| Temples & Legends Of Bihar |
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| Temples & Legends Of India |
BENUSAGAR |
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| Most of the
antiquities at Benusagar could be said to belong to the Pala period. The Bhanjas of
Orissa, who split into several branches, also used to assume indepen- dence over some
principalities or other whenever any chance occurred. At one time they ruled over a very
extensive area in Kalinga (Orissa) and the border tracts of Bengal and Bihar. It is
possible that some time or other some of the Bhanja kings had also controlled or ruled
Singhbhum district. This is indicated by the similarity in the sculpture of the antiquities found in several villages of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and other districts in Orissa and this part of Bihar as in the case of the Benusagar relies. Benusagar must also have had the impact of the invasion of Rajendra Chola the Great, in the 10th century A.D. of the Christian era. Rajendra Chola invaded Orissa and lower Bengal and presumably must have gone through Singhbhum district and the neighboring districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar, which were once feudatory states. Later, Mahipala I of the Pala dynasty established the second Pala empire in which this area, too, was included. Regarding this the revised District Gazetteer of Singhbhum mentions: "This is confirmed by the mention of the various feudatories who helped Ramapala, a descendant of Mahipala 1, in crushing the Kaivartta rebellion in Bengal; and in establishing the third Pala Empire. The Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandi gives a list of loyal feudatory princes; and: amongst these, is mentioned Lakshmisur of Aparamandara, who is described as the head of the group of feudatory chiefs of all the forest countries; and whose territory was in the neighborhood of that of Surapala, ruler of Kujabati, which is about 14 miles north of Naya Dumka in the Santal Parganas and Rudra-Sikhara, ruler of Tailakampa (Telkupi in the 'Manbhum district). All these show that Lakshmisur headed all the Mankis in the forest tract. He was possibly the medieval chief Manki, a caste that was prevalent in the Chota- nagpur division during the advent of the British rule in Bihar. It is also possible that his territories included Singhbhum." |
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| About Benusagar | ||||||||||||||||||||
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