Arrange the following Sen rulers of Bengal in ascending chronological order :
1. Ballal Sen
2. Lakshman Sen
3. Hemant Sen
4. Vijaya Sen
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, 3, 4, 1, 2. The Sena line of Bengal runs father-to-son in exactly this order: Hemanta Sena (3) is the first of the family to be counted as a ruler, c. 1095–1096; his son Vijaya Sena (4) followed with the long reign of c. 1096–1159, in which the Senas displaced the Palas and became the paramount power in Bengal; Vijaya Sena's son Ballala Sena (1) ruled c. 1159–1179 and composed the Danasagara; and Ballala's son Lakshmana Sena (2) ruled c. 1179–1206, the last effective Sena king of western Bengal. So the ascending order is 3 → 4 → 1 → 2.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Puts Vijaya Sena (c. 1096–1159) before his own father Hemanta Sena (c. 1095–96), and then puts Lakshmana Sena (1179–1206) ahead of his father Ballala Sena (1159–79) — two generations inverted.  (b) This is the true order read backwards: it opens with Lakshmana Sena, the last ruler of the four, and closes with Hemanta Sena, the first.  (c) Merely repeats the printed serial numbers. It begins with Ballala Sena (third in the line) and ends with Vijaya Sena (second), so both halves of the sequence are misplaced.

Concept: The Senas were the dynasty that replaced the Palas as the ruling house of Bengal in the 12th century. The Deopara prashasti — Vijaya Sena's own inscription — describes the family's progenitor Samanta Sena as a Brahmakshatriya who came from the Karnata (Karnataka) country; Samanta Sena is treated as the founder of the family but not as a crowned king. Royal power begins with his son Hemanta Sena (c. 1095–96), and the dynasty's great expansion comes under Vijaya Sena (c. 1096–1159), whose sixty-year reign pushed the Palas out of most of Bengal. The line then runs Ballala Sena (c. 1159–79) → Lakshmana Sena (c. 1179–1206) → Vishvarupa Sena → Keshava Sena, the last two ruling only a shrunken eastern Bengal.

State PCS 2024 Q3 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q3 — History PYQ with Answer