381 
Rajendralala Mitra —On the Bala 
[No. 4, 
On the Pula and the Sena lidjas of Bengal.—By Rajekdeala'la 
Mitea, LL. D., C. I. E. 
The Society has lately received from Mr. Smith of Bhagalpur a copper¬ 
plate of one of the Pala Kings of Bengal. It measures 155' x 12*7* inches, 
and has a scalloped top 6 inches high and 6*5 long at the base. The centre 
of the top is enclosed in a circle, 3 inches in diameter, and around it is a 
band of lotus petals. The legend in the centre is a wheel mounted on a 
stand, and supported by a deer rampant on each side—a well-known Bud¬ 
dhist symbol. Below this is the name of Narayana-pala Deva, and below 
that a sprig formed of a flower and two leaves. The front of the plate is 
surrounded by a border line, but on the reverse this does not occur. 
The inscription in front extends to 29 lines, of which the first four are 
broken in the middle by the base of the scalloped top, which covers the 
plate to the depth of 2 inches. On the reverse there are 25 lines of in¬ 
scription. The plate is thick, and in a fair state of preservation. The 
letters are of the Kutila type. See plates XXII and XXIII. 
The record opens with a stanza in praise of Go-pala, who was a devout 
Buddhist, and a follower of Sugata. His son and immediate successor was 
Dharma-pala. The latter had a brother named Vak-pala, who lived under his 
sway. On his death Deva-pala the eldest son of his brother succeeded him. 
Vak-pala had a second son named Jaya-pala, who is said to have brought 
Orissa and Allahabad under his brother’s government. On the death of Deva- 
pala, Vigraha-pala, the son of Jaya-pala, came to the throne. Vigraha-pala 
married Lajja of the Haihaya race, and had by her a son, named Naray¬ 
ana-pala. The last, as the reigning sovereign, is spoken of in the highest 
terms of praise ; but the only noticeable work of his described in the record 
is a bridge of boats across the Ganges near Mungher. In the 17th year of 
his reign, on the 9th of Vaisakha, when this prince was encamped near Mud- 
gagiri, modern Mungher, he presented the village of Mukatika for the support 
of S'iva Bhattaraka and his followers. The donee appears to have been a 
Hindu, and the gift was made with a view to assist him in offering cliaru 
and ball to a divinity named Sahasraksha, and also for the dispensation of 
medicines to the sick, and food and shelter to the indigent. The record was 
composed by Bhatta Gurava, the minister who erected the Budal pillar, and 
engraved by Meghadasa, son of Subhadasa. The genealogical table deducible 
from this record may be thus arranged : 
