Nayapala’s war with the Kalachuri Karna

01The monk who made peace

The account survives in the Tibetan biographies of Atisha Dipankara Shrijnana. They tell that Karna, king of the west, made war on Nayapala of Magadha, that his troops at first won and plundered, but were then defeated by the Pala army. Atisha, then living in Magadha, took no side, sheltered the defeated, and brought the two kings to a treaty, after which the prisoners were exchanged. Atisha left for Tibet around 1040, which dates the war.

02A marriage alliance

The quarrel did not end at once. Karna came again in the next reign, and the Pala records say that Nayapala’s son Vigrahapala III defeated him and then married his daughter Yauvanashri. Karna, one of the most aggressive kings of the age, fought in nearly every direction, against the Paramaras, Chandelas, Chalukyas and Palas, and his wars left all of north India weaker on the eve of the Turkish invasions.

Dynasty · c. 750–1161 CEPala dynastyGopala was chosen king to end a time of anarchy in Bengal, and his house ruled the east for four hundred years. They built Vikramashila and Somapura, and their black-stone and bronze images set the style for the whole eastern world.Read →