An important geographical entity in ancient and
medieval Bengal . The Arthashastra refers to it
along with vanga, pundra and kamarupa. Though the geographical limit of the
Gauda country is not mentioned, the fact that it is linked with Vanga and
Pundra definitely indicates its location in eastern India .
Vatsayana (3rd - 4th century AD) was familiar with this country. This
geographical idea continues even in the Puranas as it is regarded as one
of the janapadas of the eastern quarter. Varahamihira (c 6th century AD) was
also aware of Gauda janapada. In his Brhat Sanghita he mentions six
distinct janapadas viz: Gaudaka, Paundra, Vanga, samatata, Vardhamana and tamralipta. It appears from his narration that
Murshidabad, Birbhum, and western Burdwan formed the territory of ancient
Gauda.
The earliest epigraphic evidence referring to the
territory of the Gauda people is the Haraha inscription of the Maukhari ruler
Ishanavarman and is datable to 554 AD. It is stated in the inscription that
Ishanavarman defeated the Gaudas who live near the sea (Gaudan
samudrashrayan). This statement finds corroboration in the undated Gurgi
inscription of Prabodhashiva (c 11th century AD) which describes the Lord of
Gauda as 'lying in the watery fort of the sea' (jalanidhi jaladurggam Gauda
rajo dhishete). The evidence of these two epigraphs drives home the fact
that the Gaudas, at least at one point of history, lived in the coastal region.
With the passage of time and change in the
political scenario the connotation of Gauda, however, underwent changes. The rise
of shashanka, the ruler of Gauda, as a
formidable power in the early part of the 7th century AD definitely led to the
extension of the territorial limits of Gauda. From the accounts of hiuen-tsang we learn that he travelled from the
country of karnasuvarna to a
region in coastal Orissa, and the area was ruled by Shashanka. Obviously, the territory
of Karnasuvarna stretched up to
littoral West Bengal . Interestingly, this king Shashanka
is described in Banabhatta's Harsacharita as the Lord of Gauda whose
capital was at Karnasuvarna. In fact, Bana castigates him as Gauda bhujanga
(the dangerous Gauda snake). Thus in the early part of the 7th century Gauda
and Karnasuvarna were co-terminous. On the basis of Hiuen Tsang's itinerary and
the archaeological remains of raktamrittika mahavihara,
Karnasuvarna, the capital city of Gauda
kingdom has been located near Chiruti in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
Hence Murshidabad formed the core area of Gauda.
The political limits of the geographical name
Gauda further extended to the region of north Bengal , ie
Pundravardhana. From the Aryamanjushri Mulakalpa we learn that
Pundravardhana was ruled by Shashanka. This statement finds corroboration in
the allusion to a struggle in the Dubi plates between Susthitavarman and
Bhaskarvarman of Kamarupa on the one side and the king of Gauda on the other.
As a ruler Bhaskarvarman's contemporary was Shashanka. The struggle might have
taken place in north Bengal . We know from Hiuen Tsang
that Pundravardhana and Kamarupa were contiguous territories. Thus Gauda under
Shashanka embraced parts of west Bengal , including its
coasts, and north Bengal (at least for a short time).
The appellation Gauda was applied even to areas
outside Bengal . It was used in a political sense in the Gaudavaho
of Vakpati. In Vakpati's account Magadha
was included within the realm of the Gauda ruler.
In the early medieval period, the term Gauda had
a wider connotation. The Rastrakuta and the Pratihara records styled the Pala
rulers as Gaudeshvara, Gaudendra, Gaudaraja etc. This
obviously implies that the name Gauda, which originally denoted parts of West
Bengal , became so diffused that during the 8th and 9th centuries
it was sometimes synonymous with the entire Pala kingdom.
We come across the term Pancha Gauda for
the first time in the famous historical chronicle of Kashmir ,
the Rajatarangini of Kalhana. This indicates the widest diffusion of the
name Gauda. Pancha Gauda referred to Gauda in association with
Sarasvata, Kanyakubja, Mithila, and Utkala.
It thus appears that originally Gauda janapada lay to
the west of Bhagirathi and that its core area was Murshidabad. Gradually, with
the increase of the political might of Shashanka, the first independent ruler
of Gauda, in the early part of 7th century AD, the political limits of Gauda
extended stretching in the south to coastal Orissa and the north to
Pundravardhana. The term sometimes even denotes the entire Pala empire. In the
13th century gaur under the
Bengal Sultans denoted the entire area of the sultanate. Its capital, also
called Gaur, stood at the site previously known as Laksmanavati, and renamed LAKHNAUTI by the Muslim sultans.
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