March 10, 2019
Late Classical Bengal
Chandra Dynasty
- The Chandra dynasty were a family who ruled over the kingdom of Harikela in eastern Bengal (comprising the ancient lands of Harikela, Vanga and Samatala) for roughly a century and a half from the beginning of the 10th century CE.
- Their empire also encompassed Vanga and Samatala, with Srichandra expanding his domain to include parts of Kamarupa.
- Their empire was ruled from their capital, Vikrampur (modern Munshiganj) and was powerful enough to militarily withstand the Pala Empire to the north-west.
- The last ruler of the Chandra Dynasty Govindachandra was defeated by the south Indian Emperor Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty in the 11th century.
- Then it was under rule of Keshari dynasty of Utkal and subsequently under Ganga Dynasty of Kalinga followed by Surya dynasty of Kalinga till 1568 CE.
Sena Dynasty
- The Sena Empire was a Hindu dynasty during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries.
- The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent.
- The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south Indian region of Karnataka.
- It has been suggested that the Senas came to Bengal from Karnata
Samantasena
- were employed in high offices under the Palas.
Hemantasena
- He is also described as rajaraksasudaksah (skilful in the protection of kings) in the Barrackpur plate of Vijayasena.
- He held the position of a feudatory chief in the Pala empire
Vijayasena (1097-1160)
- He laid the foundation of the independent rule of the Senas
- He has two capital, Vijayapuri (in West bengal) and Vikramapura (in Bangladesh)
- He obtained an independent position in Radha in recognition of his help to Ramapala who fought against the Kaivartas.
- His Barrackpur copper plate was issued from Vikramapura
- Middle of the 12th century AD he supplanted the Varmans, ousted the Palas and succeeded in establishing the rule of his own dynasty over the whole of Bengal.
- He had a very long reign of abort 62 years
- assumed the imperial titles’ of Paramamaheshvara, Paramabhattaraka, Maharajadhiraja.
- Vijaya-prashasti (eulogy of Vijaya) of the famous poet Sriharsa
Ballala Sena (1160-1178)
- Two epigraphs of the time of Vallalasena, Naihati copperplate and the Sanokhar Image Inscription
- introduction of the practice of kulinism in Bengal.
- He wrote the Danasagara in 1168 and started writing the Adbhutasagara in 1169 but could not complete
- Vallalachairta composed by Anandabhatta in 1510 AD
Lakshamanasena
- he assume the title of Gaudeshvara.
- He completed the Adbhutasagara
- He was devout Vaishnava
- He took the title of Paramavaisnava or Paramanarasimha.
- His court was an assembly of several renowned poets
- Jayadeva, the author of Gitagovinda
- Dhoyi, the composer of Pavanduta
- Govardhana the author of Arya-saptasati
- Shridharadasa, compiled the Saduktikarnamrta, an anthology of the Sanskrit verses during his reign.
- His Chief Minister and Chief Judge was Halayudha Mishra, who wrote the Brahmanasarvasva.
- Umapatidhara, the author of the Deopara Prashasti
- Minhaj-us-Siraj, the author of the tabaqat-i-nasiri, who designated him as a ‘great Rae’ of Bengal and compared him with Sultan Qutbuddin.
Deva Kingdom
- The Deva Kingdom was a Hindu dynasty of medieval Bengal that ruled over eastern Bengal after the collapse Sena Empire.
- The capital of this dynasty was Vikrampur in present-day Munshiganj District of Bangladesh.
- The inscriptional evidences show that his kingdom was extended up to the present-day Comilla–Noakhali–Chittagong region.
- A later ruler of the dynasty Ariraja-Danuja-Madhava Dasharatha-Deva extended his kingdom to cover much of East Bengal.
