SANDHYÁKARA NANDI. authoritative commentary on the Mimāsā Sūtras.' He says that the word Rajā meant a Ksatriya engaged under government or in the army in Äryavartta, but in the Andhra country, others so engaged would be called a Rājā. So gradually Raja and Ksatriya became synonymous, and so, many powerful invaders have been included in the meaning of the term Ksatriya. Under the circumstances it is no wonder that Palas when they had ruled for two or three generations should be regarded as Ksatriyas. But still Simhagiri in his Vyasa Purana imbedded in the Vallalacarita after recounting all the Ksatriyas in India in the 12th century, speaks of the Palas as the worst of Kṣatriyas. Dharmapala is the second king of the Pala dynasty. It is not known when Date of Dharmapala. 4 he began to reign and when his reign came to an end, but it is known that the Khalimpur grant (J.A.S.B., 1894, p. 39 et seq.; and Nachrichten, Göttingen, 1903, p. 308) was made in the 32nd year of his reign, so he must have reigned at least 32 years or longer. But the ques- tion is, when did he reign? In Vigrahapala's Bhagalpur grant (Ind. Ant., vol. xv, p. 304) there is a statement that he conquered Indra of Kanauj, but at the request of old Brahmins of Pañcala he conferred the crown of Kanauj on Cakrayudha. So Cakrayudha was his contemporary. In a Gwaliar inscription (Nachrichten, Göttingen, 1905, p. 300), while giving a history of the wars of Nagabhata, a Parihara king, it is stated that Nagabhata humbled Cakrayudha who was a dependant. It has been already said that Cakrayudha was a dependant of Dharmapala, so Nagabhaṭa and Dharmapala belong to the same time. And we know from another inscription that Nagabhata was ruling in the year 815 A.D. (Epi. Ind., vol. ix, p. 198). In an inscription not yet published, but extracts from which have been given by S. Bhandarkar in the Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1906 (J.B.B.R.A.S., No. lxi, p. 116), are described the military operations of Govinda the third, the Rastrakūta king of Manyakheta. He led a victorious army from the south to the foot of the Himalayas. Dharma and Cakrayudha submitted to him, but he had to fight with Nagabhaṭa. So all these four kings were contemporaries. Govinda's certain dates range from 794 to 813, and his son's dates range from 817 to 877 A.D. Indra whom Dharma replaced was reigning in 783 A.D. (Kielhorn's List of Southern Inscriptions, Epi. Ind., vol. viii). So the order of events is this. Indra reigning in 783 A.D, Indra replaced by Cakrayudha, Cakrayudha defeated by Nagabhata, Nagabhata defeated by Govinda. All these events must have taken place between 783 and 816 A.D. So Dharma's conquest of Kanauj must be placed somewhere between 783 and 816. But the Rāṣṭrakuța prince, Parabala, whose daughter Dharmapala married, con- structed a temple at Pathāri in 861 A.D. (Epi Ind., vol. ix, p. 248). This would appear rather inconsistent. But Parabala must have been a very old man when he constructed the temple, for young princes are not fond of such religious works. And it can be proved that Parabala and his father lived long. Bibl. Ind. edition, Adhyaya II, Pada II, fafcifc
