The Sena state was itself built by a samanta who served the Palas in Radha, and its working form is a king with landlords and retinue-holders (samanta, mahasamanta, ranaka) in each district, rewarded by grants.
None of the samantas of 1200 can be named from the sources open to me; the lord record marks the pattern so the campaign can invent them in the right places (Radha, the western Rarh edge, Varendra).
Who he is
- Title
- Samanta chiefs and landlords of Radha and Varendra
- Since
- not known
- Family
- Earlier names exist (Ishvaraghosha of Dhekkari, Lakshmisura of Apara-Mandara and the fourteen samantas of the Ramacarita, all of about 1100); none is attested for 1200.
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Sena dynasty) names no feudatory but the Senas themselves; Banglapedia names the fourteen samantas and Lakshmisura of the Pala time. The later "Bishnupur (Mallabhum)" and "Kaivarta" lines are traditions of later date.
Overlord
Lakshmanasena.
What it holds
- Land and retinues in Radha and Varendra
- Tolls on the Ajay, Damodar and Mahananda crossings
How it was acquired
By royal grant and by custom.
Allies and rivals
The king; the Brahman villages; the forest peoples of the western Rarh.
How things stand that morning
Unknown. They would be the first to bargain with a Turkish column.
Wealth
Rents.
Military
Retinues.
Threats
- The fall of the court
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.
- 1202 to 1205The western samantas are the first to meet or submit to the Turks.Depends on: The raid goes by the western Rarh. Stopped by: A resolute defence.
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment asks for "the Varendra and Radha samantas": none is named in our sources for 1200.
Evidence: No named samanta of 1200.
On the map: Not 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
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.