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Hiuen Sang was born in 600 A.D. at Guoshi Town Luozhou (near present-day Luoyang, Henan) and died in 664 A.D. in China. His family was noted for its erudition for generations, and Hiuen Sang was the youngest of four children. He received a classical education before converting to Buddhism. Troubled by discrepancies in the sacred texts, he left for India in 629 to study the religion at its source. He traveled by foot across Central Asia and reached India in 633. He studied in famous Nalanda monastery of India.
During his days in India Hiuen Sang came to Assam in in 642-43 A.D. He was welcomed with a tradiotional assamese jaapi. During his visit to Kamarupa, he had attended the court of king Bhaskar Varman. In his book he mentioned the western border of the Kamarupa kingdom till Karatoya river and eastern boundary was at Dikkaravasini (Presently in Sadiya). He also mentioned that Buddhism in Assam was not prominent in Kamrupa during those days and the jack-fruit and coconut in reference to Kamrupa. Hiuen Sang has in his accounts testified to the greatness of this kingdom and its ruler. He wrote many things about those days assam in his book.
After this Harsavardhana invited the Buddhist scholar and his friend Bhaskar Varman to his kingdom. Bhaskar Varman accompanied Hieun Tsang to Kanauj where he was greeted with a rousing welcome. |
