Dharmapala
Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"
Meaning
Dharmapala was a Pala ruler of eastern India (c. 770–810 CE) and the son of Gopala, who founded the dynasty. He made the Pala kingdom much bigger. He also fought in the Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj, a three-way war with the Gurjara-Pratiharas and the Rashtrakutas. He was a great supporter of Mahayana Buddhism.
Example
In the late 8th century, Dharmapala founded the Vikramashila monastic university, a huge monastery where monks studied and taught. It had six colleges and about 3,000 scholars. He also founded Somapura and supported Nalanda.
Don't confuse with
- Nalanda's founding: Nalanda was much older than the Palas. Dharmapala supported it, but he did not found it. He founded Vikramashila and Somapura.
Related concepts
- Tripartite struggle
- Matsyanyaya
- Gopala
- Pala dynasty
- Devapala
- Vikramashila
- Odantapuri
- Somapura Mahavihara
- Atisha Dipankara
- Pala school of art