পৃষ্ঠা:অসমীয়া ব্যাকৰণ আৰু ভাষাতত্ত্ব.djvu/৫৯

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INTRODUCTION If 39 Saogct district with the Kalitas on ethnological and other grounds. This may or may not be true. But one fact is significant, viz.. that a Brahman priest is not necessary to give validity to a Kurmi Marriage, | Now, how the Kalitas got into these outlying places ? It may be that the Kalitas of Kamrup pushed them towards the west and south-west where they settled at a very remote age and forgot, in course of time, their connection with the main body of Kalitas in Assam. Or, more probably they are the descendants of the Kamarupa army who conquered Bengal, Kalinga and Kosala and preferred to make those places their home in recent times. A little of history may be mentioned here :- | “The invasion (of Bengal) from Kanauj was followed by another from Assam. king Harshadeva of that country conquered Gauda, Orissa and northern Circars (Indian Antiquary, Vol. IXx. p. 178 ). Joydeva, the Licchavi King of Nepal, who was the daughter's son of Harshadeva of Assam, records his grandfather's exploits, and as the former was reigning in the sixth decade of the 8th century A.D. his maternal grandfather must be placed at least 2 decades earlier. . . Harshadeva must have held Bengal for a sufficiently long period, so as to enable him to pass through that country and conquer Odra (Orissa), Kalinga (Northern circars) and Kosala (Orissa Hill tracts). The Gaudabaho and Kulbhanoo Rajatorangini has familiarised us with the story of the banished king Joydeva who came to Bengal, married the daughter of the king and freed him from the subjection of his liege-lord. Also the Kalitas of the Himalayas were probably stragglers from the main body of Aryan immigrants in their march to Assam across the Himalayas. So far I have come across no reference to the Kalitas in the Sanskrit literature. It cannot be assumed that they are the same people as the Kirtas of the Sanskrit literature although it is possible etymologically to derive the word Kalita from Kirata. Probably some reference will be found in the Buddhist literature which I had no opportunity to consult. Hiuen Tsiang's Kulata country and its people are not apparently connected with the Kalitas. Nobody will believe that the Kalitas of Kamarupa suddenly dropped into Assam, nobody knows, whence. It is strange that people exactly resembling the Kalitas of Assam are met with in distant places like Sambalpur, Cuttack and the Himalayas now not in any way connected with Assam. In any case the conclusion is irresistible that the Kalitas of Assam, are the earliest Aryan settlers in India, Himalayas body of Arya, the Cross the Himal + Prartic clement In the concluding paras of Section I we have observed that Assamese like other Aryan vernaculars of India is Prakrtic. It is derived from the 1 see R. D. Banerjea, in Dacca Review, Vol. I, No. 11.