The Mlechchha dynasty (c. 650 - 900) ruled Kamarupa from their capital at Harruppesvar in present-day Tezpur, Assam, after the fall of the Varman dynasty.[2] According to historical records, there were twenty one rulers in this dynasty, but the line is obscure and names of some intervening rulers are not known.[3] Like all other Kamarupa dynasties a semi-mythical lineage from Narakasura was constructed to accord legitimacy to their rule.[4] The Mlechchha dynasty in Kamarupa was followed by the Pala kings. The dynasty is unrelated to the previous Varman dynasty.[5]
Salasthambha is first mentioned in an inscription 175 years into the rule of the dynasty.[6]
The Hayunthal Copper Plates, dated to the middle of 9th Century CE, mentions multiple kings from the dynasty in a chronological fashion — Salastamba, Vijaya, Palaka, Kumara, Vajradeva, Harsavarman, Balavarman, [unnamed], Harjaravarman, and Vanamala.[7] The Tejpur Copper Plates (since lost), roughly dated to the same spans, primarily chronicles Vanamala — other rulers like Pralambha, and Harjaravarman are mentioned.[7] The Parbatiya Copper Plates, again roughly dated to the middle of 9th Century CE, chronicles Vanamala.[7]
Origins and etymology
It is not clear how Salasthambha, the first of this dynasty, came to power.[8]
Suniti Kumar Chatterji as well Dineshchandra Sircar propose that Salastambha was a Bodo-Kachari chief of Mech, which was later sanskritized to Mleccha;[9][10] an inscription from the reign of a king from the later Pala dynasty claims him to be a mlecchādhināth (Lord of The Mlecchas).[11] An illegible explanation of theirs being called mlecchas was provided over the Hayunthal Plates, too.[7] Symbolically, Mleccha designation could mean suppression of Vedic religion and the predominance of tantric vamacara practised by saivites and saktas. So, ethnic identity of Salastambha family could be same as Varmans but came to be known as mlecchas.[12]
According to some historians, the remnant of the Mlechchha kingdom formed the later Kachari kingdom.[13]
History
Some historians refer to other inscriptions for further insight into Bhaskaravarman's successor, such as the Sanskrit play Mudrārākṣasacode: san promoted to code: sa by the poet Viśākhadatta, who is assumed to have lived in Kamarupa. This is because analysis of his name implies that he was among the colony of Brahmins settled by Bhutivarman and reissued by Bhaskavarman. The end of the play in the final verse references the patron king whose name is reconstructed in several forms but is surmised to be Avantivarma. By conjecture historians argue that Avantivarma was the final ruler of the Varman dynasty before being overthrown by Salasthambha within the five years of his rule and being killed by him.[14][15]
May King Avantivarman with his prosperous connections and servants long protect the earth, he who is a kingly manifestation of that self-existent God, to whose tusk, when He had assumed the form of the Boar, fitted to grant protection, the Earth of yore clung amigst universal destruction and on whose arms she nows leans being frightened by the Mlechhas.
Avantivarman follows the naming system of previous kings and in Vishakhadatta's play a reference to Varaha is made in the final verse alongside the patronage of the king. The final verse of the play also uses the word udvejyamānācode: san promoted to code: sa referring to the Mlechha unrest throughout the Kamarupa country.[17] Ghosh argues that Avantivarman is the son of Bhaskaravarman. Avantivarman was the father of Grahavarman of Moukhari. The death of Bhaskaravarman had led to the boiling of a mass Mlechha revolt which the poem had described.[16] This brewing of the revolt is attirbuted partly to Bhaskaravarman who stayed in Karnasuvarna and was absent from Kamarupa in the latter part of his reign. Thus, Vishakadatta's perceived danger of the Mlechha revolt materialised.[18]
Other authors, such as Baruah, argue that since Bhaskaravarman was known as Kumara-Raja, it implied he was a bachelor with no direct heir. His immediate successor was rather usurped by Salasthamba.[19]
Salasthamba has been argued to be a chief of Mech ethnicity. The name Mlechha is argued to derive from the ethnonym of the Mech people. Salasthamba's title of Mlechhadhinatha implies that he may have been the Governor of the Mech country due to its vastly expanded borders under Bhaskaravarman. Salasthama would have been the governor of Mech Country who overthrew Bhaskaravarman's successor and self-proclaimed himself as King.[20] Other historians argue that if Salastambha was a Mech ruler then the inscriptions would use the term Kirata. The use of the word Mlechchhas implies that, despite the commonly claimed heritage from the same dynasty, the Salastambha clan seemed to have non Aryan practices. To justify this status, the Hayungthal plate inscriptions narrate a myth of a curse similar to a curse by Vasistha in Kālikāpurāṇacode: san promoted to code: sa . Chapter 81 narrates that Yama, Brahma and Vishnu requested Shiva to create a situation where Yama could exercise his authority. Thus, Shiva's devotees and Ugratārā's devotees drove the Aryans out of Kamarupa. This led Vasistha, who was nearly a victim himself, to curse the devotees into becoming Mlechhas. This narrative shows the suppression of Vedic Brahmanical Religion and the predominance of the Tantric Vāmācāra cult of Shiva and Ugratārā. Thus, the term Mlecchas refers to the family's adherence to the Tantic Vāmācāra cult.[21]
The Mlechha dynasty king Harshavarman was recorded powerful enough to conquer new territories in the south and west of which the Kingdom was able to expand towards. Harshavarma's Karamarupa conytrolled the present provinces of Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa with the possible eastern area of Uttar Pradesh and the Northern portion of Madras.[22] However, harshavarman's empire did not last. Yasovarman of Kanauj competed with him for control of Northern India. At the Battle of Bihar Harshavarman was defeated and killed. Yasovarman's court poet, Vakapati, wrote a poem, Gaudavadha (transl.overthrow of Gauda) to record this military victory.[23] Albeit, Vakapati did not name Harshavarman as the defeated King. The overthrow of the king led to anarchy in Bengal.[24] Historians argue that it is not definitively known if Gauda was conquered by Harshavarman or his precessor but that the first quarter of the eight century saw Gauda, Odra, Kaling and Koshala under the kings of Kamarupa. The conquering of Gauda was likely inherited to Harshavarman after Bhaskavarman had done it a century earlier. Bhaskavarman also conquered Bengal, except for Samtata.[25] Harshavarman's death led to the disintegration of the Kamarupa Empire made by Bhakaravarman. The result was a small country in Northern Bengal known as Kamarupa.[26]
Rulers
The grants of Ratnapala give the list of 21 kings from Salastambha to his line.[3]
↑(Shin 2010:8):"Along with the inscriptional and literary evidence, the archaeological remains of the Kamakhya temple, which stands on top of the Nilacala, testify that the Mlecchas gave a significant impetus to construct or reconstruct the Kamakhya temple."
↑(Shin 2016:127):"From a close reading of the royal genealogy, it is apparent that there was no unilineal development of dynasties and definite connection among them. In fact, the Mlecchas and the Pālas denied the validity of previous dynasty for claiming their own legitimacy and the character and identity of progenitor, Naraka, were continuously re-formulated according to the socio-political changes."
↑"(W)hen exactly Salasthambha occupied (the throne of Kamarupa) and under what circumstances cannot be determined in the present state of insufficient information." (Sircar 1990:122)
↑(Chatterji 1951:97)The distinct mention of Sala-stambha as being a lord of the Mlecchas, as in the Bargaon copper-plate of the 19th century, would appear to make it clear that he was a Bodo chief of the Mèch tribe (Sanskritised as Mlēccha), who followed Bhaskara-varman in assuming the rulership of Assam
↑(Shin 2011:178) According to D.C. Sircar, 'Mleccha' may be sanskritized form of tribal name 'mech'
↑"Salasthambha is called mlecchādhinath or lord of the Mlecchas in Ratnapalal's grant of the first half of the 10th century." (Sircar 1990:124)
↑Pralambha, read from the Tezpur plates, can be corrected to Salambha, in light of the Parbatiya plates, (Sharma 1978, p.105)
Bibliography
Baruah, S L (1986), A Comprehensive History of Assam (book), New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers
Baruah, Rai (1933). Early History of Kamarupa. Shillong: Don Bosco Industrial School Press. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
Bhattacharjee, J. B. (1992), "The Kachari state formation", in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol.2, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp.391–397
Chatterji, S.K (1951). Kirata-Jana-Krti. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.
Sen, S.N. (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. ISBN9788122411980.
Sharma, Mukunda Madhava (1978). Inscriptions of Ancient Assam. Gauhati: Gauhati University. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
Shin, Jae-Eun (2018), "Region Formed and Imagined: Reconsidering temporal, spatial and social context of Kamarupa", in Dzüvichü, Lipokmar; Baruah, Manjeet (eds.), Modern Practices in North East India: History, Culture, Representation, London & New York: Routledge, pp.23–55
Shin, Jae-Eun (2010). "Yoni, Yoginis and Mahavidyas: Feminine Divinities from Early Medieval Kamarupa to Medieval Koch Behar". Studies in History. 26 (1): 1–29. doi:10.1177/025764301002600101. S2CID155252564.
Shin, Jae Eun (2016). "Searching for Kāmarūpa:Historiography of the Early Brahmaputra Valley in the Colonial and Post Colonial Period". Journal of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of West Bengal. 1: 115–32.
Sircar, D. C. (1990), "The Mlechchha Dynasty of Salasthambha", in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol.1, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board
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