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After a rule of about a dozen local kings, Kashmir came into the possession of King Mihirakula. According 4 to Kalahana, he was the son of Vasukula. He has generally been identified with the Huna king of that name who was defeated by Yasodharman and, later, by 5 Narasimha-gupta Baladitya. Mihirakula has been referred to by the Chinese ambassador, Sung-yun, as being engaged in a "war with the country of Ki-pin (Kashmir)", as well as by Father Cosmas as king 'Gollas' in his 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 191-96. 2. Probably it was named as Kimnarapura, or Narapura, located in the vicinity of Vijayesvara, Ibid., I, 1, 244, 274. 3. Ibid., I, 1, 276-88. 4. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 289, Majumdar, R.C., Classical Age, pp. 37-38. 5. Basham, A.L., The Wonder That was India, p. 67.

48 - 2 Christian Topography and painted in all descriptions as a heartless tyrant of brutal disposition. It was because of these characteristics that, according to the Chronicler, his approach to a town or city was preceded by vultures and carrion crows. Once while he was returning from his conquests in some hilly tracts, one of his elephants fell down a precipitous Karrow passage. The cry of the falling animal so thrilled him that he ordered a hundred more to be rolled down in similar fashion. The place where this incident took place has been identified with Hastivanja on the Pir Panjal route and the barbarous act was remembered even as late as the time of Abul-Fazl. 4 3 Obviously, the Brahmanas of Kashmir looked down upon him and, therefore, the king lavished his generosity by granting agraharas to the Brahmanas of Gandhara, who were regarded base. According to the Chronicle, he was a Saiva and built the temple of Mihiresvara at Srinagar and is also said to have founded the city of Mihirapura which has defied 5 identification hitherto. THTH.5-6 1. Beal, I, Majumdar, R.C., Classical Age, p. 36. 2. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 291. 3. Ibid., I, 1, 302-16, Jarret, Ain-i-Akhari, pp. 377-78. 4. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 307. 5. Ibid., I, 1, 306.

h Mihirakula is too well-known to Indian History both from indigenous and foreign literary sources and hardly merits detailed description here. His antagonism to Buddhism is apparent from the very nature of his cruel disposition and deeds and the religion lost its hold on the people of the Valley from his time. Kalhana refers to his attempt to divert the waters of the Chandrakulya river, perhaps to provide irrigation facilities or to reach water to his newly founded city The account of the conquest of Sinhala, Chola, Karnata and Lata by Mihirakula is mere rhodemontade, fed by fanciful stories that had gathered around his 2 person, and unacceptable to sober history. The king seems to have taken effective steps against the Khasas, whose activities in the regions around the middle course of the Jhelum and Kishtwar had incurred the former's 3 wrath. Mihirakula was succeded by his son Baka. As a a meritorious son of notorious father, he is said to L have shown concern and sympathy towards the welfare of 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 318. 2. Ibid., I, 1, 294-301. 3. Ibid., I, 1, 317. 4. Ibid., I, p. 79; I, 1, 325; II, viii, 3415.

- 50 2 his subjects. He constructed the temple of Bakesa, founded the city called Lavanotsa and caused the Bakavati canal to be dug out-all in public interest. Baka was followed by a string of seven kings according to the Rajatarangini, but none of them seems to have played any significant role during the period of their rule and therefore, nothing worth mention is known about them. These were : Kashitinanda, Vasunanda, Nara II, Aksha, Gopaditya, Gokarna and Narendraditya. Gopaditya is said to have prohibited killing of animals, except for sacrificial purposes. Though we do not know much of his achievements, he is described in the 3 Chronicle as the 'Supreme guardian of the world'. Narendraditya was also known as Khinkhila, the founder of the shrine of Bhutesvara. Cunningham attributes a unique silver coin with the legend 'Deva sahi Khinggila' to Narendraditya I, which is of Ephthalite type. According to him, two coins with the legend of 'sri Narendra', which are of the 'Kidara' type, seem to be of a later ruler. Yudhishthira, son of Narendraditya and also known as Andha-Yudhishtthira, 4 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, i, 329. 5 2. Ibid., I, 1, 336-49. 3. Ibid., I, 1, 344 (uttamo lokapalo'yamiti lakshma prasastishu). 4. Cunningham, A., Later Indo-Scythians, pp. 97,110. 5. Cunningham, A., Coins of Medieval India, Pl. III, Fig. 5.

" 51掳 ruled wisely during the early period of his reign, but became a victim of his whimsical conduct 1 subsequently. He met a sad end and, during the later days of his life, he is said to have wandered about as he had been dethroned by his enemies because of his cruel conduct and forced into exile. Andha- 2. Yushishthira was followed by Pratapaditya and 3 Jalaukas. Tunjina succeeded Jalaukas. He built the shrine of Tungasvara and founded a city named Katika. The great poet Chandaka is said to have flourished during his reign. 5 After the reign of Tunjina, another royal family came to power in Kashmir. The first king of this line was Vijaya, who founded the town of Vijayesvara around the shrine dedicated to Vijayesa. He was succeeded by his illustrious and brave son, Jayendra. The latter 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, 1, 352. 2. Ibid., I, i, 353-73. was 7 3. Ibid., I, 1, 5, 9. According to the Rajatarangini by Kalhana, Pratapaditya was related to Vikramaditya; who this Vikramaditya was, is not clear, but he could be the ruler of Malwa, as Wilson thinks (Hindu History of Kashmir, p. 29, note 65). 4. Ibid., I, ii, 14. 5. Ibid., I, ii, 16. See Pandit's note. He identifies him with Chandragopin, for whom several verses are given in Subhasitavali. Levi, however, identifies him with Chandra mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim. 6. Ibid., I, ii, 62 7. Ibid., I, ii, 63. BB

52 was assisted in administration by his able minister, Sandhimati, who was also a great saint. After 2 .5 3 Jayendra, Sandhimati (or Sandhimat), by the order of his guru, ruled the Valley. He was a great devotee of Siva and, therefore, Saivism gained considerable ground in the Valley during his reign. His popularity seems to have declined during the latter part of his reign - After Sandhimati's dethronement Meghavahana succeeded to the throne of Kashmir. He is said to have been the son of Gopaditya of the family of Andha-Yudhishthira. Due to political upheavals in their own homeland, the ancestors of Meghavahana had fled to Gandhara and, according to the Rajatarangini, the latter was brought up in the court of the king of that country. There Meghavahana married Amritaprabha, 6 7 the daughter of the king of Pragjyotishapura. It appears that when Sandhimati was dethroned by the people of Kashmir on account of his excesses, they visited Meghavahana and requested him to return to 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, ii, 65. 2. Ibid., I, ii, 116. 3. Ibid., I, ii, 123-40. 4. Ibid., I, 11, 143-44. 5. Ibid., I, ii, 152. 6. Ibid., I, ii, 144-45. 7. Ibid., I, 11, 147-50. According to Pandit, the name of the princess was Amritalekha.

53 3 2 Kashmir and assume the reins of government. Meghavahana is said to have been a kind hearted man as he prohibited slaughter of animals and compensated and rehabilitated the butchers by financial help and other means. He built the city of Mayushtagrama, founded and donated the agrahara of Meghavana to the Brahmanas and constructed the Meghamatha. His queen Amritaprabha caused to be erected the great Vihara of Amritabhavana for foreign bhikshua. The king had a foreigner as his spiritual teacher who hailed from South Tibet (which is even today known as Loh) and built the magnificent stupa known as Ston-pa. Kalhana credits his reign for considerable building activities on the part of his numerous queens and also for his victories over many kings and territories as far as Ceylon, which is quite b incredible, though he might have had Bhikshus from that country and this gesture was subsequently interpreted as conquest. Mehawahana was succeeded by his 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 2. 2. Ibid., I, iii, 5, 6. 3. Ibid., I, iii, 8. 4. Ibid., I, iii, 9. 6. It has been suggested (on the authority of Rahula Sankrityayana) by Pandit (I, iii, 10 fn) that the word 'stupa' is the Tibetan equivalent of 'sasta' in Sanskrit. Pandit goes on to suggest that queen Amritaprabha, who hailed from Assan (as noted earlier) belonged to a royal family professing Buddhist faith (Ibid.). 6. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 11-15; 27-72.

- 54 son Sreshthasena, also known both as Tunjina (II) and Pravarasena - (I). He constructed the famous shrine of Pravaresvara and donated the land of Trigarta for its maintenance. However, according to Bedia-Ud-din, he "established his mother on the vacant throne of Khota, and extended his own authority to Khotari, Chin and Machin. He was succeeded by his two sons, Hiranya and Toramana, the former holding the higher status of a Samrat, i.e., king, and the latter 3掳 being styled as Yuvaraja. The name Toramana strikes an echo and recalls to our minds the famous Huna chief of that name who was the father of Mihirakula and whose coins have been found in large numbers in the Punjab and Kashmir. As pointed out by Stein, if we take him to be identical with the said Huna chief, we shall have to concede that Kalhana has made the silly mistake of placing the 4 son several hundred years before the father. On the other hand, if this Taramana is taken to have been an altogether different ruler, "the error of Kalhana or his authorities would lie only in the attribution of the coins" 5. It has been pointed out by Majumdar that 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 97. 2. Wilson, H.H., Hindu History of Kashmir, p. 34. 3. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 102. 4. Ibid., I, iii, 103 fn. 5. Ibid.

1415 55 "the Rajatarangini also refers to Toramana, but he flourished long after Mihirakula, about eighteen kings intervening between the two. The career of this Toremana hardly fits in with what we know of the Huna chief of that name.... e.... "1 Besides, this Toramana was only an 'heir-apparent' (Yuvaraja). Wilson is of opinion that Hiranya and Toramana were acting respectively as "Emperor and Caesar, a division of power of considerable antiquity amongst the Hindus, and one which, with them as well as with the Latin, Greek, or German princes, was often a source of public contention as it proved to be so in the instance before us."3 It appears that Toramana became venturesome enough to issue coins (dinnaras) in his own name; his elder brother took offence at this measure and put him behind the bars. During his imprisonment, his 1. Majumdar, R.C, Classical Age, p. 35.. 2. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 102, of. also Pandit. 3. Wilson, H.H., Hindu History of Kashmir, p. 34. 4. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, iii, 103-04.: The text of the verse being uncertain, Stein did not favour the idea of restoring it to indicate a type of coin known as balahata (fn. on 103). Pandit, however, seems to favour the emendation bhratahatanam' as his translation of the verse in question would suggest (.... 'coins struck by the brother...') Pt. Ram Tej Shastri favours the reading balahatanam in the text but trandates it to mean a coin known as balahata -a suggestion discarded by Stein (Rajatarangini, Pandit Pustakalaya Ed., p. 45, text and trans.).

- 56 wife Anjanadevi gave birth to a son, who was brought up in a potter's cottage, where she had sought shelter to conceal her identity. The child was name Pravarasena after his grandfather. Hiraya left no successor behind and, since the existence of his nephew was unknown to the people, the throne of Kashmir again lay vacant on the former's death.