History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c15.13

v1.c15.13

was very young at the time of her father's death. Immediately after Prabhākara's death, a king of Mālava, whose name most probably was Devagupta, invaded the United Provinces and killed Grahavarman. The intimation of this disaster compelled Rājyavardhana II to start hastily for Kanauj. He succeeded in defeating Devagupta, if he was the King of Mālava, but he himself was killed in a duel in the camp of the King of Gauḍa. Bāṇabhaṭṭa accuses this King of Gauḍa of a breach of faith and there are reasons to suppose that this King of Gauḍa was nobody else but Śaśāṅka. The Chinese pilgrim Yuan Chwang gives us the name in Chinese. The devout pilgrim points out that Śaśāṅka was a demon, who was a confirmed enemy of Buddhism. Śaśāṅka is said to have uprooted the Bodhi tree at Mahābodhi or Bodh-Gaya. For his supposed misdeeds the Chinese pilgrim thought that Śaśāṅka went to hell.¹ The narrative of the events after the death of Prabhākaravardhana proves that, as soon as the strong arm of that king was removed from the affairs of the State, the Kings of Mālava and Gauḍa combined to overthrow the newly imposed suzerainty of the Kings of Thanesar. The King of Mālava had advanced too hastily and was caught by Rājyavardhana II before the King of Gauḍa could join him. He was defeated, but Rājyavardhana II was caught either in a trap laid by Śaśāṅka of Gauḍa or was overwhelmed by superior numbers. After his death, his cousin Bhaṇḍin retreated with the spoils of the victory over the King of Mālava. When the news of Rājyavardhana's murder or death reached Harsha, he started with a large army and succeeded in rescuing his sister Rājyaśrī.