The Sena/Sen dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the Classical India on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries.[For a map of their territory, see: ] The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south of India.[ The History of the Bengali Language by Bijay Chandra Mazumdar, p. 50.]
The dynasty's founder was Samanta Sena. After him came Hemanta Sena, who usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 AD. His successor Vijaya Sena (ruled from 1096 AD to 1159 AD) helped lay the foundations of the dynasty and had an unusually long reign of over 60 years. Ballala Sena conquered Gaur from the Pala, became the ruler of the Bengal Delta, and made Nadia district the capital as well. Ballala Sena married Ramadevi a princess of the Western Chalukya Empire which indicates that the Sena rulers maintained close social contact with south India.[ Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib by Nitish K. Sengupta, p. 51.] Lakshmana Sena succeeded Ballala Sena in 1179, ruled Bengal for approximately 20 years, and expanded the Sena dynasty to Odisha, possibly up to Varanasi. In 1203–1204 AD, Bakhtiyar Khalji, a general under the Ghurid Empire, attacked and captured the capital City of Nadia. However Navadvip was not the permanent capital of the Sena rulers.
Origins
Deopara Prashasti described the founder of Sena dynasty Samantha Sena, as a migrant
Brahmakshatriya from
Karnataka.
The epithet 'Brahma-Kshatriya' suggests that Senas were Brahmins by caste who took the profession of arms and became Kshatriyas.
The Sena kings were also probably
, according to historian P.N. Chopra.
A copper plate suggests that the Senas settled in western bengal before the birth of Samantasena.
Inscription of Keshava Sena
A copperplate was found in the Adilpur or Edilpur
pargana of Faridpur District in 1838 AD and was acquired by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, but now the copperplate is missing from the collection. An account of the copperplate was published in the
Dacca Review and
Epigraphic Indica. The copperplate inscription is written in
Sanskrit and the characters dated to about the end of the twelfth century AD.
In the Asiatic Society's proceeding for January 1838, an account of the copperplate states that three villages were given to a
Brahmin in the third year of
Keshava Sena. The grant was given with the landlord rights, which include the power of punishing the
Chandrabhandas or
, a tribe that lived in the forest.
The land was granted in the village of Leliya in the Kumaratalaka mandala, which is situated in shatata-padamavati-visaya. The copperplate of Keshava Sena records that the king Vallala Sena carried away, from the enemies, the goddesses of fortune on palanquins (
Ashvamedha), which elephant tusk staff supported; and also states that Vallala Sena's son, Lakshmana Sena (1179–1205), erected pillars of victory and sacrificial posts at Varanasi, Allahabad, and Adon Coast of the South Sea. The copperplate also describes the villages with smooth fields growing excellent paddy, the dancing and music in ancient Bengal, and ladies adorned with blooming flowers. The Edilpur copperplate of Keshava Sena records that the king made a grant in favour of Nitipathaka Isvaradeva Sarman for the inside of the
subha-varsha.
Society
The Sena rulers consolidated the caste system in Bengal.
Architecture
The Sena dynasty is famous for building
and monasteries, which include the Dhakeshwari Temple in what is now
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
In Kashmir, the dynasty also likely built a temple knows as Sankara Gaureshwara.
Coinage
In the political history of Bengal, Sena dynasty was a mighty ruling dynasty in power. Various currency names have been regularly mentioned in the Sena writings, such as
Purana, Dharan, Dramma. These terms were used to mean a silver coin weighing 32 ratis (56.6 grains) or a karshapan weighing scale. The term
Kapardaka Purana is seen as a medium of exchange in the writings of the Sena kings and other contemporary kings. Karpadak means
cow; And 'Purana' is definitely a kind of silver coin. The conjunction ‘kapardaka-purana’ refers to a medium of exchange whose quality is equal to that of a purana or silver coin (56.6 grains), but which is actually calculated by the proportional denominator. The table found in the traditional arithmetic of Bengal contained 1260 cowries instead of one
silver coin (Purana or Dramma). That is, the ratio of Purana and Kapardaka is 1: 1280. Reliable evidence of the widespread use of cowrie in early medieval Bengal has been found in excavations at Paharpur and Kalgang (Bihar near
Bhagalpur). Early medieval Bengal saw the scarcity of precious coins and the widespread circulation of cowries. Scholars have long sought to explain the virtual limitations of coins at this time
Decline
Downfall of Sena dynasty was destined under the rule of weak rulers of this dynasty. This dynasty started declining during the rule of Lakshmanasena who was the last significant Sena king. He was succeeded by his two sons Visvarupasena and Kesavasena.
Probably they ruled till at least 1230 AD.
However it was learnt from Tabaqat-i-Nasiri that the descendants of Lakshmansena ruled in Bengal (Bang) till at least 1245 AD or 1260 AD.
Legacy
The Senas and their descendants merged into the
Bengali Kayastha caste-group, heralding them as the neo-Kshatriyas of Bengal — hence, Abul Fazl would write that Bengal had always been ruled by Kayasthas.
The actual caste-status of Senas —notwithstanding the anachronism— remain contested in popular memory: premodern Baidya genealogies claim the Senas as their own which are agreed upon by some Brahmin genealogies but rejected by Kayastha ones.
Nepal
In the 16th century, a dynasty emerged in the southern parts of
Nepal near the border with
Bihar which used the Sena surname and claimed descent from the Senas of Bengal. One of their branches formed the Sena dynasty of Makwanpur which ruled from the fort of
Makwanpur Gadhi.
This branch of the Sena dynasty adopted the local language of the region, Maithili which became their state language.
Family tree
Literature
The Sena rulers were also great patrons of literature. During the Pala dynasty and the Sena dynasty, major growth in
Bengali language was witnessed. Among the poets at the court of Lakshmana Sena were:
-
Govardhana
-
Sarana
-
Jayadeva
-
Umapati
-
Dhoyi/Dhoyin
See also
-
Dhakeshwari Mata Temple, Kumortuli
-
History of Bengal
-
History of India
-
Edilpur Copperplate
Sources
-
Early History of India 3rd and revised edition by Vincent A Smith
External links
