unmistakeably. It has been recorded in the inscriptions (E. I., Vol. 9) that the celebrated Chola Raja first came upon Dakṣiṇa Rāḍha on crossing the northern frontier of Orissa; he then raided Vanga, and at a place in the north of Vanga (not in Barinda, nor in any other province) defeated the then Pāla Raja in a battle, and just after finishing that work came upon Uttara Rāḍha which was the adjoining country. It was from Uttara Rāḍha, i.e., from the tract covered by the districts of Hooghly, Burdwan and Birbhum, that the adventurer proceeded to the coast of the greater Ganges on the other side of which lay Barinda.
What was the extent of this Vanga in olden days, has next to be ascertained. With reference to the geography of the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas, we may say that the main portion of Northern Bengal and some portion of the district of Mymensingh were included in the Prāgjyotiṣa country or Assam, over a portion of which the Kirātas predominated. The Tripura country or the Chittagong Division was no doubt once under the sway of the Telegus of Kalinga, but as the Vangas also extended their influence over Annam in Farther India, their extension in the Tripura country in the dim past cannot be very much doubted. It is highly interesting that not knowing them to be the relics of bygone days, the present ruling chiefs of Tippera use the ensigns of those old rulers who are now almost forgotten in history. The ensign bearing the representation of a fish and the pān or betel-leaf-shaped ensign are used among other ensigns on ceremonial occasions. Let me mention, that fish has always been a subject of veneration and an emblem on the royal banner of a powerful section of the Dravidians, and a broad leaf is the emblem of the Kirātas, who now reside in the wild tracts of Cachar. As to the eastern limit of Vanga, we have obtained a rough and indefinite idea only. We have to approach this point
