A walled Pala-era monastery on the Gadh Par mound at Bihar Sharif, with a library and many monks.
Minhaj's account of the Khalji raid (a fort full of shaven-headed Brahmans and a library) is of this house and not of Nalanda, which the Persian story calls "Bihar" from the soldiers' word for vihara. English Wikipedia dates the destruction of Odantapuri and Vikramashila to the Bihar invasion, which it puts between 1197 and 1206 and says "subjugated much of Bihar in 1200". Dharmasvamin later says the site became a Turkish military headquarters.
Who holds it
- Name
- not named
- Title
- Head of the vihara
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
What it holds
- The walled vihara and its library
- Estate villages
How things stand that morning
Standing, walled, rich in books; the first target of the Bihar raid.
Wealth
Estate revenue.
Military
A gate guard; the walls are real.
Threats
- Bakhtiyar Khalji's storming (1197 to 1206)
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- Working reading for play: after 1 January 1200, between 1200 and 1203, so not yet done when the game opens (the campaign sets the year). Readings: 1197 to 1206, careful modern 1199-1200, others 1203The storming of the fortress of Bihar; the monks are killed, the books burned or taken.Depends on: The raid goes ahead and the gate guard is light. Stopped by: A Pala-line, Pithipati or Sena force arrives first.
Places of note
- Odantapuri: Walled vihara.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Minhaj through English Wikipedia; Tibetan sources later.
On the map: A small disc for the house and its home villages; the granted villages lay scattered.
Primary sources for Magadha and Anga
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Nasirean Generations (a general history of the Muslim dynasties), Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (completed 1260 at Delhi). The fullest narrative of the Ghurid conquest of northern India. Read online
- The Nasirid Generations: a General History of the Muslim Dynasties, Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani (1259 to 1260, at Delhi). The Ghurid court's own history, by a man born in 1193 whose family served the sultans of Ghur and Ghazna. Read online
- Inscriptions of Bengal, vol. 3, Various (the Sena kings' chanceries), edited by N. G. Majumdar (copper plates of the 10th to early 13th centuries; edited 1929). The one-volume edition of the Sena copper plates, the main documentary evidence for Bengal around 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
- The History of India as Told by its Own Historians: the Muhammadan Period, vol. 2, Various (Ibn al-Athir, Hasan Nizami, Awfi, Juzjani and others), edited by H. M. Elliot and John Dowson (the sources date from the 1190s to the 14th century; the collection was published in 1869). A one-volume anthology of the Arabic and Persian accounts of the Ghurid conquest. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.