The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s8.6

c31.s8.6

The second king, Dharmapāla, who is credited with a reign of sixty-four years, is known to have reigned for at least thirty-two years. The Tibetan historian Tāranāth expressly states that his rule extended from the Bay of Bengal to Delhi and Jālandhar in the north and to the valleys of the Vindhyan range in the south. This ascription of wide dominion is supported by the certain fact that Dharmapāla dethroned Indrāyudha, or Indrarāja, king of Panchāla, whose capital was Kanauj, and installed in his stead Chakrāyudha, with the assent of the neighbouring northern powers, enumerated as the Bhoja, Matsya, Madra, Kuru, Yadu, Yavana, Avanti, Gandhāra, and Kīra kings. This event took place soon after A. D. 800, and prior to the thirty-second year of Dharmapāla's reign, as recorded in two grants.² It is noticeable that the grant of four villages in the province of Paundravardhana was issued from the royal head-quarters at Pātaliputra.¹ When Hiuen Tsang visited the ancient imperial city in the seventh century he had found the buildings of Asoka in ruins, and the inhabitants limited to about a thousand persons occupying a small walled town on the bank of the Ganges in the northern portion of the site.² Apparently the city had recovered to some extent when Dharmapāla held his court there about a. d. 810. The famous monastery of Vikramasīla, which is said to have included 107 temples and six colleges, was founded by Dharmapāla. It stood on a hill overlooking the right bank of the Ganges, but its position has not been conclusively determined.³