Today in this article we are going to tell you about Palkal Bihar – Pre Medieval Bihar.
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Pal Period Bihar – Early Medieval Bihar
After the disintegration of Harsha's empire, the Pala dynasty emerged in eastern India in the middle of the eighth century. The founder of the Pala dynasty was Gopal (750- 770 AD), who soon expanded the territory of Bihar from the authority of this year. For some time the Pala rulers also participated in the struggle for authority over Kanauj.
Dharmapala (770-810 AD) attacked Kanauj in the last of the eighth century. He organized a grand court by appointing Chakrayuddha as the ruler of Kannauj. Dharmapala's son Devpal (810- 850 AD) also adopted an expansionist policy. He expanded his power to Pragjyotishpur in the northeast, Nepal in the north and Orissa on the sea coast in the east. According to some historians he also fought with the kingdoms of Deccan.
During his time there were friendly relations with South-East Asia. He donated 5 villages to maintain a vihara at Nalanda on the request of Balaputradev, the ruler of Java. He is famous as a patron of Buddhism. During the reign of Mihirbhoj and Mahendra Pal, the Pratiharas occupied most of the areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The Pala dynasty resurfaced under Mahipala in the 11th century. He occupied all the areas of Bengal and Magadha. His successors were weak, taking advantage of which the Kaivartas in Bengal became powerful and the Sen rulers established their kingdom in northern Bihar and some areas of Bengal. The power of the Palas remained confined to some parts of Magadha.
After the death of Rampal, the family members also extended their power in Bihar to Shahabad and Gaya. The Sen rulers Vijay Sen and Ballal Sen also expanded their power and established their control till the east of Gaya. In this environment of anarchy, by the end of the 12th century, the Turks had started in Bihar.
The discussion of a tax named Turushkandand is found in the Munger copper plate of the Gahadwal dynasty ruler Govind Chandra. This tax was collected from the farmers of this region and from it the means of stopping the invasion of the Turks were obtained. The Pala rulers were Buddhists. He gave shelter to Buddhist educational institutions.
Vikramshila Mahavihar was founded by Dharmapala and he donated 200 villages to Nalanda Mahavihar. The Palas had close ties with Tibet. Among Buddhist scholars Shantarakshita and Atish Dipankar had gone to Tibet during this period. Even after the campaigns of Bakhtiyar Khilji, Buddhist monk Dharmaswami came to Bihar from Tibet to get education in Nalanda Mahavihara.
The Pala rulers also gave special encouragement to sculpture. In the Pala period, beautiful statues of Gautam Buddha and the deities of Brahmin religion were made from bright black stone.