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TheSena dynasty was aHindu dynasty during theearly medieval period on theIndian subcontinent, that ruled fromBengal through the 11th and 12th centuries.^[3] The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. ThePalas of Bengal were succeeded by the Sena Dynasty.^[4]

The dynasty's founder was Samanta Sena. After him came Hemanta Sena, who usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 AD. His successorVijaya Sena (r. 1096–1159) helped lay the foundations of the dynasty and had an unusually long reign of over 60 years.Ballala Sena conqueredGaur from the Pala, became the ruler of the Bengal Delta, and madeNadia the capital as well. Ballala Sena married Ramadevi a princess of theWestern Chalukya Empire which indicates that the Sena rulers maintained close social contact with south India.^[5]Lakshmana Sena succeeded Ballala Sena in 1179, ruled Bengal for approximately 20 years, and expanded the Sena dynasty toOdisha, possibly up toVaranasi. In 1203–1204 AD,Qutbuddin Aibak's (r. 1206–1210) protégé, Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, a general under theGhurid Empire,launched an invasion and captured the capital city of Nadia. However Navadvip was not the permanent capital of the Sena rulers.^[6] The detailed account of this invasion is given inTabaqat-i Nasiri.^[7]

Origins

[edit]

Part ofa series on the
History ofBengal

Ancient kingdoms Pundravardhana Vanga Suhma Rarha Samatata Anga Harikela Pragjyotisha
Classical dynasties Gangaridai Bhulua Nandas Mauryans Shungas Guptas Varmanas Gaudas Kamarupa Jaintia Gour Laur Mallabhum Bhadras Khadgas Palas Kamboja Palas Senas Chandras Devas Pratapgarh Taraf
Medieval Bengal Delhi Sultanate Khalji dynasty Mamluk dynasty Tughlaq dynasty House of Balban City states: Sonargaon Lakhnauti Satgaon Bengal Sultanate: Ilyas Shahi dynasty House of Ganesha Hussain Shahi dynasty Karrani dynasty Sur Empire Twelve Bhuyan Confederacy Kingdom of Mrauk U Jaintia Kingdom Pratapgarh Kingdom Koch dynasty Kingdom of Tripura Kingdom of Bhurshut Mughal Empire: Bengal Subah Burdwan Raj Rajshahi Raj Nadia Raj Bettiah Raj Nawabs of Bengal Zamindars Maratha expeditions in Bengal
Colonial Bengal Portuguese Chittagong Dutch Bengal French Bengal Danish Bengal Austrian Bengal British Bengal Battle of Plassey Bengal famine of 1770 Santal Revolt Chuar rebellion Indian Mutiny of 1857 Bihar famine of 1873–74 Partition of Bengal (1905) Eastern Bengal and Assam Bengali Renaissance Bengal famine of 1943 Direct Action Day Radcliffe Line Partition of Bengal (1947)
Post-partition era East Bengal/East Pakistan (1947–1971) East Bengali refugees History of East Pakistan 1964 East Pakistan riots Bengali language movement Bangladesh Liberation War
Modern period West Bengal 1947–present Bangladesh 1971–present
Related Architecture of Bengal History of Bengali literature Bangamata History of the taka Muslin trade in Bengal List of governors of Bengal Presidency Prime Minister of Bengal Maritime history of Bengal
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The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south of India.^[3]Deopara Prashasti described the founder of Sena dynasty Samantha Sena, as a migrantBrahmaksatriya fromKarnataka.^[8]The epithet 'Brahma-Kshatriya' suggests that Senas were Brahmins by caste who took the profession of arms and became Kshatriyas.^[9] The Sena kings were also probablyBaidyas, according to historian P.N. Chopra.^[10]

A copper plate suggests that the Senas settled in western Bengal before the birth of Samantasena.^[4]^[9] The Senas entered into the service of Palas assāmantas in Rāḍha, probably under Samantasena.^[11]^[12] 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.^[12] The Palas were ousted in totality, and their entire territory annexed sometime after 1165.^[12]

Inscription of Keshava Sena

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A copperplate was found in the Adilpur or Edilpurpargana ofFaridpur District in 1838 AD and was acquired by theAsiatic Society of Bengal, but now the copperplate is missing from the collection. An account of the copperplate was published in theDacca Review andEpigraphic Indica. The copperplate inscription is written inSanskrit and the characters dated to about the end of the twelfth century AD.^[13] In the Asiatic Society's proceeding for January 1838, an account of the copperplate states that three villages were given to aBrahmin in the third year ofKeshava Sena. The grant was given with the landlord rights, which include the power of punishing theChandrabhandas orSundarbans, a tribe that lived in the forest.^[14] 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 (1179–1206), 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 thesubha-varsha.

Society

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The Sena rulers consolidated the caste systemKulinism in Bengal.^[15]

Architecture

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The Sena dynasty is notable for buildingHindu temples and monasteries.^[16] KingBallāla Sena built theDhakeshwari Temple in 12-century CE in what is nowDhaka, Bangladesh.^[17]^[18]

In Kashmir, the dynasty also likely built a temple knows as Sankara Gaureshwara.^[19]

A sculpture of theHindu deity Vishnu from the Sena period.

Coinage

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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 asPurana, Dharan, Dramma. These terms were used to mean a silver coin weighing 32 ratis (56.6 grains) or a karshapan weighing scale. The termKapardaka Purana is seen as a medium of exchange in the writings of the Sena kings and other contemporary kings. Karpadak meanscow; 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 onesilver 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 atPaharpur and Kalgang (Bihar nearBhagalpur). 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.^[20]

Decline

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South Asia
1175 CE

KARAKHANID
KHANATE

QARA KHITAI

GHURID
EMPIRE

CHAULUKYAS

CHAHAMANAS

PARAMARAS

KAKATIYAS

KADAMBAS

HOYSALAS

GAHADAVALAS

GUHILAS

KACHCHAPA-
GHATAS

CHANDELAS

KALACHURIS
(TRIPURI)

KALACHURIS
(RATNAPURA)

SENAS

KARNATAS

KAMARUPAS

EASTERN
GANGAS

GUGE

MARYUL

Main South Asian polities in 1175, on the eve of theGhurid Empire invasion of the subcontinent^[21]^[22]

Downfall of Sena dynasty was destined under the rule of weak rulers of this dynasty. This dynasty started declining during the rule of Lakshmana Sena who was the last significant Sena king. He was succeeded by his two sonsVishvarupa Sena andKeshava Sena.^[23] Probably they ruled till at least 1230 AD.^[24] However it was learnt from Tabaqat-i-Nasiri that the descendants of Lakshmana Sena ruled in Bengal (Bang) till at least 1245 AD or 1260 AD.^[24]

Legacy

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Nepal

[edit]

Main article:Senas of Makwanpur

In the 16th century, a dynasty emerged in the southern parts ofNepal near the border withBihar which used the Sena surname and claimed descent from the Senas of Bengal. One of their branches formed theSena dynasty of Makwanpur which ruled from the fort ofMakwanpur Gadhi.^[30] This branch of the Sena dynasty adopted the local language of the region,Maithili which became their state language.^[31]

Family tree

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Sena dynasty

Hemanta
Sena
⁽¹⁾
r. 1095-1096

Vijaya
Sena
⁽²⁾
r. 1096-1159

Ballala
Sena
⁽³⁾
r. 1159-1179

Lakshmana
Sena
⁽⁴⁾
r. 1179-1206

Vishvarupa
Sena
⁽⁵⁾
r. 1206-1225

Keshava
Sena
⁽⁶⁾
r. 1225-1230

Literature

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The Sena rulers were also great patrons of literature. During the Pala dynasty and the Sena dynasty, the development ofBengali was witnessed.^[32]^[33]Among the poets at the court of Lakshmana Sena were:

Govardhana
Sarana
Jayadeva
Umapati
Dhoyi/Dhoyin^[34]

References

[edit]

^Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978).A Historical Atlas of South Asia. Oxford University Press, Digital South Asia Library. p. 147, Map "f".
^^a ^b ^cRaj Kumar (2003).Essays on Medieval India. Discovery Publishing House. p. 340.ISBN 9788171416837.
^^a ^bMehta, Jaswant Lal (1979).Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India : 1000-1526 A.D. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. p. 70.ISBN 978-0-39101-920-1.
^^a ^bMajumdar, R.C. (1971).History of Ancient Bengal. G. Bharadwaj, Calcutta.
^Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib by Nitish K. Sengupta, p. 51.
^Sarkar, Jadunath (1976).The History of Bengal. Vol. 2. University of Dacca. p. 5.
^Majumdar, R.C. (1971).History Of Ancient Bengal. G.Bharadwaj, Calcutta. pp. 234–235.
^Sen 1999, p. 287.
^^a ^bMajumdar, R. C. (1971).History of Ancient Bengal. G. Bharadwaj, Calcutta. p. 220.
^Chopra, Pran Nath (1982).Religions and Communities of India. East-West Publications. p. 78.ISBN 978-0-85692-081-3.The Sena kings were probably Baidyas. The evidence of inscriptions shows that a dynasty of Baidya kings ruled over at least a part of Bengal from 1010 AD to 1200 AD. The most famous of these kings is Ballal Sena
^Sen, Sailendra (2013).A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 35–36.ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
^^a ^b ^cFurui, Ryosuke (2 July 2019). "6: Towards Brahmanical Systematisation: c. 1100–1250 AD".Land and Society in Early South Asia: Eastern India 400–1250 AD. Routledge. p. 188.ISBN 978-1-000-08480-1.
^Mukherji, Ramaranjan; Maity, Sachindra Kumar (1967).Corpus Of Bengal Inscriptions Bearing on History and Civilization of Bengal. Vol. 1. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 333.
^Hunter, William Wilson (1875),"A statistical account of Bengal, Volume 1",Google Books, Edinburgh: Murry and Gibbs, retrieved3 October 2009
^Siddiq 2015, p. 35.
^Khan, MD I.A (2022).Medieval History (Emergence of Islam to downfall of mughal empire). Blue Rose Publishers. p. 35.
^Orum, Anthony M. (15 April 2019).The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 449.ISBN 978-1-118-56845-3.
^Tambling, Jeremy (29 October 2022).The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban Literary Studies. Springer Nature. p. 546.ISBN 978-3-319-62419-8.
^Mitra, Rajendralala (1865)."On the Sena Rajas of Bengal".Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 34 part 1 (3). Asiatic Society of Bengal:141–142.
^"Coins".Banglapedia.
^Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978).A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 37, 147.ISBN 0226742210.
^Eaton, Richard M. (25 July 2019).India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765. Penguin UK. p. 38.ISBN 978-0-14-196655-7.
^Majumdar, R.C. (1971).History Of Ancient Bengal. G.Bharadwaj, Calcutta. p. 236.
^^a ^bMajumdar, R.C. (1971).History Of Ancient Bengal. G.Bharadwaj, Calcutta. p. 238.
^Andre Wink (1991).Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 269.ISBN 978-90-04-09509-0. Retrieved3 September 2011.
^Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1996).The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press. pp. 102–103.ISBN 978-0-52020-507-9.
^Chatterjee, Kumkum (1 October 2010)."Scribal elites in Sultanate and Mughal Bengal".The Indian Economic & Social History Review.47 (4):445–472.doi:10.1177/001946461004700402.ISSN 0019-4646.S2CID 143802267.
^Chatterjee, Kumkum (1 September 2005)."Communities, Kings and Chronicles: The Kulagranthas of Bengal".Studies in History.21 (2):173–213.doi:10.1177/025764300502100203.ISSN 0257-6430.S2CID 144413665.
^Sircar, Dineschandra (1971).Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.It may be added that the Senas themselves came to be regarded as Vaidyas in the Vaidya Kula-pañjikās.
^Basudevlal Dad (2014). "The Sena Dynasty: From Bengal to Nepal".Academic Voices.4.
^Das, Basudevlal (2013)."Maithili in Medieval Nepal: A Historical Apprisal".Academic Voices.3:1–3.doi:10.3126/av.v3i1.9704.
^Banerji, Rakhal Das (1973).The Origin of the Bengali Script. Nababharat Publishers. p. 81.
^Sen 1999, p. 285.
^Majumdar, R.C. (1971).History Of Ancient Bengal. G. Bharadwaj, Calcutta. p. 357.

Sources

Early History of India 3rd and revised edition by Vincent A Smith
Siddiq, Mohammad Yusuf (2015),Epigraphy and Islamic Culture:Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205–1494), Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series
Majumdar, R. C. (1971).History of Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: G. Bhardwary & Co.
Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999).Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International.ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0.

External links

[edit]

Chowdhury, AM (2012)."Sena Dynasty". InIslam, 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
Khalji dynasty

Middle kingdoms of India

Timeline and cultural period	Indus plain (Punjab-Sapta Sindhu-Gujarat)	Gangetic Plain			Central India	Southern India
		Upper Gangetic Plain (Ganga-Yamuna doab)	Middle Gangetic Plain	Lower Gangetic Plain
IRON AGE
Culture	LateVedic Period	LateVedic Period Painted Grey Ware culture	LateVedic Period Northern Black Polished Ware		Pre-history
6th century BCE	Gandhara	Kuru-Panchala	Magadha		Adivasi (tribes)	Assaka
Culture	Persian-Greek influences	"Second Urbanisation" Rise of Shramana movements Jainism -Buddhism -Ājīvika -Yoga			Pre-history
5th century BCE	(Persian conquests)		Shaishunaga dynasty		Adivasi (tribes)	Assaka
4th century BCE	(Greek conquests)	Nanda empire
HISTORICAL AGE
Culture	Spread of Buddhism				Pre-history
3rd century BCE	Maurya Empire					Satavahana dynasty Sangam period (300 BCE – 200 CE) Early Cholas Early Pandyan kingdom Cheras
Culture	Preclassical Hinduism^[a] -"Hindu Synthesis"^[b] (ca. 200 BC - 300 CE)^[c]^[d] Epics -Puranas -Ramayana -Mahabharata -Bhagavad Gita -Brahma Sutras -Smarta Tradition Mahayana Buddhism
2nd century BCE	Indo-Greek Kingdom		Shunga Empire Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty			Satavahana dynasty Sangam period (300 BCE – 200 CE) Early Cholas Early Pandyan kingdom Cheras
1st century BCE
1st century CE	Indo-Scythians Indo-Parthians		Kuninda Kingdom
2nd century	Kushan Empire
3rd century	Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom Western Satraps	Kushan Empire		Kamarupa kingdom	Adivasi (tribes)
Culture	"Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. CE 320-650)^[e] Puranas Co-existence of Hinduism and Buddhism
4th century	Kidarites	Gupta Empire Varman dynasty				Andhra Ikshvakus Kalabhra dynasty Kadamba Dynasty Western Ganga Dynasty
5th century	Hephthalite Empire	Alchon Huns				Vishnukundina Kalabhra dynasty
6th century	Nezak Huns Kabul Shahi Maitraka				Adivasi (tribes)	Vishnukundina Badami Chalukyas Kalabhra dynasty
Culture	Late-Classical Hinduism (ca. CE 650-1100)^[f] Advaita Vedanta -Tantra Decline of Buddhism in India
7th century	Indo-Sassanids		Vakataka dynasty Empire of Harsha	Mlechchha dynasty	Adivasi (tribes)	Badami Chalukyas Eastern Chalukyas Pandyan kingdom (revival) Pallava
	Karkota dynasty
8th century	Kabul Shahi	Pala Empire				Eastern Chalukyas Pandyan kingdom Kalachuri
9th century	Gurjara-Pratihara					Rashtrakuta Empire Eastern Chalukyas Pandyan kingdom Medieval Cholas Chera Perumals of Makkotai
10th century	Ghaznavids			Pala dynasty Kamboja-Pala dynasty		Kalyani Chalukyas Eastern Chalukyas Medieval Cholas Chera Perumals of Makkotai Rashtrakuta
References and sources for table References ^Michaels (2004) p.39 ^Hiltebeitel (2002) ^Michaels (2004) p.39 ^Hiltebeitel (2002) ^Michaels (2004) p.40 ^Michaels (2004) p.41 Sources Flood, Gavin D. (1996),An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press Hiltebeitel, Alf (2002),Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture", Routledge Michaels, Axel (2004),Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press

State ofWest Bengal

Capital:Kolkata

Divisions and
districts

Burdwan division	Birbhum Hooghly Paschim Bardhaman Purba Bardhaman
Jalpaiguri division	Alipurduar Cooch Behar Darjeeling Jalpaiguri Kalimpong
Malda division	Berhampore (declared) Dakshin Dinajpur Jangipur (declared) Malda Murshidabad Uttar Dinajpur
Medinipur division	Bankura Bishnupur (declared) Jhargram Paschim Medinipur Purba Medinipur Purulia
Presidency division	Basirhat (declared) Howrah Ichamati (declared) Kolkata Nadia North 24 Parganas Ranaghat (declared) South 24 Parganas Sundarbans (declared)