The sacred core of Buddhism: Nalanda, Rajgir, Bodh Gaya, Gaya, the Barabar hills and the viharas of the Jethian valley, with the Bihar fortress-monastery at Bihar Sharif.
No king rules it; a Pala-line name at Gaya, a Pithipati chief at Bodh Gaya, the Khayaravala hill-lords on the Rohtas plateau and the monasteries with their estates share it. West of it, a Ghurid captain at Bhagwat and Bhiuli raids it; east of it the Sena line claims it by an era.
Who holds it
- Name
- no king
- Title
- Local lords: a Pala-line king at Gaya, the Pithipati of Bodh Gaya, the Khayaravala, the viharas
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Pala Empire, Nalanda, Mahabodhi, Khayaravala).
What it holds
- Nalanda, Odantapuri, Bodh Gaya, Gaya, Rajgir
How things stand that morning
A mosaic with no king, on the edge of the first Ghurid raids.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Inscriptions are few; the Ghurid side is Minhaj, sixty years later.
On the map: A rough outline from rivers and ridges; the real order was villages, estates and chiefs.
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.