Mahipala I (c. 988 – 1038 CE) is considered the second founder of the Pala dynasty.

Gopala I had established the dynastic rule of the Palas in the middle of the 8th century CE.

The Pala Dynasty rules Bengal and Bihar for about four centuries from the middle of the 8th century CE.

Mahipala succeeds in recovering the lost fortune of the dynasty and in checking the forces of disintegration for the time being.

He cannot totally remove them, but his success gives the dynastic rule of the Palas a second lease on life.

During the reigns of Gopala II and Vigrahapala II, the two immediate predecessors of Mahipala, Bengal had had to face repeated invasions of the Chandellas and the Kalachuris, the new powers that had arisen out of the ruins of the Pratihara empire in northern India.