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Brāhmaṇas occupied a unique position in the history of South Asia, leaving inerasable imprints on its social and cultural fabrics. We tend to take their presence and authority in the society for granted. However, they and their actions were embedded in the historical context of particular space and time, in which diverse power relations existed among social groups with different economic and cultural backgrounds. What should be studied is a process in which they established their presence and authority. The present study aims at discussing this process and its implications in the context of the regional history of Bengal from the fifth to the thirteenth century AD. What transpires from the discussion is the process in which brāhmaṇas acquired a clearer identity as a peculiar social group, constructed networks by migration and the establishment of Brahmanical centres, and established their authority through the connection with kingship at the court and the extension of their influence in rural society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new copper plate inscription of Dharmapāla currently kept in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, had been known to a circle of scholars for some time since its discovery. However, its reading and study have just started recently. The present article is probably the first attempt to transcribe, edit, and study the whole inscription. The inscription records the donation of uncertain numbers of land plots in several settlements in Koṭīvarṣa-viṣaya of Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti, locatable in North Bengal, to the Buddhist saṃghas belonging to three facilities established by mahāsāmanta Bhadraṇāga and his wife Saṇhāyikā in the village of Antarāvanikā and in Somapura-mahāvihāra. The information contained in the inscription has important implications for the activities of the subordinate rulers generally called sāmantas and the character of the mahāvihāra. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]