The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c16.42

v1.c16.42

Turning now to the details of Pāla history, we are first confronted with the question of their origin. In their inscriptions the Pālas never claim any descent from any mythical or epic hero, which is such a common feature in the genealogical tables of many other dynasties of India. In the earliest grant of the dynasty the Khalimpur plate of Dharmapāla, we are simply told that the family sprang from Dayitaviṣṇu, who is called *Sarva-vidyāvadāta* (sanctified by all sorts of knowledge). His son Vapyaṭa (Bappaṭa ? ) is described as *Khaṇḍitārāti*; and the latter's son Gopāla was forced to accept the hands of the Goddess of Fortune in order to put an end to the condition of anarchy (*mātsyanyāya*) then prevailing in North-eastern India. In the commentary of the *Rāmacarita* the Pālas are said to have sprung from the sea, while in the Kamauli grant of Vaidyadeva they are said to have been born in the family of the sun (*vaṁśe Mihirasya*). In the commentary of a Nepal MS. of the *Aṣṭasāhasrikā-Prajñāpāramitā* written by Haribhadra in the reign of Dharmapāla the latter is described as *Rājabhaṭādi-vaṁśa-patita*. In the *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī* the Pālas are described as a ‘Kāyeth family.’¹ These are the facts on which must depend any discussion on the origin of the Pālas. Of these we may reject the testimony of the *Ā’īn-i-Akbarī* as very late. The statements of the *Rāmacarita* and the Kamauli grant are also separated from Gopāla by more than three hundred years. From the Khalimpur grant it appears that Dayitaviṣṇu belonged to an educated plebeian family, which was probably neither Brahman nor Kṣatriya. In the troublesome days that then prevailed in North-eastern India during the first half of the 8th century, the family must have soon found the sword to be more profitable than the pen. This transformation may have led to the foundation of the fortunes of the family. Vapyaṭa and then Gopāla appear to have met with considerable success in their new profession, to be deemed able to save the country from the grip of anarchy. Attempts have been made to show that the statement of Haribhadra means that Dharmapāla was a descendant of Rājabhaṭa, the son of Devakhaḍga of the Ashrafpur plates.² Though the fact that the Pālas and the Khaḍgas were both Bauddha families, may be considered favourable to such an identification, and there is no inherent difficulty about the chronological position of the two families, yet I think it is better not to push this theory too far. For it is doubtful whether *Rājabhaṭādi-vaṁśa-patita* can really mean scion of Rājabhaṭa. Paṇḍit H. P. Sāstrī took it to mean ‘the