Dharmapala

(emperor)

Dharmapala (Siddhamāt ṛikā Script : , Dha-rmma-pā-la[2]) (ruled 8t h cent ury) was t he

second ruler of t he Pala Empire of Bengal and Bihar regions in t he Indian subcont inent . He was
t he son and successor of Gopala, t he founder of t he Pala Dynast y. He great ly expanded t he
boundaries of t he empire, and made t he Palas a dominant power in t he nort hern and east ern
India.
 Dharmapala

Pala Empire with its neighbours

Pala Emperor

Reign 8th century

Predecessor Gopala

Successor Devapala

Spouse Rannadevi (Rashtrakuta princess)

Issue Devapala

Dynasty Pala

Father Gopala

Mother Deddadevi of the Bhadra dynasty[1]

Religion Buddhism

Dharmapala direct ly ruled over t he present -day Bengal and Bihar, and inst alled a nominee at
Kannauj. The Pala chronicles also claim t hat several ot her rulers of Nort h India acknowledged his
suzeraint y, but t hese claims seem t o be exaggerat ed. Dharmapala was defeat ed t wice by t he
Gurjara-Prat iharas, but each t ime t he Rasht rakut as subsequent ly defeat ed t he Prat iharas, leaving
Palas as t he dominant power in Nort h India. Dharmapala was succeeded by his son Devapala who
furt her expanded t he empire.

Reign
Based on t he different int erpret at ions of t he various epigraphs and hist orical records, t he
different hist orians est imat e Dharmapala's reign as follows:[3]: 32–37

Historian Estimate of reign

RC Majumdar (1971) 770-810

AM Chowdhury (1967) 781-821

BP Sinha (1977) 783-820

DC Sircar (1975–76) 775-812

Expansion of the empire

Dharamapala direct ly ruled over t he present -day Bengal and Bihar regions.[4] Since t he ext ent of
Gopala's kingdom is not known, it is uncert ain if Dharmapala inherit ed t hese t errit ories or acquired
t hem t hrough conquest s.[5]

He also became dominant in ot her areas of Nort h India, but t he exact det ails of his vict ories are
not available. It is known t hat he defeat ed Indraraja (or Indrayudha), t he ruler of Kanauj, who was a
vassal of t he Prat iharas. He t hen handed over t he t hrone t o his own nominee Charkayudha, and
held an imperial court at Kannauj. According t o t he Khalimpur copper plat e issued by Dharmapala,
t his court was at t ended by t he rulers of Bhoja (possibly Vidarbha), Mat sya (Jaipur and nort heast
Rajast han), Madra (East Punjab), Kuru (Haryana-Delhi-West ern UP region), Yadu (possibly Mat hura,
Dwarka or Siṁhapura in t he Punjab (Kat as Raj Temples)), Yavana, Avant i, Gandhara and Kira (Kangra
Valley).[6][7] These kings accept ed t he inst allat ion of Chakrayudha on t he Kannauj t hrone, while
"bowing down respect fully wit h t heir diadems t rembling".[8] Some hist orians have speculat ed t hat
all t hese kingdoms might have been t he vassal st at es of t he Pala empire. Such claims seem
exaggerat ed: t he rulers of t hese regions may have paid obeisance t o Dharmapala, but maint ained
t heir aut onomy.[3]: 39

The Kannauj disput e result ed in a st ruggle bet ween Dharmapala and t he Prat ihara king Vat saraja.
Vat saraja defeat ed Dharmapala in a bat t le fought near Prayag.[5] Short ly aft er t his, Vat saraja
himself was defeat ed by t he Rasht rakut a king Dhruva of sout hern India. Aft er Vat saraja's defeat ,
Dharmapala regained t he cont rol of Kannauj, but was defeat ed by Dhruva.[9] However, soon aft er
t his, Dhruva ret urned t o his sout hern kingdom, and t hus, Dharmapala did not lose much in t his
quick chain of event s. These event s had left t he Prat iharas badly mauled, which indirect ly helped
Dharmapala. Aft er Dhruva's deat h in 793 CE, t he Rasht rakut as were weakened by a war of
succession. Taking advant age of t his sit uat ion, Dharmapala recapt ured Kannauj and placed his
vassal Chakrayudha on t he t hrone.[5] He became t he most powerful ruler in Nort h India, and
declared himself as Uttarapathasvamin ("Lord of t he Nort h").[10]

According t o t he Monghyr (Munger) copper plat e, Dharmapala offered prayers at Kedar (possibly
Kedarnat h) and Gokarna (variously ident ified wit h Gokarna in Nepal, Gokarna in Karnat aka or a
place in Orissa).[8] This indicat es t hat his posit ion as a sovereign was accept ed by most rulers,
alt hough t his was a loose arrangement unlike t he empire of t he Mauryas or t he Gupt as. The ot her
rulers acknowledged t he milit ary and polit ical supremacy of Dharmapala, but maint ained t heir
own t errit ories.[6] One t radit ion also claims t hat Nepal was a vassal st at e of t he Pala Empire
during his reign.[11]

Somet ime lat er, Dharmapala faced anot her at t ack by t he Prat iharas. Vat saraja's son Nagabhat a II
conquered Kannauj, making Chakrayudha his vassal. This brought Dharmapala and Nagabhat a II
int o a milit ary conflict near Munger. Dharmapala suffered a defeat , but in a repeat of hist ory, t he
Rasht rakut as invaded t he Prat ihara kingdom. Nagabhat a II was defeat ed by t he Rasht rakut a king
and Dhruva's son Govinda III. Govinda III t hen proceeded t o Kannauj, and subdued bot h
Chakrayudha and Dharmapala.[5] Like his fat her, Govinda III t hen ret urned t o his kingdom in t he
sout h. Once again, Dharmapala re-est ablished his aut horit y in Nort h India. Dharamapala remained
t he dominant ruler in Nort h India t ill t he end of his life.[6]

Dharmapala ruled for about 40 years, and was succeeded by his son Devapala.

Patronage to Buddhism

Somapura Mahavihara is the largest Buddhist vihara in the Indian subcontinent built by Dharmapala in Naogaon District,
Bangladesh; it became a World Heritage Site in 1985.
Dharmapala was a great pat ron of Buddhism. He grant ed 200 villages t o Nalanda universit y and
revived it . He founded t he Vikramashila monast ery which lat er evolved int o a great learning
cent er of Buddhism. Vikramashila had about 100 professors, and was managed by a governing
body of six member.[12] The most celebrat ed name associat ed wit h t he Vikramshila Universit y
was t hat of buddhist scholar At iśa, who was great ly respect ed in Tibet .[13] One of it s rect ors,
Rat nakirshant i, a logician, was invit ed t o Ceylon. During Dharmapala's reign Buddhagupt a was
rect or or t he universit y.[12] He is remembered wit h a shrine on t he Buddhist archaeological sit e
Nort h Serebang Perai in t he st at e Kedah in Malaysia.[14] Dharmapala built t he great Somapura
Mahavihara in Paharpur, Naogaon Dist rict , Bangladesh. Taranat h also credit s him wit h est ablishing
50 religious inst it ut ions and pat ronizing t he Buddhist aut hor Haribhadra.[4] But on Rinchen Drub
credit s Dharmapala wit h building t he monast ery at Uddandapura (Odant apuri), alt hough ot her
Tibet an account s such as t hat of Taranat ha, st at e t hat it was magically built and t hen ent rust ed
t o Devapala.[3]: 45

Epigraphs

The epigraphs from Dharmapala's reign include:[15]

Keśava Praśasti

Bodhgaya Stone Inscription (Kesava Prasasti)

Dat ed in t he 26t h regnal year, t his inscript ion is a work of Kesava, who was t he son of sculpt or
Ujjala. It records t he est ablishment of an image of Chat urmukha (four-faced) Mahadeva and
 t he excavat ion of a lake at t he cost of 3000 drammas (coins) at Mahabodhi.

Khalimpur Copper Plate

Khalimpur Copper Plate

Dat ed in t he 32nd regnal year, t his copper plat e is inscribed by Tat at a, who was t he son of
Subhat a and grandson of Bhojat a. It records Dharmapala's defeat of Indrayudha and t he
inst allat ion of his t ribut ary Chakrayudha at Kannauj. It st at es t hat t he kings of Bhoja, Mat sya,
Madra, Kuru, Yadu, Yavana, Avant i, Gandhara and Kira (possibly Kangra) at t ended t he imperial
assembly and approved it . It furt her st at es t hat Dharmapala grant ed four villages t o a feudal
lord called Naryanavarman for t he const ruct ion and maint enance of a t emple dedicat ed t o t he
Lord Nanna-Narayana,[16][17] wit h t he boundaries of t he donat ed villages including a shrine
const ruct ed for t he Goddess Kadamvari.[18]
Nalanda Copper Plate
This plat e is part ially damaged due t o burning. The name of t he donor is not clear, but his
fat her's name is Dharmadat t a. It records t he gift of a village Ut t arama, sit uat ed in t he Gaya
visaya (dist rict ) of t he Nagar bhukti (division).
Nalanda Stone Inscription
This inscript ion is a work of t he art isans Kese, Savvo, Vokkaka and Viggat a. It is inscribed on a
st upa sculpt ure wit h carvings t hat depict seat ed Buddha figures. It records Vairochana as t he
person who commissioned t his deed, describing him as a brilliant and valiant man who lived
during t he rule of Dharmapala.
Valgudar Image Inscription
It records t he dedicat ion of an image of god Madhusrenika by Ajhuka, t he wife of Sat o, in t he
cit y of Krimila.
Paharpur Seals
These t wo seals were discovered from t he Somapura Mahavihara. Bot h depict a dharma chakra
flanked by ant elopes, and st at e t hat t hey were issued by t he monks belonging t o a vihara at
Somapura, which was est ablished by Dharmapala.

See also

List of rulers of Bengal

References

1. Sharma, Ranjit Kumar (1988). "Matsyanyaya and the Rise of the Palas" (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=bA88AQAAIAAJ) . Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh: Humanities. Asiatic Society of
Bangladesh: 2.

2. Extracted from the Bodhgaya stone inscription, Mahâbodhi, or the Great Buddhist Temple under the
Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya, Alexander Cunningham, Plate XXVIII, 3 (https://archive.org/details/cu3192
4008747788/page/n157) , 1892.

3. Susan L. Huntington (1984). The "Påala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture (https://books.google.com/books?i

d=xLA3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA32) . Brill. ISBN 90-04-06856-2.

4. Sailendra Nath Sen (1999) [First published 1988]. Ancient Indian History and Civilization (https://books.
google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA278) (2nd ed.). New Age International. pp. 278–279.
ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0.

5. Ronald M. Davidson (2004) [First published 2002]. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the
Tantric Movement (https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC&pg=PA53) . Motilal
Banarsidass Publ. pp. 53–55. ISBN 978-81-208-1991-7.

6. Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib (htt
ps://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&pg=PA40) . Penguin Books India. pp. 41–42.
ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
 7. Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha (1977). Dynastic History of Magadha (https://books.google.com/books?id=g
YO25eaDrqUC&pg=PA177) . Abhinav Publications. p. 177. ISBN 978-81-7017-059-4. "Dharmapāla
after defeating Indrāyudha and capturing Kanuaj made it over to Cakrāyudha, who was a vassal king of
Kanuaj subordinate to Dharmapāla ... Dharmapāla was thus acknowledged paramount ruler of almost
whole of North India as the Bhojas of Berar, Kīra (Kangra district), Gandhāra (West Punjab), Pañcāla
(Ramnagar area of U.P.), Kuru (eastern Punjab), Madra (Central Punjab), Avanti (Malwa), Yadus
(Mathura or Dwarka or Siṁhapura in the Punjab), Matsya (a part of northeast Rajputana) were his
vassals."

8. Pramode Lal Paul (1939). The Early History of Bengal (https://web.archive.org/web/20140329011504/

http://oudl.osmania.ac.in/bitstream/handle/OUDL/14288/218329_The_Early_History_Of_Bengal_Vol_I.p
df?sequence=2) (PDF). Indian History. Indian Research Institute. p. 38. Archived from the original (htt
p://oudl.osmania.ac.in/bitstream/handle/OUDL/14288/218329_The_Early_History_Of_Bengal_Vol_I.pdf?
sequence=2) (PDF) on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

9. Sailendra Nath Sen (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-93-
80607-34-4.

10. Ancient India, 2003, p 648-49, Dr V. D. Mahajan.

11. Syayambhu Purana; Ancient India, 2003, p 649, Dr V. D. Mahajan.

12. History of Bihar, Prof.R.Choudhary,1958, p.117

13. Dahiya, Poonam Dalal (15 September 2017). ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA EBOOK (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=tbU6DwAAQBAJ) . McGraw-Hill Education. p. 412. ISBN 978-93-5260-673-3.

14. "Tempelpilaren" (https://whitejaderiver.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/tempelpilaren/) . 16 September

2018.

15. Jhunu Bagchi (1993). The History and Culture of the Pālas of Bengal and Bihar, Cir. 750 A.D.-cir. 1200
A.D. (https://books.google.com/books?id=J7RKoMeAtpUC&pg=PA2) Abhinav Publications. pp. 8–9.
ISBN 978-81-7017-301-4.

16. Sikha Sarkar (2001). Mother-goddess in Pre-mediaeval Bengal: A Study of the Evolution of Concept &
Forms of Female Divinities. Niharendu Aditya. p. 37. "The Khalimpur Copper-plate, issued in the 32
regnal year of the great Pala king Dharmapala gives us the information regarding the erection of a
temple of the Bhagavana (Lord) Nanna-Narayana by a feudal lord (Mahasamantadhipati)
Narayanavarma. Scholars are unanimous regarding the fact that Nanna-Narayana is the name of Lord
Visnu."

17. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (1971). History of Ancient Bengal (http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/j

spui/bitstream/10689/13287/16/Chapter%20XIII_506-580p.pdf) (PDF). G. Bharadwaj. p. 511. "A
temple (deva-kula) of the god Nanna-Narayana is referred to in a record of Dharmapala (B.2), while the
Garuda Pillar Inscription at Badal (B. 20) shows its continued importance, during the reign of
Narayanapala."
18. Sikha Sarkar (2001). Mother-goddess in Pre-mediaeval Bengal: A Study of the Evolution of Concept &
Forms of Female Divinities. Niharendu Aditya. p. 37. "While describing the boundaries of the donated
villages, the copper-plate grant refers to a small shrine constructed for the goddess Kādamvarī:
"uttareṇa kādamvarī devikulikā khariuravrksaśca" (line 32). It is said that there is a small temple of the
goddess Kādamvarī on the northern boundary of the village mentioned above. The name of this
goddess is rarely found in the Epics and the Puranas."

Further reading

Pankaj Tandon: "A Gold Coin of t he Pala king Dharmapala," Numismatic Chronicle, No. 166, 2006,
pp. 327–333.

Hist ory and Cult ure of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Kanauj, p 44, Dr Majumdar, Dr
Pusalkar

External links

Coin of Dharmapala (ht t p://people.bu.edu/pt andon/Dharmapala.pdf)

Preceded by Pala Emperor Succeeded by

Gopala I 8th century Devapala

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