The Palas and the Kingdoms of Mithila

After the Guptas

The Gupta empire broke up in the 6th century. In Magadha, a line of later Guptas ruled; their history is known from the Aphsad inscription (Nawada district). In the 7th century Harshavardhana of Kannauj controlled parts of Bihar and patronised Nalanda. After his death the region fell into disorder, which Sanskrit writers called matsyanyaya: the big fish eating the small.

The Pala empire (about 750–1160)

• Gopala, according to tradition, was elected king by the leading men to end this disorder. He founded Odantapuri.
• Dharmapala made the Palas a north Indian power, founded Vikramshila and fought for Kannauj.
• Devapala extended the empire further. An inscription found at Nalanda records his grant to the monastery built there by Balaputradeva of the Shailendra kingdom (Sumatra-Java).
• Later Palas such as Mahipala I revived the dynasty, and Ramapala is the hero of Sandhyakaranandi's Ramacharita.

Pala culture

• Strong patrons of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism: Nalanda, Vikramshila, Odantapuri and Somapura (now in Bangladesh).
• Pala art: images carved in fine-grained black basalt (stone), bronze images cast at Nalanda and Kurkihar, and palm-leaf manuscripts with small paintings. Pala style influenced Nepal, Tibet and South-East Asia.
• The Palas were followed in Bengal by the Senas.

Mithila under its own kings

The Karnatas (1097–1324)

• Founded by Nanyadeva in 1097, with the capital at Simraongarh (now just across the border in Nepal).
• The last king, Harisimhadeva, is remembered for organising the panji (genealogy records) of Maithil Brahmins. In his court Jyotirishwar Thakur wrote Varna Ratnakara, one of the earliest works of Maithili prose.
• The Karnata kingdom ended when Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq invaded in 1324.

The Oinwaras (Oinihar)

• Founded by Kameshwar Thakur in the 14th century.
• King Shivasimha (early 15th century) was the patron of Vidyapati, the "Maithil Kokil" (cuckoo of Mithila), who wrote love lyrics in Maithili as well as works in Sanskrit and Avahatta (Kirtilata, Kirtipataka).

Mithila as a centre of learning

Mithila became famous for Nyaya philosophy. Gangesha Upadhyaya wrote Tattvachintamani, which founded Navya Nyaya (new logic), later carried to Navadvipa in Bengal. Earlier, Vachaspati Mishra and Udayana were great Mithila philosophers.

Exam tip: Mithila questions are easy marks once you link each name to its king: Jyotirishwar → Harisimhadeva (Karnata); Vidyapati → Shivasimha (Oinwara).