page_title: Early Period of Kamarupa
section_title: Copper plate seals and inscriptions
hierarchical_section_title: Early Period of Kamarupa / Copper plate seals and inscriptions
caption_attribution_description: English: Seal of Bhaskar Varman Found at Nalanda dated 643 A.D
context_page_description: The Early Period of Kamarupa stretches from early times to the 7th century A.D.
context_section_description: According to the Nidhanpur inscription, Ganapativarman was generous in his gifts while Narayanavarman was, like king Janaka, deeply versed in the knowledge of the self. Narayanavarman was succeeded by his son Mahabhutavarman who is named in the Harsha Charita as Bhutivarman. It was he who granted, to a large number of Brahmans, lands in the Chadrapuri vishaya. The copper-plate relating to this grant having been destroyed by fire his great great grand son Bhaskaravarman recorded, what is known as the Nidhanpur grant, to confirm the gift made by his ancestor.
  Originally only three plates of this inscription were discovered by Pandit Padmanath Bhattacharya Vidya Vinod who contributed a paper on them in Epigraphia Indica vol XII. Subsequently, two more plates found were described by Pandit Vidya Vindod in XIX of the Epigraphia Indica. The third lost plate was again discussed by him in the same journal. One more plate is still missing. The newly discovered plates mention the names of Chandrapuri vishaya, Kausika River and Mayura-Salmala agrahara. The occurrence of the word "agrahara" seems to indicate the existence of a temple for the maintenance of which and its Shebaits the lands were granted. As the inscription begins with the adoration of ashbesmeared Mahadeva it is clear that these Kamarupa kings were all devotees of Siva. As a matter of fact Siva is invoked in the inscription as the istadevata of the donor. Further in the Harsha Charita it is stated that Bhaskaravarman worshiped only the lotus-feet of Siva.  So it may be assumed that the agrahara mentioned in the inscription was no other than a Siva temple.  The further discovered plates contain the names of the donees, who number more than 200. From this list it can find such names as Vishnu-Ghosha, Arka-Datta, Rishi-Dama, Dama-Deva, Dhurva-Soma, Vishnu-Palita, Gayatri-Pala, Yajna-Kunda, Padma-Dassa, Tosha-Naga and Gopala-Nandi.
  It is curious that the surname Ghosha, Datta, Dama, Deva, Soma, Palita, Pala, Kundu, Dasa, Naga and Nandi are now confided to Kayasthas of Bengal but not to Brahmans. One authority named Dr. Bhandarkar has pointed out that identical surnames were used by the Nagar-Brahmans. It is not known when and how such a colony of Brahmans came to be settled in Kamarupa near the Kosi River as early as the beginning of the sixth century. Pandit Vidya Vinod's surmise that most of the Brahman families in the neighbouring province of modern Bengal are the, descendant; of these Brahmans from Kamarupa seems to rest on good foundation.
  The Nidhanpur inscription is an epigraphic record of very great historic value. In the first part of the sixth century during the reign of Narayanavarman or his son Mahabhuta Varmran. Yasodharman king of Malwa, who defeated Mihiragula, the leader of the white Huns, is said to have conquered the whole of northern India from the Brahmaputra to the western ocean. This is recorded in his Mandasor pillar inscription wherein it is emphasized that Yasodharman conquered territories which even the Guptas (on the east) and the Huns (on the west) failed to penetrate. It is possible to detect here a reference to Kamarupa which was always outside the Gupta Empire. The invasion of Kamarupa by Yasodharman is here indicated. It is not known how far this invasion was successful. Anyway, the conquest of Eastern India by Yasodharman, in the early part of the sixth century, shows that about that period the Gupta power in Magadha was nearly extinct.
caption: Bhaskaravarman Nalanda seal
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