Pala Dynasty

(8th–12th c.) Eastern Indian dynasty
whose ancestral homeland was in Bihar
but whose core territory also spanned
most of modern Bengal. The Pala
dynasty’s zenith came at the turn of the
ninth century, when they controlled the
entire northern Indian plain all the way
into the Punjab region. Their rise to
power came as a result of political instability in the Gangetic plain, and the
Palas were quickly supplanted by the
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty while
retaining sway over Bengal and Bihar for
several centuries more. Their territory in
Bengal was eventually taken by the Sena
dynasty, and the Palas were finally conquered by the Gahadavalas in the middle of the twelfth century. The Palas and
Senas are both noted for a particular
type of sculpture, in which the images
were made from black chlorite schist
polished to a mirror finish.