ANCIENT ASAM AS AN EAST-INDIA CULTURAL CENTRE 7 Bhaskar Varmis met Harsa Vardhana accompanied by Yuan Chwing near Kayangal (modern Rajmahal). From that place Harga proceeded along the southern coast, and Bhaskar along the northern, to meet again at Kanyakubja (modern Kanauj) where the great Bud- dhist Council was held with the Chinese pilgrim as the guest of honour. It was a grand procession with 300 elephants, and 20 kings of India joining it. While Har was dressed as Sakra (Indra), Bhaskar wys dress- ed as Brahma (the Creator) himself. This fact is also a pointer to the particular privilege Bhaskar enjoyed in the estimation of Hanavardhana and the assemblnge of kings. It was in Spring of 644, Prleya Vidya Mahamava Nagendranath Basu opines, that Bhaskar Varmh was installed on the throne of Karna Suvarna, in 646-47 A.D. maling land grants of a minimum of 16611/10 shares to a minimum of 205 scholars dividing themselves at least to 56 different gotras as could be gathered from the inscriptions available, from this new extension of his kingdom which Bhiskar gained for him. self by lanching a successful joint attack on Salaika with Harya. Banglar Ttikas (Vol. II, p. 112) imagined that Bhaskar Varma dld not live in the Racha country for a long time, which Basu has refuted with reason and has proved that Bhaskar did reside in Kama Suvarna "for a considerable period of time". Basu also argues: "The view that Bhiskar Varmi sought the help of Horsha after having sustained defent at the hands of Sadlinka is not supported by any evidence and is based entirely on imagination". (S.HK, 111, p. 12, footnote 13). In New Light on History of Asamiya Literature (Antecedents, pp. 8-9) it has been shown what army and navy Bhaskar Varm really commanded, and how he enforced his invitation of Yuan Chwing on Harsa Vardhana by a serious threat. It has also been shown how even until about 748 A.D. one of the successors of Bhaskar Varmá, namely Harga Varma, earned the reputation of being the Supreme Lord of Gauda, Odra, Kalinga and Koala etc, including the modern provinces of Bengal, Orissa, Behar and Ganjam, besides the country of Kamarupa (as described by Yulin Chwing, for example) proper (Ibid. p. 11). Basu opines: "From the large number of copper plate inscriptions that have been found in Kalinga it appears that after Bhaskar Varma. a certain relation of his also came to rule over Gauda, Udra and Kalinga, and he was reputed to be a member of the Bhauma dynasty. We have seen that the far-famed Lichchivi dynasty which had entered into matrimonial alliances with the Gupta emperor and the powerful Maukhari Kshatriyas, felt proud of a connection with Sri Harshadeva of the Bhagadatta dynasty,
