Mainamati-Lalmai area is a "small strip of hilly land (11x5 miles)" in the Comilla District on the Eastern Border of Bangladesh. This hill-range area, though small, has yielded a rich treasure of Sanskrit inscriptions and archaeological artifacts belonging to the period of 7 to 13 centuries C.E. A comprehensive and coherent reconstruction of history from this rich evidence was a long felt desideratum. The present study fulfills that lacuna in an eminent way.
The author gives a brief geographical and geo-ecological survey of the area and of its archaeological sites and excavations. He then sets the full Sanskrit epigraphical material--photographs of copper-plates etc., their transcriptions and translations--as also other archaeological artifacts--coins, plaques, pottery, images, etc. From this evidence, he then reconstructs the political history--kings and dynasties--of this area and corroborates it from artifacts and geographical identifications of locations mentioned in the inscriptions. The work throws a flood of light on the much less known history and culture of the South-Eastern Bengal.
The book will be of much interest to historians, archaeologists, researchers and students engaged in inscriptional and archaeological studies. |
