Paṭṭikera

After the decline of the Chandra dynasty in the Tripura region, the region of Comilla of the former Chandra Kingdom was in a power vacuum. The region thus soon came under the occupation of the predecessors of the Ranavaṅkamalla Harikāla-Deva, whose kingdom was named Paṭṭtikera. The name Paṭṭikera was used on various Chandra coins which has been argued to show a shift in power between the dynasties over time. The copper plate of Śaka 1141 in the Maināmati Hills also supports this dynastic transformation in the region. It records that in the 17th year of his reign, he allotted land to a Buddhist monastery in the city of Paṭṭikera in Śaka 1141 (1219 AD).^[1]

The earliest textual reference to Paṭṭikera is in the Ashṭasāsṛikā-Pajñā-Pāramitā, now in the Cambridge University Collection. Other textual references are Burmese chronicles. The Glass Palace Chronicles claims that King Anawrahta's kingdom of Pagan extended westward towards the Kala country of Pateikkara.^[2]

Another historical account dsicusses how King Kyansittha's daughter Shwe Einthi fell in love with a prince from Paṭṭikera after they met in secret. However, Kyansittha forbade their marriage as he feared the Pagan Kingdom coming under Indian control and domination, and the princess was married off to another suitor named Saw Yun.^[3] Burmese accounts however diverge at this point and say the prince died upon hearing of the marriage, either out of starvation or falling from the sky. His bones were claimed to have been kept at the place called "Wa" by Shin Arahan.^[4] The chronicle again mentions Paṭṭikera but as the southwestward "kala" (Indian) country to the Pagan Kingdom.^[4] Later upon the death of Shin Arahan, Prince Alaungsithu became King and tested the claim of the Paṭṭikera prince's bones having been kept by Shin Arahan. He was rumoured to be the flesh of the former prince. He declared that if the bones were "his" then they should float upon the water, which they did, and thus Alungsithu took the bones and treasured them in the Shwegu Pagoda.^[5] The next mention is made during a battle between Pagan and Arakan at a location known as Pateikkara Taungnyo (Mountains of Paṭṭtikera.^[6]

Alaungsithu later married the daughter of the Paṭṭikera king, who was given the name Pabhavati by him. When his three sons came to him, Alaungsithu was sitting with the queen and she did not rise in their presence. Minshinaw insulted the queen called her a "Kala wench" who didn't abide customs in front of ministers and councillors and left.^[7] Later, Alaungsithu in his old age was moved from his palace by his son Narathu, who killed him via suffocation of clothes and garments.^[8] Alaungsithu's former wife, Pabhavati maintained as Narathu's minister. However, when she rebuffed his advances because he didn't wash water during ablutions, Narathu became insulted. As a result, he killed her with his sword. When the Paṭṭikera king heard of this incident, he arranged a squad of assassins to dress as Brahmins and infiltrate the palace and kill him.^[9] He granted benefits to the assassins and their families and gave them Brahmin robes, a conch and a sword at their waist. They arrived at Pagan and met with the king as audience. Under a false reason of giving him the conch, they surrounded him and proclaimed that Paṭṭikera's "son" and "daughter" both perished because of Pagan and thus cut him and pierced him to death. When the royal guard arrived, the assassins pierced themselves with their swords and died. Narathu became known as the Kalagya King (King killed by Indians).^[10]

The king recorded during this period of the kingdom's history is known as Raṇavaṅkamalla who scholar believe were independent despite the Pala and Sena realms of Bengal. However, Raṇavaṅkamalla's association with the Burmese Chronicles is difficult to verify if it was him or an older family of the kingdom. The fate of Paṭṭikera is believed to be incorporated into other kingdoms such as those with names ending in "Deva".^[11] Following some more short lived dynasties and polities, the Kingdom of Twipra is formed with Chhengthung Fā.^[12]