Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of Bengali Language and Literature c6.s5: 5. Dharmamangal-Poems

History of Bengali Language and Literature c6.s5

Language
English

5. Dharmamangal-Poems

c6.s5.1

The authors of Dharmamangal-poems, written in honour of the god Dharma, unanimously agree in declaring Mayur Bhatta to be the earliest writer on the subject. The poem which is said to have furnished inspiration to the succeeding poets of the Dhurma-cult was called the Hākanda Purāṇa. Babu Nagendranath Vasu considers the Çunya Purāṇa by Rāmāi Pandit to be identical with the Hākanda Purāṇa.* But we do not agree with this theory, as the subject treated in most of the Dharmamangal-poems is quite different from what we find in the Çunya Purāṇa. Besides, the name Hākanda Purāṇa, is evidently associated with the superhuman sacrifices of Lāu Sen at Hākanda, and of this song Ramāi Pandit was not certainly the apostle.

c6.s5.2

Mayur Bhatta’s time is not exactly known. In all probability he flourished a little before the Mahammadan conquest. Sītā Rām, the author of

c6.s5.3

Mayur Bhatta.

c6.s5.4

| 20. | Upāsanā Paṭala | } by Premdās |
| 21. | Ānanda Bhairava | by Maṭhura Dās |
| 22. | Ānanda Laharī | by Manharadās |
| 23. | Dīnamani Chandrodaya | |
| 24. | Siddhānta Chandrodaya | |
| 25. | Amrita Rasa Vallī | |
| 26. | Vaiṣṇavāmrita | } by Mukunda Das |
| 27. | Sārātsāra Kārlkā | |
| 28. | Sādhan Opāya | |
| 29. | Rāga Ratnāvali | by Jodunaṭh Dās |
| 30. | Toṭva Katha | by Jagat Kriṣṇa Dās |
| 31. | Yogāgama | by Rasamaya Dās |
| 32. | Bhandataṭva Sār | by Rasik Dās |
| 33. | Rati Vilās | by Rādhā Ballav Dās |
| 34. | Sahajaṭatva | |
| 35. | Dīpakojval | } by Vamçidās |
| 36. | Nikunja Rahasya | |
| 37. | Sidharati Kārika | attributed to Sanātana |
| 38. | Vivarṭṭa Vilas | by one who subscribes |
| | | himself as a desciple of |
| | | Kriṣṇadās Kavirāj. |

c6.s5.5

∗ See Preface to the Çunya Purāṇa.

c6.s5.6

a Dharmamangal, who lived early in the fifteenth Century, refers to Mayur Bhatta's songs, as already having grown obsolete and partially lost by lapse of years, in his time. Mayura Bhatta who was admittedly the pioneer in the field and deservedly very popular, preceded Sita Ram by at least 3 or 4 centuries. We learn from an account given in Manik Ganguli's poem that Mayura Bhatta belonged to a respectable Brahman family of Bengal.

c6.s5.7

These poems were originally Buddhistic in spirit but they passed through great changes in the hands of the Hindu priests. Most of the Dharmamangal-poems give a description of the heroic achievements of Lau Sen, the King of Maina who flourished in the 11th century. I briefly summarise the tale below:—

c6.s5.8

The story of Dharmamangal.

c6.s5.9

In the reign of Gaudecvara, son of Dharmapal II, King of Gauda, there lived one Soma Ghosa, who was originally a menial servant in his palace. He ingratiated himself into the confidence of the Emperor and secured for himself a landed property at Dhakur on the river Ajay. The son of Soma Ghosa was Ichai Ghosa who was a great warrior and a devout worshipper of the Goddess Kali. He gradually asserted his independence and inspite of all remonstrance offered by his father, declared war against the Emperor of Gauda. The Emperor sent several expeditions to put down the revolt but all failed. Karna Sen, King of Mainagada, a feudatory chief, was summoned to help the Emperor in this crisis. Karna Sen, accompanied by his four sons, went to the battle field, but was vanquished in war and all his sons were killed.

c6.s5.10

He returned to his capital to witness the death of his queen who succumbed to grief owing to the loss of her sons. Karṇa Sen, who was now old, went to Gauḍa under these overwhelming bereavements, with a view to meet the monarch and acquaint him with the dire loss that had befallen him in his expedition. The Emperor of Gauḍa was naturally moved, to hear the sad tale, and tried to think how best he could soothe his friend in the despair thus brought upon him by his fidelity to the throne of Gauḍa. The Emperor had a sister-in-law, a young maiden of remarkable beauty. He asked Karṇa Sen to marry her. Karṇa Sen, as we have said, ‘was already declined in the vale of years’; but he obeyed the royal command, and married the beautiful maiden, whose name was Rañjāvatī. Lāu Sen, the hero of Dharmamangal, was born to this married couple. It is said that his mother Rañjāvatī went through various ordeals and superhuman sacrifices in order to propitiate Dharma, one of these being self-destruction at the stake, when she was to be restored to life by the mercy of the god, who was pleased to grant her the boon of a son.

c6.s5.11

With the help of Lāu Sen, the Emperor of Gauḍa succeeded in putting down Karpurdhala King of Kāmrup (Assam) who had rebelled against him. He also sent Lāu Sen to punish King Haripāl who had refused the old Emperor's proposals to marry his young and beautiful daughter Kāneḍa. A battle ensued, in which the army was led to the field by the lovely princess herself. The encounter between her and our hero was sharp and animated, but she could not long withstand the superior skill and heroism of Lāu Sen, and King Haripāl was ultimately forced to submit. Kāneḍā was, however, given in marriage to Lāu Sen with the consent of the Emperor. But Lāu Sen's great achievement, was the conquest of Dhākur. Ichhāi Ghoṣa, who had baffled all attempts of the Emperor to bring him to submission, by destroying the vast armies sent at various times for the purpose, was killed by Lāu Sen in a pitched battle.

c6.s5.12

Besides these historical events, the poems give accounts of very mean plots and machinations to kill Lāu Sen, by Māhudya,—the brother-in-law and prime minister of the Emperor of Gauḍa. Lāu Sen was Māhudya's nephew, being his sister's son. The marriage of his sister Rañjāvatī with Karṇa Sen, who was old and decrepit, had not been approved of by him and though it had been celebrated under the orders of the Emperor, yet her brother tried his best to dissuade Rañjā from going to Maynā-gaḍa with her husband. Rañjā did not listen to her brother's counsel, but firmly told him, that as Karṇa Sen was now her lord,—young or old, it mattered not to her,—she was bound to follow him wherever he might go. In great anger Māhudya cursed his sister, saying that no child would be born to her. Hence when her son was actually born, and prince Lāu Sen grew to be a handsome young hero with courage and spirit for any enterprise, a deep seated rage rankled in his uncle's bosom. There are hundreds of incidents in the poems, describing the plots to assassinate Lāu Sen formed by Māhudya and last though not least was a command issued by the Emperor of Gauḍa at the instigation of the prime minister, calling upon Lāu-Sen to go to Hākanda and fulfil certain extraordinary conditions for the propitiation of the god Dharma. These involved a severe course of penances, and required that the prince should make the sun rise from the west. If he should not be able to satisfy the King by this, he was to lose his head. When Lāu Sen had gone to Hākanda on this strange mission, Māhudya led an army to Maynā-gaḍa and laid siege to his capital. The brave and heroic sacrifices of Lokhā Dumānī, wife of Kālu Doma, and those of his son Çaka, with the wonderful spirit of devotion to truth shown by Kālu in the sacrifice of his life at this crisis,—are graphically described by all the poets of Dharma-maṅgala. The trials and temptations which beset Lāu Sen in his early youth,—the court of Surikshya, the coquettish queen,—the manners of Nayānī, the lewd Vārui woman, are all full of interest for us as shedding light on various points of domestic and court-life as it prevailed in the Bengal of those days. Lāu Sen eventually comes out triumphant, by the favour of Dharma, and by dint of his wonderful devotion and strength of character.

c6.s5.13

Such, briefly, is the subject-matter of the Dharmamaṅgal-poems. The subject is an historical one. The ruins of Lāu Sen's palace may still be seen at Maynā-gaḍa in Tamaluk. The fort of the great Ichhāi Ghoṣa, who offered a fierce resistance to the Emperor of Gauḍa in the 11th century, is also lying in ruins on the banks of the Ajay in the district of Bāṅkurā. The temple of Kālī called Çyām-rupā, worshipped by Ichhāi, is also to be seen in that place, which is still full of the tradition of the prowess and heroic deeds of the glorious rebel.

c6.s5.14

The historical aspects of the poems.

c6.s5.15

The image of Dharma Thākur in the form of a tortoise, and a temple dedicated to it by Lāu Sen, may be seen in Maynā-gaḍa. In the list of the most prominent Indian Emperors of the Kali Yuga, furnished by our household almanacs, the name of Lāu Sen occurs along with those of Rājāh Yudhiṣṭhira, Mahīpāl and Ākbar. Haripāl, against whom Lāu Sen fought, lent his name to his capital in Simuliā on the river Brāhmanī. The ruins of the outer courts of his palace, called the Bāhir-Khanda, are still to be found in this village of Haripāl. The river Brāhmanī, on which it once stood, has, however, been completely silted up. Old Simuliā is now indicated by Simul-gaḍa, which represents the once-fortified portion of the capital of Haripāl.

c6.s5.16

That the names Lui Chandra, Māhudyā, Lohatā, Jāllān-Çekar, Kaneḍā, Kalingā and Samolā are those of historical personages, appears from their very antiquated Prākrita forms. They could not have been invented by any poet within the last seven hundred years. The refined classical taste of the poets of the Renaissance period would not have permitted them to adopt these names in their poems if they had not been historical.

c6.s5.17

These rustic epics of Dharmamangala were recited and sung by rural folk in early times, and as such can not perhaps claim any high literary merit. But they are full of valuable references to the period before the Mahammadan conquest, and as our knowledge of that period is scanty, they possess an undoubted interest for the student of history.

c6.s5.18

It appears from them that the Emperor of Gauḍa, styled ‘পঞ্চগৌড়েশ্বর’ King of the five Gauḍas, or ‘lord of the five Indies,’ as Beal has translated it, was the actual sovereign-head of Bengal, Orissa and Kāmarupa. The kings of Cooch Behār, Āssām, Bārendra Deça, Shollipur, Kainjhorā, Simulyā, Maina-gaḍa, Doluipur and other places, were all his vassals, and assembled under his banner at his summons. The royal seat of the kings of Gauḍa, was at Ramāti, which is an abbreviation of the Ramāvātī mentioned in the copper-plate inscription of Madan Pāl. This was either an earlier name, or a part of the city of Gauḍa. We also find, in the feudal organisation of the Empire, that Domas and Caṇḍālas formed the main personal army of the emperors and their devotion to the King furnishes the poets with many extraordinary examples of courage and heroism.

c6.s5.19

The extent of the kingdom of the Emperors of Gauḍa.

c6.s5.20

We have read of the Bāra-bhuñās or twelve ‘lords of the land’ of Bengal, who wielded great power in the country during Mahammadan times. But the custom of having twelve sub-lords attached to a paramount court, did not originate in India during the Mahammadan period. It is one of the oldest institutions of the Aryans. In the codes of Manu and Çukrāchāryya, we find references to Dvādaça Maṇḍaleçvara, which show that a great empire used to be divided into twelve subdivisions, or provinces each under its own chief, who was bound to serve the emperor, to attend his court and to acknowledge him as his feudal overlord. The *Dodecapolis* of the Greeks corresponds to this institution. During the reign of Darius,

c6.s5.21

Bara-bhuñās.

c6.s5.22

these twelve lords became so powerful as to assert their independence and cause considerable trouble to the State. The custom of appointing twelve chiefs attached to the Darbār is even now prevalent in various States in Rājputnā, and this is also the practice in the court of the Mahārāja of Hill Tipperā, which retains some of the most ancient usages of early Hindu Kings.* In all the ballads of Dharmamangal we find frequent mention of these twelve lords, who are described as discharging important political functions in the court of the emperors of Gauḍa. They would appear to have been the pillars of the state, and in the confidence and honour with which they were treated at court, seem to have been second only to the Prime minister and to the feudatory chiefs. Certain functions were theirs which no one else could perform. At the time of the king's coronation, for instance, it was their privilege to pour on his head the sacramental water of the abhiseka. At the time of marriage of the emperor or his eldest son, they had the right of garlanding the newly-married couple.

c6.s5.23

The descriptions of the royal courts, with which these poems abound, give us glimpses of important administrative forms prevalent during the Hindu period of Indian history, though subsequent writers did not fail to introduce some features of the Mahammadan Darbār in their descriptions.

c6.s5.24

∗ For example, it is customary with the Tippera Rajas to enquire if any person dwelling in the Raj, has not had his daily meal before the Raja breaks his own fast, which he does at a very late hour of the day. This practice which, no doubt, originated from highly humane principles, has been reduced to a mere formal observance.

c6.s5.25

Mayura Bhatta, as we said, was the earliest writer of Dharmamangal and probably lived in the twelfth century. After him, came Khelārām, Mānik Gāngulī, Ruprām, Rāmachanadra, Çyām Pandit, Rāmdās Ādaka, Sahadeva Chakravartī, Ghanarām and other writers, who gradually Hinduised the Buddhistic tales originally written to glorify Dharmaṭhākur. We shall notice their works in a subsequent chapter.

c6.s5.26

The chief writers of Dharmamangal.

c6.s5.27

6. The ballads and songs in honour of some of the Pāl Kings.

c6.s5.28

In Chaitanya Bhāgabata, a Bengali work of great authority with the Vaiṣṇavas, the author Vrindāvan Dās (born 1507 A.D.) refers to the great favour in which the ballads in praise of some of the Pāl Kings were held in Bengal. The copperplate-inscription of Madan Pāl corroborates the truth of this statement so far as Mahīpāl was concerned. The inscription says that the valourous and chivalric career of Mahīpāl, who was like a second Çiva, formed a favourite theme for popular songs in Bengal. We have an old Bengali saying “For the husking of rice in the mortar, the songs of Mahīpāl!” Later, when Çaivaite ideas became fashionable, the name oi Çiva was substituted for that of Mahipal. All these things go to show that the Buddhistic monarchs of Bengal, about whom no chronicler came forward to write biographical or historical accounts,—whom the Brāhmanic school, while eulogising a Ballāla Sen or a Lakṣmaṇa Sen beyond all measure, completely ignored,—must have left indelible marks on the popular mind by the greatness of their character and public works. Immense tanks, for instance, in the Districts of

c6.s5.29

The popularity of the Pāl Kings.

c6.s5.30

Dinājpur and Rungpur, still attest the philanthropic spirit by which the Pāl-Kings endeared themselves to the millions of subjects over whom they ruled.

c6.s5.31

The popular songs in honour of the Pāl Kings were, no doubt, composed shortly after their death. The shape in which we find them now, however, is certainly not so old. The language has been considerably modernised, and here, as in the case of the Çuyna Purāṇa, we come, now and again, on traces of the ancient originals. The ballads used to be sung in chorus by professional minstrels amongst the admiring rural folk with whom they were so popular, and this fact accounts for the changes wrought in their versions from age to age, to suit the understanding of the people.

c6.s5.32

Mānik Chandra Rājār Gān or the song of Mānik Chandra Rājā, was first published by Dr. G. A. Grierson in the Asiatic Society's Journal (Vol. I, Part III 1878). Mānik Chandra Pāl ruled in Northern Bengal during the first half of the 11th century, and the work in question must have been composed shortly after his death.

c6.s5.33

There is not much that is intrinsically poetic in this ballad. It displays the unrestrained imagination of a rustic author. The miracles attributed to Haḍi Siddha remind one of the wonders performed by Danhas or some other dzinn in the Arabian Nights. Gods and men alike seem to be subject to the influences of Tāntrik rites which awaken marvels at every step. But we occasionally catch glimpses of historical truth from incidental descriptions. The Government revenue of those days, was collected in cowries and trade was mainly conducted by a system of barter. The higher classes seem to have been immensely rich and we find frequent descriptions of food being served to them on heavy golden plates. Their dinners were considered incomplete without at least some fifty different dishes, the tradition of which is not altogether unknown to our housewives even to this day.

c6.s5.34

The similes and metaphors used in the descriptions are very commonplace, and show that these rural folk were completely ignorant of those classical standards which now permeate even the lower stratum of Hindu society. The beautiful teeth of Rājā Gopī Chandra's wife are compared to Solā (bark of the cork-plant). Nowadays, any peasant of the most backward of Bengali villages would compare them to the seeds of a pomegranate, after the classical style.

c6.s5.35

But this perfectly artless song, in spite of its crudeness, is redeemed by the pathos which bursts forth in the cry of love of Adunā—the abandoned wife of Gopī Chānd. He turns ascetic and is about to leave her; she falls at his feet in tears, and with the devotion and loving entreaty of a gentle Hindu wife, says to her husband :—*

c6.s5.36

The redeeming feature. Queen Aduna's grief.

c6.s5.37

* “ না যাইও না যাইও রাজা দূর দেশান্তর ।
কারে লাগিয়া বান্দিলাম শীতল মন্দির ঘর ॥
বান্দিলাম বান্দালা ঘর নাই পাড় কালি ।
এমন বয়সে ছাড়ি যাও আমার বৃথা গাবুরালী ॥
নিন্দের স্বপনে রাজা হব দরিসন ।
পালঙ্কে ফেলাইব হস্ত নাই প্রাণের ধন ॥
দশ গিরির মাও বহিন রবে স্বামী লইবে কোলে ।

c6.s5.38

“ Leave me not O, King, for some distant exile.

c6.s5.39

“ For whom have I built this cool house—this bungalow, spacious and beautiful beyond description ! Will you desert me in my youth !— alas, vain is then my youth.

c6.s5.40

“ How often shall I stretch out my hand and miss you, O jewel of my heart !

c6.s5.41

“ In the homes of my neighbours, women young and old will have their husbands by their sides.

c6.s5.42

“ My lot it will be to weep alone in an empty house.

c6.s5.43

“ O king, let me go with you.

c6.s5.44

“ If only I am with you, I can guard your precious life.

c6.s5.45

“ I shall cook for you when you are hungry.

c6.s5.46

“ I shall offer you water when you thirst.

c6.s5.47

“ With laughter and gentle play, how many hours will pass !

c6.s5.48

আমি নারী রোদন করিব খালি ঘর মন্দিরে ॥
আমাকে সঙ্গে করি লইয়া যাও ।
জীবব জীবন ধন আমি কন্যা সঙ্গে গেলে ।
রাঁধিয়া দিমু অন্ন ক্ষুধার কালে ।
পিপাসার কালে দিমু পানী ।
হাসিয়া খেলিয়া পোহামু রজনী ।
আইল পাতার দেখিলে কথা কহিয়া যামু ।
গিরি লোকের বাড়ী গেলে গুরুস্যাম বলিমু ।
শীতল পাটি বিছায়া দিমু বালিসে হেলান পাও ।
হাউস রঙ্গে যাতিমু হস্ত পাও ।
গ্রীসকালে বদনত দিমু দণ্ড পাখার বাও ।
মাঘ মাসি সিতে ঘেষিয়া রমু গাও ।

c6.s5.49

“Walking in the open fields, we shall talk merrily and know no weariness.

c6.s5.50

“But when we approach the houses of men I shall declare you to be my guru—my master.

c6.s5.51

“When you desire to rest, I shall spread a cool mat for you, and you shall recline on a pillow, while I in happy mirthfulness slowly press with my hands your hands and feet.

c6.s5.52

“When the summer is hot, I shall gently fan you, and in the cold month of Māgha I shall cover you with warmth.”

c6.s5.53

Gopī Chānd remonstrates, saying that an ascetic’s lot is hard, and he will have to traverse forests infested with tigers and other wild beasts.

c6.s5.54

The queen says in reply* :—“These are false excuses to put me off.

c6.s5.55

“Who would believe in such nonsense as this?

c6.s5.56

∗ কে কয় এ গুলা কথা কে আর পইতায়। পুরুষের সঙ্গে গেলে কি স্ত্রীক বাঘে ধরে খায় ॥ ও গুলি কথা ঝুটমুট পালাবার উপায়। খায় না কেন বনের বাঘ তাক নাই ডর। নিত কলঙ্কে মরণ হউক স্বামীর পদতল ॥ তুমি হবু বটবৃক্ষ আমি তোমার লতা। রাঙ্গা চরণ বেড়িয়া লমু পালাইয়া যাবু কোথা। যখন আছিনু আমি মা বাপের ঘরে। তখন কেন ধৰ্ম্ম রাজা না গেলেন সন্ন্যাস হয়ে ॥ এখন হইনু রূপর নারী তোরে যোগ্যমান। মোক ছাড়িয়া হবু সন্ন্যাস মুই তেজিম পরাণ ॥

c6.s5.57

“When was it ever heard of, that a woman was killed by a tiger while in the company of her husband?

c6.s5.58

“But even if a tiger kills me—I fear it not. I shall die without stain in the eyes of the people, and at the feet of my husband.

c6.s5.59

“You will be to me as a fig tree and I as a creeper unto you.

c6.s5.60

“I cling to your beautiful feet, O how can you desert me?

c6.s5.61

“While I was yet a maiden in my father’s house; why did you not, O my pious prince, turn ascetic and renounce the world?

c6.s5.62

“Now I have attained to womanhood and am worthy of your love.

c6.s5.63

“If you leave me now, I shall kill myself with sorrow.”

c6.s5.64

Govinda Chandra Rājār gān by Durlabha Mallik.

c6.s5.65

In a similar ballad, which gives an account of Govinda Chandra Rājāh, whom we consider to be identical with Rājāh Gopi Chandra, the poet Durlabha Mallik, recasting the song in comparatively modern times, describes Queen Adunā’s sorrows in somewhat the same way.

c6.s5.66

When all importunities had failed and the king could not be moved from his resolution to go alone*:—

c6.s5.67

হায় হায় কর্যা রাণী ধুলায়ে লুটায়।
উছুনার রোদনে পাষাণ গল্যা যায় ৷
কান্দয়ে নগরবাসী রাজা পানে চায়।
বাল বৃদ্ধ যুবা কান্দে আর শিশু ম্যায়া ৷

c6.s5.68

“Queen Adunā fell on the earth, crying alas! alas!

c6.s5.69

“Her lamentations would have melted a stone.

c6.s5.70

“The citizens assembled and began to shed tears for their king's departure.

c6.s5.71

“Children, old men, youths, and women all began to weep.

c6.s5.72

“The very ocean seemed to move in surging waves, at the sight of the sorrow of the Queen.

c6.s5.73

“The horses and elephants wept silently in the stables.

c6.s5.74

“The birds ‘Çārī’ and ‘Çuka’ wept in their cages and would not touch their food.

c6.s5.75

“The maidens who attended on the Queen began loudly to lament.

c6.s5.76

“The Queen herself threw away her ornaments.

c6.s5.77

রাণীর ক্রন্দনে নদী উথলে সাগর।
পাইসালে কান্দে অশ্ব যতেক কুঞ্জর।।
শারি শুয়া পক্ষী কান্দে না করে আহার।
দাসীগণ কান্দে রাজার করি হাহাকার।।
পসাইয়া পেলে হার কেয়ূর কঙ্কণ।
অভিমানে দূর করে যত আভরন।।
পুঁছিয়া ফেলিল সব সিঁথার সিন্দুর।
নাকের বেসর পেলে পায়ের নূপুর।।
রাজার চরণে পড়ে জড়ায়ে কুন্তল।
মোরা সঙ্গে যাব রাজা দেশান্তরে চল।।

c6.s5.78

“In great affliction she threw away her jewels.

c6.s5.79

“She wiped away the sacred vermilion from her forehead.

c6.s5.80

“From her face she drew off the Besara, and from her feet she threw away the Nupura.

c6.s5.81

“In utter woe she fell at the king’s feet, covering them with her dishevelled hair and, crying again and again ‘O king let me go with you!’”

c6.s5.82

The doctrine of Çunya-bād. The Çūnyabāda, or doctrine of primeval nothingness, which, as we have said in a preceding paragraph, characterises the Mahāyana school of Buddhists, is preached in this poem by the great sage Hāḍipā and there are numerous other evidences of Buddhistic influence in it.

c6.s5.83

The capital of Gopi Chand. His great renunciation—a subject of national interest. The capital of Govinda Chandra Rājāh is described as situated at the town of Patikā which has been identified with Pāitkā Pārā under the police-station of Jaldhakā in the District of Rungpur. The renunciation of Rājāh Gopī Chānd created a sensation all over India, which even at this distance of time, continues to be echoed in poems and dramas written in the Hindi and Maharātti languages. A recent picture, by Ravi Varma representing Gopī Chānd on the point of deserting his queen and palace, commands a large sale all over India.

c6.s5.84

A promised edition of the songs. Babu Biçweçwara Bhaṭṭāchāryya B.A., subdivisional Magistrate of Nilphamari in the District of Rungpur, is at present collecting and editing a number of old and rare songs in honour of the Pāl Kings from Northern Bengal.*

Cites (6)