Srichandra
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Chandra ruler of southeastern Bengal
“Chandra ruler whose copperplate grants illuminate tenth-century southeastern Bengal.”
The second and one of the most influential rulers of the Chandra dynasty, Srichandra consolidated a major polity in southeastern Bengal during the tenth century.
His reign is known mainly through copperplate inscriptions, including the Paschimbhag plate and records from the Mainamati region. These sources connect him to Vanga, Samatata, and Harikela, Buddhist patronage, land grants, and a political world beyond the Pala heartland.
Srichandra’s records show that southeastern Bengal had its own durable royal and religious institutions. His Buddhist identity did not prevent grants to Brahmanical establishments, making his reign useful for understanding both regional state formation and religious patronage.
bengalregional-historychandra-dynastyepigraphy
Details→Bhavadeva
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Deva ruler linked to southeastern Bengal
“The last known ruler of the early Deva dynasty, remembered through Mainamati's inscriptions and Buddhist archaeological remains.”
Bhavadeva was the last known ruler of the early Deva dynasty of Samatata, the regional polity associated with Devaparvata in the Mainamati-Lalmai area. His copper-plate record and the inscriptional references connected with a monastery bearing his name provide rare evidence for royal authority and Buddhist institutions in southeastern Bengal.
The early Deva rulers are known mainly through inscriptions, coins, sealings, and the archaeological remains of Mainamati. Bhavadeva followed Shantideva, Viradeva, and Anandadeva in the dynasty's reconstructed genealogy and is generally placed in the late eighth or early ninth century CE, although the surviving evidence does not provide a complete political narrative.
Bhavadeva's record helps connect the political history of Samatata with the Buddhist educational and architectural landscape of Mainamati. The evidence supports a regional history of southeastern Bengal shaped by local courts, riverine connections, and monastery patronage rather than by imperial centres alone.
bengalregional-historyarchaeology
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