Gopala () (ruled 750–768 CE) was the founder of the

Pala dynasty The Pāla Empire was the empire ruled by the Pala dynasty, ("protector" in Sanskrit) a medieval Indian dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Gauda. The empire was founded with the election of Gopāla by the chiefs of Gauda in late eighth centu ...

, which was based in the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

region of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The last

morpheme A morpheme is any of the smallest meaningful constituents within a linguistic expression and particularly within a word. Many words are themselves standalone morphemes, while other words contain multiple morphemes; in linguistic terminology, this ...

of his name ''Pala'' means "protector" and was used as an ending for the names of all the Pala monarchs. Pala does not suggest or indicate any ethnic or caste considerations of the Pala dynasty. He came to power in later half of eighth century AD in ''Bengal'' after being elected by a group of regional chieftains.

Origins

There are no inscriptions or monuments which may be definitely ascribed to the period of Gopala's ascendency to throne. He is known through the later literary references and genealogies in inscriptions. According to the Manjusrimulakalpa, after the end of the Gupta rule in Bengal, people elected Bhadra. He destroyed the Brahmana feudal lords, but anarchy still prevailed. After this, Gopala became king. He was of menial caste (dasajivinah). Manjusrimulakalpa was quite near in time to the establishment of the rule of the Palas and should be considered more authentic than other references which are of very late period. In Ballal charita and in Dharmamangala of Ghanarama (both sixteenth century works), the Palas are described as low Kshatriyas. Pala's supposed relationship with the Kaivartas or Mahishyas also points to the same direction. The name of his father was Vapyata, and his grandfather Dayitavishnu.AM Chowdhury, Dynastic History of Bengal, Dhaka, 1967 A eulogy on the Khalimpur copper plate of his son Gopala describes his father Vapyata as a ''Khanditarati'' or "killer of enemies", and his grandfather Dayitavishnu as ''Sarva-vidyavadata'' ("all-knowing" in the sense "highly educated"). The later texts of the Pala period, such as '' Ramacharita'', mention the Pala rulers as the kings descended from the ''Samudrakula'' or oceanic community.

Election

After the death of the Gauda king ''

Shashanka Shashanka Dev (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Śaśāṅka) was the first independent king of a unified polity in the Bengal region, called the Gauda Kingdom. He reigned in the 7th century, some historians place his r ...

'', a century of anarchy and confusion ensued in

. This situation is described by the Sanskrit phrase ''matsya nyaya'' ("fish justice" i.e. a situation in which the big fish prey on the smaller ones). It was during these times that Gopala came to power around 750 CE. The Sanskrit word ''prakriti'' is suggestive of "people" in general. The Tibetan Buddhist

lama Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...

Taranatha Tāranātha (1575–1634) was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent. Taranatha was born in Tibet, supposedly on the birthday of Padmasambhava. His original name was Ku ...

(1575–1634), writing nearly 800 years later, also writes that he was democratically elected by the people of Bengal. However, his account is in form of a legend, and is considered historically unreliable. The legend mentions that after a period of anarchy, the people elected several kings in succession, all of whom were consumed by the Naga queen of an earlier king on the night following their election. Gopala, however managed to kill the queen and remained on the throne. The historical evidence indicates that Gopala was not elected directly by his subjects, but by a group of feudal chieftains. Such elections were quite common in contemporary tribal societies of the region. The stanza in the Khalimpur copper plate is a eulogy, and uses the word ''prakriti'' figuratively. Based on the different interpretations of the various epigraphs and historical records, the different historians estimate Gopala's reign as follows:

Reign and legacy

According to ''Manjusrimulakalpa'', Gopala died at the age of 80, after a reign of 27 years. Not much is known about his life or military career, but at the time of his death, Gopala had bequeathed a large kingdom to his son

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are also known as the Defenders of the Justice (Dharma), or the Guardians of the Law. There are two kinds of ...

(770-810 CE). No records are available about the exact boundaries of Gopala's kingdom, but it might have included almost all of the

region (Gaur, Varendra and Banga) and parts of

Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...

Religion

A few sources written much after Gopala's death mention him as a Buddhist, but it is not known if this is true. Taranatha (1575–1634) claimed that Gopala was a staunch

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and a major patron of Buddhism. He also claimed that Gopala had built the famous Buddhist monastery at

Odantapuri Odantapuri (also called Odantapura or Uddandapura) was a prominent Buddhist Mahavihara in what is now Bihar Sharif in Bihar, India. It is believed to have been established by the Pala ruler Gopala I in the 8th century. It is considered the sec ...

.History of Buddhism in India, Translation by A Shiefner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopala Pala emperors Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Indian Buddhist monarchs

Origins

Election

Reign and legacy

Religion

See also

References