Sena dynasty in the context of "Pala Empire"

Sonargaon or Șonargă (Bengali: সোনারগাঁও; Bengali pronunciation: [ˈʃonaɾɡãʋ]; lit. Golden Hamlet) is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the modern day subdistrict Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division.

Sonargaon is one of the old capitals of the historic region of Bengal and was an administrative center of eastern Bengal. It was also a river port. Its hinterland was the center of the muslin trade in Bengal, with a large population of weavers and artisans. According to ancient Greek and Roman accounts, an emporium was located in this hinterland, which archaeologists have now identified with the Wari-Bateshwar ruins of the Gangaridai Empire. The area was a base for the Vanga, Gangaridai, Samatata, Sena, and Deva dynasties.

Bengal (/bɛnˈɡɔːl/ ben-GAWL) is a geographical, ethnolinguistic, historically geopolitical region in South Asia, located north of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is politically divided between the sovereign state of Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and Karimganj district in the Indian state of Assam.

The ancient Vanga Kingdom is widely regarded as the namesake of the Bengal region. The Bengali calendar dates back to the reign of Shashanka in the 7th century CE. The Pala Empire was founded in Bengal during the 8th century. The Sena dynasty and Deva dynasty ruled between the 11th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century, Bengal was absorbed by Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent. An independent Bengal Sultanate was formed and became the eastern frontier of the Islamic world. During this period, Bengal's rule and influence spread to Assam, Arakan, Tripura, Bihar, and Odisha (formerly- Orissa). Bengal Subah later emerged as a prosperous part of the Mughal Empire.

Deva Dynasty (c. 12th – 13th centuries) was a Bengali Hindu dynasty which originated in the East Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent; the dynasty ruled over Bengal after the Sena dynasty. The capital of the dynasty was Bikrampur in present-day Munshiganj District of Bangladesh.

This Hindu Vaishnava Deva dynasty is different from the earlier Buddhist Deva dynasty (c. 8th-9th centuries) of Samatata region of Bengal.

Rarh region (Bengali pronunciation: [raːɽʱ]) is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various sources throughout history, it is mainly coextensive with the state of West Bengal, also comprising parts of the state of Jharkhand in India. The region is also referred to as Rarh, Rāḍha, or Rada's, representing the south-western parts of Bengal (South-West Bengal).

The Rarh region historically has been known by many different names and has hosted numerous settlements throughout history. One theory identifies it with the powerful Gangaridai nation mentioned in the ancient Greco-Roman accounts. The Naihati copper plate inscription of King Ballal Sen names it as the ancestral settlement of the Sena dynasty.

Bengali Hindus (Bengali: বাঙালি হিন্দু, romanized: Bāṅgālī Hindu/Banghāli Hindu) are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley region and make up the largest minority in Bangladesh. Comprising about one-third of the global Bengali population, they are the largest ethnic group among Hindus.Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to the Shaktism school of thought of Hinduism (majority, the Kalikula tradition) or Vaishnavism (minority, Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Vaishnava-Sahajiya) of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states.

Around the 8th century, the Bengali language branched off from Magadhi Prakrit, a derivative of Sanskrit that was prevalent in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent at that time. During the Sena period (11th – 12th century) the Bengali culture developed into a distinct culture, within the civilisation. Bengali Hindus and Muslims were at the forefront of the Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century; the Bengal region was noted for its participation in the struggle for independence from the British rule.

Nabadwip (Bengali pronunciation: [nɔbodːip]), also spelt Navadwip, historically known as Nadia, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, it is considered to have been founded in 1063 CE, and served as the old capital of the Sena dynasty. A center of learning and philosophy in medieval India, the city is still noted for its traditional Sanskrit schools.

The Navya Nyaya school of logic reached its peak with the efforts of some well known contemporary philosophers of Nabadwip. The great Vaishnava saint, social reformer and an important figure of the Bhakti movement, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) was born here. It was after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's birth that Nabadwip became an important center of pilgrimage for the Vaishnavas worldwide as well as for Hindus in general. Many who follow Gaudiya Vaishnavism visit Nabadwip to celebrate the birthday of Shri Mahaprabhu, which, as per lunar calculations, occurs on Phalguni Purnima (i.e. on the Full moon day of February–March). This day is commonly known as Gaura-purnima. Aside from this, Nabadwip is visited for various other festivals like Dol Jatra and Rash purnima.