History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.190

c11.190

XLIV. *Ka-mo-lu-po* or Kāmarūpa, i.e., modern Assam. Yuan Chwang informs us that “the reigning king, who was a Brahman by caste, and a descendant of Nārāyaṇadeva, was named Bhāskaravarman, his other name being Kumāra. The sovereignty had been transmitted in the family for one thousand generations.”² He was in great fear of his powerful neighbour, Śaśāṅka, and this was probably the reason why he so readily extended the hand of friendship to Harṣa at the initial stage of his campaigns. Dr. R. K. Mookerji, on the other hand, affirms that “the king of distant Kāmarūpa (Assam) offered him allegiance of his own accord and was anointed king by his liege lord.”³ But I find no authority whatsoever for this assertion. Can the conclusion of a treaty by any stretch of imagination be interpreted as “offering allegiance of his own accord”? The learned Professor finds support for the second part of his statement in a dubious passage occurring in the *Harṣacarita*, viz., “*Atra devena abhiṣiktaḥ Kumāraḥ*.”⁴ To my mind, however, it seems to have no bearing upon Bhāskaravarman, for Bāṇa calls him “*Prāgjyotiṣeśvara*” or king of Assam,⁵ at the time when negotiations were opened by his messenger Haṃsavega. I venture to suggest that the passage most probably refers to Mādhavagupta,¹ the youthful friend of Harṣa, to whom he delegated his authority over Magadha. This is evident if the testimony of Bāṇa is taken in conjunction with that of the Aphsad inscription.² This devolution of political power was perhaps a reward for the services that Mādhavagupta had rendered to Harṣa during his early troubles. Or, he was stationed there as a bulwark against any possible encroachment by Śaśāṅka, who had escaped without being punished and was yet powerful.