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Chapter Three. An Orgy in Stone |
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A little way off rose the red brick ruins of a powerful gateway. The reliefs on the withered facades still spared by time showed the influence of late Hindu art. It was the gate of the old Kachari capital, which flourished here until the fifteenth century. The Kacharis spoke a Tibeto-Burman language, and their rule had once extended over the plains of Assam, from the foothills of the Himalayas almost to the frontier of Burma. Here, on the edge of the immense Nambur forest, had stood their capital, Dimapur, "City of the River People". Lying close to the banks of the Dhansiri River, and containing numerous large water-tanks, it well deserved its name. |
