INTRODUCTION II ijal (=a kind of . In the Sauchi plate of Ratnapala (iith century) S.-hijaan, modem Asia, aaaaa tree of marshy place (Baningtonia acutangula- Gamble). ১. Assamese Literature: geneal remarks. Having thus followed the old Assamese.sons, ballads, etc. we now turn to the true Assamese literature. It will be seen that prior to the 13th century AD. we have no direct proof of the existence of Assamese literature truly so called. During the period of the copper-plate and rock inscriptions between the 7th and 12th centuries A.D. we can undoubtedly trace its germs and beginning to some extent. But the language was, by then, so highly developed that it must have taken centuries to come to that stage. Thus, the thirteenth century is, by no means, to be set down as the fimit for the commencement of Assamese literature. On the con- trary the form in which it is presented to us at the beginning of the thir- teenth century AD. sufficiently shows that a very considerable period must have clapsed since its commencement as an independent literature of the land. I believe many books still exist, or even original manuscripts, of which we now nothing at present. It is a fact of common nowledge that many families in the interior still possess old manuscript puthis in their houses which they keep as sacred relics and often worship as house- hold gods. They hardly bring them out or allow others to touch them. The result is that many such puthis have, with the lapse of time, been caten up by worms and destroyed. At the same time the destructive influence of the climate of Assam as also the national calamities, such as floods, earthquake, war, etc., have wrought havoc on the stock of the ancient manuscripts which have thus been lost to us for ever. But not withstanding such adverse circumstances unseen puthis are being daily brought to fit from unsuspected quarters and it is to be hoped that more ight will be thrown on the state of the ancient Assamese literature in near future. | The rise and wowth of Assamese literature are due to two causes-0) political and (b) religious. I shall discuss what I mean. 0) Political Influence- After the fall of the Pala Varma) Kings of P ujyotispura in the 12th century the state of the kingdom of Kamarupa was shrouded in darkness. But it is nown that about the later part of the thirteenth century cing Durlabh Narayan, with his capital at Kamatapur, was ruling ove the country between the Bar Nad and the Karatoyal. The centre of == 1 History of Assam, by Sir E. A. Gait, p. 41.
