74 R. D. BANERJI ON 



year of the king, i.e. 1025 a.d. The very next year we find that the Wheel of Law 

 at Benares is being repaired, and a new temple (Gandha-kutl) built by the brothers 

 Sthirapala and Vasantapala under the orders of the king. 



The record of these events is found in an inscription discovered amidst the ruins 

 of Sarnath near Benares more than a hundred years ago. 1 It is incised on the 

 pedestal of an image of Buddha , which is at present in the Provincial Museum at 

 Lucknow. This image was dedicated in the Vikrama year 1083 = 1026 a.d. Very 

 soon after this Benares was taken away from the Palas by the Cedi Emperor of 

 Gahgeyadeva who invaded North-Eastern India about this time and had occupied it 

 six or seven years ago. Some time before 1881 a.d., some metal images were found 

 near a village Imadpur in the Muzaffarpur district of Bengal, 2 which were pronounced 

 The struggle with the by Dr. Hoernle to have been dedicated in the 48th year 



Cedi Empire. Q f Mahipaladeva." As these images were found in Tirhut or 



Tirabhukti, it is natural to conclude that Mithila was in the possession of the Palas 

 up to the 48th year of Mahipala I. But six years before the erection of the temple 



of Sarnath, Mithila passed out of the hands of the Palas. 



Conquest of Mithila. T ,, ~_ . -, • • r 



In the year 1020 a.d. Gangeyadeva was in possession of 



Tirabhukti or Mithila. A copy of the Ramayana copied in that year v. S. 1076 



mentions Tirabhukti as being in the possession of Gahgeyadeva:— 



Samvat 1076 dsddha badi 4 mahdrdj adhird j a punydvaloka-somavams'odbhava-Gau- 



dadhvaja-^rlmad-Gdngeyadeva-bhujyamana Tlrabhuktau kalyanavijayarajye.* 



Very soon after Benares passed into the hands of the Cedis. Karnnadeva, the 

 son of Gangeyadeva, was in possession of Benares in 1042 a.d. (Kalacuri-Cedi year 

 793). 5 Tirabhukti or Mithila was never recovered by the Palas. The only Pala 

 records referring to this Province are the Bhagalpur grant of Narayanapala and the 

 Imadpur image inscription of Mahipala I. 



Mahipala I was succeeded by his son Nayapala, who is called Nyayapala on the 

 authority of some unpublished record, by Mahamahopadhyay a Hara Prasada Sastrl. 



According to Taranatha, Mahipala reigned for fifty-two years, 

 Successor wid length which ^ most probably correc t as the Imadpur images were 



dedicated in the 48th year of the king. Of the relations 

 of the king we only know the names of the brothers Sthirapala and Vasantapala, 

 who were most probably nearly related to him besides his son Nayapala. The long 

 reign of Mahipala I is very fruitful in inscription and manuscript records. The 

 earliest of these is the manuscript of Astasahasrika Prajhaparamita, now in the 

 University Library at Cambridge. The colophon runs thus : — 



PavameSvara paramabhaUdraka-paramasaugata-mahdrdjddhirdja Srlman-M ahlpala- 

 deva pravarddhamdna-vijayardjye samvat 5 Aivine Krsne. b 



1 As. Res.. Vol. IX, p. 204. 2 Proc. A.S.B., 1881. p. 9 s - ' 6 Ind. Ant > VoL XIV > P- l6 5. note T 7- 



* Cat of Sans. MSS. in the Durbar Liby., Nepal. Hist. Intro., p. 18, and No. 1079 (kha), p. 34. 



6 Epi. Ind. , Vol. II, p. 300. 



6 Bendall's Cat. of BurMhist Sans. MSS. in the Univ. Liby , Cambridge, p. 101. 



