Sena Dynasty

Sena Dynasty

The Sena Empire (Bengali: সেন, Shen) was a Hindu dynasty that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. At its peak the empire covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. They were called Brahma-Kshatriyas, as evidenced through their surname, which is derived from the Sanskrit, for "army". The Senas belonged to the 'Gaur Kayastha' sub-caste of the Chitraguptvanshi Kayastha and they were Brahma-Kshatriyas (those who were Brahmanas first and became Kshatriyas afterwards).

The dynasty's founder was Hemanta Sen, who was part of the Pala Dynasty until their empire began to weaken. He usurped power and styled himself king in 1095 AD. His successor Vijay Sen (ruled from 1096 AD to 1159 AD) helped lay the foundations of the dynasty, and had an unusually long reign of over 60 years. Ballal Sena conquered Gaur from the Pala, became the ruler of Bengal Delta as well as made Nabadwip the capital. Lakshman Sen succeeded Ballal Sena in 1179 and ruled Bengal for approximately 20 years. He expanded the Sena Empire to Assam, Orissa, Bihar and probably to Varanasi. In 1203–1204 AD, the Turkic general Bakhtiyar Khilji attacked Nabadwip. Though he defeated Lakshman Sen, he failed to conquer Bengal.