THE PALAS OF BENGAL. 63 



We learn from the position of the Badal pillar that the Varendrl or Northern Bengal 

 was included in the kingdom of Narayanapala, and after the loss of Magadha and 

 Tirabhukti his son must have succeeded to a very small principality which was 

 situated either in Radha (Western Bengal) or in the Vahga (Eastern Bengal) as we 

 know from later records that about this time a Mongolian tribe invaded Northern 

 Bengal through modern Sikkim or Bhutan and occupied Gauda. Later on we shall 

 see that Gauda was in the occupation of Mongolians in the Saka year 888 = 966 a.d. 

 So the invasion must have taken place some fifty or hundred years earlier. These 

 Mongolians are named Kambojas in a Sanskrit inscription. In the Mungir grant of 

 Devapala and the Badal pillar inscription, Devapala is said to have fought the 

 Kambojas, but this may refer to the Western Kambojas. The Mongolian or Kamboja 

 invasion of Northern India must have taken place just after Narayanapala as no 

 Pala records have been found in Northern Bengal till the accession of Mahlpala I. 



Magadha was annexed by the Gurjara-Pratiharas to their dominions, and after 

 Narayanapala we find the names of the Gurjara princes in the votive inscriptions of 

 Magadha. For a long time scholars have been at a loss to assign a place to a king 

 named Mahendrapala , several of whose inscriptions have been found in the Gaya 

 District. All along he has been considered to be one of the Palas of Bengal. The 

 late Dr. F. Kielhorn also thought that he was one of the Palas, and mentions him in 

 a footnote in his list of the Pala kings of Bengal. 1 Mr. V. A. Smith, in his recent 

 article on the Palas of Bengal, goes so far as to assert that he was the successor of 

 Govindapala, whose inscriptions are dated Vikrama Sam vat 1232 and 1235, i- e - 1T 75 

 and 1178 a.d. 2 Mahamahopadhyaya Hara Prasad Sastrl thinks that Mahendra- 

 pala may have belonged to the Pala dynasty. 3 Two inscriptions of this king are 

 definitely known to have been discovered in the Gaya District. One of these were 

 found at Ram-gaya, on the other side of the river Phalgu, just opposite the temple 

 of Gadadhar at Gaya, while the other was found at Guneriya, a village near the 

 Grand Trunk Road. Major Kittoe spoke of a third inscription of this king, but of 

 that we shall have to speak later on. The first of the inscriptions of this king, the 

 one at Ramgaya, was examined by the late Sir Alexander Cunningham, and the first 

 line was deciphered by him. According to him, the record is incised on the pedestal 

 of the figures of the ten incarnations of Visnu. Following Cunningham's descrip- 

 tion, the image was at last found in the walls of a modern temple of Siva at 

 Ramgaya, and after great difficulties, a clear impression was secured. It was evident 

 even at the first sight that the record was considerably older than the inscriptions of 

 Govindapala, Ramapala or even Mahlpala I. The figures of the ten avataras are 

 now completely hidden by whitewash, but the pedestal has been cleared of it, and it 

 was found that the record had been incised on the right half of it. Acute-angled 

 characters of the ninth century a.d. had been used in it, and on no account can it be 

 placed later than the tenth century. As the record has only been partially edited 

 before, I take the opportunity of placing it on record : — 



1 Epi. Ind., Vol. VIII, App. p. 18, note 2 s Ind. Ant., Vol. XXXVIII, p. 246. 



3 Mem. A.S.B., Vol. Ill, p. 16. 



