2 SANDHYAKARA NANDI. 
Nandi and his father Prajapati Nandi. The author was not only a poet, but a linguist. 
As Ramapala was Rama, so the poet calls himself Kalikala Valmiki. 
The manuscript is written in Bengali character of the twelfth century, the 
commentary though written a few years later was written 
The scribe and the script. ,, , , n 4-t. i i i 
F m the same character. Both are written m a bold and 
beautiful hand, the commentary is clearer than the text A comparison with the dated 
Bengali MSS. of the 12th century, of which there are two available, leaves little doubt 
that the present MS. belongs to the same century. The scribe to the text was Silacan- 
dra, who, from his name, appears to have been a Buddhist by faith. But unfortunate- 
ly he did not know Sanskrit. He wrote as he saw. He makes mistakes which a little 
knowledge of Sanskrit might have avoided. He often omits verses and portions of 
verses. In the commented portions these omissions have been supplied from the com- 
mentary, but in the uncommented portion they remain as they are. 
The importance of this work for the history of Bengal in the first half of the 
twelfth, and the second half of the eleventh century can 
not be overrated. It is a contemporary record though 
obscured by double en tendre, and such records are so rare for India, and especially for 
eastern portion of it, that it may be pronounced as unique. 
In the introduction I have attempted to write a connected history of the Palas 
of Bengal from their election as kings in about 770 A.D. 
to the end of Madanpala’s reign which comes close upon 
1 1 19, the starting-point of the era of the Sena kings of Bengal. 
The task of editing Ramapalacarita from one single MS., and of writing the history of 
the Palas from the meagre records available, is a very difficult task, and I am fully aware 
of the imperfections. I hope, however, my readers will look upon the work with in- 
dulgence. 
I have but very rarely used the Bengal and Tibetan traditions, but I have made 
full use of the literary treasures of this period examined in Nepal. 
Unique historical work. 
The introduction. 
Who the Palas were. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Palas in their inscriptions do not claim descent from any mythical beings and 
even from the Ksatriya race. Their first progenitor is 
Dayita Visnu, a Hindu name. He is described as Sarva- 
vidyavadata, sanctified by all sorts of knowledge. He was not even a military man. 
His son was a soldier of fortune who seems to have played an important part in the 
troublous times which followed the fall of the king of Gauda at the hands of Yaso- 
varma Deva, the king of Kanauj, about 730 A.D. 1 
In the Ramacarita the Palas are said to have been descended from the Ocean god. 
The Bengal tradition, as embodied in the Kanurpala of Ghanarama’s Dharma- 
matigala, describes how the Ocean God came in the guise of Dharmapala to his banished 
wife, Vallabha, and so a son was born to the king. This means that Devapala was the son 
1 Stein’s Introduction to Rajatarangini, p, 49 ; and Gouda Vaho, 
