Asoka founded the most powerful secret society on earth: that of the Nine Unknown Men. What can have been the aim of these men?
The Pala Empie
The Pala Dynasty was the ruling Dynasty in Bihar and Bengal India, from the
8th to the 12th century. Called the Palas because all their names ended in Pala,
"protector". The Palas rescued Bengal from the chaos into which it had fallen
after the death of Shashanka, a rival of Harsha of Kanauj. The founder of the
dynasty was Gopala. Gopala reigned from 750-770 consolidated his position by
extending his control over all Bengal. His successor. Dharmapala , 770-781, made
the Palas a dominant power of northern India, installing his own nominee on the
once-prestigious throne at Kanauj. but the Palas soon were threatened by the
Pratiharas of central India and gained respite from attacks only because the of
a threat to the Pratiharas from another foreign power, Rashtrakutas of the
Deccan.
Under Devapala, 810-850, the Palas were able to regain their eminence against
both the Pratiharas and the Rashtrakutas. Devapala's successors were peaceful
men, either by disposition or circumstance, and after 860 the Pala empire
disintegrated. In addition to the depredations of their northern Indian rivals,
the Pals also suffered an invasion by the Chola Rajendra I in 1023. Pala
fortunes were revived briefly by Rampala 1077-1120, but by the middle of the
12th century the Pala kingdom had succumbed to the rising power of the Senas.
The Palas, adherents to Mahayana Buddhism, were generous patrons of Buddhist
temples and the famous universities of Nalanda and Vikramashila. It was through
their missionaries that Buddhism was finally established in Tibet. The
celebrated Buddhist monk Atisha 981-1054, who reformed Tibetan Buddhism, was the
president of the Vikramashila monastery. the Palas also maintained cordial
relations with the Hindu-Buddhist state of the Shailendras of Sumatra and Java.
Under Pala patronage a distinctive school of art arose, of which many
noteworthy sculptures in stone and metal survive.
