THE PĀLAS OF BENGAL.
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defeated the troops of a king of Kānyakubja, whose name has not been discovered as yet. The position of Pīṭhī is also indicated by this reference. It seems to have been a buffer state between those of Kānyakubja and Gauḍa. The Pratīhāra dynasty was falling, and the kingdom of the proud Gāhaḍavāla was rising on its ruins. It is quite possible that Bhimayaśas of Pīṭhī assisted Candradeva, the Gāhaḍavāla, to obtain the city of Kānyakubja and to overthrow the last Gurjara-Pratīhāra King. The next prince in the order adopted by Sandhyākaranandi is Vīraguṇa of the forest of Koṭā, who is also styled "the over-lord of the Vīraguṇa of the South.Southern thrones." But nothing is known about this king. Dr. Kielhorn's lists of Northern and South Indian Inscriptions do not contain any record which mentions this king of the South. Jaya Siṁha, the Lord of Daṇḍabhukti, seems to have been a man of great importance. The position of Daṇḍabhūkti has already been indicated.[1] It is represented at the present day by the District of Midnapur. So Jaya Siṁha Jaya Siṁha of Daṇḍabhūkti.was the march-lord of the South. The commentary very appropriately mentions the defeat of the King Karṇakeśari of Utkala by this prince. It is more natural for the King of Orissa to fight with a prince, whose land lay on his border, than with one, whose possessions were separated from his by a belt of mountains and forests. The position of Devagrāma in Vāla-valabhī, the king of which, Vikrama Keśari, Vikrama-Keśari of Devagrāma in Vāla-valabhī.comes next in order, is far less certain. The commentary adds: "Devagrāma-prativaddha-vasudhā-cakravāla-vālavalabhī-taraṅga-vahala-galahasta-praśasta hastavikramo."[2] The explanation of this is not quite certain and nothing can be made out beyond what has already been stated by Mahāmahopādhyāya Hara Prasāda Sāstri. Vikrama Keśari was the King of Devagrāma and the surrounding country which was washed by the rivers of Vāla-valabhī. Vāla-valabhī has been identified by Pandit Hara Prasāda Sāstri with Bāgaḍī, one of the five divisions into which Bengal proper The position of Vāla-valabhī.was divided before the Muhammadan conquest, but no reliable authority whatsoever can be cited in support of it. The name Vāla-valabhī itself was unknown in Bengal before the discovery of the Bhuvaneśvara praśasti of Bhavadevabhaṭṭa[3] and has not been found anywhere else except the Rāmacarita. There are hundreds of villages in Bengal bearing the name of Devagrāma, and I do not find any reason to confine it to one of them. Even in the Nadiāh district itself there are several Devagrāmas, and so the attempt to identify it with the materials at present at our command is premature. Lakṣmīśūra is said to be the Madhusūdana of another Mandāra and is described as the head of all Forest feudatories "Samast-āṭavika-sāmanta-cakracuḍāmaṇiḥ."[4] The Mandāra mentioned here seems to be the hill of that name at present in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar. Mandāra hill commands the surrounding hilly and Lakṣmīśūra of Mandāra.forest country to a great distance, and it may be that its king
