History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.182

c11.182

XLIII. *Pun-na-fa-tan-na* (or Puṇḍravardhana): identified with modern Pabna. *San-mo-ta-t'a* or *Samaṭaṭa*, regarded as lying in the district of modern Faridpur, south of Dacca.¹ *Tan-mo-lih-ti* (Tāmralipti), corresponding to the modern Tamluk. *Kie-lo-na-su-fa-la-na* i.e., *Karṇasuvarṇa*, equivalent to the modern districts of Burdwan, Birbhum, and Murshidabad.² These constituted in those days the several divisions of Bengal. The king of these regions shortly before the visit of Yuan Chwang was *She-shang-kia* or Śaśāṅka, the enemy and oppressor of Buddhists, who had treacherously murdered Rājyavardhana.³ A king with the same name is known to have been in power about the year 619 A. D., for the Ganjam copper plate of the Gupta year 300 refers to him in pompous expressions: "While the Mahārājādhirāja, the glorious Śaśāṅkarāja, was ruling over the earth, surrounded by the girdle of the waves of the water of the four oceans, together with islands, mountains and cities."⁴ If the Śaśāṅkas of the *Si-yu-ki* and the Ganjam inscription are identical as has been accepted on all hands, it is certain that Harṣa was unable to make any headway against his adversary for at least thirteen years after the murder of Rājya. Yuan Chwang, however, does not mention any reigning king during his visit to these parts, and the manner in which he speaks about Śaśāṅka shows that he had lived not very long before his itinerary. This agrees admirably with the testimony of the Ganjam inscription. We must, therefore, explain what happened to Śaśāṅka's kingdom after his death, which may be tentatively fixed in the year 620 A. D. with a slight margin for error.