Kamarupa Sasanavali

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This new edition of the KAMARUPASASANAVALI is a fially different Volume from that of Mahamahopadhyaya Padmanath Bhattacharyya Vidyavinoda as it contains fifteen new inscriptions, both copperplate and rock-cut, in addition to the twelve inscriptions included in the pioneering work of the same title by the Vidyavinoda. The fifteen newly discovered inscriptions, incorporated in this Volume have certain materials that will throw some new light on the history of ancient Assam and will, it accepted notions of Indian History. These materials, when properly understood and interpreted, will reveal the preeminence which Kamarupa attained in the history and geographical map of ancient India.

A milestone in epigraphical study based on the hitherto discovered copper-plate and the rock-cut inscriptions of ancient Assam, this Volume is of immense value to scholars and students devoted to the serious studies of Assam's past history and culture.

The Volume provides not only the original texts of twenty seven royal inscriptions of the Kamarupa Kings but also grammatical notes on the texts, their Assamese and English translations, and scholarly a General Introduction.

The vital importance of archaeological evidence like epigraphy in the proper study and authentic reconstruction of our country's hoary past can hardly be overemphasized. In the absence of any system of keeping written records of important events in the dim past, it is on such evidence that historical scholars rely while trying to rediscover the ancient history of a country. It is from this point of view that the present volume com- prising the hitherto discovered copper-plate and rock-cut inscriptions of Kamarupa or ancient Assam acquires immense historical value.

Thanks to the scholarly devotion and assiduous labour of several his- torians and archaeologists, a good number of writs of land grants issued by the Kings of Kamarupa has come to light. The discovery, deciphering and current interpretation of these writs or inscriptions have engaged the attention and exertions of many a scholar. To all these scholars we owe a word of gratitude for making these valuable source-materials available to us. For, without these, the correct and authenticated history of ancient Assam could not have been written.

The title, Kamarupaśāsanāvali, immediately brings to our mind the pioneering work done by Mahamahopadhyaya Padmanath Bhatta- charyya Vidyavinoda (1868-1938) in this particular field. It was he who first compiled and edited some twelve writs of land grants issued by the Kamarupa Kings from Bhaskara Varman to Dharmapala under the title of Kamarapasasanavali. Of course, this first edition of the Kamarüpašāsanavali contained the texts of only twelve inscriptions together with their tran- slations and préfaces in Bengali. Consequently, the Vidyavinoda's edition of the Kamarupasāsanāvalī was limited in its contents and scope.

The present volume, though carrying the same title, deserves to be treated as a substantially new compendium of the inscriptions in that some fifteen new inscriptions which had come to light at a later stage following the publication of Vidyavinoda's Kamaripalasanavali have been incor- porated in it. The Editor of the present collection, Dr. Dimbeswar Sarma, has not only incorporated the original texts of 27 royal inscriptions, but has also written grammatical notes on the texts of the inscriptions, has made the English and Assamese renderings of the texts and added a scholarly General Introduction.

We are grateful to Dr. Sarma for the immense pains he has taken in editing and translating this epigraphical collection which, we are sure, will have its well-deserved recognition from scholars all over the country.

**Contents and Sample Pages**