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History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c18.s2: (2) Vanga

History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c18.s2

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(2) Vanga

v1.c18.s2.1

Vanga was distinct from Gauda in the 7th and 8th centuries. But Vanga is an ancient name, Anga (Bihar) and Vanga (Bengal) being always mentioned together. The name Vanga was in fact applicable to the whole province and the word Bengal which is derived therefrom is properly applied to it as a whole. But Vanga was in these two centuries denotative of Eastern Bengal. When Yaśovarman conquered Gauda in battle he is said in the Gaudavaho to have gone further east and conquered Vanga. Again in two Rāshtrakūta inscriptions it is said that the ruler of Kanauj had invaded and conquered Bengal and seized two white royal umbrellas and that these were taken from him by the ruler of the Deccan. This shows that Gauda and Vanga were two kingdoms about 700 as also about 800 A. D. When Hiuen Tsang visited Bengal there were five or six kingdoms there, according to the account given in his Travels. These were 1 Hiranyaparvata (Monghir) 2 Champā (Bhagalpur) 3 Kajugal (Rajmahal) to the south 4 Paundravardhana (Rangpur) to the north of the Ganges and 5 Karnasuvarna or Murshidabad to the west of the Ganges with 6 Samatata (Eastern Bengal Decca etc.) to the east of the Ganges and 7 Tāmralipti or Midnapur to the south on the Bengal coast. From the directions given in the Travels, we find Hiranyaparvata, Champā and Kajugal were on the south of the Ganges but these must have been under Karnasuvarna. Paundravardhana was on the north while Samatata was on the east of the Ganges lower down and Midnapur or Tāmralipti was on the west. Hiuen Tsang specially mentions that the ruler of Hiranyaparvata was deposed recently by another ruler while in the others no kings are mentioned. In Samatata or Eastern Bengal or Vanga as it was also called, he mentions a Brahmin family of rulers. In Midnapur or Tāmralipti no king is mentioned. This kingdom was sometimes included in Bengal and sometimes in Odra or Orissa. Thus we see that even in Hiuen Tsang's time there were two chief kingdoms only in Bengal viz. Gauda (Karnasuvarna) and Vanga (Samatata). The word usually used in modern languages for this province is Gauda-Bangāla which also suggests that there were two kingdoms connected together. Why these kingdoms became specially known throughout India for magic and sorcery cannot be surmised. But the reputation of these parts in these arts cannot be denied and perhaps magic was beleived in and practised most extensively among the lower population of these two countries even then.

v1.c18.s2.2

The supremacy over the smaller kingdoms in Bengal seems to have been enjoyed now by one king and now by another during this period viz. from 600 to 800 A. D. We have already related the story of the Kashmir king Jayā- pīda going alone and unattended to Paundravardhana where a king Jayanta ruled. He gave him his daughter and the latter is said to have conquered 5 neighbouring kings in behalf of his father-in-law. The years of Jayāpīda’s reign are 751-782 A. D. (see Kashmir chronology). King Harshadeva of Kāmarupa (Assam) mentioned in an inscription of Jayadeva of Nepal dated 769 A. D. noticed before is said to have conquered Gauda, Odra, Kalinga and Kosala (गौडौ- द्रादिकलिङ्गकोसलपतिः ). This shows that none of these Bengal kingdoms were strong during this period and that they were constantly subject to foreign invasions.

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