Gopala

Gopala I (ruled 750–783 CE) was the founder of the Pala dynasty, which was based in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. The last morpheme 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 considerations of the Pala dynasty. He came to power in the later half of the eighth century in Bengal

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.

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. 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, a century of anarchy and confusion ensued in Bengal. 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 I came to power around 750 CE. The Khalimpur Copper-Plate Inscription of Dharmapala mentions this thing about his father, Gopala I, in verses 6 & 7 about the election:-

The Sanskrit word prakriti is suggestive of "people" in general. The Tibetan Buddhist lama Taranatha (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.

Based on the different interpretations of the various epigraphs and historical records, the different historians estimate Gopala's reign as follows:

Historian Estimate of Gopala's reign RC Majumdar (1971) 750–770 AM Chowdhury (1967) 756–781 BP Sinha (1977) 755–783 DC Sircar (1975–76) 750–775

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 (770-810 CE). No records are available about the exact boundaries of Gopala's kingdom, but it might have included almost all of the Bengal region (Gaur, Varendra and Banga) and parts of Magadha.