Page:The Pālas of Bengal.djvu/15

Rh Govinda III caused Karkarāja's arm to become the doorbar of the country of the Lord of the Gurjaras, who had become evilly inflamed by conquering the Lord of Gauḍa and Vaṅga. The verses in both grants do not refer to the same person. The first verse refers to Vatsarāja, the contemporary of Dhruva, but the second verse refers to Nāgabhaṭa II, son of Vatsarāja, who was defeated by Govinda III.

This brings us to the fourth foreign invasion of this period, the invasion of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. It is evident from the verses quoted above that the Gurjara king's conquest was not a lasting one. Close on his heels followed the southerner and obliged him to relinquish his conquests and even forced him to retire into the desert country, his original home. When the double white umbrella was snatched away from Vatsarāja, the Kingdom of Gauḍa and Vaṅga must also have passed into the hands of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa conquerer. Nothing is known definitely about the close of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa occupation, but most probably it did not last long. As soon the Rāṣṭrakūṭa forces were withdrawn, the local princes must have re-asserted their authority.

During this period of foreign invasions and consequent anarchy and misrule, the old Royal dynasty must have come to an end, the harassed populace felt the necessity of a strong and able ruler. They held an election about the details of which we know nothing. As a result of this election Gopāladeva, the son of a successful soldier named Vapyaṭa, was elected king. In the Khalimpur grant of Dharmmapāla it is said that the people made him take the hand of fortune:—


 * Mātsya-nyāyam-apohituṁ prakṛtibhir-lakṣmyāḥ karaṁ-grāhitaḥ Śrī-Gopāla iti kṣitīśa-śirasāṁ cuḍāmaṇis-tat-sutaḥ, Yasy-ānukriyate sanātana-yaśo-rāsir-diśām-āśaye śvetimnā yadi paurṇṇamāsa-rajanī jyotsn-ātibhāra-śriyā.—verse 4.

The composer of the Khalimpur inscription puts the cause of this election very nicely in the above verse: Mātsya-nyāyam-apohituṁ, "to escape from anarchy," as Mr. K. P. Jayaswal translates it. That the danger of being swallowed up into the kingdom of a powerful neighbour, was not exaggerated, is amply evident from the foregoing account of the foreign invasions of Bengal during the dark period.

Nothing is known about the origin of this new line of kings, who continued to hold sway over Bihar or Bengal till the final conquest of the country by the Muhammadans. In the oldest inscription of this dynasty Dayitaviṣṇu, the grandfather of Gopāla I, is called the progenitor of this line of kings, and it was stated, that he was sanctified by all sorts of knowledge (sarvva-vidyāvadātaḥ). Most probably the family was of such a humble origin that even the names of Dayitaviṣṇu's forefathers were not known in the time of his great-grandson. In later biographical works and inscriptions like the Rāmacarita of Sandhyākara-nandi and the Kamauli grant of Vaidyadeva, mythical accounts are given of the origin of the Pālas. The Kamauli grant mentions very distinctly that