The Pala Period

The Pala Period, roughly 750 to 1161, was the era of the Pala Empire's rule over Bengal and much of northeastern India, founded by Gopala and notable as the last major Buddhist imperial power on the Indian subcontinent before the region's decisive turn toward Hinduism and Islam. The Palas were major patrons of Buddhist learning and art, founding the great monastic university of Vikramashila and supporting Nalanda, and Pala-era Buddhist teachers carried their tradition to Tibet and Southeast Asia, leaving a lasting mark on Buddhist art and philosophy across the wider region. The dynasty gradually lost ground to the rival Gurjara-Pratihara and Rashtrakuta kingdoms and finally to the Hindu Sena dynasty, which supplanted Pala rule in Bengal by the mid-twelfth century.