THE PALAS OP BENGAL. 57 



in Bengal recording the descent of Brahmanas. For the most part these MSS. 



are carelessly copied and hardly reliable, save for the names 

 "^records' 1 SS anc ^ descent of Brahmanas. These records are said to con- 



tain historical allusions. Devapala is mentioned in one of 

 these genealogical works, the old Karika of Hari-Misra-Ghataka. 1 But it is quite 

 possible that the name is a modern interpolation, added to prove the authenticity 

 of the work. The sloka itself as quoted by Babu Nagendra Natha Vasu runs as 

 follows : — 



Ksmapala-pratibhur-bhuvah patir-abhud Gaude ca rasire tatah, 

 Rajd-bhut pravalah sadaiva Saranah £ri-Devapalas= tatah. 



The Prince Rajyapala was made a Yuvaraja before the grant of the copper- 

 plate in the 33rd regnal year, but he must have died during the lifetime of his father 

 as we rind that the king Devapala was succeeded by Vigrahapala I, the son of his 



cousin Jayapala and the grandson of Vakpala, the younger 



His successor and relations. 1-1 c ni. -1 t it 'ti j 1 -.211 ■ • 2.' 



Length of reien brother 01 Dharmmapala. In the Badal pillar inscription, 



the next king after Devapala is named Surapala. But 

 these two names belong to one and the same person as we shall have to see later 

 on. In the Monghyr grant the date is given as the 33rd regnal year, but 

 according to Taranatha, Devapala is said to have reigned forty-eight years. This 

 is most probably incorrect, though we find that both Darbhapani and his grandson 

 Kedaramisra were his ministers and contemporaries. Devapala's successor was Vigra- 

 hapala I or Surapala I, whose father Jayapala had led the expedition against the 

 king of Utkala or Orissa at the request of his cousin and conquered Pragjyotisa for 

 him. 2 Vigrahapala I is no doubt the same as the Surapala mentioned in the Badal 



pillar inscription because it is the only name mentioned be- 

 So aal ° r tween Devapala and Narayanapala, and again in the Bhagal- 



pur grant, Vigrahapala 's name is the only one mentioned 

 between Devapala and Narayanapala. Moreover in the Manahali grant of Madana- 

 pala we do not find the name of Surapala before or close to the name of 

 Narayanapala. Had there been a different prince of the name of Surapala, his 

 name would surely have been mentioned in it as that inscription contains 

 almost all the names of the Pala dynasty. Only two small inscriptions of Surapala I 

 have been discovered as yet. Both of them are dated in the second year 

 of this king and record the erection of images at the Vihara in Uddandapura 

 by an old Buddhist monk named Purnadasa. These two inscriptions have been 

 assigned to Surapala II on palseographical grounds by Prof. Nilmoni Chakravartti 

 but that is hardly tenable, as inscriptions of Mahlpala I and Ramapala are written 

 in Proto-Bengali character and it is hardly possible that the inscriptions of Ramapala' s 

 brother should be written in the acute-angled form of Nagari characters. The name 

 of the Vihara was read by Prof. Chakravartti as Uddandacura/ but in reality it is 

 Uddandapura.* Uddandapura is the ancient name of the modern town of Bihar. It 



1 J. A. SB., Pt. I, 1896, p. 21. '■< Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p. 305, v. 6. 



i J.A.S.B., N.S., Vol. IV, p. 108. + Mem. A.S.B., Vol III, 'p. 13. 



