The founder of the Chandradweep kingdom was one Danujmardan Deva, whose real identity was overshadowed by myths. Like the Gupta Emperor Chandragupta II, Danuj is both historical and mythical. We generally believe that Chandragupta II is the same king as mentioned in Vikram Betal legends or he is the same who defeated the Sakas. The same case happens to Danujmardan also. He is generally identified with Dasharatha Deva, the last Deva king and with Danuj Rai of Muslim accounts. Raja Danuj Rai came to power towards the close of 12th Century A.D. From 1260 to 1268, he occupied a portion of the Sena kingdom in Sonargaon. In 1280, he captured the last Sena capital Bikrampura by defeating a successor of Keshava Sena. In 1293, he entered into an agreement with Sultan Ghius Uddin Balban on equal terms and promised to guard against the escape of rebellious Mughisuddin Tughral by water. Danuj Rai ruled as an independent king first from Bikrampur and later from Sonargaon and his meeting with Balban at Sonargaon is vividly described in Tarikh i Mubarak Shahi by Yahya bin Ahmed. He possibly gave the final coup de grace to the Sena Dynasty of Bikrampur.
The Bikrampur Inscription describe this Danuj as " Ariraja Danuja-madhava-dasharatha-deva". According to HIndu sources, he was the last Deva king whose territory included Comilla- Noakhali- Chittagong- Barishal region. His capital was Bikrampur, the city previously occupied by the Sena kings. We conclude that Danuj Rai of Muslim accounts and Danuj Madhav of Hindu accounts are identical. A third Danuj was mythical who ,on the orders of his Guru, settled in the Chandradweep and founded a new kingdom. These three Danuj are same. Now we will look into the history of Deva Dynasty that ruled South Eastern Bengal till the foundation of Chandradweep.
The Hindu Deva Dynasty was different from earlier Buddhist Deva Dynasty, although there might be some link between the two or may be the Buddhist kings became Hindu during the Sena rule. The Buddhist Deva Dynasty ruled Samatata from 8th to 9th Century. Their capital was Devaparvata and they left beautiful architectural remains. Four rulers of this dynasty were Shantideva, Viradeva, Anandadeva and Bhavadeva. The Hindu Vaishnava Deva Dynasty ruled from 12th to 13th Century from their capital Bikrampur ( Munshiganj district ) and they were the contemporary of the Last Sena rulers. Below are the kings of Hindu Deva Dynasty :-
( 1 ) Purushottam Deva- the first Hindu Deva king who rose from the position of a village-headman ( gramani ).
( 2 ) Madhusudan Deva- the son of Purushottam who took the title of a king ( nripati ).
( 3 ) Vasudeva
( 4 ) Damodara Deva- the most powerful king who took the title " Ariraja-Chanura-Madhava-Sakala-Bhupati-Chakravarti".
( 5 ) Danuj Madhav Dasharatha Deva- Who wrested Gaur by the grace of Narayana and issued an inscription from Bikrampur.
THE OPINION OF SATISH CHANDRA MITRA
Satish Chandra Mitra, the author of Jessore khulnar Itihas, and an authority on the subject of Danujmardana, states on the basis of silver coins found from Basudebpur, khulna and from Malda that Danujmardana is different from Danuj Rai and that the kingdom of Chandradwip was founded on a later date. Although he believed the legend of Chandrasekhar and Katyayani, but he showed that Danujmardana started to rule much later when he issued those coins from 1416 to 1418 A.D. from Pandunagar, Chatigram, and Suvarnagrama. In support of his theory, he showed passages from Kayastha Kulagranthas that the Danuj who concluded treaty with Balban was an earlier one and the founder of Chandradwip belonged to a later period.
The Bikrampur Inscription describe this Danuj as " Ariraja Danuja-madhava-dasharatha-deva". According to HIndu sources, he was the last Deva king whose territory included Comilla- Noakhali- Chittagong- Barishal region. His capital was Bikrampur, the city previously occupied by the Sena kings. We conclude that Danuj Rai of Muslim accounts and Danuj Madhav of Hindu accounts are identical. A third Danuj was mythical who ,on the orders of his Guru, settled in the Chandradweep and founded a new kingdom. These three Danuj are same. Now we will look into the history of Deva Dynasty that ruled South Eastern Bengal till the foundation of Chandradweep.
The Hindu Deva Dynasty was different from earlier Buddhist Deva Dynasty, although there might be some link between the two or may be the Buddhist kings became Hindu during the Sena rule. The Buddhist Deva Dynasty ruled Samatata from 8th to 9th Century. Their capital was Devaparvata and they left beautiful architectural remains. Four rulers of this dynasty were Shantideva, Viradeva, Anandadeva and Bhavadeva. The Hindu Vaishnava Deva Dynasty ruled from 12th to 13th Century from their capital Bikrampur ( Munshiganj district ) and they were the contemporary of the Last Sena rulers. Below are the kings of Hindu Deva Dynasty :-
( 1 ) Purushottam Deva- the first Hindu Deva king who rose from the position of a village-headman ( gramani ).
( 2 ) Madhusudan Deva- the son of Purushottam who took the title of a king ( nripati ).
( 3 ) Vasudeva
( 4 ) Damodara Deva- the most powerful king who took the title " Ariraja-Chanura-Madhava-Sakala-Bhupati-Chakravarti".
( 5 ) Danuj Madhav Dasharatha Deva- Who wrested Gaur by the grace of Narayana and issued an inscription from Bikrampur.
THE OPINION OF SATISH CHANDRA MITRA
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| Silver Coin of Danujmardana issued from Chatigram or Chittagong in the year Saka 1339 ( 1417 A.D. ). Written in Bengali- Sri Sri Danujmardana Deva on obverse and Sri Sri Chandi Charan Parayana on the reverse |
Satish Chandra Mitra, the author of Jessore khulnar Itihas, and an authority on the subject of Danujmardana, states on the basis of silver coins found from Basudebpur, khulna and from Malda that Danujmardana is different from Danuj Rai and that the kingdom of Chandradwip was founded on a later date. Although he believed the legend of Chandrasekhar and Katyayani, but he showed that Danujmardana started to rule much later when he issued those coins from 1416 to 1418 A.D. from Pandunagar, Chatigram, and Suvarnagrama. In support of his theory, he showed passages from Kayastha Kulagranthas that the Danuj who concluded treaty with Balban was an earlier one and the founder of Chandradwip belonged to a later period.
