We know little of events in Bengal from the death of Harsha in 647 AD up to the rise of the Palas in Eastern India. What is known to us that during this period, Bengal was subjected to a condition known as Matsya nyaya (the rule of strong devouring the week). Against this backdrop Gopala was chosen (Grahita) as king by the people. He founded the Pala dynasty which ruled regions of Bengal and Bihar for about four centuries from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 12th century.
There are instances when rulers were chosen by the people, ministers and nobles in ancient India. Harsha was invited by the nobles of Kannauj to assume the throne when Grahavarman died childless. The appointment of the boy Nandivarman (735-797) as the Pallava ruler of Kanchi by an assembly of nobles and ministers is another case in point.
Though details of Gopala’s reign is not known it can be said with absolute certainty that he must have laid a strong foundation on which his successors— Dharmapala and Devapala —could embark upon a policy of conquest and annexation.
According to Lama Taranatha, the 17th century Tibetan historian of Buddhism in India, Gopala built the famous monastery of Odantapura (located in Bihar Sharif in Bihar) and ruled for forty five years. The Odantapura or Odantapuri, also spelled Uddandapura, was destroyed by the Afghan military chief Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1197AD.
Gopala was succeeded after nearly twenty five years by his son Dharmapala whose long reign marks the zenith of Pala power. Since former had already undertaken the internal consolidation of the Pala dynasty, time was ripe for the energetic Dharmapala to embark upon a career of aggrandizement by undertaking foreign expeditions. He involved himself in the famed tripartite struggle for the supremacy of Kannauj in north India and succeeded in raising his protégé Chakrayudha to the throne of Kanauj. However, his expeditions against his contemporaries came to naught as he was defeated both by Pratihara ruler Vatsaraja and Rashtrakuta ruler Dhruva Dharavarsha (ruled from c. 779 to 793-94).
Dhruva’s son Govinda III also fought a successful battle against Dharampala and his protégé Chakrayudha. Finally the tripartite struggle for Kanauj ended in favour of the Gurjara-Pratihara ruler Nagabhata II who dealt a crushing defeat to Dharampala at Mudgagiri (now Munger in Bihar).
A devout Buddhist, Dharampala had built the famous monasteries of Vikramshila (in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar) and Somapura Mahavihara (now in the Naogaon district of Bangladesh).
Dharampala was succeeded by his son Devapala, the most powerful Pala ruler. Devapala is credited by the Badal pillar inscription to have “eradicated the race of the Utkalas, humbled the pride of Hunas and scattered the conceit of the rulers of the Dravida and Gurjara”. The Bhagalpur inscription says that his cousin, Jayapala, was responsible for effecting the submission of Utkala (Orissa) and Pragjyotisha (Assam).
Devapala was in diplomatic contact with the Sailendra kings of Sumatra. He is said to have granted 5 villages, as requested by Balaputradeva, the king of Sumatra and Java, for the upkeep of a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the latter at Nalanda. Devapala ruled for about 40 years. His reign may be dated from 815 to 855 AD.
Mahipala I was last important ruler of the Pala dynasty. The most important event of his reign was Rajendra I Chola’s northern expedition which resulted in the defeat of Mahipala I. After Mahipala I, the Pala power declined under his successors due to internal feud and external invasions.
The rulers of Pala dynasty were great patrons of art and literature. According to eminent historian Vincent Smith, the Pala dynasty boasted two artists, whom he names Bhiman and his son Vitapala, who “acquired the highest fame for their skill as painters, sculptors and bronze-founders”.
The Palas did not regularly mint coins. They relied on those of the other kingdoms.