People like Arka Datta

The Early Period of Kamarupa stretches from early times to the 7th century A.D.

The first epigraphic record which mentions Kamarupa is the Allahabad inscription of Samudra Gupta where Kamarupa is mentioned as a frontier kingdom along with Samatata, Davaka, Nepal and Kartripura the kings of which fully gratified the imperious commands of Samudra Gupta "by giving all kinds of taxes and obeying his orders and coming to perform obeisance".

Pushyavarman was succeeded by his son Samudravarman who was perhaps the contemporary of Chandra Gupta II Vikramaditya and the celebrated poet Kalidasa. In the Nidhanpur inscription it is stated that there was no "matsyanyaya" in his kingdom and that Samudravarman was like the fifth ocean. The word "matsyanyaya" has been explained as anarchy due to the absence of a strong ruler when the powerful people oppress the weak just as the larger fish devour the smaller fry. The mention of this word seems to indicate that there was such anarchy during the reigns of his predecessors. It may be that after such anarchy was ended Pushyavarman rose to power or that after the accession of Pushyavarman the anarchy ended.