THE PALA CHRONOLOGY RECONSIDERED
By D.C. Sircar, Calcutta
r Summ ary . Writers on the history of the Palas (who ruled in Bengal and
Bihar from the 8th to the 12th century A.D. ) generally regard Sürapäla I
and Vigrahapäla I as the name of one and the same king; but a recently dis¬
covered copper-plate grant shows that Sürapäla I was the son of Devapäla
so that he must have been different from Vigrahapäla I who was the son of
Jayapäla, a cousin of Devapäla. This necessitates a correction even in the
latest account of the Pälas in R.C. Majumdar's History of Ancient Bengal ,
Calcutta, 1971. It may further be pointed out that the said account ignores the
evidence at our disposal when it assigns the long reign period of about 26
years to Vigrahapäla II and not to Vigrahapäla III, the Rajibpur image in¬
scription of year 14 to Gopäla II and not to Gopäla III and the reign of Govin-
dapäla to 1158-62 (?) A.D. and not to 1162-65 A.D. The reign of Palapäla
has also been altogether ignored in this work. These defects in the latest
treatment of the subject have led us to a fresh study of the problem of Päla
chronology I]
While mentioning individual Päla monarchs with their approximate reign
periods, recent writers usually depend on the tables in such publications as
1. ) H.C. Ray's Dynastic History of Northern India . Vol. I, 1931, pp. 384-
85; 2.) Dacca Universitv' s History of Bengal , Vol. I (ed. R.C. Majumdar),
1943, pp. 176-77; and 3.) R.C. Majumdar's History of Ancient Bengal . 1971,
pp. 161-62. Unfortunately, Nos. 1 and 2 are now quite out of date, and an im¬
portant discovery has been made even after the publication of No. 3 which is
the most recent of the three works. Moreover, this work, which adopts the
scheme of No. 2 with slight changes, is not only not free from confusion, but
there are several points on which we consider its views definitely wrong. As
regards confusion, attention may be drawn to the fact that the Rajauna image
inscription of the fifth regnal year of a king mentioned as Vigrahapäla I or
Sürapäla I, as noticed at p. xxx, has been ignored at p. 161 where the highest
known regnal date of the same king is given as year 3 and his approximate
reign period as 850-54 A.D. Again, if the intention was to assign the Rajibpur
inscription to Gopäla II, it should not have been at p. xxxiii in the space
meant for Gopäla III with the indication 'Gopäla II (or III ?)' . As regards
the other point, as we shall see below, we consider views like the following
as quite untenable: 1. ) identification of Vigrahapäla I and Sürapäla I, 2. ) the
ascription of the long reign of about 26 years to Vigrahapäla II ( 10th century
A.D. ) and not to Vigrahapäla III (lith century A.D. ), 3. ) the ascription of
the Rajibpur image inscription of year 14 to Gopäla II ( 10th century A.D. )
instead of Gopäla III ( 12th century A.D. ); 4. ) the assignment of Govinda-
päla's reign to 1158-62 (?) A.D.; and 5. ) ignoring the 35 years' reign of
Palapäla altogether. These defects in the latest treatment of the subject have
led us to examine the position and place our views on the subject to scholars for favour of their examination.
The reign periods of most of the Päla kings have only been approximately
determined because their records are usually dated in the regnal reckoning.
However, there are a few definite dates in the Päla records while the dates
of the contemporaries of some of the Päla rulers are also known.
The Särnäth inscription (l ) of Mahipäla I is dated Pausa 11 of Vikrama
Samvat 1083, which correspxsnds to a date in 1026 A.D., so that the said
year fell during the reign period of the same Päla king. The Välgudar in¬
scription (2) of Madanapäla, dated Jyaistha 11 in his 18th regnal year and
in Saka 1083 corresponding to May 4, 1161 A.D., suggests that the said king
ruled from 1143 A.D. at least down to 1161 A.D. The Gayä insprition (3) of
Äsvina-sudi 5 in Vikrama Sanivat 1232 called Vikärin (i.e. the 22nd September,
1175 A.D.), which would have fallen in Govindapäla' s 14th regnal year if he would
have actually been reigning then, likewise suggests that Govindapäla, whose
4th regnal year is known from the colophon of a manuscript, was the im¬
mediate successor of Madanapala and began to rule about the year 1162 A.D.
and ended about 116 5 A.D. (4).
In the same way, we know that Dharmapäla is mentioned as a vanquished
adversary of Rästraküta Govinda 111 (794-814 A.D. ) in the latter's Nesarikä
plates (5), dated sahkränti on Pausa-badi 13 in äaka 727 called Tärana (i.e.
the 21st December, 805 A.D. ) as well as in the later Sanjan plates (6) of
Amoghavarsa 1 in connection with Govinda's North Indian expedition about
801 A.D. (7). Sometime before Govinda's Advance in North India, Dharma¬
päla had ousted Indräyudha of Kanauj and placed Cakräyudha in his place;
but at a later date Nägabhata II (died in 833 A.D. ) of the Gurjara-FVatihära
dynasty conquered the region by defeating Cakräyudha and his ally and finally
transferred the Gurjara-PratThära capital to Kanauj (8).
Bähukadhavala of Gujarat, who was apparently a feudatory of Nägabhata II
early in his life, is stated to have totally routed Dharma (i.e. Dharma¬
päla) (9). According to a Tibetan tradition, king Dharmapäla was subdued
by the Tibetan monarch Mu-tig Btsan-po (804-15 A.D.). (lO)
According to another Tibetan tradition, a king named Karnya (Karna)
invaded Nayapäla' s kingdom and was disastrously defeated, but was saved
at the intervention of Dipahkara Srijnäna (ll). Since this Karna is undoubtedly
the Kalacuri king who ruled in 1041-71 A.D. and since Dipahkara's final de¬
parture for Tibet is to be assigned to a date between 1038 and 1042 A.D., (l2)
Nayapäla apparently repulsed the invasion in 1041-42 A.D. so that the said
period must have fallen in Nayapäla' s reign. The recently published Siyan
inscription (13) speaks of Nayapäla' s victory over the forces of the Cedi
king Karna.
Sandhyäkarnandin ' s Rämacarita (14) suggests that Nayapäla' s son Vigra¬
hapäla III defeated Karna, king of Dähala, and married his daughter Yau-
vanasrl; but this victory of Vigrahapäla may have been achieved as the com¬
mander of his father's forces in 1041-42 A.D. although it is often supposed
that Karija led a second invasion against Bengal during the reign of Vigraha¬
päla III.
From the Päla kings' records dated in regnal reckoning, some idea may
be formed about the length of the reign periods of individual monarchs in
many cases; but a king may have ruled for some time more after his latest
known regnal date. Another difficulty is that a few kings have left us no such regnal dates at all.
A greater difficulty is that image inscriptions and colophons of manus¬
cripts generally refer to the dates merely as falling in the regnal years of
particular rulers without mentioning their ancestry, and scholars have some¬
times found it difficult to identify a king so mentioned with one of his name¬
sakes.
There are at least two cases to which attention may be drawn in this con¬
nection. The first is offered by the 26th regnal year of a king named Vig¬
rahapäla when a manuscript of the Peincaraksa (now in the British Museum)
was copied (15) as well as the 19th year of the reign of a king of that name
when two Kurkihär images were installed (l6). Some scholars are doubtful
as to whether this king should be identified with Vigrahapäla 11 ( 10th century)
or Vigrahapäla III (Uth century), because Vigrahapäla I (9th century) is
out of the question (l7). As regards the Pancaraksä , C. Bendall has pointed
out that its characters very closely resemble those of the manuscripts copied
during the reigns of Mahipäla 1 and Nayapäla who ruled between Vigrahapäla II
(father of Mahipäla I) and Vigrahapäla III (son of Nayapäla) so that it must
be assigned to the time of Vigrahapäla II or III, both the rulers being placed
by Bendall in the eleventh century on the basis of Cunningham's suggestion
that Mahipäla I died about 1060 A.D. (l8). Even if palaeography is not re¬
garded as quite definitive in this case as well as in the case of the Kurkihär
inscriptions, there is another consideration which would suggest that the
king in question is Vigrahapäla III and not Vigrahapäla II. From the three
copper-plate grants of Vigrahapäla III, we know that he certainly had a fairly
long reign and ruled at least upto his 17th regnal year (l9), whereas there
is absolutely no light on the length of the reign of Vigrahapäla II from any
source. In the present state of our knowledge, therefore, it is no doubt better
to ascribe the long reign period of at least about 26 years to Vigrahapäla III
and not to Vigrahapäla II who appears to have had a much shorter reign.
Another case is offered by the Räjibpur (Bängarh) Sadäsiva image in¬
scription (20) of the 14th regnal year of a king named Gopäla, and some
scholars are doubtful as to whether he is Gopäla II ( 10th century) or Gopä¬
la 111 (l2th century) (2l). However, palaeographical consideration seems
to be definitely in favour of his identification with Gopäla III. It is strange
that sometimes the difference between 10th-century and 12th-century
characters has been ignored. Moreover, we know that the Dinajpur District,
wherein Räjibpur (Bangarh) is located, was in the possession of the Kom-
bojas about the middle of the 10th century when Gopäla II flourished (22).
A few other points have also to be mentioned before we proceed to the
next step. The first of these is the date of the Nalanda plate (23) of Deva¬
päla, which is usually read as year 39, though the correct reading is year
35, so that the highest known regnal date of the king would be a little less
than what is usually supposed. It is again impossible to ignore the Jaynagar
inscription (24) recording the installation of an image at Campä (near
Bhagalpur in Bihar) in the 35th regnal year of a Päla king named Palapäla
who seems to have been the immediate successor of Govindapäla and ruled
about 1165-99 A.D. These later rulers may have been subordinate allies of
the Sena kings.
There is another point affecting both the chronology and genealogy of the
family. The writers on Päla history now generally call Devapäla' s suc¬
cessor Vigrahapäla I and identify him with Sürapäla 1. It is well known that
the Bhagalpur plate (25) (second half of the ninth century A.D. ) of Närä-
yanapäla (and many other later copper-plate grants of the family) speak
of Dharmapäla (verses 2-3), then his anuja (younger brother) Väkpäla
(verse 4), then 'his son' (tasmät) Jayapäla (verses 5-6) (26) who served
his pürvaja and bhrätjr (i.e. elder brother) Devapäla, and then 'his son'
( tatsünu ) Vigrahapäla (verse 7). From this, Jayapäla was taken to have
been the son of Dharmapäla by some and of Väkpäla by others while Vigra¬
hapäla was likewise regarded by some as the son of Jayapäla and by others
as the son of Devapäla (27). The fact, however, cannot be ignored that, if
Dharmapäla was succeeded by his son Devapäla and the latter by his son
Vigrahapäla I, then the introduction of Väkpäla and Jayapäla in the above
description becomes quite meaningless. Since the words pürvaja and bhratp
may also indicate an elder cousin, the difficulty is not in respect of Deva¬
päla' s position as the son of Dharmapäla; but the description, as most histo¬
rians now agree, apparently represents Vigrahapäla 1 as the son of Jaya¬
päla (28).
It has also to be remembered that Näräyanapäla, who was the son of Vigra¬
hapäla I, must have felt the necessity of indicating the importance of the
branch line to which he belonged. As we have said above, Vigrahapäla I is
generally identified with Sürapäla I who is known from the Badal pillar in¬
scription (29) as a ruler between Devapäla and Näräyanapäla and from the
Indian Museum inscription (30) (discovered in Bihar) of his 3rd regnal year,
the Rajauna (Monghyr District) inscription (31) of his 5th regnal year and
a damaged inscription (32) from Nalanda.
A new element has now come up the consideration of scholars, which seems
to suggest that Vigrahapäla I and Sürapäla I are not identical. The recent
discovery of a copper-plate grant of Sürapäla I issued from his camp at Mud-
gagiri (Monghyr) in his 3rd regnal year shows that he was Devapäla' s son
from queen Mähatä, daughter of king Durlabharäja, and granted 4 villages
in the SrTnagara-bhukti (i.e. the Patna region ) in favour of a Saiva-establishment
at Väränasi. This shows that Sürapäla I was the son of Devapäla and not of
Jayapäla of the collateral line. Thus Vigrahapäla 1, son of Jayapäla, was not
identical with Sürapäla 1, son of Devapäla.
With the above facts in mind, we give below the names of the Päla kings
together with their available regnal dates (the highest of them in the case
where several dates are available) and the probable reign periods of the
rulers.
Name of the King with Latest known Approximate
Relations to Predecessors Regnal Year Reign Period
I. Gopäla I, first king . . 750 - 75 A.D.
II. Dharmapäla, son of No. 1 32 775 - 812 A.D.
III. Devapäla, son of No. 2 35 812 - 50 A.D.
IV. Sürapäla I, son of No. 3 5 850 - 58 A.D.
V. Vigrahapäla 1, greatgrandson
of No. 1 .. 858 - 60 A.D.
VI.Näräyaijapäla, son of No. 5 54 860 - 917 A.D.
I I
Name of the King with Latest known Approximate
Relations to Predecessors Regnal Year Reign Period
VII. Räjyapäla, son of No. 6 32 917 - 52 A. D.
VIII. Gopäla IIj son of No. 7 17 952 - 72 A. D.
IX. Vigrahapäla II, son of No. 8 972 - 77 A. D.
X. MahTpäla I, son of No. 9 48 977 - 1027 A. D.
XI. Nayapäla, son of No. 10 15 1027 - 43 A. D.
XII. Vigrahapäla III, son of No. 11 26 1043 - 70 A. D.
XIII. MahTpäla II, son of No. 12 1070 - 71 A. D.
XIV. Sürapäla II, younger brother
of No. 13 .. 1071 - 72 A. D.
XV. Rämapäla, younger brother
of No. 14 53 1072 - 1126 A. D.
XVI. Kumärapäla, son of No. 15 .. 1126 - 28 A. D.
XVII. Gopäla III, son of No. 16 14 1128 - 43 A. D.
XVIII. Madanapäla, son of No. 15 18 1143 - 61 A. D.
(Saka 1083)
XIX. Govindapäla 4 1161 - 65 A. D.
XX. Palapäla 35 1165 - 99 A. D.
The above scheme of Päla chronology may be compared with the following
reign periods allotted to the Päla monarchs in the three works cited about the be¬
ginning of this paper: I. Gopäla I (l) 765-69 A.D., -(2-3) 750-70 A.D.;
II. Dharmapäla - (l) 769-815 A.D., (2-3) 770-810 A.D.; III. Devapäla -
(l) 815-54 A.D., (2-3) 810-50 A.D.; IV. Vigrahapäla I or Sürapäla I -
(l) 854-57 A.D., (2-3) 850-54 A.D.; V. Näräyanapäla - (l) 857-911 A.D.,
(2-3) 854-908 A.D.; VI. Räjyapäla - (l) 911-35 A.D., (2-3) 908-40 A.D.;
VII. Gopäla II - (1) 935-92 A.D., (2-3) 940-60 A.D.; VIII. Vigrahapäla II -
(l) 992 A.D., (2-3) 960-88 A.D.; EX. Mahipäla I - (1) 992-1040 A.D.,
(2-3) 988-1038 A.D.; X. Nayapäla - (l) 1040-55 A.D., (2) 1038-55 A.D.,
(3) 1038-54 A.D.; XI. Vigrahapäla III - (l) 1055-81 A.D., (2) 1055-70
A.D., (3) 1054-72 A.D.; XII. MahTpäla II - (l) 1082 A.D., (2) 1070-75
A.D., (3) 1072-75 A.D.; XIII. Sürapäla II - (l) 1083 A.D., (2-3) 1075-77
A.D.; XIV. Rämapäla - (l) 1084-1126 A.D. , (2) 1077-1120 A. D. , (3) 1077-
1130 A.D.; XV. Kumärapäla - (l) 1126-30 A.D., (2) 1120-25 A.D., (3)
1130-40 A.D.; XVI. Gopäla III - (l) 1130 A.D., (2) 1125-40 A.D., (3)
1140-44 A.D.; XVII. Madanapäla - (l) 1130-50 A.D., (2) 1140-55 A.D.,
(3) 1144-62(, ) A.D.; XVIII. Govindapäla - (l) 1150-62 A.D., (2) 1155-60 (?) •
■A.D.; XIX. Palapäla - (l) ...
Notes
1. Maitreya, Gaucjalekhamälä , p. 108; Ep. Ind. , Vol. IV, pp. 316 ff.
2. Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 142, 145.
3. Ibid. , Vol. XXXV. pp. 234-35, 237-38. The inscription is dated in the regnal
reckoning of Govindapäla even though by then the Gähaijavälas had already
ousted him from the throne.
4. D.D. Kosambi wrongly attributes to my paper in ' JASB . 17. 1951, pp.
27-31' the view that Govindapäla ruled for 10 to 14 years after the Gäha<Javä-
las had taken over his kingdom. See the Subhägitaratnakoga , HOS,p. xxni.
note 3, where my paper on Palapäla' s inscription published in the Journal
of the Bihar Research Society has also been wrongly assigned to ' JASB ,
Letters' . Likewise, the theory identifying Komboja Räjyapäla with the
Päla king of the same name has been attributed there to R. C.
Majumdar's section in the Dacca University's History, Vol. 1, pp. 190-91.
5. Ep. Ind. . Vol. XXXIV, p. 123.
6. Ibid. . Vol. XVIII, p. 245, verse 23.
7. Ibid. , Vol. XXXIII, p. 330 and note 5.
8. See the Bhagalpur plate of Näräyanapäla, verse 3 (Maitreya, op.cit. ,
p. 57), the Barah plate of Vikrama Samvat 893 (836 A.D. ), issued from
Kanauj and referring to Nägabhata' s rule in Känyakubjabhukti ( Ep. Ind. ,
Vol. XIX, p. 18), the Gwalior Sagartal inscription, verse 9 ( ibid. , Vol.
XVIII, p. 108), etc.
9. Ep. Ind.. Vol. IX, p. 7.
10. See Majumdar, Hist. Anc. Beng. , p. 118.
11. Ibid. . p. 138.
12. Loc. cit. ; cf. references cited at p. 185, note 169.
13. JAIH. Vol. VI, p. 39.
14. I. 9 (commentary).
15. Bendall, Cat. Bud. Sans. Mss. Brit. Mus.. pp. 232 f. (No. 545,
Or. 3346); cf. JRAS. 1910, p. 151; JASB, Vol. XVI (N.S. ), 1921, p. 6,
note 1; Ray, DHNI . Vol. I, p. 330; Sen. Hist. Asp. Ins. Beng. . p. 367.
16. JBORS , Vol. XXVI, pp. 36-37, 239-40.
17. Cf. Majumdar, op.cit. , p. xxxi.
18. See Bendall, op.cit. , p. 233. He compared the characters of the Pan-
carakgä manuscripts in the British Museum with those of manuscripts
like the Cambridge University Ms. Add. 1464 ( Agtasähasrikä Prajnäpä¬
ramitä copied in the 5th regnal year of Mahipidal) and Ms. Add. 1688
( Pancaraksä copied in the 14th regnal year of Nayapäla). See illustrations
of these manuscripts in Bendall' s Cat. Bud. Sans. Ms. Camb. Univ. Lib ,
and R.D. Banerji's The Pälas of Bengal.
19. See his Bangaon plate in Ep. Ind. , Vol. XXIX, pp. 48 f.
20. ASI . AR, 1936-37, pp. 130-33; IHQ , Vol. XVII, pp. 217 ff.
21. Majumdar, op. cit ., p. xxxiii.
22. See the Bangarh pillar inscription of the Kamboja king Kunjaragha^ävarsa
(Bhandarkar's List, No. 1726).
23. Ep. Ind. , Vol. XVII, pp. 218 ff .; Majumdar, op.cit. , p. xxx.
24. JBRS. Vol. XLI, Part 2, June 1955, pp. 143 ff.
25. Ind. Ant. , Vol. XV, pp. 804 ff .; Maitreya, Gaucjialekhamälä , pp. 55ff.
26. Verse 6 is omitted from the later Päla grants.
27. Sometimes it was also thought that Devapäla was the son of Väkpäla.
28. Majumdar, op. cit. , pp. 170-71.
29. Maitreya, op. cit. , pp. 70 ff.
30. Bhandarkar's List, No. 1615.
31. Ep. Ind. . Vol. XXVIII, p. 140.
32. IHQ, Vol. XXIX, pp. 301-02.
33. Bull. Mus. Arch. U.P. , Nos. 5-6. pp. 67-70. There are some errors
in the published notice of the record.
ZUR KOMPOSITION DES NÄTYASÄSTRA
Von S.A. Srinivasan, Hamburg
Das Referat bestand in einer Zusammenfassung der Hauptergebnisse eines
"On the Composition of the Nätyasästra" betitelten Aufsatzes, der voraus¬
sichtlich in Heft II (1976) der Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik erscheinen wird.
