Karnasuvarna
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Karnasuvarna (कर्णसुवर्ण) was the capital of Shashanka, the first important king of ancient Bengal who ruled in the 7th century. It included Vardhamana , Murshidabad and Birbhum districts of West Bengal.
Origin
Variants
- Karnasuvarna (कर्णसुवर्ण) (बंगाल) (AS, p.44)
- Kanasona (कानसोना) दे. Karnasuvarna (कर्णसुवर्ण) (AS, p.163)
- Karnasubarna
History
Karnasuvarna (meaning 'made beautiful by Karna') was the capital of Shashanka, the first important king of ancient Bengal who ruled in the 7th century. After Shashanka's death it was the jayaskandhavara (camp of victory) of Bhaskaravarman, the king of Kamarupa probably for a short period. This is evident from his Nidhanpur copper-plate grant. In the mid-7th century, it was the capital of Jayanaga according to his Vappa Ghoshavata copper-plate grant. The ruins of Karnasuvarna have been located at Kansona in the present Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal.[1] It is 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) south-west of Berhampore, headquarters of Murshidabad district.[3]
Legend has it that Karnasuvarna was the capital of the 'Anga' Kingdom that the Kaurava prince Duryodhana had given to the magnanimous Karna, the first born of Kunti.
K.P. Jayaswal [2] writes....In the history of Prakataditya, the Francis Joseph of the Gupta Period, many changes happened in the history of the dynasty and the country, most of which we have already noticed. The remaining matter is the defection of the 'traitorous' prince of the Vindhya country that is, Malwa. In Durga (which I am unable to identify) he, according to the Tibetan text, declared himself king. "The Gauda nation became split up". King Jaya, mahavisha, set himself up in the South-East, then followed Kesari (or Simha) , then king Soma. 'Jaya the mahavisha (great poison)' seems to be the Jayanaga of Karnasuvarna (कर्णसुवर्ण) (EI, XVIII, 60) who issued a copper-plate with the imperial title maharajadhiraja. It seems that the gubernatorial family of Malwa noted in the Mandasor inscription of 533 A.D. had been ousted and Malwa had been recovered by the Guptas in the time of Prakataditya.
Excavations at Rajbaridanga
The famous Chinese traveler Xuanzang mentioned in his travelogues about Lo-to-mo-chi (Raktamrittika) Mahavihara, an important centre of learning of Vajrayana Buddhists near Karnasuvarna. It has been identified with Rajbaridanga. The archaeological site of Rajbaridanga is about 2.4 km from Karnasuvarna railway station in the bank of the Bhagirathi River. This site was first excavated by a team from the Department of Archaeology, University of Calcutta in 1962 under the direction of S.R. Das.[3] Amongst the findings, the most significant one was a monastic sealing bearing the legend Shri Rakta(m)rttika (Ma)havaiharik arya bhikshu (samgha)s(y)a (of the community of venerable monks residing in the Shri Raktamrittika Mahavihara). The other significant findings are terracotta figurines and ornamental stucco mouldings including human heads. Two other sites close by have been excavated at Rakshashidanga (in 1929-30 by K.N. Dixit of the Archaeological Survey of India) and Nil Kuthi.[4]
कर्णसुवर्ण
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[5] ने लेख किया है ...कर्णसुवर्ण (AS, p.144) प्राचीन काल में बंगाल का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण भाग था। उस समय यह भाग 'बंग'[(गंगा की मुख्य धारा पद्मा के दक्षिण का भाग) के पश्चिम में स्थित माना जाता था। कर्णसुवर्ण में वर्तमान में वर्दवान, मुर्शिदाबाद और वीरभूम के ज़िले सम्मिलित हैं। चीनी यात्री युवानच्वांग के वर्णन से ज्ञात होता है कि हर्षवर्धन के राजत्वकाल में यह प्रदेश पर्याप्त धनी एवं उन्नतिशील था। कर्णसुवर्ण की तत्कालीन राजधानी का अभिधान ठीक-ठीक निश्चित नहीं है। यह लगभग चार मील के घेरे में बसी हुई थी। हर्षवर्धन के ज्येष्ठभ्राता राज्यवर्धन की हत्या करने वाला नरेश शशांक इसी प्रदेश का राजा था (619-637 ई.)। इसके पश्चात् कामरूप के नरेश भास्करवर्मन् का आधिपत्य यहाँ स्थापित हो गया, जैसा कि विधानपुर ताम्रपट्ट लेखों से सूचित होता है। मध्यकाल में सेनवंशीय नरेशों ने कर्णसुवर्ण नगर में ही बंगाल की राजधानी बनाई थी। नगर का तद्भव नाम 'कानसोना' था। आधुनिक मुर्शिदाबाद प्राचीन कर्णसुवर्ण के स्थान पर ही बसा है।
External links
References
- ↑ Ray, Nihar Ranjan, Bangalir Itihas Adi Parba, (in Bengali), 1980 edition, pp. 160-161, Paschim Banga Niraksharata Durikaran Samiti; Sengupta, Nitish, History of the Bengali-speaking People, p.25, UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd.
- ↑ An Imperial History Of India/Gauda and Magadha Provincial History,p.61
- ↑ Ghosh, A. (ed.) (1965). "Indian Archaeology 1962-63 - A Review" (PDF). Archaeological Survey of India. p. 46.
- ↑ "Karnasuvarna". Rangan Datta, free-lance travel writer and photographer.
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.144