Kesavasena

Who he is

Name

Kesavasena

Title

Prince (kumara), later Maharajadhiraja (about 1225 to about 1230)

Since

prince in 1200; reign 1225-1230 on English Wikipedia (Sena dynasty)

Born

not known

Family

Son of Lakshmanasena; brother and successor of Visvarupasena.

Confidence

medium

The Edilpur (Adilpur) copper plate of his third year grants three villages to a Brahman, mentions the Kumaratalaka mandala and the Satata-padmavati vishaya and a grant with power to punish the Sundarbans tribe (English Wikipedia, Sena dynasty); found in 1838, now lost.

Overlord

Lakshmanasena.

What it holds

• No attested holding in 1200

How it was acquired

By birth.

Allies and rivals

His brother Visvarupasena; the court.

How things stand that morning

A prince at the court; nothing more is known.

Wealth

The royal house's.

Military

None attested.

Threats

• The Turks
• The succession

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.

1. about 1225 to 1230Succeeds Visvarupasena and holds the east to about 1230 (English Wikipedia); his Edilpur plate is dated to year 3.Depends on: Visvarupa dies childless or without a competent heir. Stopped by: A Turkish conquest of Vanga.

Where the sources disagree

• Banglapedia gives no dates for the two sons; English Wikipedia gives 1206-1225 and 1225-1230; Minhaj has Sena descendants to 1245 or 1260.

Evidence: One later plate.

On the map: No holding drawn.

Primary sources for Senas of Bengal

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 Song of Govinda, Jayadeva (late 12th century, by tradition at the court of Lakshmanasena of Bengal). A literary witness, not a chronicle. 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