Umapati Dhara (উমাপতি ধর, c. 1150–1240) was the chief minister in the court of Lakshmana Sena (ruler from the Sena dynasty of the Bengal region on the Indian subcontinent). and one of the court poets of Lakshmana Sena. Several Prashasti like the Deopara Prashasti , a stone inscription eulogizing the Sena kings of Bengal was written by him. He is one of the Pancharatna in the court of Lakshmana Sena. Jayadeva was the middle jewel of this Pancharatna. The identity of these four Kavibandhus of Jayadeva might have been lost forever if the poet Jayadeva had not mentioned their names and poetic qualities in 'Gita Govinda' .However, earlier Lakshmanasena's court poet, Batudas's son Sridhardas, has compiled Saduktikarnamrita by including many verses of these four poets, he saved their poetry from oblivion. According to Jayadeva, Umapatidhar's characteristic of writing was to enrich the words and sentences. His famous works were the Deoparaprashasti and the Madhainagar copper plates He also wrote a book Chandrachudacharita, in Sanskrit, which has not been found.
Personal life
Umapati Dhara was born into a rich Jamindar family from the Baidya caste. He was one of the five gems of Sanskrit scholars, which was mentioned at the court of Lakshmana Sena. His father Kanjilal Dhar lived in Sonergram, whose sister Bhagabati Devi was married to Bhabesh Dutta relative of Gouri Sen a reputed gold merchant in the era of Ballāla Sena. From old traditional folk songs of Malda region it is said that with Halayudh and many other minister of Lakhman Sena he too converted to Islam after Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji conquer Gouda but after the conversion his Islamic name is still unknown . From a verse in Saduktikarnamrita named after Umapatidhara’a writing proves the histoty 'Sadhu Mlechcha Narendra Sadhu Sadhu. Bhavato Mataiva Veeraprasurnichenapi Bhavadvidhen Vasudha Sukshatriya varta.' That is, - O Mlechchraj! The saint is the saint. Your mother is truly a valiant mother. Though low (community), the world is still blessed for a hero like you. It can be inferred from the above sources that around 1202-1203 AD, the Turkish invasion of Bengal under the leadership of Iftiyaruddin-bin-Bakhtiyar Khalji took place and as a result Navadwip and its surrounding areas came under foreign Muslim rule. Many Hindu Brahmin scholars fled to safer places to save their religion and lives. In order to protect their religion from the youth or to escape from the touch of shadow, Lakshmana Sen's family moved to Suvarnagram in present-day Bangladesh. Naturally, the Brahmins and nobles were also eager to save the touch of the Muslim ruler. Kavi Jayadeva reached Puridham with his wife Padmavati, and those who remained in their homeland had no choice but to accept the Muslim lunar rule. It is assumed that aged Umapatidhar was among the latter. He send his family to a safer place and himself accept the Muslim rule to ease the escalating crisis.
See also
Deopara Prashasti
Lakshmana Sena
Gita Govinda
References
Further reading
G.A. Grierson, 'Parijataharana Nataka' ; Journal of Bihar Orissa Research Society, 1917; Chintaharan Chakrabarti, ed., Pavanaduta of Dhoyi, Calcutta, 1926; Nanigopal Majumdar, Inscriptions of Bengal, Vol. III, Rajshahi, 1929. M. Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, Vol. III, part I, Delhi, 1963 ভারতকোষ, প্রথম খণ্ড, বঙ্গীয় সাহিত্য পরিষৎ, কলিকাতা, পাতা-৬৪৮। বাংলা সাহিত্যের ইতিবৃত্ত, প্রথম খণ্ড , ডঃ অসিতকুমার বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় , পাতা- ৭৮-৮১। A.M. Chowdhury, Dyanastic History of Bengal, Dhaka, 1967 R.C. Majumdar, History Of Ancient Bengal, Calcutta, 1971 সুভাষিতাবলী