Shashanka

Conventional long name	Kingdom of Gauda
Common name	Gauda Kingdom
|continent	Asia
Country	India
Government type	Monarchy
Year start	600
Year end	626
|capital	Karnasuvarna
Religion	Hinduism, Buddhism
Leader1	Shashanka
Year leader1	600-625
Leader2	Manava
Year leader2	625-626
Title leader	King

Shashanka (Bangla: শশাঙ্ক Shôshangko) is often attributed with creating the first separate political entity in a unified Bengal called Gauda and as such is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in 7th century AD, and some historians place his rule approximately between 600 AD and 625 AD. He is the contemporary of Harshavardana. His capital was called Karnasuvarna (কর্ণসুবর্ণ Kôrnoshubôrno or কানসোনা Kanshona) and is located in modern Murshidabad. The development of the Bengali calendar is also often attributed to Shashanka as the starting date falls squarely within his reign.

Extent of Kingdom

While Shashanka was known and referred to as the Lord of Gauda, his kingdom included more than just the region of Gauda. By the end of his reign, his domain stretched from Vanga to Bhuvanesha while in the east, his kingdom bordered Kamarupa. Prior to Shashanka, Bengal was divided into three regions, Banga, Samatata and Gauda and was ruled by a feeble ruler belonging to the later Gupta dynasty, Mahasengupta. Shashanka was one of his chieftains who rose to power taking the advantage of the weak ruler. After the death of Mahasengupta, Shashanka drove the later Guptas and other prominent nobles out of the ground to establish his own kingdom Gauda with the capital Karnasubarna.

Contemporary Sources

There are several major contemporary sources of information on his life, including copperplates from his vassal Madhavavarma (King of Ganjam), copperplates of his rivals Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, and the accounts of the Chinese monk Xuanzang as well as coins minted in Shashanka's reign. The informations provided by Bana and Xuanzang cannot be considered as true or very reliable as both belonged to Buddhism and Shashanka was known to be a staunch Hindu. Moreover the patron of Bana and Xuanzang was a sworn enemy of Shashanka. So both were bound to be biased towards him. They have described Sasanka as the "vile Gauda serpent". In his account Xuanzang has elaborated that Shashanka has destroyed the Buddhist stupas of Bengal and declared an award of hundred gold coins for the head of every Buddhist monk in his kingdom. Though the modern day historians have rejected these views as purely biased ones. According to the other sources available Shashanka was an efficient and tolerable ruler who ruled justly.

War with Harsha-Vardhana

Shashanka and his allies fought a major war with the then Emperor of Thanesar, Harshavardhana, and his allies. The result of the battle was inconclusive as Shashanka is documented to have retained dominion over his lands. The king of Malwa, Devgupta had an enmity with the ruler of Kannauj, Grahavarman who was also the brother-in-law of the Vardhan princes, by his marriage with the princess of Thanesar, Rajyashri. Devgupta attacked Kannauj and killed Grahavarman in the battle and imprisoned his wife Rajyashri. Hearing the news Prabhakarvardhan, the king of Thaneswar dies of shock and his elder son Rajyavardhan is crowned as the king. Rajyavardhan immediately marched towards Kannauj to avenge the death of his brother-in-law. The battle was followed by sudden assassination of Rajyavardhan. Though very conclusive proofs are not found, but a treachery is suspected on the part of Sasanka who joined the battle as an ally of Devgupta. Only source available in this matter is the "Harshacharita" by Banabhaata, who was a childhood friend and constant companion of Emperor Harsha. But one thing should be kept in mind that neither Bana nor Harsha were present at the site.

Harsha-Vardhan, then was crowned the ruler of Thaneswar and he once again gathered the army and attacked Kannauj. Though the results are not known clearly, but it is evident that Devgupta and Shashanka had to retreat from Kannauj. Sasanka continued to rule Gauda with frequent attacks from Harsha which he is known to have faced bravely.

Legacy

Following his death, Shashanka was succeeded by his son, Manava, who ruled the kingdom for 8 months. However Gauda was soon divided amongst Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, the latter even managing to conquer Karnasuvarna.

See also

List of rulers of Bengal

References

RC Majumdar, History of Bengal, Dacca, 1943, pp 58–68

Sudhir R Das, Rajbadidanga, Calcutta, 1962

RC Majumdar, History of Ancient Bengal, Calcutta, 1971

PK Bhattacharyya, Two Interesting Coins of Shashanka, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, London, 2, 1979

External links

Shashanka from Banglapedia

An article on Karnasubarna by Rangan Datta

Category:Rulers of Bengal Category:History of Bangladesh Category:History of Bengal Category:History of India Category:7th-century monarchs in Asia