Page:The Pālas of Bengal.djvu/72

102 Nothing is known about the extent of Kumārapāla's reign or the date of his death. But he does not appear to have reigned more than two or three years. He was succeeded by his infant son Gopāladeva (Gopāla III) III:—

Pratyarthī-pramadā-kadamvaka-śiraḥ-sindūra-lopakrama-krīḍā-paṭala-pāṇir-eṣa suṣuve Gopālam-ūrvvi-bhujaṁ। Dhātrī-pālana-jṛmbhamāna-mahimā-karpūra-pāṁś-ūtkarair-devaḥ kīrttiṁ-a-yonijaṁ vitanute yaḥ śaiśave krīḍitaṁ. v. 17.

The infant king seems to have been murdered very soon after his accession:—

Api śatrughnopāyād-gopālaḥ svar-jagāma tatsūnuḥ। Hantu (ḥ) kumbhīnasyās-tana-yasy-aitasya sāmayikam-etat. v. 12.

A posthumous record of this king has been discovered by Babu Aksaya Kumāra Maitreya at Manda in the District of Rajshahi and presented to the Indian Museum. The palaeography points to the later part of the 11th and the earlier part of the 12th century as its date. The record is full of mistakes and is untranslatable:—

1. Oṁ sura-sarid-uru-vīcīḥ sīkarau kunda-gauraur-vviracita parabhāgo vāla ca- 2. ndr-āvatansaḥ diśatu sivamajansraṁ। śambhu-koṭīra-bhāra kalama-kaṇisa roci- 3. rmmaṁjarī piṁjarīsu॥ Śri-mad-Gopāladevas-tridīva muṣarātaḥ svepva- 4. -yā tyakta kāsas-tasy-āhaṁ pāda-dhūli-prathita iti nijaṁ nāḥ। Vuddhām-asthīta-pre- 5. -trājñā-pratijño nisita-sarasavai Purasenasakṛsāṣṭau nisyajā-dallirā 6. jā tṛidaśapuram-agād-Aiḍadeva kṛtajñaḥ॥ Svataṁ tvato vadhū ya saṅgarāt prāpya 7. Candra-kiraṇ-āmalaṁ yasaḥ krīḍati tṛdaśasundarī Dṛso deva-eva Śūbhadeva nanda- 8. -naḥ॥ Artha tadanuga-gīta-vilāsaḥ dharmmadhvara-masthara-galavāsaḥ Dāmaśūra sasa- 9. -maṁ vāhitaveśaḥ sa yayate Śrī-sāmbhāvakadāsaḥ dagdhā yatra madadbhūtāḥ śara-śa- 10. -ndhāna-pūritā yatra Bhāvakadāsena Kṛtā kīrṇṇā virājateḥ॥ Rātokena le- 11. khitavya.

We can recognize only a number of names:—

(1) Gopāladeva, (2) Dāmaśūra, (3) Aiḍadeva, (4) Subhadeva, (5) Purasena, (6) Sāmbhāvakadāsa, (7) Bhāvakadasa and (8) Rātoka, the scribe.

The murder of the infant king and the subsequent accession of his uncle Madanapāla seems to point to a parallel of the murder of the infant King Edward V by his uncle Richard III. About this time some dispute seems to have arisen about the succession, and ultimately Madanapāla's party seems to triumphed. Vaidyadeva ignores Madanapāla completely in the Kamauli copper-plate grant issued in the fourth year of his reign, and so it must be admitted that Vaidyadeva declared his independence after the murder of Gopāla III. Till the reign of Madanapāla the Pāla Kingdom consisted of Eastern Magadha and Northern Bengal.