Mihirakula, 528 A.C.
Mihirakula, the White Hun, who seized the throne of Kashmir in 528 A.C. Under his father, Toramana, the Hun empire had been established in the latter half of the fifth century in Afghanistan and western India. Mihirakula succeeded in 510 A.C., his capital being Cakala in the Punjab, which may be identified with Sialkot, according to Fleet, or with Sangala Hill in the Sheikhupura district or, according to Anspach, Jandiala in the Amritsar district of the Punjab. He was “a man of violent acts and resembling death, “whose approach the people knew “by noticing the vultures, crows, and other birds which were flying ahead eager to feed on those who were to be slain. Mihirakula fled to Kashmir where he was kindly received by the king and placed in charge of a small territory. He repaid the king’s kindness by seizing his throne and putting him to death. Then issuing from Kashmir, Mihirakula attacked and conquered Gandhara and drowned multitudes of people in the Indus. Mihirakula delighted in acts of cruelty and people still point to a ridge ( Hastivanj- from hasti, elephant, and vanj, to go-the passage foe elephants) on the Pir Pantsal (Pir Panjal) range, near ‘Aliabad Sarai’, where the King to amuse himself, drove one hundred elephants over the precipice, enjoying their cries of agony. He favoured Brahmanas, and hated Buddhism. He committed suicide about the middle of the fifth century, overpowered probably by the sense of his own misdeeds.
Kalidasa was during these troublous times of the Huns, It is believed, that Kalidasa, one of the greatest poets of India, was born in Kashmir.
Yudhishtira I:
The last of the Gonada line, Yudhishtira I, was a worthless ruler, and was turned out by his own subjects who called in a foreign king, and subsequently Kashmir went under the suzerainty of Vikramaditya Harsha of Ujjayini(Ujjain).
Vikramaditya:
There is, however, indisputable proof in the shape of inscriptions and coins, of the existence of Vikramaditya in the first century B.C. The era of which he is held to the founder was not called by his name till the tenth century A.C.
Pravarasena II, 580 A.C.
On the death of King Harsha, about the third quarter of the sixth century, Kashmir was conquered by Pravarasena II, a prince of Malva who ruled in 580 A.C. Pravarasena-Creshthasena, alias Tunina II, who is said to have ruled for 30 years, from 88 to 58 B.C., is Pravarasena I. The present city of Srinagar called after him Pravarapura and subsequently Pandrethan, was founded by him. According to verse 354 of the third Taranga of Kalhana, this king had “the Great Bridge”constructed of boats for the first time in Kashmir. He is also considered to have founded Srinagar in Kashmir and raised a temple near the city for the worship of Shiva.
Baladitya
This dynasty of the White Huns lasted for about half a century, the last of the line, Baladitya, dying without male issue.
Reference:
Sufi,G.M.D (1996). Kashmir Under The Mughals. Kashir: Being A History Of Kashmir(pp.43-49) Delhi:Capital Publishing House.
