(ii)
herbs which are rare in Assam. It is striking to note that the custom of weaving the author's name into the text of a literary composition has not here been adhered to, nor does it contain any prologue or epilogue or invocation either in the beginning or at the end of the puthi. I am therefore naturally inclined to believe that the puthi embodies a compilation based on experiences of horses acquired specially in the Mangaldai Subdivision which has long since been the main gate for horse-import from Bhutan. The grounds deduced from the reading of this puthi go a great length to deny the authorship of Sagarkhosi, the writer of "Aswakarnaryudha" who is supposed to be the author of 'Ghora Nidan' by some Assamese writers.
As to the date of its compilation no trace can be found in the body of the book. It is certain that in this treatise there is no trace of the influence exercised by the Vaisnavi writers over the literature of Assam. Its style and diction are plain and homely, and resemble more faithfully those of the Buranjis of Assam than other literary productions. As such it can naturally be regarded as a piece of work compiled sometime during the administration of the Ahoms from whom the idea of recording important experiences has been borrowed; besides the horse was an important factor in the civil and military functions of the state, and had a special department under a Ghora-Barua.
Obviously, on the grounds stated above it cannot also be held that this treatise has any connection with the Sanskrit treatises Asianaydakam by Srimat Mohasant Jaydatta, son of Vijay Datta, which is now being translated into English and published as a serial in the quarterly Indian Veterinary Journal from Madras nor with Aswachikichitan attributed to Nakula, the fourth Pandava, who is described in the ‘Mahabharata’ as a veterinary expert of immense reputation.
This puthi therefore seems to me to be a product of experience acquired independently in Assam with reference to horses trained and domiciled in the land and
