Thread by @thatpurvanchali

Gurjara-Pratihāras in Bihar, a thread. Do keep reading.
#Bihar #Magadha #Gurjarapratihara

Magadha/Bihar happened to be a Gurjara-Pratihāra stronghold under the reign of the Pratihara King Mahendrapala. We find inscriptions of Mahendrapala from early 10th an late 9th century AD scattered throughout the region.

From Dighwa Dubaulli(North Bihar) to Paharpur(Now West Bengal, erstwhile Magadha) Pratihāra inscriptions dedicated to Mahendrapala have been recovered.
Examining few important Magadha inscriptions of King Mahendrapala-
The Dighwa-Dubaulli copperplate inscription,
(image for ref)

It’s a 14 line copperplate inscription found in the village of Dighwa-Dubauli in Gopalganj District. It contains the message for the grant of a village “Paniyakagrama” to Bhatta Padamsara of Savarna Gotra.

The inscription is issued on the 10th day of Bright fortnight of the Magha month(Jan-Feb) of the year 155.

Since the era of the year is unspecified we cannot tell exactly what year was it issued in but being an inscription of King Mahendrapala its surely from the later half of 9th century or early 10th century.

Biharsharif image inscription of the time of King Mahendrapal’s reign-
This inscription is composed of two lines engraved on the pedestal of Lord Buddha who is depicted in teaching position.

It is recorded that this was set up as a gift of the Sindhavas(residents of Sindh) by Kumarabhadra. This inscription is dated on the 1st day of the bright fortnight of the month of Chaitra in the 4th year of reign of King Mahendrapala.

There's the mention of another inscription by Major Kittoe dated 19th reign year of King Mahendrapala. Sadly, that inscription has been lost.

All these inscriptional references do prove my point that Magadha had become the stronghold of the Pratiharas majorly under the rule of King Mahendrapala.

Now comes the question, when did the Gurjara-Pratihāras conquer Magadha? Magadha came under the Pratihāras most likely during the rule of King Bhoja 1. After Vigrahapala the new Pala ruler Narayanapala happened to be a pacifist in his views.

The Pratihāra King Bhoja-1 taking advantage of his pacifism went on war against Palas taking the help of his feudal Chiefs like Gunambhodideva and Harsharaja. This war resulted in Pratihāra victory against Narayanapala and control of Magadh being transferred into Pratihāra hands.

This control over Magadh however was short-lived. Just after death of King Mahendrapala, King Narayanapala of Pala Dynasty recaptured the Magadh region with the help of the Kalachuris.

A proof for this is the discovery of an inscription in the name of King Narayanapala from a town of Bihar.

This was all about the short lived Pratihāra dominance in Bihar. Please RT if you liked it.

Sources-
Dynastic History of Magadha by Dr. BP Sinha
The Inscriptions of Bihar by Dr. Bhagwant Sahai