INTRODUCTION I their complex system of sacrifice and social system spread into Assam. Now, Satapatha Brahmana or, for the matter of that, the invasion of Kamarupa by the Vedic Indians under their leader Videgha Mathava, is assigned, by eminent writers', to the later period of the Mahabharata or in any case to the period of the rise and spread of Buddhism in its cradle, the country of kosala-Videhas. On the other hand the primitive language, religion and social system of the Kalitas of Kamarupa have not yet been fully superceded by the social conditions of the Vedic Indians. It canriot. therefore, be supposed that the Assamese civilization and culture were brought by the Aryans over the mountain passes on the west in recent years. | The second theory :-This theory appears to be more probable From the earliest times communications between Tibet and Kamarupa have been maintained. King Bhagadatta of Kamarupa has been extolled as a great warrior in the Mahabharata. His army was composed of Kiratas, Chinese and the people inhabiting the countries along the coast of the Indian ccean. His kingdom included the whole of ancient Kamarupa and parts of China and extended up to Tibet. His capital was, Pragjyotispura ( modern Gauhati). Had there been no way connecting Tibet with Gauhati he could not have ruled over the country up to the boundary of Tibet. But it is a matter of common knowledge in Assam that there are innum- erable passes (or duars) across the Himalayas and Bhutan Hills between Cooch-Behar and Parasuram Kund, specially on the hills alongside the Kamrup and Darrang districts over which Bhutanese and Tibetan pilgrims come annually to Assam in the cold weather. It may thus be taken for granted that the earliest Aryan settlers marched through Tibet and crossing the Himalayas poured into Assam. That this was the most probable route taken by the Kalias will be evident from the following observations of a great scholar, Rapson :- | “The chief motive of the migration of peoples, which forms one of the most important factors in the history of the human race, was scarcity of food; and the chief cause of this scarcity has in Central Asia been the gradual desiccation of the land. “Explorations in Beluchistan and Seistan have brought to light the monuments of past civilizations which perished because of the drying up of the land; and above all, the researches of Sir Aurel Stein in Chinese Turkestan have supplied us with materials and observations from which see Weber's History of Indian Literature. Pp. 116-138. ! See Mahabharata Sabha p., mp. XXV, Udyoga p. chaps, li, xVill, liv, LXV, cvI, । See Kamrup Sasanavali by Pt P. N. Bhattacharya Vidyavinode. p, ll. ISee “Ancient India" by E., apon, PP. 26-28.
