CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PATNA

RISE OF SASANKA IN GAUDA

SUBJECT- HISTORY RESOURCE PERSON- Dr. PRIYADARSHNI

INZMAMUL HAQUE 933 (1ST YEAR)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe a great many thanks to a great many people who helped and supported me during the compiling of this project. I owe my gratitude to Dr. Priyadarshni, Assistant Professor (History) under whose regular guidance this project was successfully completed by me. I am heartily thankful to the C.N.L.U. library . I would also thank my friends without whom this project would have been a distant reality. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to my family and well wishers. Lastly, I offer my regards and best wishes to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the project.

CONTENTs

CHAPTERS

PAGE NO.

1) Introduction 2) Rise of Gauda 3) History of Gauda/Gaur 4) Historical measurement and statistics in Gauda/Gaur 5) Architecture style of Gauda/Gaur 6) Notable structure at Gauda/Gaur 7) Shashanka/Sasanka 8) Extent of Shshankas kingdom 9)Extending political influence of Shashanka 10) Contemporary sources 11) Shashankas war with Harshvadhana 12) Art and architecture of Shashankas dynasty 13)Conclusion 14)Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION
Gauda the city is better known under its ancient name , gaur. Its first recorded reference is by the gramarrian Panini , and its location may be inferred to have been in eastern India . Shashank is often attributed with creating the first separate political entity in a unified Bengal called Gauda and as such is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in 7th century AD, and some historians place his rule approximately between 590 AD and 625 AD. He is the contemporary of Harshvardhana. His capital was called Karnasuvarna and is located in modern Murshidabad. The development of the Bengali Calendar is also often attributed to Shashanka as the starting date falls squarely within his reign. Shashanka has been described both in the inscriptions and literary accounts as the ruler of Gauda. In the narrower sense Gauda is the territory between the river Padma and Bardhaman region. But in course of time it embraced much wider area. In the Satpanchasaddeshavibhaga, the seventh patala of Book III, Shaktisangama Tantra Gauda is said to have extended from the vanga country up to Bhuvanesha (ie Bhubaneshwar in Orissa). It is not unlikely that the author had described the extension of Gauda country keeping in mind the kingdom of Shashanka, which also embraced a part of Orissa.

Rise of Gauda

Gauda (Janapada) an important geographical entity in ancient and medieval Bengal. The Arthashastra refers to it along with vanga, pundra and kamarupa. Though the geographical limit of the Gauda country is not mentioned, the fact that it is linked with Vanga and Pundra definitely indicates its location in eastern India. Vatsayana (3rd - 4th century AD) was familiar with this country. This geographical idea continues even in the Puranas as it is regarded as one of the janapadas of the eastern quarter. Varahamihira (c 6th century AD) was also aware of Gauda janapada. In his Brhat Sanghita he mentions six distinct janapadas viz: Gaudaka, Paundra, Vanga,samatata, Vardhamana and tamralipta. It appears from his narration that Murshidabad, Birbhum, and western Burdwan formed the territory of ancient Gauda. The earliest epigraphic evidence referring to the territory of the Gauda people is the Haraha inscription of the Maukhari ruler Ishanavarman and is datable to 554 AD. It is stated in the inscription that Ishanavarman defeated the Gaudas who live near the sea (Gaudan samudrashrayan). This statement finds corroboration in the undated Gurgi inscription of Prabodhashiva (c 11th century AD) which describes the Lord of Gauda as 'lying in the watery fort of the sea' (jalanidhi jaladurggam Gauda rajo dhishete). The evidence of these two epigraphs drives home the fact that the Gaudas, at least at one point of history, lived in the coastal region. With the passage of time and change in the political scenario the connotation of Gauda, however, underwent changes. The rise of shashanka, the ruler of Gauda, as a formidable power in the early part of the 7th century AD definitely led to the extension of the territorial limits of Gauda. From the accounts of hiuen-tsang we learn that he travelled from the country of karnasuvarna to a region in coastal Orissa, and the area was ruled by Shashanka. Obviously, the territory of Karnasuvarna stretched up to littoral West Bengal. Interestingly, this king Shashanka is described in Banabhatta's Harsacharita as the Lord of Gauda whose capital was at Karnasuvarna. In fact, Bana castigates him as Gauda bhujanga (the dangerous Gauda snake). Thus in the early part of the 7th century Gauda and Karnasuvarna were co-terminous. On the basis of Hiuen Tsang's itinerary and the archaeological remains of raktamrittika mahavihara, Karnasuvarna, the capital city of Gauda kingdom has been located near Chiruti in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Hence Murshidabad formed the core area of Gauda. The political limits of the geographical name Gauda further extended to the region of north Bengal, ie Pundravardhana. From the Aryamanjushri Mulakalpa we learn that Pundravardhana was ruled by Shashanka. This statement finds corroboration in the allusion to a struggle in the
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Dubi plates between Susthitavarman and Bhaskarvarman of Kamarupa on the one side and the king of Gauda on the other. As a ruler Bhaskarvarman's contemporary was Shashanka. The struggle might have taken place in north Bengal. We know from Hiuen Tsang that Pundravardhana and Kamarupa were contiguous territories. Thus Gauda under Shashanka embraced parts of west Bengal, including its coasts, and north Bengal (at least for a short time). The appellation Gauda was applied even to areas outside Bengal. It was used in a political sense in the Gaudavaho of Vakpati. In Vakpati's account Magadha was included within the realm of the Gauda ruler. In the early medieval period, the term Gauda had a wider connotation. The Rastrakuta and the Pratihara records styled the Pala rulers as Gaudeshvara,Gaudendra, Gaudaraja etc. This obviously implies that the name Gauda, which originally denoted parts of West Bengal, became so diffused that during the 8th and 9th centuries it was sometimes synonymous with the entire Pala kingdom. We come across the term Pancha Gauda for the first time in the famous historical chronicle of Kashmir, the Rajatarangini of Kalhana. This indicates the widest diffusion of the name Gauda. Pancha Gauda referred to Gauda in association with Sarasvata, Kanyakubja, Mithila, and Utkala. It thus appears that originally Gauda janapada lay to the west of Bhagirathi and that its core area was Murshidabad. Gradually, with the increase of the political might of Shashanka, the first independent ruler of Gauda, in the early part of 7th century AD, the political limits of Gauda extended stretching in the south to coastal Orissa and the north to Pundravardhana. The term sometimes even denotes the entire Pala empire. In the 13th century gaur under the Bengal Sultans denoted the entire area of the sultanate. Its capital, also called Gaur, stood at the site previously known as Laksmanavati, and renamed lakhnauti by the Muslim sultans.

History of gauda/gaur

It is said to have been founded by the mythic figure Lakshmana, and its most ancient name was Lakshmanavati, corrupted into "Lakhnauti". The area was known as Gauda (Gauka, of Gau/Cow) at the time was under the rule of famous Bengali kings such asSasanka. In the 7th century Gopala by a democratic election in Gaur became the first independent Buddhist king of Bengal and founded the Pala Empire. The Pala dynasty ruled for nearly four centuries between the mid to late 8th century to 12th century CE. The Palas were often described by opponents as the Lords of Gauda. It was also a prosperous city during the Sena dynasty's rule in Bengal. However, its most well documented history begins with its conquest in 1198 by the Muslims, who retained it as the chief seat of their power in Bengal for more than three centuries. Around the year 1350, the Sultans of Bengal established their independence, and transferred their seat of government to Pandua (qv.), also in Malda district. To build their new capital, they plundered Gaur of every monument that could be removed. When Pandua was in its turn deserted (1453), Gaur once more became the capital under the name of Jannatabad; it remained so as long as the Muslim kings retained their independence. In 1565 Sulaiman Khan Karrani, a Pashtun ruler, abandoned it for Tanda, a place somewhat nearer the Ganges. Gaur was sacked by Sher Shah in 1539, and was occupied by Akbar's general Munim Khan in 1575, when Daud Khan Karrani, the last of the Afghan dynasty, refused to pay homage to the Mughal emperor. This occupation was followed by an outbreak of the plague and course changeof river Ganges, which completed the downfall of the city. Since then it has been little better than a heap of ruins, almost overgrown with jungle

Historical Measurements and Statistics in gauda/gaur

The city in its prime measured 7 1/8 m. from north to south, with a breadth of 1 to 2 m. With suburbs it covered an area of 20 to 30 m., and in the 16th century the Portuguese historianFaria y Sousa described it as containing 1,200,000 inhabitants. The ramparts of this walled city (which was surrounded by extensive suburbs) still exist; they were works of vast labor, and were on the average about 40 ft (12 m) high, and 180 to 200 ft (61 m) thick at the base. The facing of masonry and the buildings with which they were covered have now disappeared, and the embankments themselves are overgrown with dense jungle. The western side of the city was washed by the Ganges, and within the space enclosed by these embankments and the river stood the city of Gaur proper, with the fort containing the palace in its south-west corner. Radiating north, south and east from the city, other embankments are to be traced running through the suburbs and extending in certain directions for 30 or 40 m. Surrounding the palace is an inner embankment of similar construction to that which surrounds the city, and even more overgrown with jungle. A deep moat protects it on the outside. To the north of the outer embankment lies the Sagar Dighi, a great reservoir, 1600 yd. by 800 yd., dating from 1126.

Architecture style of gauda/gaur

Fergusson in his History of Eastern Architecture thus describes the general architectural style of Gaur: "It is neither like that of Delhi norJaunpur, nor any other style, but one purely local and not without considerable merit in itself; its principal characteristic being heavy short pillars of stone supporting pointed arches and vaults in brick whereas at Jaunpore, for instance, light pillars carried horizontal architravesand flat ceilings. Owing to the lightness of the small, thin bricks, which were chiefly used in the making of Gaur, its buildings have not well withstood the ravages of time and the weather; while much of its enamelled work has been removed for the ornamentation of the surrounding cities of more modern origin. Moreover, the ruins long served as a quarry for the builders of neighboring towns and villages, till in 1900 steps were taken for their preservation by the government. The finest ruin in Gaur is that of the Great Golden Mosque, also calledBara Darwaza, or twelve doored (1526). An arched corridor running along the whole front of the original building is the principal portion now standing. There are eleven arches on either side of the corridor and one at each end of it, from which the mosque probably obtained its name. These arches are surmounted by eleven domes in fair preservation; the mosque had originally thirty-three."

Notable structures at gauda/gaur

Eunuchs' mosque, in the ancient suburb of Firozpur, has fine carving, and is faced with stone fairly well preserved. The Tantipar mosque (14751480) has beautiful moulding in brick, and the Lotan mosque of the same period is unique in retaining its glazed tiles. The citadel, of the Muslim period, was strongly fortified with a rampart and entered through a magnificent gateway called the Dakhil Darwaza (14591474). At the south-east corner was a palace, surrounded by a wall of brick 66 ft (20 m) high, of which a part is standing. Near by were the royal tombs. Within the citadel is the Kadam Rasut mosque (1530), which is still used, and close out side is a tall tower called the Firoz Minar (perhaps signifying tower of victory). There are a number of Muslim buildings on the banks of the Sagar Dighi, including, notably, the tomb of the saint Makhdum Shaikh Akhi Siraj (died 1357), and in the neighborhood is a burning ghat, traditionally the only one allowed to the use of the Hindus by their Muslim conquerors, and still greatly venerated and frequented by them.

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SHASHANKA/sasanka

Shashanka was the first important king of ancient Bengal, who occupied a prominent place in Indian history. It was generally believed that Shashanka ruled approximately between 600 CE and 625 CE, and two dated inscriptions, issued in his 8th and 10th ruling years from Midnapore, and another undated inscription from Egra near Kharagpur have been discovered. The copper plate from Shashanka's subordinate king of Ganjam (Odissi) Madhavavarma, Harshavardhana's Banskhera and Madhuvan copper plates and the Nidhanpur copper plate of the Kamarupa king Bhaskaravarman contain information about Shashanka. King Shashanka also issued gold and silver coins. Between the decline of Guptas and the rise of Shashanka, a number of independent rulers flourished in Bengal in the intervening period and their existence is known from a few inscriptions and gold coins. The seal-matrix of Shri Mahasamanta Shashanka from Rohtasgarh, the contemporary literary accounts of Banabhatta and the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (also known as Hiuen Tsang) as well as the Buddhist text Aryamanjushrimulakalpa are important sources of information on him. In the inscriptions and literary accounts also Shashanka is described as the ruler of Gauda. In the narrower sense Gauda is the territory between the river Padma and Bardhaman region, however in course of time it embraced much wider area.

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Extent of shshankas Kingdom

While Shashanka was known and referred to as the Lord of Gauda, his kingdom included more than just the region of Gauda. By the end of his reign, his domain stretched from Vanga to Bhuvanesha while in the east, his kingdom bordered Kamarupa. Prior to Shashanka, Bengal was divided into three regions, Banga, Samatata and Gauda and was ruled by a feeble ruler belonging to the later Gupta dynasty, Mahasengupta. Shashanka was one of his chieftains who rose to power taking the advantage of the weak ruler. After the death of Mahasengupta, Shashanka drove the later Guptas and other prominent nobles out of the ground to establish his own kingdom Gauda with the capital Karnasubarna.

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EXTENDING POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF SHASHANKA

The ruler Shashanka first established himself in Gauda, the north-western region of Bengal, and made Kornosubora in Murshidabad his capital. Then he gradually extended his rule in Odissi, parts of Central Provinces as well as in Bihar, though his attempts to establish his authority further north lasted for only a short period. The contribution of Shashanka in the history of Bengal was that he defended the independence of the Gauda empire against a very powerful northern Indian adversary, Harsavardhana which became very important in Indian history. For a king of Bengal, it was a great show of strength to have ventured into northern Indian politics. So he can be seen as the first important king of Bengal, who for the first time brought her into competition with other states for control of northern India. In this sense, he was the forerunner of the aggressive northern Indian policy of the later Pala rulers such as Dharmapala and Devapala.

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Contemporary Sources

There are several major contemporary sources of information on his life, including copperplates from his vassal Madhavavarma (King ofGanjam), copperplates of his rivals Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, and the accounts of the Chinese monk Xuanzang as well as coins minted in Shashanka's reign. The informations provided by Bana and Xuanzang cannot be considered as true or very reliable as both belonged to Buddhism and Shashanka was known to be a staunch Hindu. Moreover the patron of Bana and Xuanzang was a sworn enemy of Shashanka. So both were bound to be biased towards him. They have described Sasanka as the "vile Gauda serpent". In his account Xuanzang has elaborated that Shashanka has destroyed the Buddhist stupas of Bengal and declared an award of hundred gold coins for the head of every Buddhist monk in his kingdom. Though the modern day historians have rejected these views as purely biased ones. According to the other sources available Shashanka was an efficient and tolerable ruler who ruled justly.

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shshankas War With harshavardhana

Shashanka and his allies fought a major war with the then Emperor of Thanesar, Harshavardhana, and his allies. The result of the battle was inconclusive as Shashanka is documented to have retained dominion over his lands. The king of Malwa, Devgupta had an enmity with the ruler of Kannauj, Grahavarman who was also the brother-in-law of the Vardhan princes, by his marriage with the princess of Thanesar, Rajyashri. Devgupta attacked Kannauj and killed Grahavarman in the battle and imprisoned his wife Rajyashri. Hearing the news Prabhakarvardhan, the king of Thaneswar dies of shock and his elder son Rajyavardhan is crowned as the king. Rajyavardhan immediately marched towards Kannauj to avenge the death of his brother-in-law. The battle was followed by sudden assassination of Rajyavardhan. Though very conclusive proofs are not found, but a treachery is suspected on the part of Sasanka who joined the battle as an ally of Devgupta. Only source available in this matter is the "Harshacharita" by Banabhaata, who was a childhood friend and constant companion of Emperor Harsha. But one thing should be kept in mind that neither Bana nor Harsha were present at the site. Harsha-Vardhan, then was crowned the ruler of Thaneswar and he once again gathered the army and attacked Kannauj. Though the results are not known clearly, but it is evident that Devgupta and Shashanka had to retreat from Kannauj. Sasanka continued to rule Gauda with frequent attacks from Harsha which he is known to have faced bravely.

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art anD arChitECtUrE OF shshankas DYnastY

The archaeological site of Rajbaridanga is a pleasant 30-minute walk as it has mustard fields spread out on both sides of the metalled road. Rajbaridanga, also known as Raja Karnas Palace, was first excavated by archaeologists of Calcutta University in 1962. Their findings consisted of the ruins of a large Buddhist Vihar. Terracotta seals and other artifacts helped identify the ruins as those of Raktamrittika Mahavihar. Ruins of Shashankas citadel were also excavated. The other structures unearthed include the base of several square and circular stupas, remains of square rooms (probably classrooms or rooms where the students put up), remnants of two walls (possibly the boundary of the capital) and a well (which might have been built later). The ruins were declared a site of national importance.

The nearest railway station of Chiruti was thereafter re-christened as Karnasubarna. Two other sites had been excavated close to Rajbaridanga. They are Rakshashi (female demon) Dhipi and Nil Kuthi (indigo bungalow) Dhipi. Not much structural evidence has been unearthed at these sites, but both have thrown up interesting artefacts from bygone times. Located within a couple of kilometres of Rajbaridanga, the two sites are considered monuments of national importance. Although declared a site of national importance, the ruins lie in utter neglect. But there are the remains of a temple and part of the Buddhist vihar, scattered over a wide expanse, to be seen. And they do give you a feel of historical nostalgia.

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CONCLUSION

Shashanka, the controversial Bengali monarch who ruled over the kingdom of Gaur from 600 to 638 and checked the eastward march of the imperial armies of Gupta king Harshavardhana, had his capital here. Karnasubarna is now home to the ruins of the ancient Buddhist university of Raktamrittika. Following his death, Shashanka was succeeded by his son, Manava, who ruled the kingdom for 8 months. However Gauda was soon divided amongst Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, the latter even managing to conquer Karnasuvarna. It is also said that the death of Shashanka was followed by a period of plitical turmoil. In 750 AD Gopala was elected as the King of Gaur. This led to the foundation of Pala dynasty in Bengal.Gopala was succeeded by his son Dharmapala(775-810 AD) who in turn was succeeded by Devapala(810-850 AD).Each of them consolidated the dynastys portion in Bengal and the surrounding region making the Palas as one of the most powerful dynasties during that period. The monuments of Gaur are now looked after by the Archaeological Survey of India. The brick work of several monuments have been restored, though none to its early perfection or completeness. The ASI is also carrying out excavations of a mound about a kilometer from the Chikha building within the Baisgaji wall where remains of a palace are turning up.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books 1) R. C. Majumdar, History of Bengal, Dacca, 1943, pp 5868 2) Sudhir R Das, Rajbadidanga, Calcutta, 1962 3) R. C. Majumdar, History of Ancient Bengal, Calcutta, 1971 4) P. K. Bhattacharyya, Two Interesting Coins of Shashanka, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, London, 2, 1979

External links 1) http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/G_0047.HTM 2) http://www.rangan-datta.info/Karnasubarna.htm 3)http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/524701/Shashanka 4) http://www.indiaheritage.org/history/history_bengal.htm 5)http://www.bengalgenocide.com/history02.php 6)http://www.indianmirror.com/dynasty/shashanakadynasty.html

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