The Palas

After the death of Harsha, the Pratiharas (Jalore-Rajasthan), the Palas (Bengal) and the Rashtrakutas (Deccan) engaged in a triangular contest for the control of the Ganga–Yamuna doab and the lands adjoining it. The Palas controlled vast areas of the eastern Gangetic Plain. Apart from earning revenue from agriculture, Palas also derived income from their wide commercial contacts in South-east Asia. Buddhism in Bengal provided a link between eastern India and Java and Sumatra.

The Palas ruled eastern India from Pataliputra between the ninth and the early twelfth centuries. Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali were the languages in use in their kingdom. Palas followed Mahayana Buddhism.

Pala Rulers

Gopala (750 – 770 AD)

• First Pala king and founder of the dynasty.
• Son of Vapyata, a warrior.
• Was elected by a group of people.
• At the time of his death, Pala kingdom included Bengal and most of Bihar.
• He built the monastery at Odantapuri, Bihar.
• Considered the first Buddhist king of Bengal.

Dharmapala (770–815 AD)

• Gopala I was succeeded by his son Dharmapala (770–815 CE) who made the Pala kingdom a force to reckon with.
• Bengal and Bihar were directly ruled by him. Kanauj was ruled by his nominee.
• The rulers of the Punjab, Rajaputana, Malwa and Berar accepted his suzerainty.
• He assumed titles like Paramesvara, Parambhattaraka and Maharajadhiraja.
• Dharmapala proved to be a great patron of Buddhism. He founded the Vikaramasila monastery in Bhagalpur district in Bihar, which developed into a great centre of Buddhist learning and culture.
• Dharmapala also built a monastery at Odantapuri in Bihar. He patronized Harisbhadra, a Buddhist writer.

Devapala (815 – 850 AD)

• He extended Pala control eastwards up to Kamarupa (Assam). He defeated Amoghavarsha, the Rashtrakuta ruler, by allying with all the states that regarded
• the Rashtrakutas as their common enemy.
• Devapala was also a great patron of Buddhism. He granted five villages to Balaputradeva, the king of the Sailendra dynasty of Suvarnadipa (Sumatra), to maintain a monastery built by him at Nalanda.
• Nalanda continued to flourish as the chief seat of Buddhist learning even during the Pala reign.

Later Rulers

• Devapala was succeeded by Vigramapala, who abdicated his throne after ruling for a few years and went to lead an ascetic life.
• The rise of the Pratiharas in Jalore under Mihira Bhoja and the advance of the Rashtrakutas into Pala territories inevitably brought about the decline of the Palas.
• The slide of the Pala dynasty was accelerated during the rule of his three successors – Rajyapala, Gopala III and Vigramapala II. The fortunes of the dynasty, however, were revived by Mahipala I, son of Vigramapala II.
• The most important event of his period was the invasion of northern India by Rajendra Chola sometime between 1020 and 1025 AD. However, the advance of the Cholas beyond the Ganges was checked by Mahipala I.
• After 15 years of Mahipala’s rule, four insignificant rulers followed.
• Ramapala was the last ruler who tried to recover the lost glory of the dynasty.
• He ruled for about 53 years and after his death, the presence of Pala dynasty was confined to only a portion of Magadha (Bihar) and continued to exist only for a short period.
• Vijayasena of the Sena dynasty who had become powerful by then in northern Bengal expelled the last ruler Madanapala (1130–1150 AD) from Bengal and established his dynastic rule.

Features:

Religion

• The Palas were great patrons of Mahayana Buddhism.
• The Buddhist philosopher Haribhadra was the spiritual preceptor of Dharmapala, the founder of the Pala kingdom.

Art and Architecture

• Two artists of this period were Dhiman and his son Vitapala. They were great painters, sculptors and bronze statue makers.
• The Pala school of sculptural art was influenced by the Gupta art.
• Mahipala I constructed and repaired several sacred structures at Saranath, Nalanda and Bodh Gaya.
• Gopala founded the famous monastery at Odantapura (Bihar).
• Dharmapala established the Vikramashila and the Somapura Mahaviharas (Bangladesh).

Literature

• The prominent Buddhist scholars of Vikramashila and Nalanda universities were Atisha, Saraha, Tilopa, Dansheel, Dansree, Jinamitra, Muktimitra, Padmanava,
• Virachan and Silabhadra.
• The notable Pala texts on philosophy include Agama Shastra by Gaudapada, and Nyaya Kundali by Sridhar Bhatta.
• Many texts on medicine were compiled by Chakrapani Datta, Sureshwar Gadadhara Vaidya and Jimutavahana.
• The Palas also patronised Sanskrit scholars. Many Buddhist tantric works were authored and translated into Sanskrit. The original tantric works comprise a varied group of Indian and Tibetan texts.
• The “Mahipalageet” (songs on Mahipala), a set of folk songs, are still popular in the rural areas of Bengal.
• Sandhyakar Nandi’s epic Ramacharitam, a biography of a later Pala ruler Ramapala, describes how forest chiefs were brought into their alliance through lavish gifts.

DECLINE

The resurgent Hindu Sena dynasty dethroned the Pala Empire in the 12th century, ending the reign of the last major Buddhist imperial power in the Indian subcontinent.

The Pala period is considered one of the golden eras of Bengali history

 

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Subject: Ancient History

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