The Kamboja-Pala dynasty ruled parts of Bengal in the 10th to 11th centuries CE, after invading the Palas during the reign of Gopala III.
[1][2][3] During the last centuries BCE, many clans of the Kambojas entered India in alliance with the Sakas, Pahlavas, Yavanas and spread into Sindhu, Saurashtra, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab and Surasena.
[4][5] An offshoot of the Meerut Kambojas moved eastwards and entered the Pala domains and in the 10th century, conquering north-west Bengal.
[6] Kamboja tribes were employed by the Palas following Devapala's conquests due to the lack of native cavalry in Bengal.
The most important sources are: The Dinajpur Pillar Inscription records to a Kamboja king called the Kambojanvaya Gaudapati (i.e. lord of Gauda)..
The Pillar Inscription was originally established in a Siva temple that was built by the king but removed to Bangar, about 40 miles east of Gauda, during the period of Muslim rule.
The charter asserts that Mahipala had re-conquered nearly the whole of north and east Bengal "after defeating the usurpers who had seized his ancestral kingdom".
[15] Scholars believe that Mahipala's Charter alludes to the seizing of the northern parts of Bengal by Kamboja dynasty from the Gopala II or Vigrahapala II of the Pala dynasty, which the great king Mahipala I claims to have won back by the force of his arms[16] No definite information is available on the precise geographical area of the Kamboja-Pala kingdom of Bengal.
But as long as we do not include northern Ladha (Radha or W. Bengal) in Kamboja-Pala empire, the region does not constitute one viable political entity.
[20] The Kamboja ruler Dharamapala of Dandabhukti was defeated by the south Indian Emperor Rajendra Chola I who invaded Bengal and Bihar in the 11th century.
The Charter (Copper Plate Inscription) was issued by Kamboja king Nayapala wherein he and his father are given the imperial titles like Parameshevara, Paramabhattacharya and Maharajadhiraja.
According to Prof R. C. Majumdar: "More significant, however, is the inclusion of Purohits in the land grants of the Kamboja, Varman and Sena kings of Bengal.
It indicates the great importance was attached to religious and social aspects of administration during rules of these dynasties which were all followers of orthodox Hinduism.
Ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts and inscriptions profusely attest the Kambojas as a tribe of Uttarapatha or Udichya division belonging to Indo-Iranian or Scytho-Aryan and not to the Mongolian stock.