High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Gour, or Gaur as it is spelt mostly in modern times, or Lakhnauti is a ruined city, in the Malda district of West Bengal, India, on the west bank of the Ganges river, 40 kilometers downstream from Rajmahal. It is said to have been founded by the mythic figure Lakshmana, and its most ancient name was Lakshmanavati, corrupted into "Lakhnauti". The area was known as Gauda (Gauka, of Gau/Cow) at the time was under the rule of famous Bengali kings such as Sasanka. In the 7th century Gopala by a democratic election in Gaur became the first independent Buddhist king of Bengal and founded the Pala Empire.