| Dharmapala | |
|---|---|
| Maharajadhiraja Vangapati | |
 Pala Empire with its neighbours | |
| Pala Emperor | |
| Reign | 770s - 810s A.D |
| Predecessor | Gopala |
| Successor | Devapala |
| Spouse | Rannadevi (Rashtrakuta princess) |
| Issue | Tribhuvanpala[1] Devapala |
| Military career | |
| Battles / wars |
|
| Dynasty | Pala |
| Father | Gopala |
| Mother | Deddadevi of the Bhadra dynasty[2] |
| Religion | Buddhism[3] |
Dharmapala (Siddhamātṛikā script: 
, Dha-rmma-pā-la;[4] Bengali: ধর্মপাল) (ruled between 770s–810s AD) was the second ruler of the Pala Empire of Bengal region in the Indian subcontinent. He was the son and successor of Gopala, the founder of the Pala Dynasty. Dharmapala was mentioned as the king of Vangala in the Nesari plates (dated 805 AD) of Rashtrakuta dynasty.[5] He greatly expanded the boundaries of the empire, and made the Palas a dominant power in the northern and eastern India.
Dharmapala directly ruled over the present-day Bengal and Bihar, and installed a nominee at Kannauj. The Pala chronicles also claim that several other rulers of North India acknowledged his suzerainty, but these claims seem to be exaggerated. Dharmapala was defeated twice by the Gurjara-Pratiharas, but each time the Rashtrakutas subsequently defeated the Pratiharas, leaving Palas as the dominant power in North India. Dharmapala was succeeded by his son Devapala who further expanded the empire.
- ^ Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1994). Ancient India, History and Archaeology. ISBN 9788170173045.
- ^ Sharma, Ranjit Kumar (1988). "Matsyanyaya and the Rise of the Palas". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh: Humanities. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh: 2.
- ^ Hasan, Sahidul. "The Pala dynasty and Religious Pluralism in Bengal." Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology 8.1 (2011): 26-33.
- ^ Extracted from the Bodhgaya stone inscription, Mahâbodhi, or the Great Buddhist Temple under the Bodhi Tree at Buddha-Gaya, Alexander Cunningham, Plate XXVIII, 3, 1892.
- ^ "Vangala, Banglapedia".