HISTOR Y 381.
temperature is 49 and the mean about 78°. The annual rainfall
averages 123 inches, of which 5-1 are received in April, 14 in May, 29•4
in June, 24 in July, 22*4 in August, 19•4 in September, and 5•5 in
October.
In 1887 a severe cyclonic storm caused great havoc over a tract
25 miles in length and 8 in breadth, including Cooch Behâr town. The
earthquake of 1897 caused enormous damage to property. The bridges
along the railway were broken and the permanent way was much cut up
by fissures ; roads with their bridges suffered similarly, and the total
damage done to property, communications, wells, and tanks was approxi-
mately 20 lakhs. Tremors and shocks were frequent for a year after the
main upheaval, during which jets of hot water and sand issued from the
fissures. Prior to 1897 the severest and most frequent shocks of recent
years were felt in 1885. Dr: Buchanan Hamilton makes mention of
the frequency of earthquakes in this part of Bengal in î8o8. The State
has occasionally suffered severely from floods, the most memorable
being those of 1787, 1822, 1842, and 1878.
This tract once formed part of the ancient and famous kingdom of
Kâmaruipa. In the fifteenth century it was ruled by a dynasty of Khen
kings, the last of whom, Nilâmbar, was overthrown by
the Afghâns under Alâ-ud-din Husain, king of Gaur, History.
in 1498. Local traditions of this dynasty are still current, and more
than one of its capitals are pointed out at the present day. Alâ-ud-din
appointed his son governor over NIlâmbar's territories with the object of
pushing his conquest farther east, but the latter was eventually defeated
and his troops driven out of the country. A period of anarchy ensued,
during which a number of petty principalities were formed by indepen-
dent local rulers called Bhuiyâs, and a fresh kingdom was then established
by the Kochs. A divine parentage is ascribed to the Koch kings: the
tradition is that the god Siva fell in love with Hire, the wife of a Koch
chief named Hâjo, and the result of their intimacy was a boy named
Bisu or Biswa Singh. The account current in the State, however, is
that the kingdom was founded in 151o by a chief named Chandan, and
that he was succeeded by his cousin, Biswa Singh. The latter soon
proved himself to be a mighty conqueror, and brought under his rule
the whole tract from the Karatoya on the west to the Barnadi on the
east. He was succeeded about 154o by his son Nar Narâyan, the
greatest of the Koch kings, who, with the aid of his brother Silarai, con-
quered all the neighbouring countries to the east and south, and even
ventured to wage war with the Muhammadans. After Silarai's death,
his son Raghu rebelled (in 1581), whereupon Nar Narâyan divided his
kingdom into two parts and gave up to Raghu the portion east of the
Sankosh river. This event soon led to the downfall of the Koch kings.
Nar Nardyan died in 1584; and his son, Lakshmi Nârâyan, who
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