History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s6.11

v3.c34.s6.11

Hornle's edition (I. A. XIV p. 164) and lastly by R. D. Bannerji. In 1080 Vigrahapāla died and he was succeeded by his eldest son Mahīpāla II. The Pāla line in its second life had flourished for a hundred years and its power began to decline. Mahīpāla II imprisoned his brothers and began to rule oppressively. This led to a rebellion of the Kaivartas headed by one Divyoka. Mahīpāla was killed in this rebellion and he was succeeded for a short time by his younger brother Śurapāla. But the power of the Kaivartas in Varendra (North Bengal) was unbroken and Divyoka was succeeded there by his son Bhīma. But Rāmapāla who was the youngest son of Vigrahapāla III was a vigorous and capable king and succeeding Śurapāla made preparations to conquer Varendra (his seat of government was still probably Monghyr in Gauda or western Bengal). And assisted by his maternal uncle Mahana, feudatory king of Mithila, a Rāṣṭrakūṭa by clan and other feudatories and some allies one of whom was Devarakshita king of Pithī, Rāmapāla conquered Bhīma who was eventually killed and established his power in Varendra. These details are found from a poem every verse of which is double-meaning composed by Sandhyākara Nandi son of the minister for peace and war of Rāmapāla himself and thus almost a contemporary record. It is written from Paundravardhana capital of Varendra and it relates the story of Rāmapāla by one meaning and of Rāma the demigod and ruler of Ayodhyā by another meaning. There is a commentary on the poem which enables one to understand the first canto only. The other three cantos remain unexplored and Tārāprasād Shāstri who gives these details in his paper published in Proceedings R. A. S. Bengal 1900, on this Rāmacarita, is right when he observes that much historical information remains buried in these cantos of double-meaning verses (p. 73).