Gaudeshwar Lakshman Sena - the Hindu King of Bengal who defeated Bakhtiyar Khilji

Gaudeshwar Lakshman Sena - the Hindu King of Bengal who defeated Bakhtiyar Khilji & protected India 

Ariraja-Madana-Shankara Maranka-Malladeva Gaudeshwar ParamaNarasimha Lakshmana Sena (reign: 1178–1206), was the Emperor of Gauda & the 5th ruler from the Sena dynasty of Bengal region on the Indian subcontinent. He was a ParamaVaishnava worshiper of Ugramadhava Narasimha, the 4th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In the Battle of Nadia (1204 AD) King Lakshman Sena defeated the Turk general of Delhi Sultanate Bakhtiyar Khalji and protected Eastern India from the monstrousness of brutal Turkic invasion. 

According to the Deopara Prashasti, King Lakshman Sena in his youth conquered Puri, Kashi & Prayag regions and established Vijaystambha (victory pillars) there as a sign of valour. In his court, Jayadeva, the famous poet of Bengal, composed the great Vaishnava literature 'Geetagovinda'.

The Deopara Prashasti of Sena dynasty. Image from Epig. Indica Vol. I (p.305), the transcribed text is best read in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol. XXXIV (p128).

In his youth, Prince Lakshman Sena led military campaigns against Magadha, Kamarupa, Kalinga and Varanasi defeating the Gahadavala King Jayachandra, and helped his grandfather Gaudeshwar Vijaya Sena and father Gaudeshwar Ballala Sena to expand the borders of the Sena Empire from Varanasi in West to Kamrup in East & Kalinga in South.

☣️⚔️ The Ghurid Invasion of India (1192-1206 AD) :

In 1192, Sultan Muhammad Ghori defeated King Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer, captured Delhi and the Delhi Sultanate was established. Gradually, the Sultanate army of Delhi started moving towards the east, defeated the Gahadwal king Jayachandra and captured Kannauj. 

In 1201, the Delhi Sultanate's general Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji invaded Magadha and damaged the entire city with extensive looting. By capturing Magadha, Bakhtiyar destroyed the then world famous Nalanda University and massacred many Buddhist monks.

As a result of the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate's rule over a wide area of ​​northern India from Lahore to Bihar, in the whole of Aryavarta, only Gauda (Bengal) as an independent Hindu kingdom raised the victory flag of Sanatan Dharma. At that time Bengal was ruled by the supreme ruler of the Sena dynasty, Hindukulasūrya ParamaNr̥simha Gaudēśhwara Lakṣhmaṇa Sēna. 

Independent Hindu Empire of Gauda ruled by the Sena dynasty standing in front the invasion of Ghurid Sultanate, 1201 AD

As an independent Hindu kingdom in eastern India, Gaudavanga stood as a challenger to the Sultanate of Delhi. However, it was not possible for the Delhi Sultan to compete directly with the Emperor of Bengal, as the entire army of Delhi would have been dismembered if the Gaudiya army, especially his destroyer Kaivartya Navy and Gajārūṛha Elephant cavalry, had come into battle.

☣️⚔️ Battle of Kanksha Garh (1203 AD) :

In 1202, Bakhtiyar entered Bengal on his way to the forest of Rajmahal and set up camp in a forest near the fort of Kankasha Garh. Kanksha fort was situated in the border of the Senbhum janapada of Rarhbanga, ruled by Gopeshwar Raja Kankasen Řay, who was one of the 12 feudal Lords of the central Sena authority of Bengal. The king of Senbhum Raja Kankasen Řay resisted Bakhtiyar Khalji in border with his army. 

Bakhtiyar sent one of his trusted general Syed Bukhari to fight Raja Kankasen. After a devastating battle Raja Kankasen won & Syed Bukhari died in that battle. He is buried at Prayagpur village of Kankasa. After this humiliating defeat & death of his general, Bakhtiyar himself attacked Kanksha with a huge number of Turk army. Although Raja Kankasen Ray couldn't resist the second invasion & martyred in the battlefield. After winning the battle, Turks destroyed and looted the Kankeswar Shiva Temple of Senbhum.

☣️⚔️ Battle of Nadhiya (1204 AD) : 

In such a situation, in 1203 AD, Delhi's general Bakhtiyar Khalji, through the hilly forested area of ​​Rajmahal, attacked the Vaishnava pilgrimage site Nabadwipa with about 18000 Turkic soldiers in the guise of horse traders. In such situation, Hemchandra Madhava Sena, the eldest son of Maharaja Lakshman Sena and the crown prince of Bengal, resisted the Khilji invasion and failed him to move forward.

Nabadwipa being only a pilgrimage site, there was not much army, so Gaudeshwar Lakshman Sena proceeded towards Shankhahat in the east and entered Navadvipa with a large Kaivartya Navy & Dām̐thāla Hastīsēnā challenging Bakhtiyar Khilji in the front war.

In this battle, the 70-year-old Emperor Lakshman Sena, riding on a huge Gajārūṛha Elephant, shot a graceful arrow with a bow and arrows, targeting Bakhtiyar Khilji sitting on an Arabian horse. The arrow from the bow of Emperor Lakshman Sen hit Bakhtiyar on his right hand, due to which he was badly injured and ran away from the battlefield shouting "Hathiyar! Hathiyar!'.

This is known from the allegorical verse of poet Umapatidhara's 'Vyajastuti', from the Pradyumneshwara temple stone pillar inscription -

साधु म्लेच्छनरेंद्र साधु भवतो मातैब वीरप्रसूर-

नीचेनापि भवद्विधेन वसुधा सुक्षत्रिया वर्तते

देवो कूट्यति बस्य बैरिपरियम्मारंकमल्लेपुर:

शस्त्रशस्त्रमिति स्फुरति रसनापत्रान्तराले गिर:

- उमापतिधर, ब्यजस्तुति पद

The Pradyumneshwara temple stone pillar inscription where the defeat of Mlechha-Narendra Bakhtitayar Khalji in hands of Maranka-Malladeva Lakshman Sena is mentioned in Battle of Nadiya (1204 AD)

Actually, after losing this battle, Bakhtiyar fled to Bihar immediately. At this time the three sons of Emperor Lakshman Sena established the rule over three regions of Bengal -

☣️ Varendrabhum - Paramasaura Samrat Madhava Sena - capital Gaudanagar.

☣️ Rarhbhum - Paramasaura Samrat Keshava Sena - capital Rajnagar.

☣️ Banghabhum - Paramasaura Samrat Vishwarup Sena - capital Bikrampur.

☣️⚔️ Legacy of the Sena dynasty of Bengal in Indian Hindu Resistance :

The Sena dynasty and the subsequent Deva dynasty maintained Hindu independence in Bengal for 300 years and repeatedly revived the Sanatan culture of Aryavarta by defeating the Delhi Sultanate in several battles. Gaudeshwar Vishwarup Sena, the youngest son of Emperor Lakshman Sena, defeated Sultan Iltutmish of Delhi in 1212 AD and conquered Varanasi, renovated the Kashi Shiva temple, built the Gaudiya Vijay Stupa (victory pillars) as a symbol of Hindu victory, and declared  it as the holy shrine of Lord Śhiva Viśhwēśhwara.

The 9th ruler of the Sena dynasty, Bangadhipati Gaudeshwar Madhusudan Sena, defeated the Nawab Sher Khan of Awadh in 1278, revived Magadha and re-established the Dharmasangha by rebuilding the destroyed Nalanda University of Bakhtiyar and Buddha Gaya. Till the entire 13th century, the spark of Hindu resistance rising from Bengal continued to establish the glory of the eternal struggle in Aryavarta.