Lokkhon Sen or Lakshmana Sena () was the ruler from the Sena dynasty of 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 on 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 ...

. His rule lasted for 28 years, in which his empire reached at its peak possessing the territories of Gauda, Kamrupa, Kalinga, Magadha and Kashi.

Accession

Lakshmana Sena succeeded his father Ballala Sena. The history of his reign can be reconstructed from the epigraphs of his time that include the Deopara Prashasti stone inscriptions and copper plates from his successors. '' Tabaqt-i-Nasiri'', composed by 1260, is another source of information about his reign.

Military campaigns

In his youth, Lakshmana Sena led military campaigns against Gauḍa,

Kamarupa Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. The Kamrupa word first appeared in the ...

, Kalinga and

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

(under the rule of Gahadavala King Jayachandra), and helped his grandfather Vijaya Sena and father Ballala Sena to expand the borders of the Sena kingdom. However, he ascended to the throne of Bengal himself at an advanced age.

Art and other contributions

Lakshmana Sena was interested in literature and composed a number of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

poems. He completed ''Adbhuta Sagara'', a book incompletely written by his father. He assembled some of the major figures in contemporary Sanskrit literature — Jayadeva, Dhoyin and Sharan — as his court poets. Among his other

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

s, Sridharadasa, Halayudh Mishra and Umapati Dhara also produced important treatises and works of literature. Lakshman Sena established a calendar era called Lakshmana Era that was used in Bengal and Bihar for at least 400 years. He also founded the prominent medieval city of Lakhnauti.

Religion

He was a devoted Vaishnava

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and took up titles like ''Paramavaisnava'' or ''Paramanarasingha'' to reflect that. Lakshmansena's faith and generosity even attracted the attention of Minhaj-i-Siraj, who designated him as a 'great Rai' of Bengal and compared him with Sultan Qutubuddin Aibak.

Ghurid invasion

After subjugating

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

in 1200, Turko-Afghan invader Bakhtiyar Khaliji's forces entered Nabadwip in

. Subsequently, Bakhtiyar went on to capture the capital and the principal city, Lakhnauti. Bakhtiyar marched against Bengal with a band of well-trained horsemen. He was at first treated in Nadia as a horse-dealer. At that time Lakshmana Sena was an octogenarian. The old Sena king, who was then at his dinner, was completely taken by surprise. When Bakhtiyar captured Nadia, Lakshmana Sena withdrew to southeastern Bengal, where his sons continued the rule of Senas for the some time. The detailed account of this invasion is given in Tabaqat-i-Nasiri. However the laudatory verse of Sarana refers to Lakshmana Sena's victory against a Mlechchha king, who may be regarded as a Muslim ruler in Bengal.

References