THE MEDIEVAL STATE IN ASSAM 77
a combination of Carbon-14 (upper limit : 1292 A.D.) and other methods. It is meaningful that, just within sixteen miles of the excavated temple complex of Ambari (7th-12th centuries), the use of stone hoes persisted until reduced to insignificance or mere ritualistic symbolism by the 13th century. This one instance of the uneven development and slow spread of material culture shows the limit of "the penetration of Sanskrit culture to the grassroots level*9 which Lahiri talks of
Though its power and jurisdiction were shrinking, a central state of Kamarupa representing the old tradition somehow survived almost till the middle of the 12th century. Thereafter there was not one, but several successive Turko-Afghan raids or invasions. The invasion of 1205 was followed, for instance, by those of 1227, 1257, 1357 and 1362. The Turko-Afghan rule even attained a degree of staggering stability over a large part of Lower Assam during the second half of the 15th century. Thus in course of the 13th-15th centuries, alongside of such invasions from outside, there emerged a number of tribal, Hindu and even Muslim bhuyan chiefs who ruled in their respective localities. Political fragmentation might have had, in a way, started earlier. But it became significant for our periodization only in the 13th century when the breakdown of the central state was complete. The first invasion, rather than its repulsion, therefore suited our purpose to the extent it high-lighted the vulnerability of the falling regime.
This brings us to another question. What happened thereafter to the class ofraja-rajni, rajapu'tra, ranaka, etc , and all the samanta dignitaries who were mentioned in inscriptions even as late as the 12th century ? Not all of them were transformed into local bhuyan chiefs, since many of the bhuyans were known to be migrant adventurers of high caste, coming from North India after the fall of Kanauj to the Turko-Afghans. What happened then to the rest of the old feudal class and in what way was their grip over the society, economy and polity readjusted ? Were the specific taxes—Kara, Upari-kara, hastibandha, nauka-bandha, utkhetana etc.,—retained under new names in tfae later period ? Was the basic tax in pre-Ahonf days also collected largely in the form of labour service, as was done subsequently in the Ahom State ? Was utkhetana periodic labour service ? These are the questions Lahiri should have raised and discussed to our benefit. Instead she minces words without trying to show what particular aspects of Assam's pre-Ahom political tradition survived.
Nevertheless, I am thankful to her for giving a serious consideration to my paper and for her bringing into focus the pre-Ahom legacy which I had by and large taken for granted.