{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Rajyapala or ''Kamboja-Vamsa-Tilaka'' was the founder of the Kamboja Pala dynasty of Bengal. This dynasty had ruled over northern and western Bengal. Four rulers of this dynasty are known who ruled, either over north-west Bengal or parts thereof, from second half of tenth century to the first quarter of the 11th century. The last known king of Kamboja Pala dynasty was

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are als ...

, who was the ruler in Dandabhukti division, during the first quarter of the 11th century.

Rajyapala, ''The Ornament of Kamboja Family''

''Irda copper plate'' addresses king Rajyapala with the epithet of Kamboja-Vamsa-Tilaka (i.e. ''the ornament of the Kamboja family''). He is also addressed as the first (''Prthu'') ruler in the

Kamboja-Pala dynasty The Kamboja-Pala dynasty ruled parts of Bengal in the 10th to 11th centuries CE, after invading the Palas during the reign of Gopala II. The last Kamboja Kamboh ruler of the Kamboja-Pala Dynasty Dharmapala was defeated by the south Indian Empero ...

. According to scholars, the Pala rulers of Bengal used to recruit

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

and

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

soldiers from the Kamboja (due to the lack of native horses in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

) of north-west. Some of the Kamboja

militarist Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

or civilian adventurers are believed to have settled permanently in Bengal and one of their descendants viz. Rajyapalal ultimately carved out an independent kingdom in north Bengal when the Pala power weakened in the second half of the tenth century CE (a situation similar to that of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

and the

foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...

). According to Dr H. C. Ray, the ancestors of the Kamboja rulers of Bengal came from west with

Gurjara Gurjaradesa ("Gurjara country") or Gurjaratra is a historical region in India comprising the eastern Rajasthan and northern Gujarat during the period of 6th -12th century CE. The predominant power of the region, the Gurjara-Pratiharas eventual ...

Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

s. The Kambojas had joined the forces of Gurjara Pratiharas and there were separate regiments of the

Kambojas Kamboja ( sa, कम्बोज) was a kingdom of Iron Age India that spanned parts of South and Central Asia, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Eponymous with the kingdom name, the Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian people o ...

in the

army which were entrusted with the defence of north-eastern borders of the Pratihara empire. The Kambojas did not leave the province after the collapse of Pratihara power. Rather, they took advantage of the weakness of the Pala kings and set up an independent kingdom which was not a difficult task for them. Expelled from Hindukush/Pamirs, the Kambojas are stated to have formed a large contingent of the Gurjaras. Dr Hem Chander Raychaudhury also states that the Kambojas came to

with the armies of the

s. Dr R. C. Majumdar also agrees with the view that the Kambojas may have come to Bengal with Pratiharas when they conquered part of the province. The Bhaturya Inscriptions refers to a ruler named Rajyapala whose commands are obeyed by the Mlechchas,

Anga Anga (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts ...

s, Kalingas,

Vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family ...

s, Odras, Pandyas,

Karnatas The Kannada people or Kannadigaru AST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)are an ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry to the South Indian state of Karnataka in India and its surrounding regions. Kannada stands among 30 of t ...

, Latas,

Suhma Suhma Kingdom was an ancient state during the Late Vedic period on the eastern part of the Indian Subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. The kingdom included present day districts of Midnapore and parts of Hoogly and Howrah. Thi ...

Kiratas The Kirāta ( sa, किरात) is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who had territory in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and Northeast India and who are believed to have been Sino-Tibetan in origin. The meaning o ...

s and in Cina. According to George E Somers,'' "while the claim is certainly exaggerated, it is significant that Rajyapala's conquests included

, but not Gauda or

Pundra Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom ( sa, Puṇḍravardhana), was an ancient kingdom during the Iron Age period in India with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions of Bangladesh as well as the West Dina ...

"''. So, according to Dr Somers and other scholars, this may attest that only north or north-west Bengal was the home province of Rajyapala. The scholars, therefore, have identified this Rajyapala of Bhaturiya inscriptions with the Kamboja ruler, Rajyapala of the Irda copper plate.

Rajyapala Kamboja: a Rashtrakuta general?

According to some scholars including George E Somers, it is also possible that the Rajyapala of Bhaturiya inscriptions was a camp-follower of the

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

army on march in the south and north and that ''this Rajyapala was a General of Kamboja origin and accompanied the Rashtrakuta ruler in his march into

''; and later carved out an independent Kamboja Pala kingdom in northern Bengal, probably during the reign of Gopala-II. See link

Imperial titles by Rajyapala

Kamboja Rajyapala has been described as a great ruler. He was succeeded by his two sons, Narayanapala and Nayapala. While Rajyapala had assumed the imperial titles of Kambojavamshatilaka Paramasaugata maharajadhiraja parameshvara paramabhattaraka Rajyapala, his son Nayapala assumed the titles of Parameshvara paramabhattaraka maharajadhirAja Nayapaladeva.

Religious beliefs of Rajyapala

The Irda Indian copper plate inscriptions, copper plate inscriptions use ''Paramasaugata''

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

for Rajyapala of Kamboja

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...

. This attests that Rajyapala was a worshipper of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

.Irda Copper Plate Inscription lines 16–17; Some Historical Aspects of the Inscriptions of Bengal: pre-Muhammadan epochs – 1942, p 382,Benoychandra Sen.

''Kamboja-Vamsa-Tilaka'' Rajyapala vs ''Kamboja.nvaya'' Gaudapati

The

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

Pillar Inscription makes mention of a certain Kamboja king called the Kambojanvaya Gaudapati (i.e. ''lord of Gauda, born in Kamboja family''). Some scholars tend to link Kamboja-Vamsa-Tilaka Rajyapala of the ''Irda copper plate'' with this Kambojanvaya Gaudapati of Dinajpore pillar inscriptions. But whereas the Kambojanvaya Gaudapati is attested as the builder of lofty temple of Lord Sambhu and hence undoubtedly a devotee of Siva, Rajyaplaya of Irda copper plate, on the other hand, is styled as ''Paramasaugata'' i.e. a devotee of Buddha. Thus, in all probability, "Kambojanvaya Gaudapati" and "Kamboja-Vamsa-Tilaka Rajyapala" are two separate historical personages (Dr J. L. Kamboj).

In conclusion

The scholars are yet not in agreement on the exact year of the establishment of the Kamboja Pala rule in north and western Bengal by Rajyapala of Kamboja

; nor is it clear as to the duration he had ruled his kingdom. Rajyapala Kamboja was succeeded by his elder son Narayanapala Kamboja.

References

Books and periodicals

*The History and Culture of Indian People, The Classical Age, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar *The History and Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Kanauj, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar *The History and Culture of Indian People, The Struggle For Empire, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar *The Rise and Decline of Buddhism in India, 1995, (The Kamboja-Pala Dynasty (c. AD 911-92), Chapter 9), Kanai Lal Hazra. *Dynastic History of Magadha, Cir. 450–1200 A.D., 1977, Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha – Magadha (Kingdom) *The Dynamics of Santal Traditions in a Peasant Society, George E. Somers – 2003 *The People and Culture of Bengal: A Study in Origins, Volume 1— Part 1 & 2, 2002, Annapurna Chattopadhyaya. *Ancient India, 2003, Dr V. D. Mahajan *A Critical Study of The Geographical Data in the Early Purana, 1972, Dr M. R. Singh *History of Bengal, Part I, 1971, Dr R. C. Majumdar *Some Historical Aspects of the Inscriptions of Bengal, 1962, B. C. Sen *The Dynastic History of Northern India, II, Dr H. C. Ray *Some Kshatria Tribes of Ancient India, 1924, Dr B. C. Law *Candelas of Jejabhukti, R. K. Dikshit *Hindu World, Vol I, 1968, Benjamin Walker *Jataka, 1957, Fausboll *District Gazetteer, Rajashahi,1915 *India and Central Asia, 1956, Dr P. C. Bagchi *History of the Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, 1926, Dr S. K. Chatterjee *Early History of India, 1957, Dr V. A. Smith *Decline of the Kingdom of Magadha, 1953, B. P. Sinha *Dacca University Studies, Vol I, No 2 *Bharatvarsha, 1344 (Bangala Samvata) *Library of India Office, Vol II, Part II *Modern Review, 1937, N. G. Majumdar *Epigraphia Indica, Vol V, XII, XXII, XXIV *Epigraphia Indica, Vol XVII., p 305 *History of the Koch Kingdom, C. 1515-1615–1989, pe 8, D. Nath – History *Journal of Oriental studies – 1954, p 381, University of Hong Kong Institute of Oriental Studies *Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland – 1834, p 434, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. *Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol XV-4, 1939 *Bihar Through the Ages, 1958, Ed, R. R. Diwarkar *Journal of Proceedings of Royal Society of Bengal (NS), Vol VII *Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, Dr J. L. Kamboj