The Palas, Senas and Buddhist Learning Centres

Regional chiefs in Bengal once elected a king to end years of local disorder. That king’s dynasty went on to fund some of Asia’s most important Buddhist universities.

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AncHist0022 · Ancient Indian History

The Palas, Senas & Buddhist Learning

A dynasty that began with an election, and ended with a change of faith

Founding

Gopala Is Elected King

Regional chiefs choose Gopala to end a period of local disorder in Bengal.

Expansion

Dharmapala Founds Vikramashila

Gopala’s successor expands Pala power and funds new centres of Buddhist learning.

Golden Age

Nalanda Reaches Its Peak

Pala patronage turns Nalanda into the world’s leading centre of Vajrayana Buddhist study.

Dynastic Change

The Senas Replace the Palas

Vijayasena and Lakshmanasena lead the new dynasty, and royal patronage shifts to Brahmanical Hinduism.

Policy Can Move Fast

The shift from Pala Buddhist patronage to Sena Brahmanical patronage shows how quickly royal religious policy could reshape a region’s institutions.

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Timeline

• c. 750 CE: Regional chiefs elect Gopala king, founding the Pala dynasty and ending local disorder in Bengal.
• Late 8th century CE: Dharmapala expands Pala power and founds Vikramashila as a new centre of Buddhist study.
• Pala era peak: Nalanda becomes the world’s leading centre of Vajrayana Buddhist learning, drawing students from across Asia.
• 11th century CE: Vijayasena founds the Sena dynasty, and royal patronage shifts to Brahmanical Hinduism.
• c. 1193 CE: Bakhtiyar Khilji’s forces destroy Nalanda, Vikramashila, and Odantapuri within a short span.

The Pala Dynasty and Its Buddhist Patronage Need to Know

• Gopala founded the Pala dynasty around 750 CE. Regional chiefs elected him to end a period of local disorder in Bengal.
• His election was an unusually non-hereditary start for an ancient Indian kingdom.
• His successors Dharmapala and Devapala expanded Pala power across much of eastern India.
• Dharmapala also contested control of Kannauj against the Gurjara-Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas. See The Gurjara-Pratiharas and the Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj for that fuller contest and its outcome.
• The Palas were the strongest royal patrons of Buddhism in early medieval India, funding several major monastic universities.
• This patronage lasted across most of the dynasty’s roughly four centuries in power.

Nalanda, Vikramashila and Odantapuri Need to Know

• Nalanda had already been founded under the Guptas. See Kumaragupta I and Nalanda University for that earlier founding.
• Under Pala patronage, Nalanda reached its real peak. It became the world’s leading centre of both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist study.
• Nalanda’s Pala-era scholars included Shantarakshita, who carried Buddhism to Tibet and founded the Samye monastery there.
• Dharmapala founded Vikramashila in the late 8th century, as a dedicated centre for tantric Buddhist study.
• Vikramashila’s most celebrated scholar, Atisha Dipankara, later travelled to Tibet and helped found a new tradition of Tibetan Buddhism there. See Vikramshila University for its famous six debating gates and its full history.
• Odantapuri, in present-day Bihar, was the second Buddhist monastic university the Palas supported. Most sources credit its founding to Gopala, though a few instead credit Dharmapala or Devapala.
• Together, these three universities drew monks and students from Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia, teaching Vajrayana alongside older Buddhist traditions. See Sects of Buddhism: Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana for how Vajrayana itself developed.

The Sena Dynasty Succeeds the Palas Good to Know

• Vijayasena defeated the last Pala king, Madanapala, establishing the Sena dynasty‘s full independence in Bengal.
• He founded the city of Vijayapura and made Nabadwip his capital.
• Vijayasena patronised Brahmanical Hinduism directly. He performed Vedic sacrifices, including the Ashvamedha, marking a sharp break from Pala-era Buddhist patronage.
• His grandson Lakshmanasena, the last major Hindu ruler of Bengal, presided over a court known for its Sanskrit literary output.
• Lakshmanasena’s court included the poet Jayadeva, author of the celebrated devotional poem Gita Govinda.
• Lakshmanasena himself wrote Sanskrit poetry and completed the encyclopaedic text Adbhutasagara.

Test Yourself

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1. What was unusual about how the Pala dynasty began?

It began as a breakaway province of the Gupta Empire

Its founder seized power through a palace coup

It began as an alliance of five equal kings

Its first king, Gopala, was elected by regional chiefs

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Legacy and the End of Institutional Buddhism Great to Know

• Around 1193 CE, forces under Bakhtiyar Khilji destroyed Nalanda, Vikramashila, and Odantapuri within a short span.
• This loss struck India’s three most important centres of advanced Buddhist study almost simultaneously.
• Institutional Buddhism never fully recovered in the region afterward. Its centre of gravity shifted decisively to Tibet, carried there by scholars like Shantarakshita and Atisha.
• The Sena shift to Brahmanical patronage, just before this destruction, meant royal support for Buddhist institutions had already thinned by the time the invasions came.
• This period sits chronologically alongside the wider breakup of Gupta successor states. See Post-Gupta Regional Dynasties of North India for that broader picture.
• For Buddhism’s fuller history in India, including its near-disappearance and modern revival, see Buddhism: Historical Timeline and Present-Day Status.