The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c16.351

Language: English

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It is certain from the records cited above that Rāmapāla's reign extended over at least 42 years (*c.* 1084-1126 A.D.). It is interesting to note in this connection that Tāranāth assigns him a reign of 46 years.² Among his ministers the *Rāma-carita* refers to the *Sāndhi(vi-grahika)* Prajāpati Nandī, while the Kamauli grant mentions the *Saciva* Bodhideva. Bodhideva's father Yogadeva served in the same capacity under Vigrahapāla III. The same inscription mentions Rāmapāla's queen Madanadevī. Sandhyākara Nandī tells us that this Pāla king, when residing at Monghyr heard of the death of his uncle Mathana and committed suicide by entering the sacred waters of the Ganges.³ Rāmapāla had more than one son. The commentator of the *Rāma-carita* refers to prince Rājyapāla, who materially assisted his father in his preparations and campaigns against the Kaivartas. From his comments on I, 23, it is clear that Rāmapāla had at least two more sons.⁴ The Manahali grant of Madanapāla gives us the names of Kumārapāla and Madanapāla as his sons. Tāranāth refers to his son Yakṣapāla who according to him ascended the throne three years before his father's death, and ruled for a year.⁵ The possibility of a son of Rāmapāla undertaking the administration of the state before his death is supported by the *Rāma-carita*, which tells us that Rāmapāla used to reside in Rāmāvatī after entrusting the kingdom to his son (*Sūnu-samarpita-rājya*).¹ But unfortunately he does not mention the name of the son.

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Kielhorn edited an undated Gaya inscription of a king named Yakṣapāla.² This stone-inscription consists of 21 lines written in Devanāgarī script of about the 12th century A.D. It opens with *Oṁ namo Sūryāya*, and records that the above-mentioned *nṛpati* built a temple at Gaya for the gods Maunāditya, Sahasraliṅga, Kamalā, Ardhāṅgīna, Dvistomeśvara, Phalgunātha, Vijayāditya and Kedāradeva. He also dug a tank and established a hall of charity (*sattra*). In the genealogical portion of the inscription Yakṣapāla traces his descent from Śūdraka, to whom we are told the lord of *Gauḍa*, "almost equal to Indra," paid homage. His son was *nṛpa* Viśvarūpa, who is said to have gained great victories and conferred the riches appropriated from the enemy to "the most excellent twice-born." His son was *narendra* Yakṣapāla. Kielhorn was right in not accepting this prince as a son of Rāmapāla. The mention of Śūdraka and Viśvāditya shows that this family must be identified with the Brahman family whose inscriptions at Gaya are dated in the 15th year of Nayapāla (*c.* 1040-1055 A.D.) and the 5th year of Vigrahapāla III (*c.* 1055-81 A.D.) The assumption of royal titles by Viśvāditya and his son Yakṣapāla at Gaya, shows that the Pāla hold even over Magadh was growing loose. It is likely that this family became practically independent soon after the death of Rāmapāla. Another small principality which also probably became free from the control of the Pālas at this time was that of the Mānas.

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The beginning of the importance of this family is carried back to about the 8th century A.D. by the *Dudhpani rock inscription of Udayamāna* in Hazaribagh district.³ This record informs us that three brothers named Udayamāna, Śrīdhautamāna and Ajitamāna, who were merchants engaged in trade between Ayodhyā and Tāmalipti, became masters of the three villages of Bhramaraśālmali, Nabhūtiṣaṇḍaka and Chhingala, through the favour of *Magadhādhirāja* Ādisiṁha. They must have remained petty feudatory chiefs for about four centuries, at the end of which they emerge as independent rulers in the same locality. The Govindpur *stone-inscription of the poet Gaṅgādhara* dated in *Śaka* 1059 (A.D. 1137-38), was discovered by Cunningham at Govindpur in the Nawada subdivision of the Gaya district in Bihar.¹ This is really a *praśasti* of Gaṅgādhara and his family who claimed to be Maga Brahmans highly proficient in Vedic studies. They were also poets. Cakrapāṇi, one of the ancestors of Gaṅgādhara, is compared to Vālmīki, while Gaṅgādhara himself composed a poem named *Advaitaśataka*. Kielhorn has identified the six Maga Brahmans whose verses are quoted in the *Sadukti-karṇāmṛta* compiled by Śrīdharadāsa in A.D. 1205 with the six Maga Brahmans of this inscription bearing the same names. Gaṅgādhara's uncle Daśaratha first came to the court of the *Magadheśvara* Varṇamāna, and was appointed to the office of *Pratīhāra*.

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Later on Gaṅgādhara became the counsellor of king Rudramāna and married Pāsaladevī, a daughter of Jayapāṇi, a friend of the king of Gauḍa. Kielhorn has approximately dated these two Māna rulers of Magadha "towards the end of the 11th and at the beginning of the 12th century A.D." There seems to be no reason to doubt that the family of Yakṣapāla, which claimed to rule in the neighbourhood of Gaya city, and the Mānas who held the western portion of the Gaya district and northern portions of Hazaribagh were petty rulers, and they may therefore have ruled in that area simultaneously. It is also extremely likely that the prince referred to as the *Gauḍarāja* in this inscription was the contemporary Pāla king, whose rule in Bihar south of the Ganges probably extended only over the narrow strip of territory extending from the western borders of Patna to Rajmahal. In addition to this he also held a portion of north Bengal, so to deserve the title of *Gauḍarāja*.