Shashanka, having abandoned his Later Gupta overlord, reestablishes independent rule over Gauda, formerly a vassal state under the Imperial Guptas, which now becomes the first separate political entity in Bengal.

His capital is called Karnasuvarna, which some historians have identified with Murshidabad, others with Rangamati (Chittagong).

Shashanka launches a series of attacks on his neighbors and …

Harsha, at the death of Shashanka around 620, incorporates the remainder of the late Gauda king’s lands into his empire, which now includes much of northern and eastern India.

The Harsha Empire (CE 606-47), which had drawn Samatata into its loosely administered political structure, had been India's third great empire.

The disunity following the demise of this short-lived empire allows a Buddhist chief named Gopala to seize power as the first ruler of the Pala Dynasty (CE 750-1150).

He and his successors provide Bengal with stable government, security, and prosperity while spreading Buddhism throughout the state and into neighboring territories.

Trade and influence are extensive under Pala leadership, as emissaries are sent as far as Tibet and Sumatra.

The Senas, orthodox and militant Hindus, replace the Buddhist Palas as rulers of a united Bengal until the Turkish conquest in 1202.

Opposed to the Brahmanic Hinduism of the Senas with its rigid caste system, vast numbers of Bengalis, especially those from the lower castes, will later convert to Islam.

The Turkish conquest of the subcontinent is a long, drawn-out process covering several centuries.

It had begun in Afghanistan with the military forays of Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001.

By the early thirteenth century, Bengal falls to Turkish armies.

The last major Hindu Sena ruler is expelled from his capital at Nadia in western Bengal in 1202, although lesser Sena rulers hold sway for a short while after in eastern Bengal.