Gopala II

Gopala II
Pala Emperor
ReignAfter 872
PredecessorShurapala I
SuccessorVigrahapala I
IssueNone
DynastyPala
FatherShurapala I
MotherManikyadevi

Gopala II (Bengali : দ্বিতীয় গোপাল) (reigned after 872 CE) was the successor to the Pala king Shurapala I in the Bengal-Bihar region of the Indian subcontinent, and the sixth ruler of the Pala line reigning for at least four years. The existence of this king came to light when, in 1995, historian Gouriswar Bhattacharya discovered two copper plate inscriptions of a previously unknown Pala king in Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where these had been sent for cleaning by a private collector.[1] This king got designated as Gopala II; consequently, existing Gopala II and Gopala III were re-designated as Gopala III and Gopala IV, respectively. The text of these two inscriptions were subsequently edited by Ryosuke Furui in 2009.[2]

Mohipur copper plate of Gopala II, regnal year 3, obverse
Mohipur copper plate of Gopala II, reverse
  1. ^ The New Pāla Ruler, Gopāla (II), Son of Śūrapāla (I), Gouriswar Bhattacharya, Facets of Indian Culture, Gustav Roth Felicitation Volume, Bihar Puravid Parishad, Patna, 1998, pp. 177-181.
  2. ^ Re-Reading Two Copper Plate Inscriptions of Gopāla II, Year 4, Ryosuke Furui, Prajñādhara (Essays in Honour of Gouriswar Bhattacharya), eds. Gerd J.R. Mevissen and Arundhati Banerji, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 319-330.