Kings of Kashmir as described in Rājatarangiṇī
The Dynasties - Kalhana wrote during the time of Jayasimha (AD 1127-59).
The kings of Kashmir described in the Rājatarangiṇī can be roughly grouped into dynasties as in the table below.
Notes in parentheses refer to a book and verse. Thus (IV.678) is Book IV verse 678.
| Gonanda I | The Rajatarangini (I.59) lists Gonanda I as the first king of Kashmir, a relative of Jarasasamdha of Magadh. |
| Lost and Unknown kings | Skipping over "lost kings" we come to Lava of an unknown family. After his family, Godhara of another family ruled (I.95). |
| Mauryas | The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE. His grandson Ashoka the Great (273-232 BCE) built many stupas in Kashmir, and was succeeded by his son Jalauka. |
| Kushanas | After a Damodara ("of Asoka's kula or another"), we have Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka (127-147 CE) of the Bactrian Kushan Empire.(Note the confusion of dates in this and the following sections. Kalhana appears to made little attempt to determine the actual dates and sequence of rule of the kings and dynasties he recorded) |
| Gonandiya | After an Abhimanyu, we come to the main Gonandiya dynasty, founded by Gonanda III. He was (I.191) the first of his race. Nothing is known about his origin. His family ruled for many generations. |
| Some others | Eventually a Pratapaditya, a relative of Vikrmaditya (not the Shakari) became king (II.6). After a couple of generations a Vijaya from another family took the throne (II.62).His son Jayendra was followed by Sandhimat-Aryaraja (34 BCE-17 CE) who had the soul of Jayendra's minister Sandhimati. Kalhana says that Samdhimat Aryaraja used to spend "the most delightful Kashmir summer" in worshiping a lingam formed of snow/ice “in the regions above the forests” (II.138). This too appears to be a reference to the ice lingam at Amarnath. |
| Huna | Kalhana describes the rules of Toramana and Mihirakula (510-542 CE), but does not mention that these were Huna people: this is known from other source. |
| Gonandiya again | After the Huna, Meghavahana of the Gonandiya family wasbrought back from Gandhara. His family ruled for a few generations. Meghavahana was a devout Buddhist and prohibited animal slaughter in his domain. |
| Karkota dynasty (625-1003 CE) | Gonandiya Baladitya made his officer in charge of fodder, Durlabhavardhana (III.489) his son-in-law because he was handsome. Lalitaditya Muktapida (724-760 CE) of this dynasty created an empire based on Kashmir and covering most of Northern India and Central Asia.(With his account of the Karkota dynasty, relatively recent at the time he wrote his chronicles, Kalhana's information becomes more consistent with other sources.)Kalhana relates that Laliditya Muktapida invaded the tribes of the north and after defeating the Kambojas , he immediately faced the Tusharas. The Tusharas did not give a fight but fled to the mountain ranges leaving their horses in the battle field. Then Lalitaditiya meets the Bhauttas in Baltistan in western Tibet north of Kashmir, then the Dardas in Karakoram / Himalaya , the Valukambudhi and then he encounters Strirajya, the Uttarakurus and the Pragjyotisha respectively (IV.165-175). |
| Utpala | In the Karkota family, Lalitapida had a concubine, a daughter of a Kalyapala (IV.678).Her son was Chippatajayapida. The young Chippatajayapida was advised by his maternal uncle Utpalaka or Utpala (IV.679). Eventually the Karkota dynasty ended and a grandson of Utpala became king. |
| Kutumbi | After the Utpala dynasty, a Yashaskara became king (V.469). He was a great-grandson of a Viradeva, a Kutumbi (V.469). Here maybe Kutumbi = kunabi (as in kurmis of UP and Kunbi of Gujarat/Maharastra). He was the son of a treasurer of Karkota Shamkaravarman.Kalhana describes Shamkaravarman (883-902) thus (Stein's trans.): "This [king], who did not speak the language of the gods but used vulgar speech fit for drunkards, showed that he was descended from a family of spirit-distillers". This refers to the fact that the power had passed to the brothers of a queen, who was born in a family of spirit-distillers. |
| Divira | After a young son of Yashaskara, Pravaragupta, a Divira (clerk), became king. His son Kshemagupta married Didda, daughter of Simharaja of Lohara. After ruling indirectly and directly, Didda (980-1003 CE) placed Samgramaraja, son of her brother on the throne, starting the Lohara dynasty. |
| Lohara | The Lohara family was founded by a Nara of Darvabhisara (IV.712). He was a vyavahari (perhaps merchant) who along with others who owned villages like him had set up little kingdoms during the last days of Karkotas. The Loharas ruled for many generations. The author Kalhana was a son of a minister of Harsha of this family. |
| Damar and others | After Loharas, a Damara family ruled. Then a general Ramchandra became king. His daughter Kota Rani married Tibetan Rinchan, who became Muslim. |
Cashmere is an archaic spelling of Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way.
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