The Palas were the last great Buddhist dynasty of India, ruling Bengal and Bihar for four centuries and patronizing Nalanda and Vikramashila universities, whose scholars spread Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet and Southeast Asia.
The Pala Empire of Bengal effectively ended c. 1161 CE with the death of the last significant Pala king Madanapala; weakened by the Sena dynasty's expansion, the Palas lost Bengal, and though minor Pala rulers held on in Bihar for a further generation, the Senas had displaced them as the dominant power in Bengal by c. 1161 CE.
The atlas holds 4 border frames for Pala Empire — the shape you scrub through changes in 750 · 850 · 950 · 1050.
Situates the Palas within the post-Gupta political landscape of eastern India.
Thapar's standard narrative places the Buddhist Pala dynasty of Bengal and Bihar and its patronage of Nalanda and Vikramashila within early Indian history, complementing 'Early India'.