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Matsyanyaya of Khalimpur
Inscription: Revisiting its
Geo-Historical Significance
\
Sayantani Pal
Senior Lecturer, Department of Ancient Indian History & Culture,
University of Calcutta
Published in
JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY
Volume L, No.2, 2008
Matsyanyaya of Khalimpur Inscription: Revisiting
its Geo-Historical Significance
Sayantani Pal
I
n the current historiography on early Bengal matsyanyaya is
viewed as a dark period, which eclipsed the life of the Bengali
people. Writing the preface of his magnum opus Bangalir Itihas
fAdi Parva), Niharranjan Ray thus compares this event with two
other major disasters in the history of Bengal, viz., the political
and socio-cultural upheaval in the thirteenth century and the
Partition of Bengal in 1947. I The term is generally applied to the
period extending from the death of Sasanka (middle of the seventh
century AD.) to the rise of the Palas (c. AD. 750) though there are
differences of opinion among historians regarding its duration.
This condition is believed to have prevailed in the whole of Bengal
(West Bengal and Bangladesh) in generaL 2 Absence of a stable
government and repeated foreign invasions are regarded to be the
main themes outlining the politics of this period. This political
turmoil is believed to have affected the life of the common people
as welL
Studies on the history of early Bengal were pursued with great
interest by Bengali scholars from the beginning of the twentieth
century. The partition of Bengal in 1905 gave a new dimension
to the search for the cultural past of the Bengalis, and the sphere
of history and archaeology were extended to a search for the
origin of the Bengali identity. As a response to the view that,
from Magadha the Palas extended their authority in Bengal and
subdued the Bengalis, R.P. Chanda projected Gopilla as the first
Bengali king who was e~ected by the Bengali people to put an
end to the anarchy and this, according to him was the 'revival of
Gaw:;la ra~tra' which, to him, was the representative of
'Bangladesh', the culmination of the unified image of BengaL 3 In
the writings of AK. Maitreya the same image of Bengal and the
attempt to view Gopala as a Bengali king is present. It was
equivalent to Lama Taranatha's Vailgala. To elect a king like
Gopilla all local chiefs are supposed to have made 'voluntary self-
sacrifice for the sake of common good' that, to him is the
'patriotism of the purest type'. It resulted in the establishment of
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JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
a 'national government' based upon the principles of federation
where all feudal chiefs lived under the protection of Gau<;J.esvara
elected by them. In other words the political chaos led the people
to establish an ideal type of government.4 Slightly differing from
this, R.D. Banerjee wanted to view Gau<;J.a-Magadha-Vanga
together as a unit that faced anarchy after Jivitagupta II. It ended
in the selection of Gopala by the subjects of Gau<;J.a.5 In 1943,
came up the History oj Bengal. Volume I (Hindu Period) under
the editorship of RC. Majumdar from the University of Dacca.
To RC. Majumdar, also, the death of Sasanka was a political
disaster that 'shattered the dream of a far-flung Gau<;J.a empire'
and 'loosened the bonds that united North and West Bengal'.
This, according to him, is indicated by Hsuan Tsang's account
referring to PUI).<;lravardhana and Karl).asuvarl).a as separate
kingdoms. However, existence of such bond under Sasanka is
never indicated by any record and Sasanka's authority over North
Bengal. indicated by a vague reference in the ilrya ManjuSri
MUlakalpa, is not beyond doubt. However, he was the first to
study the history of Vanga separately suggesting that
developments there might have been different from what was
happening in Gau<;la. But at the same time their nature was
identical as both were experiencing rapid change of rulers and
repeated foreign invasions. He visualizes 'a throne of Bengal'
emphasizing the same unified image. Like RP. Chanda he, too,
sees the election of Gopala as an instance of 'subordinating
individual interests to a national cause' though admits that the
selection was originally made by 'a group of leaders or independent
chiefs'.6 Thus attempt to see Bengal as a single identity, to imagine
a spirit of self-sacrifice and love for this 'Bengal' among the people
in the eighth century, the establishment of a government by them
that was of an ideal type and above all, a suitable beginning for
a line of rulers who fulfilled their dream of establishing an empire
(Le., the Gau<;la-empire) are pronounced in the writings of these
authors.
In fact the term matsyanyaya occurs in a single document,
viz., the Khalimpur copper plate of Dharmapala. Historians
generally cite two other documents as corroborating it, viz., the
Buddhist text Arya ManjuSri MUlakalpa and the account of Lama
Taranatha. The general trend is either to accept or to discard the
statements contained in them. However, a study of the historical
context in which such documents were composed would lead to
a better understanding and evaluation of the statements made
in them. The present paper is an attempt in this direction. The
purpose is to examine the geographical context of this anarchy
PAL; MATSYANYAYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 23
and the extent to which it could have affected the contemporary
situation.
It is the Khalimpur plate? where the Palas first represent
themselves as rulers. which reconstructs their genealogy describing
their progenitor Dayitavi1?I:lu as sarvavidyavadataJ:r. and the best
among kings (v.2) and his son Vapyata as one who destroyed his
enemies thereby giving no clue about their ancestry and also
indicating that it was obviously not from any dignified status. In
verse 4 it is stated that in order to put an end to matsyanyaya the
prakrtis assisted Gopala. the crest jewel of the heads of kings. to
take the hands of fortune. As a matter of fact. this statement is
exclusive to this document of the Pillas and it never reappeared in
any other of their inscriptions.s Thus it is apparent that Gopala
was not a royal person and gained the throne after subduing other
claimants to the throne. But whether the situation can be defined
as matsyanyaya is to be ascertained because it is natural for a
court poet appointed to frame the prcciasti of a new royal family to
glorify his patron. The place where this situation prevailed is also
not clear from the Pilla records and is associated with the question
of the original territory of the Palas. An attempt to define the
territory on which Dharmapilla held his authority. may. thus be
undertaken.
The Khalimpur plate of Dharmapilla is dated in his 32ndyear. 9
His only inscription dated prior to this. viz.. the Bodhgaya
inscription of year 26 recording the construction of a temple at
Bodhgaya merely mentions his name and regnal year. Nevertheless
it indicates his authority there in his 26th year. The Khalimpur
plate issued from the jayaskandhavara at Pataliputra records grant
of land in Vyaghratap: m~9ala. located in the Baghdi region to
the west of the Bhagirathi in the Murshidabad districLIO Another
charter. viz.. the Nalanda copper plate records donation of land in
the Gaya vi!;>ayaobviously in the Gaya region. The format of the
charter suggests that it was perhaps the earliest charter of the
Palas. II The unpublished Murshidabad plate records land grant to
the Somapura mahavihara identified with the monastery of
Paharpur in the present Naogaon district of Bangladesh though
the charter was issued from the camp of victory at Mudgagiri. I.e..
Munger. The combined testimony of all these inscriptions would
suggest that the original territory of the Pillas embraced the region
along the Ganges extending from Patna in the west to at least
Rajshahi/Naogaon in the east. Thus it is likely that the anarchical
condition as mentioned in the Khalimpur plate as well as the kya
MaiijuSri Miilakalpa prevailed somewhere in this region, particularly
the latter document exclusively refers to GaLH;latantra.as affected
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JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY; Vol. L, No.2, 2008
by it. A reading of the text would suggest that to its author Gauq.a
was the most prominent part of the East and by Gauq.a he indicated
both Gauq.a and Magadha.12 GopaIa captured power in this region.
The PaIas also had all their jayaskandhavaras in Bihar and they
did not mention KarIfaSUVart:la.13In fact, apart from the account
of Taranatha there is nothing to show the connection of the early
Palas with Vailgala (a general term for southern and eastern
BengaP4; D.C. Sircar, however, believes that the area of Bakla-
Chandradwip in the Bakharganj district was originally known as
Vailgala).15
The Arya Mafiju.sn. Miilakalpa (8th centuryp6, states (v. 745-
747) : "After the death of Soma the Gauq.a political system
(Gaw;latantra) was reduced to mutual distrust, raised weapons
and mutual jealousy - one (king) for a week; another for a month;
then a republican constitution - such will be the daily (condition)
of the country on the bank of the Ganges where houses were
built on the ruins of monasteries. Thereafter Soma's son Manava
will last for 8 months 5 (1/2) days."17 Thus this text written about
the same period implies that anarchy prevailed in Gauq.a after
the death of Sasanka (died sometime about A.D. 637) and the
main factors leading to it are the absence of a stable
administration and maltreatment of Buddhists by the people in
general. Besides the text refers to the occurrence of a famine in
the eastern provinces (presumably Gauq.a and Magadha) after
the death of Sasanka (v. 757).18 In another place it states (v.681-
683), "Immediately following D. for ten days (will be king). In this
Gauq.a country on the Ganges there be the next following Bh.
ruling for three days. Then there will be king. for everyone,
Gopalaka. That king (will be) sweet in speech. considerate. and a
power."19 D. and Bh. have been taken to refer to Dayitavi1?IfU
and Vapyata.2o It may be noted that a distinction has been drawn
between Gopalaka and the earlier kings on account of their
instability and it has been stated that GopaIa was the king for
everyone thereby indicating his acceptance by the people indicated
by the term prakrti in the Khalimpur plate.
The second corroborative account is from Lama Taranatha
(born in A.D. 1573 and completed his 'History oj Buddhism in
India' in A.D. 1608) who gives the names of the successive
generation of kings in the kingdom of BhailgaIa, I.e.. VailgaIa.
According to him the Candras ruled in BhailgaIa from the time
of Srihar1?a (I.e.. Har1?avardhana) to the rise of the PaIas and
Lalitacandra was the last king of the Candra family. "Mter him
though many ~atriyas were born in the Candra line. none of
them actually ruled the country. In BhailgaIa, 0 q.ivi1?a , etc. -
.
PAL: MATSYANYAYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 25
the five regions in the east - those who were born in the royal
family lived as ministers, brahma:Q.as, rich merchants etc. and
were lords in their respective spheres. But there was no king as
such ruling the state."21 Then follows a long account of the
Buddhist teachers of the period. In the next chapter he tells a
story that a Tree-god begot a son on a young 1a?atriya woman
near Pu:Q.<;lravardhana. This son became a devotee of the goddess
CU:Q.<;la and directed by her went to the vihara of Arya Khasarpa:r:ta,
and, having prayed there for a kingdom, was asked to proceed
towards the east. He came to VangaIa, which had been without a
king for many years. and people were suffering from great misery.
The leaders gathered and elected a king only to be killed by a
Naga woman that very night. Henceforth the people used to elect
one king everyday and he was killed by that Naga woman at
every night. Some years passed in this way and Gopala came to
the country. Then the author proceeds to tell how GopaIa killed
that Naga woman and was elected king by the people seven times
for seven consecutive days and finally he was elected as
permanent king, on account of his pre-eminent qualifications,
and was given the name Gopala. According to Taranatha
Govindacandra ascended the throne at the time of the death of
the Buddhist teacher Dharmakirti (middle of the second half of
the seventh century) and thus according to his chronology
Govindacandra and Lalitacandra. the last two kings of Candra
dynasty might be placed at the last quarter of the seventh century
and the first quarter of the eighth century respectively.22 Thus
the anarchical condition of the five 'eastern provinces', according
to Taranatha. prevailed in the second quarter of the eighth century
23 and lasted for about 15 years. Taranatha's object was to give a
detailed account of the Buddhist teachers, doctrines and
institutions in India during the different periods. In this way he
has recorded some Buddhist traditions regarding the political
history of India. Obviously such traditions are interwoven with
myths and truths that are difficult to separate. Besides Taranatha
is removed from the actual event by a time gap of about 800
years. It appears that as he was narrating the account of the
territory of BhailgaIa he applied the story of anarchy to this area.
Thus his account is not fully reliable.
The Arya MafijuSrl MUlakalpa and Taranatha differed on the
question of the duration of matsyanyaya and the place of its
occurrence. According to the former, it lasted for a longer period,
from the death of Sasanka to the rise of the PaIas and the scene of
activity was Gau<;lawhile according to the latter the duration was
much shorter and the scene of activity was Bhailgala.
26 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
Often statements made in the account of Hsuan Tsang have
been cited to prove the fragmented political picture of Bengal
affected by matsyanyaya. While travelling through eastern India
the Chinese pilgrim referred to five countries, viz., Pun-na-fa-tan-
na (Puif<;lravardhana). Ka-mo-Iu-p'o (Kamarupa). San-mo-ta-t'a
(Samatata). Tan-mo-lih-ti (Tamralipti) and Ka-Io-na-su-fa-Ia-na
(KarIfasuvarIfa). He reached Puif<;lravardhana from Ka-chu-wen-
k'i-Io (Kajailgala). located at Farakka,24 which was then under a
neighbouring state due to the decline of its native ruling dynasty,
some centuries before the pilgrim's visit. As regards the rulers of
PUif<;lravardhana the pilgrim says nothing but he mentions that
the country had a flourishing population and crops were abundant.
He referred to Bhaskaravarman as the king of Kamarupa. Regarding
the rulers of the last three countries he says nothing but the
inhabitants of Tamralipti were prosperous and those of
KarIfasuvarIfa were very rich.25 Thus apart from Kajailgala, whose
capital was deserted and the people lived in towns and villages26
the description of the other places and their inhabitants do not
show any discomfiture of the common people.
As a matter of fact the concept of matsyanyiiya is known from
the early literary sources like the ArthaSastra of Kautilya. the
Ayodhya kilIf<;laof the RamaYC11).a, SantiparvaIf of the Mahabharata,
the Nitisara of KamaIf<;laka. the MatsyapurW;ta, the .AdipurW;taof
Jinasena. the Kathasaritsagara of Somadeva etc.. 27 as a state of
lawlessness caused by the absence of the dC11).Q.a (lawof punishment)
in which the weaker people are exploited by the stronger people
just like a big fish swallows a small one. As for example, the
ArthaSastra maintains that matsyanyaya or law of the fishes arises
in the absence of the wielder of the rod (1.4.7) and that people
(praja) overwhelmed by such a state selected Manu as their king
(1.13.5).28 Thus the origin of kingship has been traced from such
a state also. The Nitisara also maintains that in the absence of
dC11).Q.a matsyanyaya prevails and the whole social order perishes
(sarga II, v.40).29
There have been many speculations about the real implication
of the term pralcrti of the Khalimpur plate. In discussions on polity.
the term prakrti has been used in various senses like a king's
ministers, the body of ministers or counsellors. ministry, the
subjects of a king. citizens, artisans etc., the various sovereigns to
be considered in case of war. 3D In ArthaSastra the term has been
used to denote the seven elements of state.(6.1.1).31 In the PurilIfas.
however. the term prakrti has a manifold sense. In the
MatsyapurW;ta it has been used in the sense of subjects (34.25;
226.6).32 In the Bhagavat PurW;tathe prakrtis are the seven kinds
--- -
PAL: M.4TSYANY.4YA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 27
of elements that support the monarch.33 The Mtisara uses the
term saptanga prakrti (sarga IV) and maintains that well-qualified
prakrtis for nrpa is essential.34
While it is more or less admitted that prakrti, here, refers to
the subjects. there are some differences of opinion as regards the
manner in which they helped Gopala to 'take the hands of fortune'.
Was there a selection and did all subjects take part in it? In this
context, D.C. Sircar refers to some parallel instances of selection
of a king recorded in the RamaYQJ).a, the Kashakudi plate of the
Pallavas, a Tamil inscription on the Baikuntha Perumal temple of
Kanchi, a copper plate of Ratnapala of Pragjyotisha, and the
RajatarangiJ).1.. Some of them elaborate how the selections were
made in each case and make it clear that all the subjects never
took part in such selections. The choices were originally made by
some ruling chiefs. officials or brahmat:las etc.35 .
The composer of the first praSasti of the PaIas, in the beginning
of the ninth century. also wanted to trace the rise of the predecessor
of his patron king in the backdrop of an anarchical condition in
which a king was much sought after. By the term prakrtibhiJ;t he
obviously intended to refer to the common subjects in general. as
has been used in the Damodarpur copper plate of A.D. 482 and
the Faridpur plate of Dharmaditya, regnal year 3.36Now whether
these prakrtis were not common people but others is a different
question. At least the PaIa poet wanted to present the ascendancy
of the predecessor of his master in this light in order to legitimize
the rule of this new dynasty of obscure origin showing their
acceptance by the people.
Attempts have been made to extend the connotation of the
term matsyanyaya to the contemporary society and economy.
Niharranjan Ray refers to the existence of a number of feudal
states without allegiance to any overlord. non-mention of the
port of Tamralipti after the eighth century indicating the decline
of trade, paucity of gold and silver coins. recognition given to
landed aristocracy like mar;u;lalikas, samantas, mahasamantas
etc. and non-mention of the mercantile community like the
sre~thls and sarthavahas of the Damodarpur plates of the Gupta
period, the rise of agrarian economy and the feudalisation of
the state polity as the factors contributing to the state of
matsyanyaya in Bengal. According to him matsyanyaya
affected the society in this way.37 The loopholes of this theory
have been pointed out by Amita Chakrabarti. according to
whom such characteristics are not exclusive of Bengal. She
also emphasizes that the villages which were the centres of
socio-economic and cultural life of ancient Bengal remained
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JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
undisturbed by the political changes of the country.38 It may
also be pointed out that these characteristics were present
during the Palas as well.
Chitrarekha Gupta has also made a detailed study of the socio-
economic history of Bengal in this period to show that matsyanyaya
was not a political crisis alone. First. she points to the gradual
change in the status of the donors of land from the vi!;;ayapati.
ayuktaka, kayastha, pustapala and gramika in the Gupta land
grants to the sadhanika, sariwyavaharin. mahasamanta-maharCija
and maharaja in the post-Gupta grants and further to the
mahapratihara, antaranga, mahasandhivigrahika, samanta,
mahasamanta and samanta-maharaja in the seventh century
inscriptions and concludes that by a process of elimination only a
few top-ranking officials thus acquired the purchasing capacity of
land for donation and came to form the pillars of samanta- tantra.
She also points to the difference in their purchasing capacity as
the ayuktaka or gramika purchased one kulyavapa, vi!;;ayapati
purchased 4 kulyavapas of khila land while a sadhanika purchased
3 kulyavapas of cultivable land and a samanta purchased a whole
village with all its houses (Jayarampur plate) indicating the
deprivation of common people from the resource of land.39
Before judging these arguments it may be pointed outthat to
view Bengal as a single regional entity is misleading. By the term
Bengal. the undivided Bengal comprising West Bengal and
Bangladesh is generally meant. Writing in the eighties of the
preceding century B.M. Morrison was the pioneer in locating the
four principal political and cultural regions of Bengal Delta from
the fifth to the thirteenth centuries, each having a distinct character
of their own and thus each forming a sub-region. These are the
Bhagirathi-Hooghly area. Varendra, the central part of the Delta
comprising Dhaka and Faridpur, and Samatata, lying on the eastern
side of the Meghna river.4o This approach of dividing Bengal into
sub-regions and studying their historical developments
independently has gained acceptance among the scholars studying
the currency system or urbanization or artistic trends or general
economic trends of this region.41 Thus in our context also we have
to judge whether the dismal picture of this dark period drawn by
the historians as affecting the political as well as the economic
and socio-cultural life of the people is applicable to the whole of
Bengal or to any specific sub-region/sub-regions.
The documents of land transfer from which Chitrarekha Gupta
draws her data belong to different sub-regions of Bengal having
different personalities, geographical features, structures of polity,
society and economy. Thus the contexts of each of these grants
PAL: M.ArSYANY.AYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 29
are different as well. As for example the Gupta land grants (5th-
middle of 6th century) come from North Bengal where purchasing
fallow plots of moderate sizes to support local religious institutions
(mostly built by local people) and ordinary village brahm~as by
the local people irrespective of their social status were a common
practice. The Faridpur plate where a sadhanika purchased 3
kulyavapas of cultivable land belongs to the administrative unit of
VarakamaI)9ala (Kotalipara in Faridpur). under a local ruler
Dharmaditya and the meaning of the expression vapaJa:;etraused
here is not clear. Again samanta maharaja Acyuta purchased a
whole village in the Jayarampur plate that records transfer of land
in D~9abhukti belonging to the sub-region of Bengal to the west
of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly channel where grant of whole villages
were common in this period (Mallasarul and Midnapore plate 2)
but are absent in the sub-region to the east of the Bhagirathi /
Padma. Thus all these records of land grants belonging to different
regional and periodical contexts should not be confused together
to show a general trend in 'Bengal'.
Chitrarekha Gupta also points to the gradual loss of importance
of the District Boards of Administration and development of
bureaucratic influence in running the state in the post-Gupta
period. Caste hierarchy that till did not find a place in Bengal was
also gaining ground. BrahmaI)as began to acquire more and more
power, emerged as high state-officials and landed magnets. The
grant of Lokanatha has been cited to show that the brahmaI)as
could not carry on their academic pursuits peacefully and had to
give it up to become feudal lord. But the case of the two predecessors
of Gopala in the Khalimpur plate. cited as its parallel. is not suitable
because the Palas did not have any exalted origin and further the
conventional terminology used to describe these two by the
composer of the praSasti does not convey any actual fact. Thus the
term sarva-vidyavadata used to describe Dayitavil?I)u does not
necessarily suggest his purely academic bent of mind. (A.K.Maitreya
further points out that sarvavidya included dhanurvidya Le.,
archery also).42 It has 'been concluded that in the society learned
personnel had theoretical prominence but actual power rested with
military personnel as a result of which military youths grew in
various localities in the absence of a strong central power. But
such generalized conclusion does not followfrom a solitary example.
Lastly the conventional belief of the decline of trade (particularly
long-distance trade) and commerce in the post-Gupta period has
been cited on the basis of the non-mention of the sre$thins,
sarthavahas etc. in the inscriptions of this period. As a result the
new agrarian bases could not develop as new urban centres.
3
~
..
30
JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
In the context of urbanization in Bengal the observations made
by B.D. Chattopadhyaya is significant. He grouped the early
historical settlements with the urban 'foci' under three
geographical sub-regions: i) Varendra or North Bengal, located to
the north of the Ganga, ii) lower delta of the Bhagirathi-Hooghli
system and iii) the tract of Ra<;lha. In the first sub-region two
sites are recognized as urban foci of the region, Mahasthan and
Bangarh. In the second sub-region the two nodes that had urban
characters in the early historical period are Chandraketugarh
and Tamralipti. In the third sub-region the settlements that
acquired urban dimensions in the early historical period are
Kotasur (Birbhum), Pokhanna (Bankura) and Mangalkot
(Burdwan). As to the theory of 'urban decay' in the context of
Bengal he points out that Mahasthan and Bangarh did not
undergo any noticeable decline. In Ra<;lha Mangalkot reveals
comparable continuity till at least the early Pilla period. However.
in the sub-region of the lower Ganges delta there is no evidence
to suggest continuity of early historical urbanism beyond the late
Gupta period although settlements continued in the Pilla-Sena
period. In Gupta and post-Gupta Bengal new historical regions/
centres like Samatata. Harikela. Pattikera and Srihatta appeared.
and a new commercial network at a sub-regional level, with
contacts overseas and across the borders of the sub-continent
was crystallized and thus a new spurt of urbanization must have
been present also. In Varendra and Ra<;lha. archaeology reveals
the continuity of settlements and of urban centres. Rajbadidanga
(Murshidabad). a post-Gupta urban centre. identified with
KarI;1asuvarI;1a produces evidence of a wide network of linkages
with south Bengal, south India and the upper Ganges basin. On
the whole. he observes that one can talk in terms of decline in
the context of a specific sub-region as the lower delta. the urban
characteristics of which did not extend beyond the close of the
early historical period.43 This study amply shows that a particular
phenomenon cannot be said to have occurred in the whole of
Bengal in general.
Recent researches show that the area of Samatata-Harikela
to the east of the Meghna had entirely different developments
during this period. Suchandra Ghosh has shown that the rulers
of Samatata were keen on expanding the agrarian base of the
region by creating new settlements. Large-scale donations
(sometimes amounting to 25 patakas) were definitely meant for
agricultural production. The physical evidence of the large size
of the individual monastic buildings in the Lalmai-Mainamati ridge
is an indicator of the wealth invested in the early buildings at
-
-
PAL: MATSYANYAYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION
31
Mainamati. The very existence of a monastic complex implies that
it is an area of surplus food production and it has again been
observed that Buddhist monastic sites were most of the time
along the trade routes. Thus besides agriculture. trade was an
important factor behind the prosperity of Samatata. That the
kingdom was a flourishing one is borne out by the large number
of gold coins found from this region. Sasanka. the famous king
of Gau<;la extended his power to Samatata and issued a different
kind of gold coin with a much higher gold content in this region.44
Several local rulers of Samatata. like Srikumara, Jivadharat;larata.
Sridharat;larata, Rajabhata and others continued the tradition of
minting good quality gold coins based on satamana weight
standard. begun by Sasanka. Large number of silver coins with
Bull:Trisula device, based on the basic coin type of the Candra
rulers of Arakan, have been found from the Salban vihara complex
and can be dated to 8th century AD. They form a part of the
Harikela (originally the Chittagong area and later on Sylhet,
Noakhali and Comilla region) series of coins, believed to have
been issued by the trading community for the purpose of trade.
She concludes by the observation that the available archaeological
evidence from Samatata leaves no doubt that this region witnessed
economic prosperity in the early medieval period. Extensive
monetization was the demand of the overall economic need of
the region and this distinguished Samatata from other regions of
Bengal.45
The picture of political as well as socio-economic life as
reconstructed above with the help of recent researches is not in
keeping with that of a 'dark period' in the seventh-eighth century
covering the whole of Bengal. In fact nationalist historians like,
RP. Chanda, A.K. Maitreya, .RD. Banerjee, RC. Majumdar and
others had an ideal image of a unified Bengal before them, which
was then torn apart by the British. This probably prompted them
to apply the same to a period when there was no such homogenous
unit called 'Bengal' and what existed were small janapadas in
different sub-regions, some under monarchy and others still
retaining their tribal character. Sasanka might have succeeded in
establishing his authority in some of them46 (Le.. Gau9a,
Dat;l<;labhukti, Vanga and Samatata) but that is also for a very
short period and it is unlikely that the death of a single person
would become such a disaster so as to affect the political as well
as socio-economic life of such a vast region. It is difficult to believe
that a single term used in a solitary document has been applied to
characterize the history of Bengal for a century and statement
made in a text composed after a period of almost eight hundred
32
JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
years and interwoven with myths and legends has been cited as its
corroborative evidence by historians. It is to be understood that
the geographical contexts, the period and purposes of the
composition of such documents are different. Thus the stories they
narrate do not reconstruct the picture of a specific time-span within
a single homogenous unit that was again non-existent.
Apart from the Khalimpur copper plate in which the context of
the use of the term miitsyanyiiya has been explained above, it
would be apparent from a reading of the Arya MafijuSri Mulakalpa
that this Buddhist text tried to create an ideal atmosphere for the
capture of power by a Buddhist line of rulers (initially). In this
process Sasanka's reign period in Gau<;la has been characterized
as one during which 'houses were built on the ruins of monasteries'.
It is well-known that the author of this text was hostile to Sasanka.
Thus the purpose of describing the period preceding the coming of
the Palas as one of 'mutual distrust, raised weapons and mutual
jealousy' might clearly be understood. Taranatha's account is again
based on traditions recorded in the Buddhist monasteries in which
he came to study. Thus it is natural that it would match with that
recorded in Arya MafijuSri MUlakalpa. It is significant that Hsuan
Tsang who, travelled through the regions believed to have been
affected by the miitsyanyiiya in this period did not notice any sign
of anarchy.
The above discussion makes it sufficiently clear that the concept
of miitsyanyiiya has been borrowed from ancient Indian tradition
to create a suitable ground for explaining the rise of a new line of
rulers and enhance their entitlement to rule. Again, to the Bengali
authors of the beginning of the twentieth century, experiencing
the Partition movement, miitsyanyiiya was a reality that could be
ended only by self-sacrifice and patriotism. Thus this concept is
mirrored in their writings as a true historical event. 0
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Prof. B.D. Chattopadhyaya for his valuable
suggestions and Dr. Suchandra Ghosh for her support in writing
this paper.
Notes and References
1. Niharranjan Ray, Bangalir Itihas, Adi Parva, 4th edition, Dey's
Publishing, Kolkata, 1410 B.S., preface to the first edition, p. 19.
2. Although R.C. Majumdar discusses the history of the kingdom of
Gauq.a and the kingdom of Vanga separately he believes that the
PAL: MATSYANYAYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 33
political condition of both were marked by disintegration and series
of foreign invasions after the death of Sasanka. See RC. Majumdar,
History of Ancient Bengal, G. Bharadwaj & Co., Calcutta, 1971, p. 82.
RP. Chanda, on the other hand, believes that Bengal fell on bad
days from the beginning of the eighth century. See RP. Chanda,
Gaugarajamala, Navabharat Publishers, Calcutta, 1975, p. 16. RD.
Banerjee takes Gau<;la-Vanga-Magadha as a single unit representing
his 'Bangala' and considers it to be the 'eastern part of Uttarapatha'.
According to him anarchy prevailed there after the Later Guptas, in
the middle of the eighth century and the reason was absence of a
ruler, conflict among the petty chiefs, foreign invasions and the
tyranny of the wife of the predecessor of Gopala. See RD. Banerjee,
Bangalar Itihas, Pratham Khanda, Deys' Publishing, Kolkata, 3rd ed,
1405 B.S. D.C. Sircar is not sure about the place of the occurrence of
matsyanyaya as well as the territory where Gopala was made king.
According to him Taranatha's claim that Gopala was made king in
Bhangala might be true because according to the records of their
contemporary neighbours Dharmapala was the king of Bhangala,
Vanga or Gau<;la. See D.C. Sircar, Pal-Sen Yuger Vamsanucarit,
Sahityalok, Calcutta, 1982, p. 49. Niharranjan Ray was also in favour
of assigning the period of matsyanyaya to a period of hundred years,
I.e., c. A.D. 650-750 in 'Bengal' in genera1. See Niharranjan Ray,
op.cit. p.376-77. He believes that this condition prevailed uniformly
in Gau<;la, Vanga and Samatata. It was characterized by the absence
of king and sovereign state authority. It resulted in the decline of
trade, paucity of copper and silver coins, decline of the port of
Tamralipti and shift to agriculture-based economy as well as the rise
of feudalism. Ibid. p.380-382. Amita Chakravarty believes the
statement of Taranatha that the Kha<;lgas were succeeded by the
Candras in Vanga and that the scene of matsyanyaya was in Vanga
as otherwise Kwe have to fall back upon the incredible statement of
the Arya MafijuSri Millakalpa, implying the continuity of the chaos
and anarchy in Gau<;la for more than a centuryK. Thus according to
her matsyanyaya prevailed just before Gopala's accession in Vanga
where everybody was trying to exploit the political situation. Gopala
succeeded in winning over to his own side the 'prakftis' meaning
actually those 'who had served as ministers under monarchs of the
earlier dynasty', who had owed their allegiance to the Candras
formerly. The people acclaimed and approved his accession 'to the
throne of Bengal'. See Amita Chakrabarti, History of Bengal (c. 550 -
c. 750 AD.), Burdwan University, Burdwan, 1991, pp. 160-167.
3. RP. Chanda, op.cit., pp. 23-24, 25-26.
4. A.K. Maitreya, Th.e Fall of the Pala Empire, University of North Bengal.
Darjeeling. 1987. pp. 12-17.
5. RD. Banerjee. op.cit.. p. 91.
6. RC. Majumdar, The History of Bengal, vo1.1, Hindu Period, B,R
Publishing Corporation, Delhi, reprint, 2003, 96-97: History of Ancient
Bengal, op.cit., pp. 71ff.
34 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
7. D.C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and
Civilization, vo1. II, Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi. 1983, pp. 63-70.
8. Verse 1 of the Bhagalpur plate of Narayaryapala says, " Having
overcome the power of those who were acting according to their own
desires Gopala attained everlasting peace". E. Hultzsch, "The
Bhagalpur Plate of Narayaryapala", Indian Antiquary, VoLXV, 1886,
pp. 304-310. A K Maitreya takes it as an allusion to the matsyanyaya
during which the kamakarins (rebels and enemies) became influentia1.
AK Maitreya, Gaucfalekhamala , Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, Kolkata,
1913, p. 63.
9. Another copper plate of Dharmapala has been discovered from
Murshidabad in recent years and preserved in the Indian Museum
but unfortunately it is not published.
10. D.C. Sircar, op.cit., p. 64.
11. Ibid., p. 66.
12. KP. Jayswal, An Imperial History of India in a Sanskrit Text. MotHal
Banarsidass, Lahore, 1934, 3. KP. Jayswal, however, uses the term
Bengal for GauQa.
13. It is highly probable that the Palas hailed from North Benga1. The
Pala poet Sandhyakara Nandin devotes a whole chapter (chapter III)
of his Ramacarita to describe Varendri which was their 'janaka-bhil',
Le., 'father land', Ramacharita by SandhyakaraNandi. ed. Haraprasad
Shastri, revised by RG. Basak, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1969,
chapter I, verse.38, or 'praja-jananim nyam i?tatamam tam bhilvaJ:l',
Le., 'that dearest land (of Varendri), the place of birth of his people
and which was his own' (ibid., chapter III, verse 1).
14. Amitabha Bhattacharyya, Historical Geography of Ancient and Early
Medieval Bengal, Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, Calcutta, 1977, p. 64.
15. D.C. Sircar, Pal-Purva YugerVarh.Siinucarit, Sahityalok, Calcutta, 1985,
p.45.
16. D.C. Sircar, Pal-Sen Yuger Vari1Siinucarit, op.cit.. p. 48.
17. KP. Jayswal, op.cit., pp. 50-51.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid., p. 42.
20. Amita Chakrabarti, op.cit., p. 161.
21. Debiprasad Chattopadhyay, ed, Taranatha's History of Buddhism in
India - Translated from the Tibetan by Lama Chimpa, Alaka
Chattopadhyaya, KP. Bagchi & Co., Calcutta, 1980, p. 251.
22. This, however, is not supported by the Chandra inscriptions that
suggest that their rule began in the second half of the ninth to the
middle of the eleventh century.
23. D.C. Sircar, op.cit., p. 48.
24. H.P. Ray, 'Trade and Trade Routes Between India and China,
Progressive Publishers, Kolkata, 2003, p. 291.
25. T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, vo1.II, ed. T.W. Rhys
Davids and S. W. Bushell, Low Price Publications, Delhi, 2004 reprint,
pp. 182-191.
26. Ibid., p. 183.
PAL: MATSYANYAYA OF KHALIMPUR INSCRIPTION 35
27. U.N. Ghoshal. A History of Indian Political Ideas. Oxford University
Press, Delhi, 1959. pp. 115-480.
28. The Kauriliya ArthaSastra, Parts 1&11,R.P. Kangle, Motilal Banarsidas
Publishers, Delhi, Reprint, 1997.
29. The Nitisara by Kamandakl, ed. Rajendralal Mitra. The Asiatic Society,
Calcutta, 1982. pp. 50.
30. Monier Williams. A Sanskrit - English Dictionary, New Delhi, New
edition. 1999, p. 654.
31. The Kauriliya ArthaSastra, op.cit.
32. Matsyapuriir;tam (in Bengali), ed. Panchanan Tarkaratna, Nababharat
Publishers, Kolkata. 1395 B.S.. reprint 1406 B.S.. p. 110, p. 798.
33. The Pura1).a Index, vol. II, V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, MotHal
Banarsidas. Delhi, 1952, reprint, 1995, p. 400.
34. The Nitisara by Kamandakl, op.cit. p. 94.
35. D.C. Sircar. Silalekha Tamrasasanadir Prasanga (in Bengali),
Sahityalok. Kolkata. 1982. pp. 187-192.
36. D.C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and
Civilization. Vol.l, 2nd edition, V.K. Publishing House. Calcutta. 1965.
pp. 332-334, pp. 363-367.
37. Niharranjan Ray. op.cit.. pp. 380-382.
38. Amita Chakrabarti, op.cit.. pp. 161-163.
39. Chitrarekha Gupta, "Bengal after the Guptas:A Prelude to the
Matsyanyaya". in Akf}ayanlvi, ed. Gouriswar Bhattacharya, Delhi.
1991. pp. 221-229.
40. B.M. Morrison, Political Centers and Cultural Regions in Early Bengal.
Rawat Publications, Jaipur-Delhi, 1980. p. 152.
41. B.N. Mukherjee, Coins and Currency System in Post-Gupta Bengal (c.
AD. 550 - 700), Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. New Delhi, 1993;
B.D. Chattopadhyaya, Studying Early India, Permanent Black. Delhi,
2003, pp. 67-101; Gautam Sengupta, "Art of South-Western Bengal:
A Framework for Enquiry"; South Asian Archaeology, vol. II, Paris,
2001. pp. 649-658; Suchandra Ghosh, "Economy of Samatata in the
early medieval period: A Brief Overview" in Gerd Mevissen ed.
Prajiiadhara. Essays in honour of Gourishwar Bhattacharyya
(forthcoming) .
42. A.K. Maitreya, op.cit., p. 19.
43. B.D. Chattopadhyaya, op.cit.
44. B.N. Mukherjee, Coins and Currency Systems of Post-Gupta Bengal,
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, 1993, pp. 9-15.
45. Suchandra Ghosh, op.cit.
46. Niharranjan Ray, however, believes that the region from Utkala to
Malda-Murshidabad in modern West Bengal attained unification
under a single state for the first time under SasiiIi.ka and there was a
tendency for Gauc:Ia to dominate the other territories from the middle
of the sixth century (Haraha inscription). Ultimately the other
janapadas lost their identity to it and 'Gauc:Iesvara' became the most
coveted title to the rulers of this region from the time of Sasanka to
the Senas. It is, however, natural for the North Indian writers of
36
JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY: Vol. L, No.2, 2008
historical documents to designate any prominent ruler of Bengal by
the name Gaugesvara and the like as Gau9a was the nearest part of
Bengal to them. That does not necessarily show that the other
janapadas lost their identity to Gau9a. Niharranjan Ray also believes
that the reign of Sasailka saw the earliest attempt to unite all the
janapadas of Bengal under a single name. Niharranjan Ray. op.cit..
123-124. It. however. appears that the same divine image of undivided
Bengal or Bengal under a single ruler. as a single unit was prompting
these authors to see the attempts of unification of all the janapadas
of Bengal under a single name and ruler when there was no such.