66 R. D. BANERJI ON 



So the Cedi Emperor also set up the Rastrakuta king Krsna II, whose surname 

 was Vallabharaja, on the throne of his father Amoghavarsa I. Krsna II defeated the 

 Gurjaras and at the same time led an invasion into Bengal: — 



Tasy = ottarjjita-Gurjaro hrta-hata-llat-odbhata-Srlmado 



Gaudanam vinaya-watarppana-gurus = Samudra = nidraharah, 



Dvarasth = Amga-Kalimga-Gamga-M agadhair = abhyarccit = ajnaS = drain sunns - 



silnrtavdg = bhuvah parivvlah Sri Krsnarajo-bhavat. 



-verse 13, Deoli plates of Krsna III, and verse 15, Karhad plates of the 



same. 1 



The Gurjara king defeated by Krsnaraja II seems to be Bhoja II. He was 

 succeeded very shortly by his half-brother Mahipala, under whom the area of the 

 Gurjara-Pratihara Empire became very circumscribed. The Rastrakuta king Krsna II 

 also had a very short reign and was succeeded by his grandson Indra III. His 

 certain years range from 902 to 911, and as those of Bhoja II are almost the same, 

 it is almost, certain that he was the king who was defeated by Krsna II. After the 

 accession of Mahipala, whose certain dates range from 914 to 917, Indra III invaded 

 the Gurjara Empire, crossed the Yamuna, occupied Kanyakubja, and most prob- 

 ably destroyed the city. 2 Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar has already proved that at that 

 time Ksitipala or Mahipala was the reigning sovereign at Kanauj. In this campaign, 

 Narasimha, a feudatory of Indra III, pursued the Gurjara king Mahipala as far as the 

 confluence of the Ganges. Narasimha, according to the Karnnataka-Sabdanusasana 

 by Bhatta Kalahkadeva, "snatched from the Gurjara king's arms the goddess of 

 victory, whom, though desirous of keeping, he had held too loosely. Mahipala fled 

 as if struck by thunder-bolts, staying neither to eat nor rest, nor pick himself up, 

 while Narasimha pursuing, bathed his horse at the junction of the Ganges and 

 established his fame.' ' The mention of the confluence of the Ganges as the extrem- 

 ity of Narasirhha's pursuit of Mahipala, without any mention of the Gauda king, 

 most probably indicates that the Eastern frontier of the Gurjara-Pratihara Empire 

 at that time extended up to the junction of the Ganges with the Sea. This is not to 

 be wondered at as it is now certain that Magadha formed an integral part of the 

 dominions of Mahipala 's father Mahendrapala. During this war Gopala II of Bengal 

 may have taken the opportunity of recovering some of the traditional possessions of 

 his family and pushed the Western frontier as far as the eastern banks of the Sone 

 This re -occupation of the Magadha may have been temporary, and Mahipala may 

 have recovered the possession of his Eastern Provinces, with the help of the 

 Candella Yasovarmman + As no inscriptions of Gopala' s successor Vigrahapala II 

 have been discovered, we are not in a position to say definitely whether Magadha 

 continued to be a province of the Pala Empire or was re-annexed by the Gurjaras. 

 A MS. of the Pahcaraksa written in the 26th j^ear of VIgrahapaladeva II is preserved 

 in the British Museum collection : the latter part of its colophon runs thus : — 



1 Ibid., Vol. V, p. 193 ; ibid , Vol. IV, p. 283. "' Ibid., Vol. VII, p. 38. 



s Karnnataka-Sabdanusasana, ed. Lewis Rice, p. 26 + Epi Ind., Vol. I, p. 122. 



