The ''Ramacharitam'' is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

epic poem written in ''

Arya metre ''Āryā meter'' is a meter used in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Marathi verses. A verse in metre is in four metrical lines called ''pāda''s. Unlike the majority of meters employed in classical Sanskrit, the meter is based on the number of s (morae ...

'' by Sandhyakar Nandi (c. 1084 - 1155 CE) during

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

. This work simultaneously narrates the story of the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

and the Pala king

Ramapala Ramapala (reigned 1077–1130 AD) was the successor to the Pala king Shurapala II in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, and fifteenth ruler of the Pala line. Early life Ramapala was the youngest son of Vigrahapala III. His moth ...

Manuscripts

A palm-leaf manuscript was discovered by

Haraprasad Shastri Hara Prasad Shastri ( bn, হরপ্রসাদ শাস্ত্রী) (6 December 1853 – 17 November 1931), also known as Hara Prasad Bhattacharya, was an Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature. ...

from Nepal and published in 1910 by the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. Translations in English and Bangla were published in 1939 and 1953, respectively.

Author

Sandhyakar Nandi was patronaged by Madanapala and his biographical details are retrieved from the ''Kaviprashasti'' (of 20 couplets) appended at the end. Nandi hailed from Brihadbatu, a village close to

Pundravardhana 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 Di ...

, and was the son of Prajapati Nandi, who was the ''Sandhi-Vigrahika'' (minister of peace and war) of

Content

The poem, in four cantos, details the historical events 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 ...

from the assassination of the Pala emperor

Mahipala II Mahipala II was the successor to the Pala king Vigrahapala III in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, and thirteenth ruler of the Pala line reigning for 6 years. He was succeeded by Shurapala II. Mahipala II was locked in a bitter ...

by Divya, a rebel Kaivarta samanta up to the reign of Madanapala in 215 verses, employing

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

.Roy N. (1993). ''Bangalir Itihas: Adiparba'', Dey's Publishing, Calcutta, , p.583 The central theme is the loss and subsequent recovery of Varendra. The first and second cantos of the text describes, what has been since called "Varendra rebellion".

Varendra Rebellion

In an asymmetrical battle between Mahipala II and a group of samantas (led by Divya, a Kaivarta), the former was defeated and his relatives imprisoned. Whilst the causes of the battle are not discussed, the defeat is blamed on Mahipala's poor strategy of war set against the explicit advice of councilors. Varendra was ceded away from Palas, and the House of Kaivartas were established. Divya was succeeded by his nephew, Bhima. In the meanwhile, Ramapala, a brother of Mahipala fled Varendra and assumed the remnants of Pala throne. Wishing to reclaim lost territories, he traveled around the kingdom purchasing assistance from Samantas. Among these samantas were his kinsmen from the Rashtrakutas of Anga, maternal uncle Mahana, and nephew Sivarajadeva. Sivarajadeva would executed the first raid on the Kaivartas, destroying their defensive arrangements. This was followed by the main battle where Ramapala's army —cavalry, infantry, boat-units and elephant-men along with those of Samantas'— met Bhima's forces. In what is described as a battle of equals, Bhima was defeated yet treated with honor by Vittapala, Ramapala's son. Bhima however seem to have fled soon, for he enlarged his army by inducting untrained subjects from the lower rungs of society and confronted Ramapala again. This turned out to be a one sided catastrophe with Bhima's men getting marauded; Bhima was captured and executed, after being made to witness the death of his own kinsmen.

Analysis

Though biased in favour of Ramapala, the work remains the only literary source for middle-late Pala history including Varendra Rebellion. The cause of the war between Dibyak and Mahipala II however can not be ascertained — R. C. Majumdar interpreted it to be a rebellion by a local

samanta Samanta was a title and position used in the history of the Indian subcontinent between 4th and 12th centuryThe Journal of the Bihar Research Society, Volumes 69-70, p.77 to denote a vassal or tributary chief. The term roughly translates to ''neig ...

, strategically timed to the weakening of Pala authority whilst

Ram Sharan Sharma Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011) was an Indian historian and Indologist who specialised in the history of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught at Patna University and Delhi University (1973–85) and was visiting ...

took it to be a peasant rebellion against feudal suppression. It is argued that the

Dibar Dighi Dibar Dighi ( bn, দিবর দীঘি) is a tank in Bangladesh. An octagonal granite pillar, associated with Kaivarta chief Dibya, who usurped the Pala throne, stands in the centre of the tank. Location The site is located in Dibar villa ...

(incl. the Kaivarta Stambha) were commissioned to commemorate Divya's victory.

Notes

References

{{reflist Bengali-language literature Pala Empire 12th-century disestablishments in India Buddhist dynasties of India