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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA areas of Bengal was conquered by the Turkish Musalmans about the beginning of the thirteenth century while it appears that the Gauḍa-Varēndra rules served by Bhīmadēva and his father and grandfather belonged to an indigenous royal family flourishing in the area in question before the Muslim conquest. It is extremely doubtful if the Muslim conquerors of the country thought it wise to appoint ministers from among the newly conquered people shortly after their conquest. Moreover the Muslim conquerors of India would have scarcely tolerated the construction of a Śiva temple by their servant, which is stated to have been built to inspire wonder and admiration in the minds of Bhīmadēva’s enemies. It may of course be suggested that the names of the masters of Bhīmadēva and his ancestors have not been mentioned in the inscription because they were servants of foreign rulers. But the above considerations lean us to think that the record was engraved before the Muslim conquest of Eastern India though probably not much earlier than the middle of the twelfth century. The second and third problems are very difficult to tackle. For the middle of the twelfth century, the description ‘ lord of Gauḍa (or Gauḍa-Varēndra)’ seems to suit the ruler of the Pāla dynasty. The Pālas originally held sway over the major part of Bengal and Bihar and they are known to have enjoyed the title Gauḍēśvara. With the establishment of the Varman dynasty at Vikramapura in the present Decca District in the latter half of the eleventh century South-eastern Bengal (called Vaṅga) was permanently lost to the Pāla empire and, shortly after the middle of the twelfth century, Vijayasēna, founder of the Sēna dynasty of Rāḍha in South-East Bengal, occupied practically the whole of Bengal including its western and northern parts. Henceforth Pāla rule was confined to the southern areas of Bihar. The Pāla king Madanapāla was ousted from Gauḍa-Varēndra (i.e. the western and northern regions of Bengal) shortly after the date of his Manahali plate issued from Rāmāvatī (a city probably situated near modern Gaur in the Malda District) in the king’s eighth regnal year corresponding to c. 1151 A.D.[1] But the Pāla kings were called Gauḍēśvara even when Gauḍa no longer formed a part of their dominions.[2] Madanapāla ruled in the period c. 1144-62 A.D. and is known to have recovered the western part of Bihar which had been lost to the Gāhaḍavāla king Gōvindachandra (1115-55 A.D.) who had his capital at the city of Banaras.[3] The Patna-Monghyr region was under Gāhaḍavāla occupation from about 1124 to 1146 A.D. but appears to have been reoccupied by Madanapāla about 1146 A.D. It is not impossible that the Pāla king Madanapāla, who had some success against the Gāhaḍavālas of Banaras, was Bhīmadēva’s master. Bhīmadēva’s presence at Banaras may thus relate to a temporary occupation of Banaras by the Pāla king. Unfortunately there is no indication in the record of Pāla success against the king of the Banaras region. But the reference to the enemies may suggest that Bhīmadēva did not visit Banaras in a private capacity on pilgrimage or was not settled at the holy place after retirement.
In connection with the construction of the Śiva temple at Banaras by Bhīmadēva, minister of the king of Gauḍa or Gauḍa-Varēndra, we have also to think of the possibility of the work being done by him without visiting the place. We have instances of kings and queens making grants in favour of distant temples, far away from their dominions in some cases, without moving from their capital and of even ordinary people securing the merit of pilgrimage to holy places through proxies without personally visiting them.[4] It was therefore not altogether impossible for Bhīmadēva to have __________________________________________________
[1] IUQ, Vol. XXX, pp. 207-08.
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