| Image Map Caption: | Kamarupa Map |
| Native Name: | Mlechchha dynasty |
| Conventional Long Name: | Kamarupa Kingdom |
| Common Name: | Mlechchha dynasty |
| Era: | Classical India |
| Year Start: | 650 CE |
| Year End: | 900 CE |
| P1: | Varman dynasty |
| S1: | Pala dynasty (Kamarupa) |
| Capital: | Harruppesvar (present-day Tezpur) |
| Religion: | Shaktism, Polytheism |
| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Leader1: | Salasthamba |
| Year Leader1: | c. 650 - c. 670 |
| Leader2: | Harjjaravarman |
| Year Leader2: | c. 815 – c. 832 |
| Leader3: | Tyagasimha |
| Year Leader3: | c. 890 – c. 900 |
| Title Leader: | Maharajadhiraja |
The Mlechchha dynasty (c. 650 - 900) ruled Kamarupa from their capital at Harruppesvar in present-day Tezpur, Assam, after the fall of the Varman dynasty. According to historical records, there were twenty one rulers in this dynasty, but the line is obscure and names of some intervening rulers are not known. Like all other Kamarupa dynasties a semi-mythical lineage from Narakasura was constructed to accord legitimacy to their rule. The Mlechchha dynasty in Kamarupa was followed by the Pala kings. The dynasty is unrelated to the previous Varman dynasty.[1]
Salasthambha is first mentioned in an inscription 175 years into the rule of the dynasty.
The Hayunthal Copper Plates, dated to the middle of 9th Century CE, mentions multiple kings from the dynasty in a chronological fashion — Salastamba, Vijaya, Palaka, Kumara, Vajradeva, Harsavarman, Balavarman, [unnamed], Harjaravarman, and Vanamala. The Tejpur Copper Plates (since lost), roughly dated to the same spans, primarily chronicles Vanamala — other rulers like Pralambha, and Harjaravarman are mentioned. The Parbatiya Copper Plates, again roughly dated to the middle of 9th Century CE, chronicles Vanamala.
It is not clear how Salasthambha, the first of this dynasty, came to power.[2]
Suniti Kumar Chatterji as well Dineshchandra Sircar propose that Salastambha was a Bodo-Kachari chief of Mech, which was later sanskritized to Mleccha;[3] [4] an inscription from the reign of a king from the later Pala dynasty claims him to be a mlecchādhināth (Lord of The Mlecchas).[5] An illegible explanation of theirs being called mlecchas was provided over the Hayunthal Plates, too. Symbolically, Mleccha designation could mean suppression of Vedic religion and the predominance of tantric vamacara practised by saivites and saktas. So, ethnic identity of Salastambha family could be same as Varmans but came to be known as mlecchas.
According to some historians, the remnant of the Mlechchha kingdom formed the later Kachari kingdom.
The grants of Ratnapala give the list of 21 kings from Salastambha to his line.
"From a close reading of the royal genealogy, it is apparent that there was no unilineal development of dynasties and definite connection among them. In fact, the Mlecchas and the Pālas denied the validity of previous dynasty for claiming their own legitimacy and the character and identity of progenitor, Naraka, were continuously re-formulated according to the socio-political changes."