Pala dynasty

Also called: Palas · Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"

Meaning

The Pala dynasty was a Buddhist ruling family of eastern India (today's Bihar and Bengal). Gopala founded it in about 750 CE, and it lasted into the 12th century. The Palas matter for two reasons. They were one of the three powers in the Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj. They also built great Buddhist centres of learning, Vikramashila and Somapura, which linked India with Tibet and Southeast Asia.

Explanation

Background: how the Palas rose

• North India had no strong ruler after Harsha.
• Harsha died in 647 CE, and his empire broke up.

• Kannauj, the old imperial city, was left without a strong master.

• Bengal was in disorder. Pala records describe a time of matsyanyaya ("the law of the fish", meaning big fish eat small fish, so the strong crushed the weak).

• Gopala was chosen, not born, to rule.
• An inscription says he was chosen by the people.

• This was unusual. Most kings of the time claimed the throne by birth or by war.

• He founded the line in 750 CE, with its base in Bihar and Bengal.

Dharmapala and the fight for Kannauj

• Dharmapala was the strongest Pala king. He pushed west into the Gangetic plains.
• Why Kannauj?
• It sat in the Gangetic plains, the flat and very fertile land along the Ganga.
• Holding it brought tax money, food, soldiers and prestige.

• A king who held Kannauj could claim to be the top ruler of north India.

• Three powers fought for it through the 8th and 9th centuries. Historians call this the Tripartite Struggle (tripartite means "three-sided"):

• the Palas from the east
• the Gurjara-Pratiharas from the west

• the Rashtrakutas from the Deccan

• The result was indecisive. The city changed hands again and again. No side won for good, and all three wore each other down.

Religion, learning and trade

• Mahayana Buddhism. The Palas backed Mahayana, the branch of Buddhism that honours bodhisattvas (beings who delay their own salvation to help others).
• New monasteries. They founded Vikramashila and Somapura. They also gave money and land to the older Nalanda.
• Vikramashila was a top-level university:
• It was founded by Dharmapala in the late 8th century. ASI dates the founding to the late 8th or early 9th century CE [2].
• It had six colleges, around 3,000 scholars and a huge library.
• Entry was hard. A dvarapandita ("scholar gatekeeper") tested each person who wanted to join. Only those who passed got in.

• Its teachers carried Vajrayana Buddhism (the "thunderbolt vehicle", which uses mantras and rituals) into Tibet.

• Sea trade. The Palas ran maritime trade (trade by sea) with Southeast Asia. Ships from Bengal ports carried goods, and they also carried Buddhist monks and ideas.

Results

• No lasting win at Kannauj. The struggle drained the Palas and their rivals. North India stayed split into strong regional kingdoms.
• A lasting cultural legacy. Pala monasteries became the era's knowledge hubs, where learning was stored, taught and passed on to other parts of Asia.
• The end. The Palas declined in the 12th century and were replaced in Bengal by the Senas. Vikramashila ran for about four centuries and collapsed in the early 13th century CE [2].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 750 CE (Gopala) into the 12th century. The Palas were most powerful in the late 8th and 9th centuries, under Dharmapala.
• Region: eastern India, in Bihar and Bengal, with ports opening to Southeast Asia.
• Key people: Gopala (founder, chosen by the people) and Dharmapala (the strongest king, who fought for Kannauj and founded Vikramashila and Somapura).
• How we know: inscriptions. A Pala inscription records that Gopala was chosen by the people.
• How we know: archaeology at Vikramashila:
• The ruins are at village Antichak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar. This is about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and 13 km north-east of Kahalgaon [2].
• The site was dug first by Patna University (1960–69) and then by the Archaeological Survey of India (1972–82) [2].
• The dig found a huge square monastery with a cruciform stupa (a cross-shaped stupa) in the middle, a library building, and votive stupas (small stupas offered as gifts) [2].
• Each side of the monastery square is 330 metres long. It has 208 cells, 52 on each side, all opening on to one shared verandah [2].

• North of the monastery, the dig found a Tibetan temple and a Hindu temple. This is hard proof of the Tibet link, and it shows that Hindus and Buddhists lived side by side [2].

• A note on numbers: ASI's site description gives "more than a hundred teachers and about one thousand students" [2]. NCERT gives about 3,000 scholars. Use the NCERT figure in the exam.

Don't confuse with

• Gurjara-Pratiharas. They were the western power in the Tripartite Struggle, with capitals at Bhillamala (Bhinmal) and later Ujjayini. They are known for blocking the Arabs, and their peak ruler was Mihira Bhoja ("Adi Varaha"). The Palas were the eastern, Buddhist power.
• Rashtrakutas. They were the Deccan power, with their capital at Manyakheta. They briefly took Kannauj and built Kailasanatha at Ellora, and Amoghavarsha I had Jain leanings. They were not Buddhist patrons like the Palas.
• Nalanda vs Vikramashila. Nalanda was older. The Palas only patronised it, giving it money and land. Vikramashila and Somapura were founded by Dharmapala.
• Senas. They ruled Bengal after the Palas and were not Buddhist patrons. Do not count them among the three powers that fought for Kannauj.

Prelims Hooks

• Gopala founded the Pala dynasty in 750 CE. An inscription says he was chosen by the people.
• Dharmapala founded Vikramashila and Somapura. The Palas also patronised Nalanda.
• Vikramashila's ruins: Antichak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar. The monastery square has sides of 330 m and 208 cells (52 per side) [2].
• Excavation order: Patna University (1960–69), then ASI (1972–82) [2].
• Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj (8th–9th centuries): Palas (east), Gurjara-Pratiharas (west) and Rashtrakutas (Deccan). The outcome was indecisive.
• Trap: the Palas backed Mahayana Buddhism, and Vikramashila carried Vajrayana to Tibet. It was not Hinayana, and it was not carried to Sri Lanka.

Mains Points

• Weak politics, strong culture. The Palas never held Kannauj for good, but they turned their wealth into learning.
• Vikramashila, with its six colleges, library and dvarapandita entry test, shows a well-run university system [2].

• Kings built monasteries to show they were greater rulers, so learning was also a tool of politics.

• Bengal as a bridge to Asia (soft power).

• Vikramashila teachers took Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet. The Tibetan temple found at the site backs this up [2].
• Pala sea trade with Southeast Asia carried monks and ideas along with goods.

• Use this in GS-I answers on India's cultural links abroad.

• Why the Tripartite Struggle mattered.

• The Palas and Pratiharas kept cancelling each other out. The Rashtrakutas could raid Kannauj but not hold it.
• As a result, no single north Indian empire existed when the Ghaznavid raids began in the early 11th century.
• Still, the age was not only one of decline. The same rivalry also produced great monasteries and temples, and it showed religious coexistence, as in the Hindu temple found at Vikramashila [2].

Related concepts

• Tripartite struggle
• Matsyanyaya
• Gopala
• Dharmapala
• Devapala
• Vikramashila
• Odantapuri
• Somapura Mahavihara
• Atisha Dipankara
• Pala school of art

Read more

• The Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj