On a Verse of the Pala Inscription
Summary
This article examines a recurring verse found in five copper-plate grants of the Pala kings of Bengal. The author, Aparna Banerjee, argues against the prevailing interpretation of the verse by A.K. Maitreya. Maitreya had suggested that the verse, which mentions elephants drinking water and roaming sandalwood forests, indicates that the Pala king Vigrahapala I was a dispossessed ruler wandering in search of shelter. The author rejects this reading, noting that the verse's emphasis on elephants cooling trees with water from their trunks and the "enjoyment of the slopes of the Himalayas" points to military campaigns rather than a state of destitution. The main argument is that the verse functions as an encomiastic formula recounting successful military expeditions to identical regions. The author presents evidence that this verse was applied to four generations of Pala kings, including Gopala II, Mahipala I, and Vigrahapala III, across various inscriptions found in North Bengal. The author contends that it is historically implausible for kings without kingdoms or royal existence to grant lands in Varendra while only referring to their own disastrous catastrophes. Instead, the author suggests the verse celebrates their military activities. The author discusses the geographical identification of these regions. The "eastern country" is identified as East Bengal. For the "Malaya" region, the author proposes the Malayabhimi district in Nepal, citing Mr. Burgess and Lassen, rather than the southern Indian Malaya. The author argues that sandalwood grew in Nepal, and the verse uses the imagery of southern sandalwood forests to describe the northern region. This interpretation suggests the Pala kings led campaigns in Nepal, which would add to our knowledge of Pala-Nepal political relations and disprove the theory of a prolonged disintegration of the Pala monarchy. The author concludes that the Pala kings, including Vigrahapala I, were vigorous military leaders, and the verse likely refers to their repeated wars against the Kimbojas, possibly a Nepalese group from the Malayabhimi region.
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Conclusion
This article re-evaluates a recurring verse in Pala copper-plate grants, challenging the prevailing interpretation that it merely describes a dispossessed king’s desperate search for refuge. By analyzing the verse’s application across four generations of Pala rulers, the author demonstrates that it is an encomiastic formula celebrating their military expeditions. The verse explicitly links the elephants’ cooling of trees with the enjoyment of the Himalayan slopes, a detail that contradicts the "shelter-seeking" theory and instead points to active, successful campaigns. Furthermore, the text proposes that the "Malaya" mentioned refers to the Malayabhimi region of Nepal. Consequently, the verse suggests that the Pala kings, far from being weak or displaced, conducted aggressive military operations in East Bengal and Nepal, thereby adding a crucial new dimension to our understanding of Pala political history.