Bengal had become shrouded in obscurity after the reign of Shashanka, King of Gauda, ended in 626, and has been shattered by repeated invasions.

During the reign of Manava, Bengal had been invaded and divided between Harsha Vardhana and Bhaskaravarman.

Jayavardhana of the Shaila Dynasty from Central India had invaded Bengal in 730 and killed the king of the Pundra Kingdom.

Yasovarman (725–752) of Kannauj had killed the king of Magadha and Gauda.

Later Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir, who defeated Yasovarmana, had invaded Bengal.

Sri Harsha of Kamarupa had conquered Anga, Vanga, Kalinga and Odra.

The social and political structure of Bengal has been devastated.

The various independent chieftains of Bengal, disgusted at the situation and tired of the ceaseless political chaos and anarchy (known as matsyanyaya), have selected a person named Gopala to put an end to this sorry state of affairs.

Gopala, already a leading military general, had made a mark as an effective ruler.

In the Khalimpur copper plate inscription (dated to the thirty-second regnal year of Dharmapala), Gopala's father Vapyata is described as a noted military chief of his time and his grandfather Dayita Vishnu is described as a learned man of no military distinctions.

This election of Gopala is probably the only democratic election to have taken place in medieval India.

Dharmapala succeeds his father Gopala in about 770 to the throne of the Bengal kingdom, ruled by the Pala dynasty since 750.

Dharmapala has inherited a deadly power struggle with the Gurjara Pratiharas of Malwa and Rajputana as well as the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, both of whom desire to establish their own hegemony over northern India.

Dharmapala has extended Palan influence as far as Kannauj by the time of his death in 810, bringing the Palans into conflict with the expanding Rashtrakutas.

The Chola inscription (Tirumulai inscription), which records Rajendra Chola's invasion of Bengal some time between 1021 and 1024 CE, sheds further light on the condition of Bengal.

The inscription records that after conquering Odisha, the Chola general seized Dandabhukti after having destroyed Dharmapala (possibly belonging to the Kamboja line) and reached southern Radha where he met Ranashura.

Then the army reached Vangaladesha, where the 'rains never ceased'.

Although Mahipala is defeated by Rajendra Chola in battle, he continues to retain his kingdom upon the Chola king’s departure.

…Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, a member of the Turkic Khilji, who had headed the armies that conquered much of northeastern India, receives Bengal; and …

The influential Indian poet Chandidas, a Brahmin priest in the temple of the goddess Basuli, falls in love with, but never marries, a washerwoman of legendary beauty.

His love lyrics include the impressive and tender Srikrishna Kirtan (”Songs in praise of Krishna”).

His “kirtaus” (folksongs) are widely read and recited before and after his death at around sixty in about 1477.