Asvamedhas celebrated by the Kings of Kamarupa
Summary
Responding to Dr. N.G. Bhattasali’s assertion that the Kamarupa king Mahendravarman performed two Aśvamedha sacrifices, this note argues that the phrase in the Bhaskaravarman copperplate should instead refer to Narayanavarman, Mahendravarman’s son. The author contends that in Sanskrit the qualifier ‘dviy Aśvamedha yaji’ attaches to the following name, not the preceding one. He proposes that Narayanavarman performed two horse sacrifices, the second possibly occurring when he was old and his son Bhutivarman had already ascended the throne. This reinterpretation shifts the chronology of Kamarupa kings and situates the earliest Aśvamedha around the mid‑sixth century, after Gupta power declined. Pusyavarman is thereby placed in the late fourth century, with Mahendravarman in the early sixth. The note thus corrects a misreading of the inscription and revises the dynasty’s chronology.
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Conclusion
The note argues that the epithet ‘performer of two Aśvamedhas’ in the Kamarupa copperplate applies to Narayanavarman rather than Mahendravarman and suggests that the second sacrifice occurred late in Narayanavarman’s life. This reinterpretation revises the chronology of the Kamarupa dynasty and shows that earlier historians misread the inscription’s syntax.