| Kingdom of Gauda | ||||
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| Capital | Karnasuvarna | |||
| Religion | Hinduism, Buddhism | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| King | ||||
| - 590–625 | Shashanka | |||
| - 625–626 | Manava | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established | 590 | |||
| - Disestablished | 626 | |||
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Gangaridai Kingdom, Vanga Kingdom, Pundra Kingdom, Suhma Kingdom, Anga Kingdom, Harikela Kingdom |
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Pala Empire, Sena Empire |
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Sultanate of Bengal, Deva Kingdom Bakhtiyar Khilji, Raja Ganesha |
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Pratap Aditya, Raja Sitaram Ray Nawab of Bengal, Baro-Bhuyans |
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Zamindari system, Bengal famine of 1770 |
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Bengal Renaissance Brahmo Samaj Swami Vivekananda, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhash Chandra Bose |
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1947 Partition of Bengal, Bangladesh Liberation War Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Jyoti Basu |
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| History of South Asia |
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Stone age (7000–1400 BCE)
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Bronze Age (7000–1300 BCE)
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Iron age (1200–26 BCE)
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Classical period (1–1279 CE)
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Late medieval age (1206–1596 CE)
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Early modern period (1526–1858 CE)
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Other states (1102–1947 CE)
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Colonial period (1505–1961 CE)
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Kingdoms of Sri Lanka (543 BCE–1948 CE)
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Nation histories
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Regional histories
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Shashanka (Bangla: শশাঙ্ক Shôshangko) is often attributed with creating the first separate political entity in a unified Bengal called Gauda and as such is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in 7th century AD, and some historians place his rule approximately between 590 AD and 625 AD. He is the contemporary of Harshavardana. His capital was called Karnasuvarna (কর্ণসুবর্ণ Kôrnoshubôrno or কানসোনা Kanshona) and is located in modern Murshidabad. The development of the Bengali calendar is also often attributed to Shashanka as the starting date falls squarely within his reign.
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While Shashanka was known and referred to as the Lord of Gauda, his kingdom included more than just the region of Gauda. By the end of his reign, his domain stretched from Vanga to Bhuvanesha while in the east, his kingdom bordered Kamarupa. Prior to Shashanka, Bengal was divided into three regions, Banga, Samatata and Gauda and was ruled by a feeble ruler belonging to the later Gupta dynasty, Mahasengupta. Shashanka was one of his chieftains who rose to power taking the advantage of the weak ruler. After the death of Mahasengupta, Shashanka drove the later Guptas and other prominent nobles out of the ground to establish his own kingdom Gauda with the capital Karnasubarna.
There are several major contemporary sources of information on his life, including copperplates from his vassal Madhavavarma (King of Ganjam), copperplates of his rivals Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, and the accounts of the Chinese monk Xuanzang as well as coins minted in Shashanka's reign. The informations provided by Bana and Xuanzang cannot be considered as true or very reliable as both belonged to Buddhism and Shashanka was known to be a staunch Hindu. Moreover the patron of Bana and Xuanzang was a sworn enemy of Shashanka. So both were bound to be biased towards him. They have described Sasanka as the "vile Gauda serpent". In his account Xuanzang has elaborated that Shashanka has destroyed the Buddhist stupas of Bengal and declared an award of hundred gold coins for the head of every Buddhist monk in his kingdom. Though the modern day historians have rejected these views as purely biased ones. According to the other sources available Shashanka was an efficient and tolerable ruler who ruled justly.
Shashanka and his allies fought a major war with the then Emperor of Thanesar, Harshavardhana, and his allies. The result of the battle was inconclusive as Shashanka is documented to have retained dominion over his lands. The king of Malwa, Devgupta had an enmity with the ruler of Kannauj, Grahavarman who was also the brother-in-law of the Vardhan princes, by his marriage with the princess of Thanesar, Rajyashri. Devgupta attacked Kannauj and killed Grahavarman in the battle and imprisoned his wife Rajyashri. Hearing the news Prabhakarvardhan, the king of Thaneswar dies of shock and his elder son Rajyavardhan is crowned as the king. Rajyavardhan immediately marched towards Kannauj to avenge the death of his brother-in-law. The battle was followed by sudden assassination of Rajyavardhan. Though very conclusive proofs are not found, but a treachery is suspected on the part of Sasanka who joined the battle as an ally of Devgupta. Only source available in this matter is the "Harshacharita" by Banabhaata, who was a childhood friend and constant companion of Emperor Harsha. But one thing should be kept in mind that neither Bana nor Harsha were present at the site.
Harsha-Vardhan, then was crowned the ruler of Thaneswar and he once again gathered the army and attacked Kannauj. Though the results are not known clearly, but it is evident that Devgupta and Shashanka had to retreat from Kannauj. Sasanka continued to rule Gauda with frequent attacks from Harsha which he is known to have faced bravely.
Following his death, Shashanka was succeeded by his son, Manava, who ruled the kingdom for 8 months. However Gauda was soon divided amongst Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana, the latter even managing to conquer Karnasuvarna.