Hindu – Buddhist Dynasties

Background
• The reconstruction of the history of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period
is difficult due to paucity of sources. The difficulty is felt more acutely
for the earlier period from the earliest time to the 4th century A.D.
when Bengal came under the Imperial Guptas;
• In the earliest period Bengal was known to be inhabited by different
groups of people, whose names came to be associated with the area
inhabited by them.
• The historic term ‘Janapada’ means human settlement. The sources of
ancient Bengal suggest that, in the earliest period Bengal was divided
among various tribes or kingdoms which are known as the Janapadas.
The ancient Janapadas are as follows:
• Vanga – southern and south-eastern districts of present Bangladesh: this is an
area where finest quality white & soft cotton fabrics were produced;
• Pundra – northern Bangladesh and parts of north Bengal of the Indian province
of West Bengal: also known as Pundranagar, was the earliest urban center in
Bangladesh;
• Gauda – mid-West Bengal: its core area was Murshidabad. In the 13th century,
under the Sultans, Gauda denoted the entire area of the Muslim sultanate. Its
capital also called Gaur or Lakhnaboti, located at present Chapai Nawabgonj
district;
• Radha – southern part of present West Bengal;
• Samatata – trans-Meghna region of Bangladesh in its south-eastern part: The
archaeological discoveries in the Lalmai-Mainamati area ensures that Samatata
was formed at  Comilla-Noakhali areas and the adjacent parts of hilly Tripura;
• Harikela – The Chittagong area;
• An inscription written in the Brahmi script found in excavation in the site
of the old Pundranagar, now represented by the ruins of Mahasthangarh
in Bogra district, bears testimony of Maurya rule in parts of Bengal in 3rd
century B.C.
• The Mauryan Empire unified most of the Indian subcontinent into one
state for the first time and was one of the largest empires in
subcontinental history. The empire was established by Chandragupta
Maurya. Under Mauryan rule, the economic system benefited from the
creation of a single efficient system of finance, administration, and
security;
• The fragmentary Brahmi inscription refers to relief measures, such as
distribution of paddy and money, to be undertaken by the administration
during the time of calamities caused by nature and collection of the
distributed amount of paddy and money when good days return;
Gupta Rule
• The history of Bengal from the fall of the Mauryas (2nd century B.C.) to the
rise of the Guptas (4th century A.D.) is obscure.
• The establishment of the Gupta empire marks the end of the independent
existence of the various states that flourished in Bengal at the beginning of
the fourth century A.D. With the exception of Samatata, the rest of Bengal
was definitely incorporated in the Gupta empire by the time of
Samudragupta;
• Samatata was a tributary state, acknowledging the suzerainty of the Gupta
Emperor, but with full autonomy in respect of internal administration.
• Although Samatata was a semi-independent feudatory state in the time of
Samudragupta, it seems to have been gradually incorporated into the
Gupta empire. Maharaja Vainyagupta was the ruler of this region.
Gupta Rule
• Well structured local administration: representatives of the local
people had the opportunity of playing an important role; the earliest
instance of local self-government in Bengal;
• Strong benevolent central government;
• Enjoyed the benefit of being a part of the All-Indian empire;
• Efficient administration and political stability;
• Prosperity through trade and commerce (existence of Gupta coins)
• Religious tolerance and coexistence of religious beliefs;
• Artistic excellence: Gupta school inspired the Bengal school of
sculptural art.
Sasanka
• The break up of the Gupta empire, the invasions of the Hunas and the sudden entry
and exit of Yasodharman on the political stage of northern India gave great shocks to
eastern India;
• Bengal also took advantage of the political situation to shake off the foreign yoke and
two powerful independent kingdoms i.e. Vanga and Gauda were established there in
the sixth century A.D.
• Gauda emerged as an independent kingdom under Sasanka;
• A number of independent rulers flourished in Bengal in the intervening period
between the decline of Guptas and the rise of Sasanka, and their existence is known
from a few inscriptions and gold coins;
• Sasanka was the first important king of ancient Bengal, occupies a prominent place in
history of the region. It is generally believed that he ruled approx. between 600 A.D.
to 625 A.D. He is also the first known king of Bengal who extended his suzerainty
over territories far beyond the geographical boundary of that province.
Sasanka
• Of his early life and the circumstances under which he came to occupy the throne of Gauda
we possess no definite information. All that we definitely know is that some time before 606
A.D. Sasanka became the king of Gauda with his capital at Karnasuvarna, which has been
identified with Rangamati, six miles south-west of Berhampur in the Murshidabad district;
• He mead himself master of western and northern Bengal and conquered territory as far as
the Chilka Lake in Orissa; Parts of Bihar were within his empire;
• It seems that the keynote of Sasanka’s foreign policy was to secure his dominions from the
aggressive designs of the Maukhari rulers who had for three generations carried on a bitter
struggle with the Later Guptas for the possession of Magadha and Gauda;
• He was a staunch Shaivite (follower of Shiva) and a strong anti-Buddhist; many acts of
vandalism and enmity against Buddhists are ascribed to him;
• The date of his death cannot be exactly determined, but it must have taken place after 619
A.D. and before, probably very shortly before, 637 A.D.; his body produced sores and his flesh
rotted off, and after a short while he died.
Matsyanyayam
• The Kautiliya Arthasastra explains the term as follows: when the law
of punishment is kept in abeyance, it gives rise to such disorder as is
implied in the prover of fishes, i.e., the larger fish swallows a small
one, for in the absence of law enforcing authority, the strong will
swallow the weak;
• The death of Sasanka was followed by a period of anarchy and
lawlessness; for more than a century, roughly from 650 A.D. to 750
A.D., the history of Gauda is obscure in the extreme;
• In this century, Bengal saw very little of stable government and the
whole country was torn by internal strife and disturbed by invasions
from outsides;
Pala Dynasty
• The dynasty founded by Gopala in mid 8th century A.D., ruled Bengal for about
four hundred years;
• Period of Ascendancy
• Period of Stagnation
• Period of Decline and Disintegration
• Period of Ascendancy – this time is remembered as the vigorous rule of
Dharmapala and Devapala. These two rulers consolidated their empire in
northern and western Bengal and Bihar. Dharmapala’s name stands out in the
annals of the Pala dynasty as a great conqueror under whose leadership Bengal’s
influence came to be felt in northern India for quite some time;
• Dharmapala was a devout Buddhist and a great patron of Buddhism. He is
credited with the foundation of the Vikramasila monastery. Sompura Mahavihara
Paharpur is another monumental architectural work of Dharmapala;
Pala Dynasty
• Sompura Mahavira, included in the ‘Heritage of Man’ of UNESCO, is
the largest Buddhist monastery in the Indian subcontinent and the
second largest in the world;
• Devapala, the son and successor of Dharmapala, maintained the
aggressive policy of his father and during his reign the struggle for
supremacy of northern India continued;
• Under their rule, Bengal, for the first time in her history, came to be
reckoned as a powerful force in north Indian politics. Bengal could
hold its own against powerful rivals.
Pala Dynasty
• Period of Stagnation – continued for more than hundred years covering reigns of five
generations of kings.
• In this period the energy and vigor, which were so manifest during the reigns of
Dharmapala and Devapala, were totally absent.
• Hardly was there any attempt at expansion; rather the Pala kings were not powerful
enough to check incursions from outside and uprisings from inside;
• The reign of Mahipala I brought back some vitality and gave a second lease of life to
the Pala empire. He succeeded in bringing back the lost territories in norther and
western Bengal and restored the position of his dynasty to a firmer footing;
• The vigor and energy of Ramapala was the last significat flicker in the life of the Pala
dynasty. But his success was short lived and his successors were too weak to check
the gradual decline.
• Vijaysena, possibly a feudatory ruler in the Pala empire, found opportunity to gather
strength, and by the middle of the 12th century a.d. the Palas were ousted from their
possessions in Bengal.
Pala Dynasty
• Maintained Stable Government
• Established a sound administrative structure
• Land base empire and agrarian in nature
• Trade and commerce was not important factor
• Environment of religious coexistence with Hindu-Buddhist amity
• Various achievement in the field of arts: the Buddhist Vihara , the
terracotta art of Bengal etc.
• No real development in literary works.
Sena Dynasty
• Towards the end of 12th century A.D., Vijayasena founded the Sena empire;
During the period of decline of the Palas after Pala emperor, Rampala,
Vijayasena rose into prominence and gradually grabbed power;
• He defeated the Varmans in southearstern Bengal and then ousted his empire
in northern Bihar and adjacent territories;
• The Senas held sway over Bengal for more than a century in which five
generations of kings ruled;
• It should also be noted that Vijayasena, after having ousted the Varmans and
the Palas, succeeded in bringing the whole of Bengal under one unified rule
which continued upto 1204 A.D.;
• The Sena rulers were hindus and their rule is considered to be a period of
revival of Hinduism in Bengal
Sena Dynasty
• Vallalasena is known to have attempted the establishment of orthodox Hindu social
order with caste rigidity;
• It was an attempt to bring back Hindu orthodoxy in a society that had long lived in a
social milieu of religious tolerantion and Hindu-Buddhist amity;
• The decline of Buddhism in Bengal may be ascribed to this change in social order;
• This period saw development of Sanskrit literature in Bengal; it was partly the direct
patronage of the Sena kings and partly to the environment created by them; By far
the most important contribution of Bengal to the poetic literature in Sanskrit is the
Gita govinda of Jayadeva, who was one of the ornaments of the court of
Laksmanasena. Vallalasena and Laksmanasena were royal authors of merit;
• Another arena of the artistic achievements of the period was in the field of sculptural
art. Bengal school of sculptural art reached its high water mark in the Sena period.
Muslim Conquest
• Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji conquered Bengal in 1204 A.D.
and established Muslim rule with Lakhnawati as his capital;
• The extension of Muslim power in Bengal may be regarded as a
consequence of establishment of the Muslim domination in northern India
by Muhammad Ghori. The Arabs, however, had established commercial
contact with Bengal, particularly, with coastal areas long before the
territorial conquest by the Muslim rulers;
• Ikhtiyaruddin was a Turkish adventurer and came to Delhi in search of a job
in the army. While his effort to obtain employment at Delhi failed, he came
to Baduan and from there he moved to Oudh. The ruler of Oudh
Husamuddin offered him jaigir of two Parganas in the south-west of
Mirzapur;
• He created a sizable army with the money obtained from his jaigirs and
established his power-base there. He then invaded the neighboring Hindu
Kingdoms and further strengthen his position;
• From Bihar Bakhtiyar marched towards Bengal with his army. He avoided the
traditional Teliaghar pass to enter Bengal and advanced through Jharkhand, the
forest belt. He reached Nadia, where Laksman Sen, the last of the Sena kings of
Bengal was having his mid day meal;
• Bakhtiyar and his eighteen horsemen was considered as horse dealers from India
and permitted to enter the city;
• Bakhtiyar attacked the security of the palace where Laksman Sen was staying.
Hearing that Laksman Sen left the place and moved to his capital Vikrampur in
East Bengal;
• In his period the Northern and Western part of Bengal seems to have been
brought under Muslim dominion;
• He soon consolidated his new conquests and established military outposts in the
border areas;
• In his administrative arrangements he assigned different areas of his territory to
the charge of his principal nobles and military chiefs for maintenance of law and
order and collection of revenues;
• The last important event in Bakhtiyar’s career was his expedition to
Tibet where he lost with his troop;
• This event shattered him both mentally and physically and he died of
a consuming fever in 1206 A.D.;
• He constructed Mosques, Madrasas and Khanqas to establish a
Muslim society;
• Bakhtiyar conquered Bengal on his own and conducted administration
in the occupied territory freely and independently;
• He established the foundation of the Bengal sultanate which lasted
for more than three centuries and the independent sultans
contributed enormously to the growth of an enlightened and
prosperous Bengal during the mediaeval period;
Bengal Sultanate
• The period of Muslim rule is dividend into two phases – Sultanate and
Mughal;
• The sultanate rule started after the death of Bakhtiar and lasted upto 1576;
• The sultanate had a number of sultans in this time period;
• Alauddin Hussain Shah was the greatest sultan of his dynasty. He and his
successors ruled Bengal for four and a half decades;
• He expanded his territory by conquering neighboring kingdoms. He was an
efficient ruler. He introduced a welfare administration and led Bengal to
prosperity. He treated all his subjects equally, irrespective of religious faiths
and appointed local Hindus to his positions including those of his minister,
personal physicians, and advisers;
Bengal Sultanate
• Hussain shah was a great patron of learning. Under his liberal patronage many books
were written in the Bengali Language. Mahabharata and Bagabata Gita were also
translated into Bengali;
• He erected a number of Mosques, Madrashas, Khanqas and tombs. He wanted to bring
the Hindus and the Muslims closer;
• This period formed the most glorious chapter in the history of mediaeval Bengal.
Allegiance of all sections of the Bengal population and the happy combination of local
and foreign talents gave a distinct force to the Hussain Shah dynasty;
• The Sultanate ended in the battle of Rajmahal on 12th July; the last Afghan Sultan Daud
Khan Karrani was defeated by Khan Jahan, the general of the great Mughal emperor
Akbar;
• At that time the Mughal army controlled and established authority over a small portion
surrounding the capital city but the rest of Bengal was controlled by independent and
semi-independent military Chiefs, the Afghans, and Bengali Bhuiyans and Rajas both
Muslims and Hindus.
Pre-Mughal Period
• Both natural geography and political geography offered barriers to the
Mughal conquest of Bengal;
• Khwaja Usman Afghan, Bayjid karrani, and the Bara Bhuiyans proved to be
the most serious obstacle to Mughal aggression in Bengal;
• Khawja Usman and his brothers had authority at Gauripur, greater
Mymensingh, Bayjid Karrani at Sylhet and the Bara Bhuiyans at Bhati;
• Akbar Made strenuous efforts by sending general after general, to bring
the whole of Bengal under his control but failed;
• By the end of 1612, his dream of conquering Bengal was fulfilled in the
reign of his son Jahangir by a young, energetic Subahdar, Islam Khan Chisti;
Mughal Empire
• Founded in 1526 but came to Bengal at later part of their reign;
• Dominated India between 17th and 18th centuries;
• Empire ended in mid-1900s;
• Descended from Mongolian ancestors;
• Population at height: between 110 and 130 million people;
• Sophisticated, mixed Indo-Persian culture;
Mughal Empire
• Centralized Government System;
• Persian Art/Culture merger with native Indian Art/Culture;
• New trade routes with Arabs and Turks;
• Mughlai Cuisine
• New Architectural Style;
• Landscape gardening;
• Urdu Language developed from the Fusion of Indian and Islamic
Culture.
 Mughal Empire
• Under the Mughals, India was the heart of a great Islamic empire and a prolific
center of Islamic culture and learning.
• Dynasty was the greatest, richest and longest lasting Muslim dynasty to rule
India.
• The Great Mughal Emperors were:
• Babur (1526-1530) The First of the Mughals
• Humayun (1530-1556) The Luckless Leader
• Akbar (1556-1605) The Great
• Jehangir (1605-1627) The Paragon of Stability
• Shah Jehan (1627-1658) The Master Builder
• Aurangzeb (1658-1707) The Intolerant
Babur 1526 - 1530
The First of the Mughals
• Babur was a direct descendant of the Turkish Ghengis Khan and Timur
from Tamerlane.
• Defeated the Delhi Sultanate & established the Mughal Empire.
• Gained control of the whole northern India
• Made Agra capital
• He reigned for 4 short years and died at age 47 in 1530.
• Did not enact new laws or organization in the empire due to early his
death
Humayun 1530 - 1556
The Luckless Leader
• After Babur died, he was succeeded by his son Humayun in 1530.
Humayun was 23 years old.
• He was not a soldier and unlike his father, neither skilled nor a wise
leader.
• Inherited a disunited and disorganized empire.
• In 1540, Sher Shah of Bengal defeated Humayun and took over the
Mughal Empire. The Empire was lost from 1540-1545.
• He was exiled but later regained power in 1555.
• Humayun died in 1556 after falling down the steps of his library; he
is known as “the luckless one”.
 Akbar 1556 - 1605
The Great
• Akbar become the new Mughal ruler at the age of 14.
• Regent and his mother ruled in his name for 4 years
• Akbar was an ambitious and noble commander
• Built the largest army ever in the empire.
• Helped to conquer nearly all of modern-day northern India and Pakistan.
• Great administrator
• developed a centralized government
• It delegated 15 provinces each under a governor and each province into districts and each district was
further sub-divided into smaller sections.
• Best known for tolerance of his subjects (especially Hindus)
• Removed poll taxes on Hindus
• Invited religious scholars to debate him in his private chambers.
• Developed his own faith call Din Ilahi.
• Din Ilahi was a mixture of the other religions Akbar had studied from those debates.
Jehangir 1605 - 1627
The Paragon of Stability
• Jehangir succeeded his father Akbar in 1605.
• Opposite of his father
• Poor monarch and warrior but good at maintaining the status quo.
• He continued many of Akbar’s policies.
• Freedom of worship.
• Fair treatment of Hindus.
• Continued friendship and alliance with Rajputs.
• Allowed foreigners like the Portuguese and English into India for trade.
• Jehangir married Nur Jahan. She became the real ruler of the empire until the death of her
husband.
• Under the influence of his wife and many others, Jehangir was not an able ruler like his
father.
• He loved to drink and enjoy himself.
• He had to suppress many rebellions.
• Important posts in the court were given to families, friends, and especially those close to his wife, Jahan.
Shah Jehan 1627 - 1658
The Master Builder
• Shah Jehan succeeded his father in 1627.
• Better ruler than Jehangir.
• Restored the efficiency of government.
• Recovered territories.
• Maintained peace
• Foreign traders were allowed into India and trade increased considerably.
• The empire was expanded.
• Shah Jehan was a patron of the arts
• Built many great architecture buildings including the Taj Mahal and the
Peacock Throne, a brilliant gold throne encased in hundreds of precious gems.
Shah Jehan
• Taj Mahal
• Built in honor of his wife who died during childbirth.
• Took over a decade to build and it nearly bankrupted the empire.
• 1657 - Shah Jehan became seriously ill and a dispute over the
succession of the throne ensued between his three sons.
• Aurangzeb deposed Shah Jehan in a coup d’etat in 1658. Shah
Jehan was imprisoned in the Octagonal Tower of the Agra Fort from
which he could see the Taj Mahal. He died in 1666 and was buried
next to his wife in the Taj Mahal.
Aurangzeb 1658 - 1707
The Intolerant

• Aurangzeb ascended the throne after disposing his father and beating out his
two brothers.
• Despot
• severely persecuted Hindus of Northern India.
• Empire declines under his reign
• He removed the tax-free status for Hindus
• Destroyed their temples
• Crushed semi-autonomous Hindu states
• Primary Interest - Promote Islam vs tolerance
Aurangzeb
• Aurangzeb over expanded the empire and strained his resources.
• Large sums of money and manpower were lost.
• He lost the support of the Hindu people.
• The over expansion of his empire weakened his administration.
• Aurangzeb died in 1707
his son Bahadur Shah succeeded him. Bahadur was so old by the time he
ascended the throne, he only managed to live a few more years. But at this
point in time, the government was so unstable and so weak, the empire
become an easy target of invasion and exploitation, first by the Persians, and
then by the British.
• The death of Aurangzeb and the short reign of his son led to the end
of the Mughal empire and the beginning of British Rule.
The Success of the Mughals
• It is agreed among many scholars that the Mughal empire was the
greatest, richest and most long-lasting Muslim dynasty to rule India. This
period of Mughal rule produced the finest and most elegant art and
architecture in the history of Muslim dynasties.
• The Mughal emperors, with few exceptions, were among the world’s most
aesthetically minded rules. Although Turkish and Persian in background,
the Mughals were not Muslim rulers of India but Indian rulers who
happened to be Muslims. This idea is most evident in Akbar’s obsession of
a utopian India for Hindus and Muslims.
• The longevity of the Mughal empire can be contributed to a number of
factors. The Mughal emperors were ambitious and for the most part able
rulers. But Akbar is perhaps the Mughal emperor responsible for much of
the prosperity and harmony achieved during the Mughal Empire.
• Akbar the Great, as he is referred, perceived that 3 things were
needed if his Empire was to be stable and long-lasting.
• 1. Fair rent must be fixed for the peasant and a steady revenue for the
treasury,
• 2. The land must be ruled by men who were impartial and responsible to
himself,
• 3. The Muslim must live at peace with the Hindu.
• Akbar strove during his lifetime to achieve these 3 things. He
showed tolerance to Hindu scholars and women.
• By 1650, the Mughal empire had expanded farther North and
South.
 Mughal Art
• The Mughal Empire and the Great Mughals will always be
remembered as a great influence on the artistic and cultural life of
India. Their architectural style can still be seen today such as the Taj
Mahal built by Shah Jehan and the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri.
• The remarkable flowering of art and architecture under the Mughal
Empire is due to several factors.
• The empire provided a secure framework within which artistic genius could
flourish. Both Hindu and Muslim artists collaborated to produce some of the
best Indian art.
• The empire commanded wealth and resources that were unparalleled in
Indian history.
• The Mughal emperors were themselves patrons of art whose intellectual
ideas and cultural outlook were expressed in the architecture.