Deva dynasty of Bengal

Origins

The Deva dynasty is known almost entirely from a few copper-plate inscriptions. It arose in the early 13th century in eastern Bengal, around Vikrampur and the later Suvarnagrama (Sonargaon), as Sena power collapsed in western Bengal after Bakhtiyar Khalji's conquest of Nadia.

Rule and society

Dasharathadeva, the best-known king, styled himself supreme ruler and held the Dhaka and Comilla region; his inscriptions mention the capital at Suvarnagrama. The kings were Vaishnava Hindus who made land grants to Brahmins in Sanskrit. Little else is known of their administration or economy.

Decline and legacy

The dynasty disappears from the record in the late 13th century, when Sonargaon came under the control of Muslim governors of Lakhnauti and eventually the Delhi Sultanate. Sonargaon later became the capital of the Sonargaon Sultanate.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.