A History of Assam c8.42

c8.42

It is claimed by the scribes of this dynasty that they were descended from Narak and Bhagadatta, but in the copper-plate inscriptions of the Pāl kings, who in their turn put forward the same claim, they are referred to as Mlechchhas, or non-Hindus. The explanation doubtless is that both dynasties were of aboriginal origin and that, when they rose to power, they were converted to Hinduism and fitted out with a noble ancestry by the Brāhmans, who have always been adepts in procuring for themselves protection, favour and power by inducing the aboriginal chiefs to enter the fold of Hinduism on the fiction that they are descended from some god of the Hindu pantheon or some potentate in Hindu Mythology. In more recent times the Rajas of Rāni and Dimarua have in this way been connected with the dynasty of Bhagadatta,* and the Koch, Kachāri and Manipuri Rajas have also been provided by their priests with a divine or a heroic lineage.†