karanas respectvely.!ther duty,although f* B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.82.; 2. Ibd. P.81. ' 3. N.K.Sahu, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.I, p.v. 4. H.Mahtab, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.T, p.63.!, 5. R.C.Ma.1umdar (e'd.).age of Impedal Kanau.. p. 63.

orgnally meant to be clercal, latterly developed nto performng admnstratve functons n respect of land under ther charge, and n some cases they transformed themselves to actual landlords and sometmes petty kngs over small prncpaltes. There s nothng to prove that the Bhuyans were predecessors of the Bhaumas, snce the hstory of the Bhuyan people that nhabted the northern hlly tracts or Orssa'*2 3 or 4 of *'the arstocratc famles of Japur and Bhadrak who take great prde n the Bhuyan ttll" or of the rulng chefs and zamndars" of the Northern Orssa who "feel glorous to use the ttle"1*' cannot.be traced back pror to the entry of the Bhaumas nto the poltcal scene of Orssa, that s before the eghth century A.D. It s very probable that Bhuyan became a ttle of honour and respectablty snce the rule of the Bhauma dynasty, and that some famles used ths ttle as a mark of ther glory and arstocfaey.! he agree wth B.Msra that n the Bhauma-Kara famly,lke ^ "! the Bhuyan famly, the name of the grand-father s gven to the t eldest son. For example,subhakara II, Santkara II and Subhakara V are named after ther respectve grand-fathers, Subhakara I,skntl- kara I and Subhakara III. But B.Msra seems to have overlooked another tradton of the Bhuyans, that s the name of the great- 5 > grand-father s gven to the second son. So, we do not agree wth,\ B.Msra that the Bhuyans are dentcal wth the Bhaumas, because t > > t Santkara I and Svakara III are not named after ther respectve great-grand-fathers, K emahkara I and Sdntkara jl. 1. JB0BS. Vol.XIY, n.298. ' j 2. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.81.1 3. N.K.Sahu, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.I, p.v, 4. H.Mahtab, Hstory of Orssa, Vol.I, p.132. ' 5. E.T.Dalton, Trbal Hstory of Inda, p.142. 1

- 36 - Moreover, the Bhuyans are not exclusvely found n Orssa. They are also found n Assam. E.T.Dalton says,"a dynasty called Barah Bhunya once ruled n the provnce of Assam. The provnce to the north of the Brahmaputra, from one end of the valley to the 1' other s full of great works ascrbed to ths people."1 S.H.Trpath has expressed hs doubts about the dentfca, 1 ton of the Bhaumas wth the Bhuyans n these words;"it s doubtful whether ther (Bhuyans) ancestors ever ruled n.any part of the country, or partcularly n Tosala, somewhere from the ffth to the tenth centures A.D."2 He has, further observed*"it would be hazardous to say that any caste bearng ttle connected wth bhu (earth) are descended from the Bhauma-Karas."3 So the Bhuyans can- { 1 > 1 not be regarded as dentcal wth the Bhaumas. ; f It s mentoned n the Mahavagga of the Vnava Ptaka that,, two merchants, Tapassu and Bhallka, of the Utkala country,whle, - on ther way to Magadha, wth cart-loads of merchandse, met the Buddha and presented hm wth rce-cakes and honey-lumps; Buddha accepted these presents and ntated them nto Buddhsm.^The same " 5 story also fnds menton n some Jatakas. B.Msra gleans from ths account that "these two merchants, Tapusa (Tapasjsu) and Bhallka, were Bhuyans" and concludes that "the Bhuyans consttuted a cvlsed trbe snce they had trade relatons wth Magadha whch was 6 1 then n a hghly cvlsed state". On the bass of ths concluson he makes a conjecture that "the Bhauma famly emanated from the fcs-... JB J$» -!<m?j MU 1*0 <$ c+ h- ro or o k+voh» to DO H ON «O J P. r - CMc o d '

- 37 - Bhuyan trbe." Such a conjecture s qute untenable snce nowhere n the above-mentoned Buddhst texts the two merchants have been _ mentoned as Bhuyans.' Even though B.Msra says that the two merchant brothers have been referred to as Bhuyans of the Utkala country n. the Ma.1.hma Nkaya. we are unable to fnd the epsode of Tapassu and Bhallka n the sad Buddhst lterature. The Ma..1hma Nkaya. however, mentons atjout a trbe of the Utkala people, known as?anna, who receved the message of the 1 " Mahachattarsaka Sutta preached by the blessed one. Bt the subsequent hstory of the Vahna trbe s shrouded n mystery. The exstence of ths Buddhst trbe even as early as the! Asokan perod s 1 doubtful, because t does not fnd menton among several trbes whch are referred to n the Asokan nscrptons. We fal to understand as to how the Vanna trbe, whch remaned n obscurty after the mahanarnrvana of the Buddha, could suddenly rse nto promnence after a lapse of about thrteen hundred years under the name Bhauma. Nothng surprses us more than the rule of a farly bg kngdom by a trbe havng no tradton of kngshp. As such, the } dentfcaton of the Bhaumas of the eghth century Orssa wth the Vannas of the Pal text s extremely doubtful. B.Msra refers to the Harvam^a and ponts out that Utkala and Saya, bom to la, founded two kngdoms, known after them as Utkala and Gaya and presumes that the Utkala people (descendants of la) and the Bhaumas were dentcal to each other, for the word h Ila s a synonym of the word! Bhum. But Utkala and Gaya were sons of Sudyumna, and not of Ila. Accordng to the Puranc account, 1. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs. p.80.l 2. Ibd. ^ 3,. Ma.j.lhma NkSVa III,pp.71-78* j f. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs. p.80.j - l

- 38 - fla-sudyumna, one of the ten sons of Vava^vata Manu, was a ' ' _ kmnurusa as he was becomng woman and man alternately.^as Ila she became the mother of Pururavas, and as Sudyumna he became the father of Utkala, Gaya and Vntasva (or Hartasva). When Vavas'vata Manu dvded hs empre among hs sons, lla-sudyumna receved a porton of t. Gut of ths porton pdruravas, the sons of la, receved Pratsthana, whereas Utkala, Gaya and Vntasva, the sons of Sudyumna, receved respectvely Utkala country,gaya 2 together wth the eastern terrtory and the western regons The terrtores of the sons of Sudyumna were collectvely desgnated l as "Saudyumnas" n the Puranas. So the presumpton of B.Msra that the Utkala people were dentcal wth the Bhaumas s untenable snce Utkala was not a descendant of Ila, but that of Sudyumna* The statement of the Chauras copper plate of Svakara II that the donor belonged to the "Bhauma lneage of the Utkala famly"^ supported by the Badal pllar nscrpton of Narayanapala that the Bhauma rulers of Orssa belonged to the "Utkala famly"^ (Utkalakula) has led B.Msra to beleve that the' "Bhauma people prncpally consttuted the ancent Utkala race".'* The hstory of Orssa abounds n such nstances. The Gahgas were orgnally a 6 northern trbe that dwelt on the banks of the rver Gahgas, but depct themselves as belongng to Kalnga n ther charters due to ther settlement n ths terrtory. Smlarly, the rulng famles 7 8 of the ex-states of Kenojhar and Mayurbhanj trace ther orgn to 1. F.E.Pargter, Ancent Indan Hstorcal Tradton.no.2?3~25*f. 2. Harvamsa. 10, 18 19 3. JBOBS,Vol.HV,p.292-306s B.Msra.Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs.o8 h. El, Vol.II, p.160.!?, B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs. p.82.l 6. JAHBS. Vol.V, p.264. j 7. L.E.B. Cobden-Ramaay, Gazeteer of Feudatory States of Orssa. p.213, I 8. Ibd, p.239., k

the solar raee of Rajputs, whereas the rulng famly of the exstate of Patna trace the same to the Chauhan rape of Rajputs.1 But all of them call themselves as belongng to Orssa n ther grants and documents, evdently after ther mgraton from ther! respectve places of orgn and ther settlement n ther respectve kngdoms n Orssa. Instances are equally numerous n the hstory of ancent Inda that foregners lke the Greeks, Scythans, Parthans and t Kusanas who poured nto Inda n dfferent tmes of her hstory gradually dentfed themselves wth the Indans. Ther amalgamaton wth the Indan socety was so complete that they lost ther separate dentty and consttuted an mportant and vrle secton, '! of the Indan people. Kanska, the Kusana emperor of Inda, was o, a foregner by brth and an Indan by choce. Agathocles, a Greek ruler of Inda, took prde and glory n callng hmself as ; / an Indan by brth. Many famous Rajput clans of jthe north were developed out of the barbaran hordes whch poured nto Inda n 7 the ffth or sxth centures A.D. But they unversally yelded to the wonderful assmlatve power of the Indan socety. The Bhaumas, lkewse, seem to have mgrated to Orssa from j another state and completely merged themselves In the Orssan Socety. So the statements n the Chauras copper plate Inscrpton of Svakara II and the Badal pllar nscrpton of Harayanapala do not necessarly reveal the orgnal home of the Bhauma kngs of Orssa.. 1 B.Msra1* and E.C. Majumdar^ pont out that' the suffx kara 1. L.E.B.Cobden-Ramsav. Gazeteer of Feudatory States of Orssa. 1)7282 2. N.N.Ghosh, Early Hstory of Inda, p.238. 3. V.Smth, Early Hstory Qf Inda, p,303. 1 5-. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs,p.83.! 5. R.0.Ma.1umdar ^ed.) Age of Imperal Kanau.. p. 63.

added to the names of the Bhauma-Kara kngs, became the appellar ton of the Bhauma-Kara famly n later tmes. In other words, the Bhauma-Karas were known as Bhauma n earler records and Kara 1 n later ones. ' The above scholars seem to have derved ther conclusons from the expresson "Karakula" whch refers to the Bhauma famly and whch appears n the texts of the charters of TrbhUvana maha- dev I and Dandl mahadev, who were later rulers of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty. We are unable to endorse ther theores, because the Bhauma,/ famly was known as Kara famly even as early as the tme of Subha- kara II The Terunda plate of the sad ruler clearly mentons the 2 famly as Kara famly. The dynastc name Kara was probably due to the crystallsaton of the name-endng of all the kngs of the '! / famly, exceptng those bearng the name Subhakara. But the occurrence of t n the charter of an early member of the famly categorcally proves that there was always a tendency In the Bhauma-Kara, f famly to conceal ther orgnal home. The Bhaumas of Orssa { depcted themselves as Karas n order to dstngush themselves from ther counterparts elsewhere. In fact, the Bhaumas were nowhere mentoned as Karas n the Puranas. Ths clearly proves that *! \ -, the Bhaumas were not known as Karas before ther rse under K emaa- kara. So we can suggest that the expresson "famly of Kara kngs" possbly refers to K emahkara and hs successors. To sum up Orssa was not the orgnal abode of the Bhaumal Karas, who played a domnant part n the hstory of Orssa durng the eghth and nnth centures A.D. So where dd they hal from? 1. JASB (Letters), Vol.XVII, No.1, p.l?. 2. El, Vol.XXVTII, p.216, 1.28. ;

A satsfactory answer can be obtaned f we connect the Bhauma rulng famly of Orssa wth the rulng famles of Assam who call themselves Bhaumas. We examne below the facts on the bass of whch the possblty of such a connecton between the two royal dynastes of these two states cannot be gnored. The supreme God(Vsnu) n hs ncarnaton of the Boar (VarSha) whle lftng the earth (Prthv) from tjhe deluge wth Hs tusks took Her as Hs consort and had by Her a son who was j known as Naraka, or Bhauma (bom of Bhum or earth). On account of hs supreme dvne orgn several dynastes, rulng n Assam, 2 clamed ther descent from Naraka or Bhauma. It s qute plausble f to connect the kngs of Orssa who called themselves Bhaumas wth ther counterparts of Assam who also called themselves by the same I name. The fact that the Bhauraa-Karas descended from Naraka or I- Bhauma, son of Vsnu, s alluded to n the Orya; Mahabharata of Sarala Das a, who flourshed n the early part of the ffteenth century A.D. The great poet says that Vsnukara was the founder of the Kara famly, and establshed hs rule over a holy land / 3 59 * * * ' called Svapura Ths Svapura has been dentfed wth the present k, Svadasapura lyng n the vcnty of Japur, whch was the captal 5 of the Bhauma-Karas as well as a celebrated place of plgrmage Though we do not come across the name Vsnukara n the genealogy _ ; r 1. K.L.Barua, Early Hstory of Kamarupa. p.26.the epsode of Naraka s naratte.d n the Kalka Parana, Chanters 37-4-1. 2. K.L.Barua, Early Hstory of Kamaruna. p.27. A hll named Narakasura hll stll exsts near Gauhat.lt s a place of archaeologcal remans (JABS.Vol.XVI. 57)., j 3. Sarala Mahl.bha.rata. Adnarva. II,p.712 (Svanure hole Vsnukare adhkar: also see JBOES, Vol.XVI, pp.69-83* f 4. JBORS. Vol.XVI, pp.69-83. 5. See Chapter VIS. I

- 42 - of the Bhauma-Karas we cannot dsmss t as a mere magnaton of the poet. Ths name probably sgnfes some connecton between the Karas and Vsnu. As such the possblty of ;a connecton between the Kara rulers of Orssa and the rulers of Assam who clamed descent from Vsnu eannot be ruled out. The Hndol plate of dbhs- kara III states Laksmkara as the progentor of the Bhauma-Kara 1, famly. The word Laksmkara, when analysed, becomes Laksmkara / ' vasya sa and means Vsnu, Smlarly,the rulng famles of Assam trace ther orgn from Bhauma, the son of Vsnu. Ths further #. * j corroborates the connecton between the rulng famles of Orssa, j and Assam. Naraka s referred to n the Mahabharata as practsng p penance for the attanment of the exalted poston of Indra.That s why the Bhauma kngs have been compared wth Indra n ther records^. It may be noted here that some kngs of Assam who traced ther descent from the Bhauma dynasty of Naraka-Bhagada11a, also - 4 compared themselves wth Indra l.d.baner^ rghtly says, "Most probably they (Bhauma kngs of Orssa) also clamed descent from Naraka (son of Vsnu) lke the early kngs of Kamarupa^.R.P«Chanda j also says that the Mahayana remans of the Cuttack hlls may be attrbuted to a lne of Buddhst rulers who ruled over Utkala j durng the eghth century A.D. and traced ther descent from Naraka, Bhauma^.P.G.Chaudhury does not rule out the possblty of a eonnee-, 7 ton between the Bhamas of Kamarupa and those of Orssa*1. 2 K.L.Barua 3 4 5 6 7 1. JBOBS.Vol.XVI. PP.76ff. : " ~ " 2. Vananarva. 142. 3. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.17. 4. P.G.Ghoudhuryj Hstory of Cvlsaton of the people of Assam, p.1,28. 5. MjVol.ZV, p.2._ j 6. Art n Orssa JBSA., August, 1930. 7. P.G.Chaudhury, Hstory of Cvlsaton of the People of Assam, p.199*

-Reconsders that Salastambha, the kng of Assam, belonged to the dynasty of Bhagadatta1. 2 P.Bhattacharya * 4 5 6 says that kngs of ^ala- stambha*s dynasty proclamed themselves as descendants of Naraka O and Bhagadatta. The kngs of Salastambha*s dynasty, to whch Sr. Harsa belonged, s regarded as a collateral branch of the Bhauma dynasty whose rule ended wth Bhaskaravarman^. t wll not be out of place to state that the dynastc names Yarman and Kara were no doubt due to the crystallsaton of the name-endngs of all kngs of the Bhauma dynasty of Assam and the Bhauma dynasty of Orssa respectvely. The word Bhauma. when analysed becomes Bhaumeh anatvam.tasvah dam va and means two thngs, vz.,() belongng to earth,or beng on the earth as well as () epthet of Naraka. jthere s no reason why we wll not select the second meanng of t and explan the race of.the Bhauma kngs of Orssa* In the Ueulpur grant of Subhakara I, Ksemarkara s sad to be Bhaumanvavat. Smlarly,n the Hndol / - -1... charter of Subhakara III, the donor*s ancestors are depcted to be Bhaumanvava^. But n the Chauras plate of Svakara II the donor 6 s stated as Bhaumvasfra. The word Bhaumva, when analysed may sgnfy ()connecton wth Bhauma or () progeny of Bhauma or () same as Bhauma. We are nclned to beleve; that Bhaum.va of the Chauras plate s the same as Bhauma of the Neulpur and Hndol 1. K.L.Barua, Early Hstory of Kamaruna. p.107. 2, P.Ehattacharya, Kamaruna Sasanaval, p.19* P.G.Choudhury. Hstory of Cvlsaton of the neonle of Assam. p.485.! 1 1 : 4. EX, Vol.XY, p.1-8. I 5. JBQM> Vol.XVI, pp.69-83; R.D.Baner3, Hstory of Orssa,Yol.I. P.159* 6. JBOES, Vol.XIV, pp.293-298. j I

- 44 - plates, the addtonal suffx ya n the former s what n Sanskrt called "Svarthe". So all the three charters convey the meanng that the Bhauma-Kara kngs of Orssa belonged to the famly (or race or lneage) of Bhauma or Naraka. Hence they were connected wth the kngs of Assam who also clamed to have been born n the famly(or race or lneage) of Naraka or Bhauma. t In the Pasupat temple nscrpton of Nepal,Rajyamat,the queen of the Nepalese kng Jayadeva and the daughter of the Assamese kng Harsavarmadeva, has been descrbed as Bhagadattara. akula. a or 1 I a "descendant of Bhagadatta*s royal lne." In the Talcher plate of >ubhakara IV the donor has been descrbed as the fnal ncarnaton 2 of Bhagadatta. Thus the Bhauma kngs of Orssa, lke the Bhauma * '! 3 ' kngs of Assam,clamed ther descent from Bhagadatta. 1. IA.V01.IX, u.179: CII, Vol.III.pp.78fft K.L.BamaTEarly Hstory" ot Kfmarupa, p.1u7; S.K. Ghat ter j,, Place of Assam n the Hstory and Culture of Inda,pp.29-30.Bhagadatta, the son of Naraka,has been depcted n the Mahabhlrata as an Asura (Dronaparva,28,37-38] and as Mleehchhadhnatha (Sabhaearva. 14,14-)*j 2. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs.p.38. Kng Patoladeva of Glgt refers to have been born n the BhagadattavamsaCEl T Vol. XXX, p.227).n.p.chakravart says, "The kngs of Ptagjyotsa were n some way connected wth the regon n the north of Kasmr(Ibd. p.228).though he admts that the kngdom of the rulers of Pragjyotsa( Assam) mght not have extended to the west so as to embrace the north of Kasmr as Meghavahana, the kng od Kasmr.marred Amrtaprabha, the prncess of Assam,and Laltadtya, the kng of Kasmr,conquered the state of Assam (Ibd.) j 3. In the opnon of B.Chakravart, Rajltamat was not the daughter of the Kamarupa kng Harsadeva, and the kng mentoned n the nscrpton was an Orssa ruler as there s no specfc menton of the kng as the kng of Kamarupa (El,Vol.XIV,pp.1-6; JBQBS. Vol.XIV,p.293).R.C.Majumdar also contends that Harsadeva mght have belonged to Orssa (H.C.Ma^umdar, Hstory of Bengal,Vol.I, pp,85ff). P.C.Choudhury,however,mentons that, "the omsson of the name of Kamarupa cannot be held as a serous argument n favour of the dentfcaton of the kng as a n Orssa ruler" (P.C.Choudhury, Hstory of Cvlsaton of the People of Assam, pp.198-199). We agree wth hm nasmuch as the dentfcaton of Harsadeva wth a lttle, known monarch of Orssa s not supported by any genune evdence.

45, / In the Baragaon grant of Ratnapalavarman, Salastambha s 1 stated as Mlechchhadhnatha. The Hayungthal nscrpton of Harjavarman( the earlest ruler of Salastambha*s dynasty of whom any,! nscrpton has been found) states, "0 son of the Earth, your 2 descendants wll be known as Mlechchha." The word Mlechchha seems to denote the people who were outsde the pale of Indo-Aryan cvlsaton* It may be mentoned here that Kamarupa was known as Mlechchfas / 1 ' - desa."it s,therefore, very lkely**, says K.C.Pangrah, that Sr Harsa's famly n Assam and the Bhauma famly n Orssa orgnally 3 belonged to the same vgorous non-aryan trbe. R.D.Banerj also says, Kara kngs were descended from the non-aryan Asuras of Kamarupa. The mpact of non-aryan culture was probably responsble for the prevalence of the Dravdan cult of Chamunda n the Bhauma- 5 Kara perod.ther non-aryan orgn too explans the namng of ther 6 captal after Guha The oras'ast of the Kumurang plate of Dand mahadev has led H.Pandey to conclude that the Bhauma-Karas belonged to the lunar race of Ksatryas^ lke the Somavamss of Orssa. But he had msread Bhaumanvayat as Somanvayat and has drawn hs concluson 1. JASB.Vol.LXVII. Pt.1.pp.99 ff."after thus for several generatonst kngs of Naraka's dynasty had ruled the whole country,a great chef of the Mlechchhas. owng to, a turn of adverse fate,took possesson of the kngdom.ths s Salastambha". 2. P.Bhattacharya.Kamarupa Sasanaval«p.48. _ ^.K.C.Pangrah.Chronology of the Bhauma-Karas and Somavamss of Orssa, p.21. 4.1I,.Vol.XV, pp.1-8. ' 5. EI.Vol.,XXvII. p. 185: K. C.Pangrah.Archaeologcal Remans at Bhubaneswar. P.154. 6. Guha s dentcal wth Skanda (V.S.AgarwalT,Matsya Purana. a study. p,246) Skanda s not only an Aryan dety but also a non-aryan dety as the worshp of Skanda s "properly speakng a worshp of demons.matrs Tkaumars. pramatbas and others wth ther manfold fancful forms,looked upon as the destoroyers of men and chldren by varous dseases"(c.v.vadya,epc Inda.p.809; also see A.P. Karmarkar > The Relgons of Inda.0.180)Kaumar wth peacock mount s one of the Saotamatrka mages n the Vatala temple ascrbed to the. Bhauma age (See Chapter IX). 7. JBQRS,?ol., pp.564-577. '

46 - accordngly. On the bass of the name of a Bhauma Kng as Unmatta- smha, S.N.Trpath presumes that the Kara kngs were Ksatryas snce the ttle of smha s used by Ksatryas n Orssa^.The word smha should not be taken as a ttle of the name Unmatta.P.Banerjee has certanly commtted an error by sayng that there was a kng called Unmatta2. * Besdes 4 * 6 Unmattasmha was the surname of Svakara I The so called ttle of smha s not found to have been assocated wth the name of any other Bhauma kng. So we dscard the vew of B.Msra that smha or kesar was "the surname of the rulers of ths famly. The non-aryan Bfaaumas, however, came under the pale of the t Aryan cvlsaton and establshed relatonshp wth promnent 4 Ksatrya famles of the ancent Indan hstory.. In the Taleher / plate of SubhakaralV the donor has been descrbed as the fnal ncarnaton not only of Bhagadatta but also of ^harata and Bhagl- 5 ' ratha,who belonged to the group of sxteen famous Ksatrya kngs 6 of the Indan legends It proves that they concealed ther non-aryar! orgn by placng ther llustrous ancestor Bhagadatta n between 1. JBOBS. Vol.XTV, 300. 2. JASB?Letters), Vol.XVII, No.3, P.20. 3* B.Msra, Dynastes of Medeval Orssa, p.13. ' 4. Examples of rulers belongng to the lower castes and beng absorbed nto the Ksatrya fold are numerous ;n the ancent Indan hstory. Chandragupta Maurya, who accordng to the Jan tradtons was the son of a peacock tamer, hashbeen glorfed n medeval nscrptons as a descendant of the solar race(the dfferent vews regardng the castes of the Mauryas have been summarsed n K.C.Ojha1 s Orgnal Home and t he Famly of the Mauryas n the JGJBI Vol.IX,19!?1) Gupta kngs! whose ttle accordng to the Dharmasastra regulatons should make them Vasya, came to be connected toy matrmonal ajllance wth the Ksatrya L* fhavs and came to be descrbed as belongng to the Ksatrya race (H.C.Raychaudhury, Poltcal Hstory of Ancent Inda, p.258). j 5>. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.38. 6. F.E.Pargter, Ancent Indan Hstorcal Tradton, p.39*

- *7 ** 1 the two reputed Ksatrya kngs of the Puranas. So the order n whch the three monarchs have been mentoned n the above charter s qute n the ftness of thngs. In the lght 'of the above evdence we are nclned to dffer from the scholar who opnes that Bhagadatta, the glorous ancestor of the Bhauma-Karas had not been 2 mentoned n a proper way n the sad charter. To sum up the Bhauma-Karas belonged to Assam and mgrated ' to Orssa. How could t happen? We descrbe below such^ evdence whch s connected wth ther mgraton from Assam to Orssa. In the Pasupatl temple nscrpton Harsavarma, the kng of Assam, has been descrbed as the "Lord of Gauda, 0$ra,Kalhga, t Kosala and other lands or Gaudodrad-Kalnga-Kosalaoatg a,gat has unfortunately dsmssed t as an nstance of poetc exaggera- Oj. ton ndulged by panegyrsts of early Hndu kngs. But such a t! statement n an authentc nscrpton cannot be lghtly brushed asde. If we calculate from the date of the destructon of Bhaskara-. I varman* s dynasty by Salastambha n seventh decade of the seventh % t - \ century' A.D. Sr Harsa of Assam can be regarded as a contemporary of Jayadeva of Nepal. P.C.Choudhury places hs eventful regn ^. 6 / - between A.D.725-750. The conquests attrbuted to Sr Harsa are more 1. The Talcher plate of Svakara III probably mg&es a reference ~ to the connecton of the Bhauma-Karas of Orssa wth Inda. (The name Bharatavarsa s. derved from the kng Bharata- Brahmanda Purana. IIj 14-,60-62; Tsnu Parana.1 II, 1,28-32), the Bhaumas of Assam and the Gangas of Mysore (The Garga came down from the heaven to the earth due to the [efforts of the kng Bhaglratha and s known as Bhaglrath after hm(brahmanda Purana,III, 54-, 4-8-511 F.E.Pargter, Ancent Indan Hstorcal Tradton, p.273}fh.5) j 2. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma kngs. p.82.; 3. IA,Vol.IX, p.179> K.L.Barua, Early Hstory of Kamaruna.-p.107. 4^. E.Gat, Hstory of Assam, p.30. 5. JABS, Vol.XII, pt^1. 6. P.C.Chouclhury, Hstory of Cvlsaton of tfae People of Asan. p.198.

- 48 - than a mere probablty. He s not only credted wth the conquests of Gau$a, 0#ra, Kal&ga and Ko^ala but also depcted as havng "crushed the heads of hs hostle kngs wth club-lke tusks of hs ruttng elephants. "Hs perod", says P.C.(Jhoudhury,"wtnessed remarkable achevements n the hstory of the land".^bhaskaravarman» 3 the kng od Kamarupa extended hs sway upto Nalanda. Hstorcal I evdence seems to support the vew that the hol^ of Kamarupa over 1 North Bengal was not lost n the regns of Bhaskaravarman and hs successors. Of course,there was a perod of declne of the power and prestge of Kamarupa n the west durng the regns of the weak /, / _ successors of Salastambha. But soon t was revved by Sr Harsa,who made a new bd for supremacy by conquerng new Regons. N.N.Dasgupta observes,"we must admt that the statement n the Pas'upat nscrpton about the lordshp of Sr Harsa over Gau a and the Southern provnces s not an nstance of poetcal exaggeraton by hs son- n-law's panegyrst.,,f Some portons of Bengal were under Kamarupa from the tme of Bhaskaravarman to that of Har^avarman. R.D.Banerj contends that Harsavarman* s hold over Bengal mght have helped hm n hs conquests of 0$ra, Kalftga, Ko^ala and'other lands.k.l.barua says,"it s not at all mprobable that about 80 or 90 years after hs (Bhaskara) death, the terrtores acqured by hm havng been thoroughly consoldated by hs successors,sr Haraadeva was powerful enough to conquer new terrtores towards the south and the west, j 7 n whch two drectons only the kngdom was capable of extenson.' 1. IA, Vol.IX p.17.9; 11, Vol.III, pp.178ff. 2. Indan Culture. VolII, pp.37-45; also see T.Waters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels n Inda, Vol.I, p.348. 3. P.C.Choudhury, Hstory of Cvlsaton of the People of Assam. p.198. 4. Indan Culture, Vol.II, pp.44-45. 5. P.L.Paul, Early Hstory of Bengal, pp.29-32. 6. MASB, Vol.V.,pp.43 ff. ; 7. K.L.Barua.Early Hstory of Kamarupa. p.113.

- - He mght have conquered the above terrtores after the rads of Ya^ovarman of Kanauj and Laltadltya of Kasmr over the Eastern Indan countres. B.P.Snha says,"after the dsrupton of the Gupta empre, consequent upon the lghtenng rad of Ya^ovarman, Gauda may have come under Ear sadeva."1 The re s nothng surprsng about hs conquest of Odra, whch was* not only adjacent to Gauda but also n a lamentable state of affars lke Gauda* It s just possble that the chaos and confuson n Bengal and Orssa, 2 * spoken of by Taranatha, exsted n these two states pror to the nvason of Sr Harsa. We are persuaded to beleve wth R.P.Chanda that "Sr Harsa, after conquerng Odra, establshed probably a 5 relatve of hs named Ksemahkaradeva as the ruler of Orssa." K.C. Pangrah says, "A branch of the rulng famly of Assam, whch thus I / appears to have been establshed n Orssa durng Sr Harsa's h nvason, came to be known as the Bhauma or Kara famly. K.L.Barua also beleves that the Bhauma kngs of Orssa were related to Harsa- deva of Kamarupa and that Ksemendra (Ksemankara) was placed on the I Cj throne by Harqadeva after hs conquest of Orssa. P.C.Choudhury also contends that the Bhauma-Karas of Orssa were establshed t»y Harsa- 6' > varmadeva. It wll not be out of place to menton here that the. } orgn of the Majhara dynasty, that ruled Kalnga contemporaneously ' C+ tx I c+ rr CD c+ ca p <+ rr P 3p tx CD - B <0 -. H* 3 CD 3 c+ <H o 0) -p M H CJ -p o d -p p Tl p p a ca rt M w H 3 3 > H* O P >tj m * <{ _ to h j P CQ d r o r - < j p P w O F " r o O'* j 3 H*H3 gj l_ rr p *0 019 H P «d!x H H < <ft* h rop O'* _ h. rop H'd P-* c+ O O' CD P P* CD d CD P ca d* Pct- CD O a> ca X/ o o3 O* OH P c+ CD..th O* VJ c+ rr a> d a> o P I-S pq HlPk w d t CMrO J- s OnVI»

- 50 - n whch the mperal ttles of the Bhauma rulers of Orssa are mentoned n ther records. Hone of the Bhauma-Kara plates,that have come to lght so far, speaks of any mperal ttle of Ksemar-! kara, the founder of the Bhauma-Kara rule n Orssa. Nor a sngle land grant of the frst kng of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty has so far been dscovered. In the Chauras plate of Svakara II, the donor s grand father Svakara I s mentoned as Maharaja.1 In the Dhenkanal plate of Trbhuvana mahadev I, Unmattake sar (Svakara I) s also o / descrbed as Maharaja. In the Neulpur plate of Subhakara I,the donor hmself s depcted as Maharaja.-3 The humble feudatory ttle t /! ' of Maharaja shows that both Svakara I and Subhakara I, the son and grandson of Ksemahkara respectvely, dd not clam any mperal dgnty and acknowledged the suzeranty possbly of the royal house of Assam. On the bass of the Neulpur plate, R.D.Baner;) rghtly / U- beleves that the donor, Subhakara I was a feudatory ruler. But n / / the Chauras plate of Subhakara II, Subhakara I, the donor s father, _ / tx has been styled as Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhraja Paramesvar. 't * / s nterestng to note that though Subhakara I styled hmself wth an humble feudatory ttle n hs own record, he s credted-wth full mperal ttles n hs own son s record. It seems that the poltcal status of the Bhauma-Kara famly of Orssa vs-a-vs / the royal famly of Assam mproved n the later part of Subhakara I regn. We are nclned to suggest that Ksemahkara, the frst kng of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty, who lad the foundaton of the Bhauma 1* B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.8. 2. Ibd. p.2n 3. SI, Vol.XY, pp.-8.. If. El, Yol.XV, p.2; IHQ.Yol.Xml. p.21^f. 5. JBOBS. Vol.XIV, pp.292-306, JKHBS. Yol.II, p.-103. I V. 1 h < ] '5

- 51. - _ rule n Orssa, ruled as a vassal of Sr Harsa, the kng of Assam. It s just possble that after the death of the sad Assamese monarch, the next two rulers of the Bhauma-K ra!dynasty,svakara I (throughout the whole of hs regn) and Subhakara I(throughout the early part of hs regn) enjoyed a sem-ndependent states. It s1 * 3 4 agan qute possble that Subhakara I, n the later part of hs regn, completely threw off the Assamese yoke ard became the paraj mount soveregn of the Bhauma-Kara kngdom of Orssa. To sum up, the Bhauma-Karas, who started ther poltcal career as feudatores of s Harsa and hs successors, gradually clmbed the mperal ladder to acheve the status of paramountcy. P.Bhattacharya has contended that Sr Harsa mght have establshed hs sphere of 1 nfluence over Odra only temporarly. Thus the establshment of /.. Sr Harsa* s power n Orssa was the orgn of the Bhauma-Kara rule n ths terrtory. In order to justfy hs theory B.Msra ponts out that the Bhauma rulers of Orssa professed Buddhsm whereas ther counter- 2 3 parts of Assam followed Savsm. H.Mahtab supports ths theory., The Bhaumas were qute alen to Orssa. The early kngs of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty probably gave up ther, ancestral fath of Savsm and adopted Buddhsm, whch was the predomnant relgon n Orssa at that tme, n order to be acceptable to the bulk of j the people of Orssa. Smlar nstances are not rare n Indan hstory. The ^alodbhavas, who were devout halvas, are beleved as the ancestors of the dalendras, who were devout Buddhsts.^ 1. P.Bhattacharya. Kamaruna >asanavall. p.23. "" 2s* B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma kngs, p.82.: 3. H.Mattab, Hstory of Orssa. Vol.I, p.132. 4. R.D.Banerj, Hstory of Orssa.Vbl.I.b. 1^1 :R.'C.Ma.umdar.Suvarnadvpa, Vol.II,Pt.I, pp.22^-226. j j

- 52 - In the Bhauma-Kara perod Tantrsm crept nto Bhddhsm, and "Buddhst tantrsm s Savsm n Buddhst garb."1 In other words, Buddhsm n ths perod closely approxmated Brahmansm, and Savsm was a form of the latter. That the Bhauma-Karas dd not completely dscard ther ancestral relgon of Savsm s evdent / not only from ther constructon of Sava shrnes and ther lberal denaton to Sava ascetcs, but also from the bull symbol on ther 2 - seals. In fact, under the Bhauma-Karas, as under the Palas, the / cults of Sva and Buddha were fused together. Hence the opnons of B.Msra and H.Mahtab that the Bhaumas of Orssa and those of Assam were followers of Buddhsm and Savsm respectvely,cannot deter us from establshng a connecton between the Bhaumas of these two states. Taranatha, whle gvng a pcture of the state of Buddhsm n the eghth century A.D. states that Lupa, the head of a lne of Tantrk teachers, ntated Darka, the kng of Odvsa (Orssa), 3 nto Tantrk rtes. As the perod of whch the Tbetan hstoran speaks synchronsed wth the early days of the Bhauma-Kara rule n Orssa, "the kng of; Odvsa" of hs account may be dentfed wth one of the early Bhauma-Kara rulers, of Orssa. So the Tbetan tradton most probably attests to the change of relgon of Kseman- kara, the earlest kng of the Bhauma-Kara dynasty. In ths connecton we may pont out the vew of D.C,Srcar wth regard to the change of fath of Anantavarman Chodagangadeva of the Gahga dynasty of Orssa. He says, "The Gahga kng, lke hs predecessors, was at T. J.Hastngs (ed.), Encyclopaeda of Relgon and Ethcs.Vol.XIlT" P.1936. 2. See Chapter DC. ; 3. R.C.Majumdar (ed.).age of Imperal Kanau.T p.268.

- 53 - frst a Sava, but later became a Vasnava, and the annexaton of the Pur regon to hs empre may have had somethng to do A wth ths change of hs relgous fath. We know that As'oka and Kanska altered ther personal faths after the conquests c Kalhga and Magadha respectvely. So nstances of kngs alterr ther personal relgons are not rare n Orssan as well as n Indan hstory. As such, the change of the fath of Ksemankara was n all probablty due to the conquest of 0$ra by the Bhaur of Assam. Mahayana Buddhsm was a vgorous and dynamc relgon from the begnnng of ts formaton. Ksemankara, lke Kanska a Menander, appears to have embraced Mahayana Buddhsm n order t utlse t as an nstrument to unfy the dverse racal element n a common bond. It s qute nterestng to note that the Bhauma kngs o Orssa addressed orders n one way and those of Assam n the ot and that the mprecatory verses'of the Orssan Bhauma plates ar not found n the Assamese Bhauma plates. It proves how quckly the Bhauma-Karas adopted themselves to the exstng condtons of Orssa. They mght have followed the system of addressng orders and wrtng verses n a way that were n vogue n Orssa after settlng n Orssa and severng ther poltcal tes wth Assam. There was a close cultural relaton between Orssa and Assam n ancent and early medeval perods. The man detes o the sect, Kamaksa and lagannatha, respectvely of Assam and Or were establshed on the spots bearng the dentcal names Nlac 71 El, Vol.XXVIII, p.241. 2. B.Msra, Orssa under the Bhauma Kngs, p.82.

1. Ganga at Dah P. Assam, 2, Ganga at Rat Orssa

The Hndu Tantrk text, Kalka Purana mentons Odra (Orssa) 1 and Kamarupa (Assam) as two glorous seats of Tantrk cult. The Buddhst Tantrk text Heva. ra Tantra^ and Sadhana Mala^ refer to Odyana or Uddyana (Orssa) and Kamaksa or Kamarupa (Assam) as two prmary centres of Vajrayana. Besdes other Tar J, cf sfc. works enttled Rudraya Mala, Kub.ka Tantra^ / also menton hot Assam and Orssa as prncpal seats of Tantrksm. Thus n the f doman of relgon both Assam and Orssa were reputed as prme! pthas of Tantrksm. It wll not be out of place to menton t that Lupa was one of the eghty-four Tantrk monks who trave] 6 the length and breadth of both Orssa and Assam. Agan, the < of Assam has been rendered holy by the celebrated temple of K whch s a name of Durga and the Bhauma queen Trbhuvana mahac of Orssa has been credted n her charter to have ascended tl: -7 throne lke Katyayan,whch s also a name of Durga.. In the realm of art and archtecture there s evdence the mutual nfluence. K.C.Pangrah refers to two mages of Gs one found at Bah Parvata n the Tezpur dstrct of Assam (Phc graph 1) and the other at Batnagr n the Cuttack dstrct of Orssa (Photograph 2) and ponts out that those two mages pos O close resembalance stylstcally and conographcally. He fu J l mentons that the Assamese specmen s earler than the Orssa by about three centures, but yet the contnuty; of the tradt 1. Kalka Purana, p.410. j 2. P.C.Bagch, Studes n the Tantras. I, p.38(quoted). 3. Sadhana Mala. 7ol.II, p.37«! Tantrasara, pp.521-522 (quoted). J, 5. Pranatoaan Tantra, p.23*f (quoted).! 6. H.Mahtab. Od^S IthSsa. 7ol.II. no.564-565. 7. JBOBS. 7ol.II. pp.vl9 ff. 8. K.C.Pangrah, Chronology of the Bhauma-Karas and Somavams of Orssa, pp.21-22. ~"1

3. Yamuna at Dah Parvata, Ass 4. Yamuna at Orssa 5. Ganga at Orssa Museum, Museum,Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar.

- 55-1 has been remarkably preserved n the latter. We- feel tempted to suggest that the oonographc features of the mages of Yamuna and Ganga, dscovered at Dah Parvata (photographs 2 and 3) also closely resemble those of ther prototypes, dscovered at Bhubaneswar, preserved n the Orssa Museum and assgned to the nnth century A.D.- (photographs 4 and 5). Evdently'the tradton of art exhbted by the aforesad Orssan specmens must have come from Assam. There was also a close poltcal contact between Orssa and Assam as early as the days of the Mahabharata. After the death / ' of Srutayudha and hs sons, the Ealnga army found no other leader of the royal blood, as the royal dynasty of Kalhga was completely annhlated n the battle. Bhagadatta, the kng afkamarupa, led the 2 Kalnga army for sometmes, The evdence cted above leads us to assume that the Bhauma- Karas of Orssa haled from Assam.1 2 \ 1. K.C, Pangrah, Chronology of -the Bhauma-Karas and Somavamss of Orssa, 'p.22.' 2. BhTsmaoarva. 87, 3854.