The Pala Empire Bengal's Buddhist Superpower

Long before the Mughals or the British, Bengal was the heart of a Buddhist empire that stretched across North India and influenced Southeast Asia. This episode explores the Pala Dynasty, which ruled from the 8th to 12th centuries, beginning with the remarkable election of their first king, Gopala. We trace the empire's expansion under Dharmapala and Devapala, who conquered Kannauj and Patna, and their patronage of the great university of Nalanda, which drew monks from Tibet, China, and beyond. We discuss how Pala rulers spread Mahayana Buddhism through trade and diplomacy, funding monasteries like Vikramashila and Oddantapuri, and how their distinctive 'Pala style' of black stone sculpture influenced art from Nepal to Java. We also look at the empire's decline under the Sena kings and the eventual Muslim invasions. Along the way, we consider the legacy of the Palas in Tibetan Buddhism, where texts and teachers from Bengal still shape the tradition. This episode offers a window into a lost golden age of Bengal's history, before the region became synonymous with Islam and British colonialism. #PalaEmpire #Bengal #Buddhism #Nalanda #Dharmapala #Devapala #Gopala #Vikramashila #Mahayana #TibetanBuddhism #MedievalIndia #SenaDynasty #SouthAsianHistory #FexingoHistory #History #BuddhistArt #Trade #Empire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo