society, the king Biswa Singha with his tribal origin claimed Rajbanshi kshatriya status, the lower class Koch took this name after the 18th century. Zenith Biswa Singha's two sons, Naranarayan and Shukladhwaj (Chilarai), the king and the commander-in-chief of the army respectively, took the kingdom to its zenith. During the reign of Nara Narayan, Koch Behar saw the propagation of eksarana-namadharma by Sankardev along with his two disciples Madhavdeva and Damodardev, which helped brought a cultural renaissance to the kingdom.The spread of this new religious movement was initially resisted by the Koch, Mech and Kachari people residing in the Koch-Kamata kingdom, for which Nara Narayan made an official order to recognise the different religious practices of the people residing in the kingdom, though by the end of the 18th century, the masses of the Koch population had absorbed considerable Hindu content. Later, Nara Narayan made Raghudev, the son of Chilarai, the governor of Koch Hajo, the eastern portion of the country. After the death of Nara Narayan, Raghudev declared independence. The division of the Kamata kingdom into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo was permanent. Branches Rulers of undivided Koch kingdom Biswa Singha (1515-1540) Nara Narayan (1540-1586) Rulers of Koch Bihar Lakshmi Narayan Bir Narayan Pran Narayan Basudev Narayan Mahindra Narayan Roop Narayan Upendra Narayan Devendra Narayan Dhairjendra Narayan Rajendra Narayan Dharendra Narayan Harendra Narayan Shivendra Narayan Narendra Narayan Nripendra Narayan Rajendra Narayan II Jitendra Narayan (father of Gayatri Devi) Jagaddipendra Narayan (brother of Gayatri Devi) Virajdendra Narayan Rulers of Koch Hajo Raghudev (son of Chilarai, nephew of Nara Narayan) Parikshit Narayan Rulers of Darrang The Mughal Subah, in alliance with Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar, attacked Parikshit Narayan of Koch Hajo in 1612. Koch Hajo, bounded by Sankosh River in the west and Barnadi river in the east, was occupied by the end of that year. Parikshit Narayan was sent to Delhi for an audience with the Mughal Emperor, but his brother Balinarayan escaped and took refuge in the Ahom kingdom. The region to the east of Barnadi and up to the Bharali river was under the control of some Baro-Bhuyan chieftains, but they were soon removed by the Mughals. In 1615 the Mughals, under Syed Hakim and Syed Aba Bakr, attacked the Ahoms but were repelled back to the Barnadi river. The Ahom king, Prataap Singha, then established Balinarayan as a vassal in the newly acquired region between Barnadi