Shashanka

Shashanka
Maharajadhiraja
Gaudeshwar
1st King of Gauda
Reign590 – 625 C.E[1]
PredecessorJayanaga
SuccessorManava
IssueManava
DynastyGauda Raaj
ReligionHinduism (Shaivism)

Shashanka (IAST: Śaśāṅka, Sanskrit: शशाङ्क Bengali: শশাঙ্ক) was the first independent king of a unified polity in the Bengal region, called the Gauda Kingdom.[2] He reigned in the 7th century, some historians place his rule between c. 600 and 636/7 CE,[3] whereas other sources place his reign between 590 and 625 CE.[4]

Shashanka, is credited with creating the Bengali calendar.[5] The term Bangabda (Bangla year) is found too in two Shiva temples many centuries older than Akbar era, suggesting that a Bengali calendar existed long before Akbar's time.[6][7]

He is the contemporary of Harsha and of Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa. His capital was at Karnasuvarna, in present-day Murshidabad in West Bengal.

  1. ^ "Gauda Kingdom". Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. ^ For a map of the territory, see Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 146, map XIV.2 (b). ISBN 0226742210. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Egra Copper Plate Inscription". Indian Museum (Kolkata). Indian Museum, Kolkata. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  4. ^ Jan Gyllenbok (2018). Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures. Vol. 1. Birkhäuser. p. 260. ISBN 978-3-319-57598-8. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. ^ Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 96–98. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
  6. ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1923). A Sanskrit–English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 353. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  7. ^ James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, pages 326–327