Sena dynasty

Sena Empire
Sena Empire
CE 1070–CE 1230
	Area ruled by Sen dynasty
Capital	Gauda, Bikrampur, Nabadwip, Lakhnauti, Vijaynagar
Common languages	Sanskrit
Religion	Hinduism (Vedic Hinduism, Shaivism, Tantra, and Vaishnavism)
Government	Monarchy
King
• 1070–1095 AD
• 1095–1096 AD	Hemanta Sena
• 1096–1159 AD	Vijaya Sena
• 1159-1179 AD	Ballala Sena
• 1179-1204 AD	Lakshmana Sena
• 1204-1225 AD	Vishvarupa Sena
• 1225–1230 AD	Keshava Sena
•
•	Narayana Sena
•	Laksmana Sena ।।
Historical era	Middle Kingdoms of India
• Established	CE 1070
• Disestablished	CE 1230
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Pala Empire
	Varman Dynasty (Bengal)
Deva dynasty
Delhi Sultanate

The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries.^[2] The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south Indian region of Karnataka.^[3]

The dynasty's founder was Samanta Sena. After him came Hemanta Sena who usurped power and styled himself, king, in 1095 AD. His successor Vijaya Sena (ruled from 1096 AD to 1159 AD) helped lay the foundations of the dynasty, and had an unusually long reign of over 60 years. Ballala Sena conquered Gaur from the Pala, became the ruler of the Bengal Delta, and made Nabadwip the capital as well. Ballala Sena married Ramadevi a princess of the Western Chalukya Empire which indicates that the Sena rulers maintained close social contact with south India.^[4] Lakshmana Sena succeeded Ballala Sena in 1179, ruled Bengal for approximately 20 years, and expanded the Sena Empire to Odisha, Bihar and probably to Varanasi. In 1203–1204 AD, Bakhtiyar Khalji, a general under the Delhi Sultanate, attacked and captured the capital Nabadwip.

Origins

The Deopara Prashasti (verses 5 - 9), commissioned by Lakshmana Sena, describe the Senas as migrant Brahmaksatriyas from Karnata.

The Senas entered into the service of Palas as sāmantas in Rāḍha, probably under Samantasena.^[5]^[6] With the decline of the Pālas, their territory had expanded to include Vaṅga and a part of Varendra by the end of Vijayasena's reign.^[6] The Palas were ousted in totality, and their entire territory annexed sometime after 1665.^[6]

Inscriptions

A copperplate was found in the Adilpur or Edilpur pargana of Faridpur District in 1838 A.D. and was acquired by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, but now the copperplate is missing from the collection. An account of the copperplate was published in the Dacca Review and Epigraphic Indica. The copperplate inscription is written in Sanskrit and in Ganda character, and dated 3rd jyaistha of 1136 samval, or 1079 A.D. In the Asiatic Society's proceeding for January 1838, an account of the copperplate states that three villages were given to a Brahman in the third year of Keshava Sena. The grant was given with the landlord rights, which include the power of punishing the Chandrabhandas or Sundarbans, a tribe that lived in the forest.^[7] The land was granted in the village of Leliya in the Kumaratalaka mandala, which is situated in shatata-padamavati-visaya. The copperplate of Keshava Sena records that the king Vallala Sena carried away, from the enemies, the goddesses of fortune on palanquins (Shivaka), which elephant tusk staff supported; and also states that Vallala Sena's son, Lakshmana Sena (1179–1205), erected pillars of victory and sacrificial posts at Varanasi, Allahabad, and Adon Coast of the South Sea. The copperplate also describes the villages with smooth fields growing excellent paddy, the dancing and music in ancient Bengal, and ladies adorned with blooming flowers. The Edilpur copperplate of Keshava Sena records that the king made a grant in favour of Nitipathaka Isvaradeva Sarman for the inside of the subha-varsha.

Society

The Sena rulers consolidated the caste system in Bengal.^{[need quotation to verify]} Although Bengal borrowed from the caste system of Mithila, caste was not so strong in Bengal as in Mithila.^[8]

Architecture

The Sena dynasty is famous for building Hindu temples and monasteries, which include the renowned Dhakeshwari Temple in what is now Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Art of the Senas, 11th century.

In Kashmir, the dynasty also likely built a temple knows as Sankara Gaureshwara.^[9]

A sculpture of the Hindu deity Vishnu from the Sena period.

Coinage

In the political history of Bengal, Sena dynasty was a mighty ruling dynasty in power. Various currency names have been regularly mentioned in the Sena writings, such as Purana, Dharan, Dramma. These terms were used to mean a silver coin weighing 32 ratis (56.6 grains) or a karshapan weighing scale. The term Kapardaka Purana is seen as a medium of exchange in the writings of the Sena kings and other contemporary kings. Karpadak means cow; And 'Purana' is definitely a kind of silver coin. The conjunction ‘kapardaka-purana’ refers to a medium of exchange whose quality is equal to that of a purana or silver coin (56.6 grains), but which is actually calculated by the proportional denominator. The table found in the traditional arithmetic of Bengal contained 1260 cowries instead of one silver coin (Purana or Dramma). That is, the ratio of Purana and Kapardaka is 1: 1280. Reliable evidence of the widespread use of cowrie in early medieval Bengal has been found in excavations at Paharpur and Kalgang (Bihar near Bhagalpur). Early medieval Bengal saw the scarcity of precious coins and the widespread circulation of cowries. Scholars have long sought to explain the virtual limitations of coins at this time ^[10]

Coins of Sena dynasty

Literature

The Sena rulers were also great patrons of literature. During the Pala dynasty and the Sena dynasty, major growth in Bengali was witnessed. Some Bengali authors believe that Jayadeva, the famous Sanskrit poet and author of Gita Govinda, was one of the Pancharatnas (five gems) in the court of Lakshmana Sena. Dhoyin – himself an eminent court poet of Sena dynasty – mentions nine gems (ratna) in the court of Lakshmana Sena, among whom were:

Govardhana
Sarana
Jayadeva
Umapati
Dhoyi/Dhoyin Kaviraja^[11]^{[page needed]}

References

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Raj Kumar (2003). Essays on Medieval India. p. 340. ISBN 9788171416837.
^ For a map of their territory, see: Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 147, map XIV.3 (f). ISBN 0226742210.
^ The History of the Bengali Language by Bijay Chandra Mazumdar p.50
^ Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib by Nitish K. Sengupta p.51
^ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Furui, Ryosuke (4 July 2019). "Towards Brahmanical Systematisation: c. 1100–1250 AD". Land and Society In Early South Asia: Eastern India 400-1250 AD. Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-138-49843-3.
^ Hunter, William Wilson (1875), "A statistical account of Bengal, Volume 1", Google Books, Edinburgh: Murry and Gibbs, retrieved 3 October 2009
^ Momtazur Rahman Tarafdar, "Itihas O Aitihasik", Bangla Academy Dhaka, 1995
^ Mitra, Rajendralala (1865). "On the Sena Rajas of Bengal". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Asiatic Society of Bengal. 34 part 1 (3): 141–142.
^ "Coins". Banglapedia.
^ R. C. Majumdar, ed. (1943). The History of Bengal, vol I (Hindu Period). Lohanipur.

Sources

Early History of India 3rd and revised edition by Vincent A Smith

External links

Chowdhury, AM (2012). "Sena Dynasty". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

Preceded by Pala dynasty	Bengal dynasty	Succeeded by Deva dynasty

[Raj_Kumar_340-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Raj Kumar (2003). Essays on Medieval India. p. 340. ISBN 9788171416837.

[2] For a map of their territory, see: Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 147, map XIV.3 (f). ISBN 0226742210.

[3] The History of the Bengali Language by Bijay Chandra Mazumdar p.50

[4] Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib by Nitish K. Sengupta p.51

[sen-5] Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.

[:0-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Furui, Ryosuke (4 July 2019). "Towards Brahmanical Systematisation: c. 1100–1250 AD". Land and Society In Early South Asia: Eastern India 400-1250 AD. Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-138-49843-3.

[BangChit-7] Hunter, William Wilson (1875), "A statistical account of Bengal, Volume 1", Google Books, Edinburgh: Murry and Gibbs, retrieved 3 October 2009

[8] Momtazur Rahman Tarafdar, "Itihas O Aitihasik", Bangla Academy Dhaka, 1995

[9] Mitra, Rajendralala (1865). "On the Sena Rajas of Bengal". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Asiatic Society of Bengal. 34 part 1 (3): 141–142.

[10] "Coins". Banglapedia.

[11] R. C. Majumdar, ed. (1943). The History of Bengal, vol I (Hindu Period). Lohanipur.

[12] Samuel

[13] Samuel

[14] Michaels (2004) p.39

[15] Hiltebeitel (2002)

[16] Michaels (2004) p.39

[17] Hiltebeitel (2002)

[18] Michaels (2004) p.40

[19] Michaels (2004) p.41

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