Vol. I, No. 3.| = Pavana-dutan or Wind-Messenger. 45 
[NERS =| : 
Suhma is the old name of a Division of Bengal comprising 
northern Midnapore, District Hughly west 
of the Sarasvati river and the eastern part 
of District Burdwan. Tamralipti was its port,! and Vijayapura its 
capital. Vijayapura is apparently to be identified with Niadiah 
(Nadia or Nayadviv), which was the capital of Lakhaniya at the 
time of the inroad of Muhammad-i-Bakht-yar.? Is this name con- 
netted in any way with Vijayasena, grandfather of Lakgmana- 
sena ! 
The poet Dhoyika (or Dhoyi Kavyiraja as per colophon) can 
The time of the have his time ascertained only approxi- 
poet. mately. Being mentioned in Gita-govinda, 
verse 4, he must be a contemporary of or slightly older than Jaya- 
deva. But Jayadeva’s time has not yet been definitely ascertained. 
Dhoyika’s verse is quoted in Jalhana’s Subhasita-muktavalz, com- 
piled in the second half of the 13th century* and in Cridharadasa’s 
Sadukti-karnamrta compiled in A.D. 1205-64 So he must be 
earlier than 1205. He cannot be much earlier, for in the present 
poem he makes Laksmana of the Sena dynasty its hero. 
The ehronology of the Sena dynasty in Bengal is involved in 
much confusion. It is therefore discussed at length in an Appen- 
dix. I have therein come to the conclusion that Laksmanasena 
ruled from A.D. 1170-1 to about 1200. He must have ruled 
for some time, before he could be mentioned as having gone out 
on world-conquest (v. 2). Consequently the composition of the 
poem may be reasonably inferred to have taken place in the fourth 
quarter of the 12th century. 
The text with an index of ¢loka-beginnings and of proper 
names, chiefly geographical, is appended. 
Suhma., 
APPENDIX. 
The Sena Dynasty of Bengal. 
The chronology of this dynasty was, up to a recent period, 
largely based on traditions given in the 
HED ETE DBE ac Kula-pafijileas of ghataks Ganieiiokers) 
and in such works as Ksitiga-vamedvalé-caritam and Ain-i-Akbari, 
Recent researches are, however, clearing the ground. As the 
author of Pavana-dutam, Dhoyika, was the court poet of Laksma- 
nasena, it has become necessary to ascertain the approximate time 
of this king, and thus indirectly of the whole dynasty. 
| Dagakumara-carite 6th wecahasa “ Suhmesu Damalipt-chvayasya.” 
4 Raverty’s translation, p. 654. 
3 Notices of Bombay Sanskrit Mss., 1897, p. XX VI (Goi-dhoi Kavirdja). 
4 . L. Mittra’s Notices of Sanskrit Mss. Vol. III, pp. 185, 145. 
