Davidcza at 04:57, 25 April 2026

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{{Short description|Classical period Indian subcontinent kingdom}}
{{about|a medieval kingdom originating in the [[Gauḍa (region)|Gauda]] region of [[Bengal]]|the later kingdom in [[Sylhet region]]|Gour Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox Former Country
| native_name = "Gauṛa Sāmrājya" (Sanskrit)<br>"Gōur sāmrājja" (Old Bengali)
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Gauḍa
| common_name = Gauḍa Kingdom
| government_type = [[Monarchy]]
| life_span = {{circa|4th century AD}} (pre-Gupta)<br/>554–636
| year_end = 636 CE
| p1 = Later Gupta dynasty
| s1 = Pushyabhuti dynasty
| s2 = Mallabhum kingdom
| s3 = Kamarupa
| image_coat = Gauda ruler Sasanka Deva. Circa AD 600-635. Samatata type. Assam mint.jpg
| coa_size = 250px
| coat_alt = 
| symbol_type = Coin of [[Shashanka]], king of Gauda, circa 600–635. [[Samatata]] type, Assam mint.
| image_map = Map_of_the_Shashankas.png
| image_map_caption = Map of the Shashankas or "Gauda Kingdom", circa 600 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=146, map XIV.2 (b)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/reference/schwartzberg/query.py?display_type=image_display&object=183#gsc.tab=0}}</ref>
| image_map2 =
| image_map2_caption =
| capital = [[Karnasuvarna]]
| official_languages =
| religion = [[Hinduism]] ([[Shaivism]])
| leader1 = [[Jayanaga]]
| year_leader1 = 554–593
| leader2 = [[Shashanka]]
| year_leader2 = 593–636
| leader3 = [[Manava (king)|Manava]]
| year_leader3 = 636
| title_leader = [[List of rulers of Bengal#Gauda Kingdom (c. 550–626 CE)|Maharajadhiraja]]
| demonym =
| area_km2 =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| today = [[India]]<br/>[[Bangladesh]]
| leader_name3 =
}}

The '''Gauḍa kingdom''' was a kingdom during the [[Classical India|Classical era]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]], which originated in the [[Gauḍa (region)|Gauda]] region of [[Bengal]] (modern-day [[West Bengal]] and [[Bangladesh]])<ref name = Majumdar>{{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |year=1971 |title=History of Ancient Bengal |location=Calcutta |publisher=G. Bhardwaj & Co. |pages=6–8 |oclc=961157849}}</ref><ref name = Banglapedia>{{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Suchandra |year=2012 |chapter=Gauda, Janapada |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Gauda,_Janapada |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> in 4th century CE or possibly earlier.<ref>{{Cite book|last=K. P. Jayaswal|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279518|title=An Imperial History Of India|date=1934|pages=34}}</ref>

==Location and extent==
A Buddhist [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]] Text [[Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa|Mañjuśrī-Mūlakalpa]] records the existence of Gauda kingdom in Bengal before it was replaced by [[Gupta Empire]] in the 4th century. King Loka who was born in Vardhamāna ([[Bardhaman|Bardhamān]]) is mentioned who must have ruled in the early 4th century CE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=K. P. Jayaswal|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279518|title=An Imperial History Of India|date=1934}}</ref>

King [[Shashanka]] is often attributed with creating the first separate political entity in a unified [[Bengal]] called [[Gauḍa (region)|Gauda]]. He reigned in 7th century, and some historians place his rule approximately between 593 and 636.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} His capital was at [[Karnasubarna]], {{convert|9.6|km}} south-west of [[Baharampur]], headquarters of Murshidabad district.<ref name="Majumdar" /> The Chinese monk, [[Xuanzang]] (Hiuen Tsang) travelled from the country of Karnasubarna to a region in the present-day state of Orissa ruled by Shashanka.<ref name = Banglapedia/> There is mention of [[Pundravardhana]] being part of Gauda in certain ancient records.<ref>Bandopadhyay, Rakhaldas, ''Bangalar Itihas'', {{in lang|bn}}, first published 1928, revised edition 1971, vol I, p 101, Nababharat Publishers, 72 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kolkata.</ref> Not much is known about the early life of Shashanka. Historian D K Ganguly is reported to have concluded that he was a native of Magadha.<ref name="Sinha-magadha">{{cite book |last1=Sinha |first1=Bindeshwari Prasad |title=Dynastic History of Magadha |date=1977 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |location=India |pages=131–133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3KDaZY85wYC |access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref> The same source reports that the historian [[Padmanath Bhattacharya Vidya Vinod|Padmanath Bhattacharya]] took Shashanka to be a son of Mahāsenagupta. R D Banerji concluded that he was descended from the Magadha Guptas. [[Nagendranath Basu]] has argued that Shashanka was the son / descendant of Raja Karnadeva, who founded the city of [[Karnasubarna]] in Bengal.<ref name="Nagendranath_Jatiyoitihash">{{cite book |last1=Basu |first1=Nagendranath |title=Bonger Jatiya Itihash (Kayastha Kando) |date=1937 |location=India |pages=63 |url=https://bn.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE:%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%99%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC_%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8_(%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A3%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A1,_%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B6,_%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A3%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A1).djvu/%E0%A7%AD%E0%A7%AF |access-date=26 September 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Rohtas seal of Shashanka.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Royal Seal of [[Shashanka]].]]
{{South Asia in 600 CE|right|Location of the Shahshankas and fragmented South Asian polities circa 600 CE, after the retreat of the [[Alchon Huns]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=063 26],146 |isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=063 |archive-date=12 January 2024 |access-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112181611/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=063 |url-status=dead }}</ref>|{{Annotation|179|113|[[File:Long Fine Rectangle (plain).png|44px]]}}}}
In some sources, Shashanka is described as a tribal leader of Bengal.<ref name="History_UK">{{cite web |title=Kingdoms of South Asia – Indian Kingdom of Bengal |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsFarEast/IndiaBengal.htm |website=historyfiles.co.uk |access-date=19 September 2019}}</ref> Shashanka's name appears in multiple forms, including Śaśānka and Śaśānka-deva. The name is derived from [[Sanskrit]], as another name for the Moon. Śaśānka-deva therefore loosely translates to "moon god".

The Hindu god [[Shiva]] bears the epithet ''Shashankasekhara,'' meaning, "he who bears the moon". The Chinese monk [[Xuanzang]]'s writings, he is mentioned as She-Shang-Kia..<ref>{{cite journal |title=Indian Antiquary |journal=Journal of Oriental Research (Ed. J.A.S. Burgess) |date=1878 |volume=VII |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR3mAAAAMAAJ |access-date=16 September 2019 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |language=en}}</ref> In Sinha's Dynastic History of Magadha, the names 'Śaśānka' and 'Soma' are used interchangeably. Some historians believe that Shashanka began his career as a feudatory chief (maha [[samanta]]) under Mahasenagupta, of the [[Later Gupta dynasty|Later Gupta Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=N. S. |title=Ancient Indian history and civilization |date=1999 |publisher=New Age International |location=India |isbn=81-224-1198-3 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref> And that after the death of Mahasenagupta, Shashanka drove the later Guptas and other prominent nobles out of the region and established his own kingdom with his capital at [[Karnasubarna]]. Other historians like Sailendra Nath Sen is of the opinion that Mahasenagupta - already under pressure from the Maukharis (for failing to provide adequate protection) - wouldn't have knowingly appointed Shashanka to such an important position. Middleton (2015) argues in a similar vein that Shashanka served as ''maha samanta'' to a Gauda king, possibly [[Jayanaga]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Middleton |first1=John |title=World Monarchies and Dynasties |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317451587 |page=330 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R63ACQAAQBAJ |access-date=15 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Whether Shashanka was a feudatory under the Maukharis or the Guptas is not known. But he ruled from Karnasuvarna.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Bindeshwari Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3KDaZY85wYC |title=Dynastic History of Magadha |year=1977 |pages=137}}</ref> According to Bana, he was the king of Gauda<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Bindeshwari Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3KDaZY85wYC |title=Dynastic History of Magadha |year=1977 |pages=138}}</ref> and was addressed as ''Maharajadhiraja'' (king of great kings).<ref name=":0" />Following his death, Shashanka was succeeded by his son, [[Manava (king)|Manava]], who ruled the kingdom for eight months. However Gauda was soon divided amongst [[Harsha]]vardhana and Bhaskarvarmana of [[Kamarupa]], the latter even managing to conquer Karnasuvarna.

Evidence is inconsistent regarding links of Gauda with the [[Rarh region]]. While Krishna Mishra (11th or 12th century), in his ''Prabodha-chandrodaya'', mentions that Gauda Rashtra includes Rarh (or Rarhpuri) and Bhurishreshthika, identified with [[Bhurshut]], in [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]] and [[Howrah district|Howrah]] districts, the Managoli inscription of the [[Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri|Yadava]] king [[Jaitugi I]] distinguishes Lala (Rarh) from Gaula (Gauda).<ref name="Majumdar" />

According to Jain writers of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Gauda included Lakshmanavati in present-day [[Malda district]].<ref name="Majumdar" />

The [[Pala Empire|Pala emperors]] were referred to as Vangapati (Lord of Vanga) and Gaudesvara (Lord of Gauda). [[Sena dynasty|Sena]] kings also called themselves Gaudesvara. From then Gauda and Vanga seem to be interchangeable names for the whole of Bengal.<ref name="Majumdar"/> Even, In the early 12th-century Sanskrit text [[Manasollasa]], the name ''Gaudavangala'' was mentioned to denote the whole [[Bengal region]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.01172/page/n24/mode/1up|title=Itihas|author=Sukumar Sen|page=19}}</ref>

==See also==
{{History of Bengal}}
* [[Gauḍa (city)]]
* [[Karnasuvarna]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Coord|24.18|N|88.27|E|region:BD_type:country|display=title}}

{{Malda topics}}
{{West Bengal}}
{{Bangladesh topics}}

[[Category:Gauda Kingdom| ]]
[[Category:Medieval Bengal]]
[[Category:590 establishments]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 590s]]
[[Category:626 disestablishments]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 7th century]]

Kingdom of Gauda - Revision history

Davidcza at 04:57, 25 April 2026