The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s8.4

c31.s8.4

Early in the eighth century (*c.* A. D. 730–40) a chieftain named Gopāla was elected king of Bengal, which had been suffering from anarchy. Towards the close of his life he extended his power westwards over Magadha or South Bihār, and is said to have reigned forty-five years. He suffered defeat at the hands of Vatsarāja, the Gurjara king of Rājputāna.¹ He was a pious Buddhist, and founded a great monastery at Uddandapura, or Otantapuri, the existing town of Bihār, which seems to have been at times the capital of the later Pāla kings. Inasmuch as the word *pāla* was an element in the personal names of the founder of the family and his successors, the dynasty is commonly and conveniently designated as that of the 'Pāla kings of Bengal'.