viii In another chapter the author describes himself- Bhaata Bagdsa Kavi Sagar tuma ; Ghosiolca Rata-Kisluna sabha.sada cay. The poet Bagis, son of Suryya, has written this treatise. The assembly of listeners should propagate the names of Rasu and Krishna. | Now according to the genealogical table the name of Bagisa's father was Rangacharan, and that of his son Jyotidhar. Jyotidhar means Sun'. Therefore it is difficult to explain why tie poet calls himself son of ‘Suryya' unless there is some confusion of the names in this table. Also it may be that the real name of the poet's father was not Rangacharan. Because of his brilliant complexion he might have been so called. Rangacharan is not a usual name of a Brahman. | Kamaleswar Singha was the king of Assam from 1795 to 1810_A. D. It can, therefore, be said with all proba. bility that Parasuram Vidyabagis was our author. | It is evident from his writings that Bagis possessed wide learning in various branches of Sanskrit literature and was well versed in Nitisastras. His quotations from Magha, Amara, Pamchattitra, and the Mahabharata testify to his wide scholarship, | 4. The value of the Manuscript.-For a student of cultural history of Assam the manuscript possesses very great value. It shows that even in the decadent period of Ahom rule attention was paid to scholarship; and that noble ladies patronised and encouraged learning. It further shows the wide interest the Assamese scholars took in all branches of learning. | I am not aware that any other Indian vernacular of this period has literature of this type. Ancient Assamese is however very rich in manuscripts on all sorts of subjects.
