The Lohara dynasty were Hindu rulers of Kashmir
Kshemagupta, 950-958 A.C.
Kshemagupta’s rule lasted from 950-958 A.C. He married Didda who belonged, on her mother’s side, to the Sahis of Udabhanda (Ohind)
Abhimanyu II, 958-972 A.C.
Queen Didda (980-1003 A.C.) was a woman of unscrupulous but forceful character. She misgoverned the unhappy country for half a century. She was Queen Consort from 950-958. She was Regent from 959-980 for Abhimanyu, the infant son of Kshemagupta. Abhimaanyu’s reign is shown as from 958 A.C. to 972 A.C., during which time a terrible conflagration destroyed a great many buildings from the market-place to the shrine of Vishnu.
Didda, 980-1003 A.C.
Didda was beautiful and enchanting. She started her political career while Kshemagupta was the ruler of the valley, she administered skilfully and attended to every Detail of the administration.
She centralized all administration and nothing could be done without her consent and permission. After the death of Kshemagupta the successor was the infant son who was installed on the throne under the guardianship of Queen mother Didda. The boy died very young which attracted Queen Didda to religious and charitable work.
She ruled for twenty two Years. She had statesman like instinct and political ability, but was known to be very ruthless.
Didda ultimately reigned as sovereign for 23 years. She ruthlessly put down all rival parties executing captured rebels and exterminating their families. The result was that the throne passed without opposition to Samgramaraja (1003-28), a nephew of Didda, whom she had nominated in her own lifetime and who became the founder of the Lohara dynasty.
Sultan Mahmud’s Invasion.
The Raja’s reign is noticeable only for an invasion of Kashmir by Hammira (Kalhana’s name for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, apparently an adaptation of the title of Amir-ul-Muminin) in 1015. The Kashmiri troops were defeated by an invader, but Hammira had to retire owing to inclement weather and the inaccessibility of the mountain barriers. Though Mahmud never entered Kashmir, perhaps Abu’l Hasan ‘Ali Farrukhi his contemporary, who accompanied him in his expeditions to Qannauj, Somanatha and probably to Kashmir.
Hariraja, 1028 A.C.; Ananta, 1028-1063 A.C. ; Kalasa, 1063-1089 A.C.
Samgramaraja was succeeded by Hariraja who, after a reign of 22 days, was succeeded by Ananta. A rebellion of the Damaras, or feudal lords, was bravely put down by the King. He scored a victory over the Raja of Chamba, but his expedition against the hill state of Hazara proved an ignominious failure. He was personally weak ; and much of his success in government was due to his pious and vigorous queen, Suryamati. She wanted to the government of the country to be in stronger hands. So, on her advice, Ananta abdicated in favour of his son Kalasa. But Kalasa (1063-1089) was given to the company of depraved and dissolute associates. Although the people suffered much from his cruelty, he was able to make his power felt by the surrounding states from Hazara to Chamba. His successor enjoyed the regal state only for 22 days, and was succeeded by Harsha (1089-1101)
Abhinavagupta, the Saiva Philosopher.
The great Abhinavagupta, the Kashmir Saiva philosopher and literary critic, was born between 950 and 960 A.C. in a Brahman family that had migrated from Qannauj to Kashmir during the reign of King Lalitaditya. Abhinavagupta was a voluminous writer on several subjects – Dramaturgy, Rhetoric, Philosophy and the Philosophy of Poetry. His contribution to Saiva philosophy is indeed very great both in volume and importance. Dr. Kanti Chandra Pandey says that, according to the tradition current in certain old Pandit families and some old Muslim houses, Abhinavagupta walked with twelve hundred disciples into the Bhairava cave, about five miles from Magam, midway between Srinagar and Gulmarg, and was never seen again.
Kshemendra.
Kshemendra, the ornament of the Sanskrit poets of Kashmir, was born on the Dal in the locality where the Nishat Bagh now stands, in the days of Ananta. Kshemendra’s father was Prakasendra, a rich, charitably disposed and learned Brahman. The exact date of Kshemendra’s birth is not known, but the literary career runs from 1037 to 1066 A.c. He was one of the three sons of his father. Kshemendra studied under several teachers, but the most noted was Gangaka. Kshemendra’s studies were wide extending to Hindu law, Sanskrit grammar, Ayurveda, Politics, music and painting. He underwent a course of manual training, too, and knew carpentry and smithy as well, by the time he was 25 years of age. Then Kshemendra married and had a son called Somendra. Ananta engaged him to teach his son Kalasa.
Kshemendra was noted for his learning and wealth, his sagacity and generosity in maintaining boarding schools and for his humility. He enjoyed life, too. His book Darpadalana (Pride has a fall) Desha Upadesha ( Advice about the country for foreign students) are well known. He is reputed to be the author of many books, of which thirty four believed to be obtainable have mostly been printed at the Nirnayasagara Press, Bombay. Kalhana has criticized his Nipavali for his classical error. He also charges him with “consistent carelessness.” Keith has discussed Kshmendra’s Brhatkathamanjari and other works at some length.
Bilhana.
Bilhana, a great Poet, senior to Kalhana in point of age, was born in Khunamush or Khunamuh, 6 miles from Srinagar. His father was Jyeshtha Kalasha, a learned Brahman noted specially for his studies in Sanskrit grammar. Bilhana was the third son of Jyeshtha. On completing his education and finding no scope for his talents, on account of the oppressive rule of Kalasa, Bilhana, at the age of 16, is stated to have left Kashmir by way of Punch and entered the Punjab, visited Lahore and Jullundur. Then he moved to Mathura, Qannauj, and halted at Kashi, where his fame as a grammarian attracted notice. He also appears to have been to Chhattrakota, Prayag, Anhilvad and Nasik. At Kalyana, in the Deccan, there seems to have been a little romance with the Raja’s daughter whom Bilhana had been engaged to teach. A Kashmiri Pandit and, as such, no doubt, a handsome youth, accomplished, scholarly, he could not fail to win the heart of the Princess, and the assent of the Raja, and thus Bilhana’s marriage took place. Ultimately Bilhana succeeded to the gaddi. But Keith is silent on this romance.
Bilhana is the author of (1) Vikramankadevacharita. (2) Karna-Sundari Mala (3) Chaurapanchasika. General Cunningham traced the first and Dr. Buhlar the second of these works. When Bilhana revived his desire to return to Kashmir, Harsha deposed Kalasa. Tradition has it that he returned to his village Khunamush and died there at the age of 80. But there is no effective evidence to substantiate this claim.
Bilhana is not much good at history. He is a poet whose language is simple and clear. He gives a beautiful glimpse of the Srinagar of his days in the slokas of the 8th chapter of his Vikramankadevacharita on the adventures of Vikrama.
Harsha, 1089-1101 A.C.
In person, Harsha was of powerful frame, great personal beauty, courageous and fond of display. He was well versed in various sciences and a lover of music and art. But his mind was rather demented and his character was a jumble of contrasts. “Cruelty and Kind-heartedness, liberality and greed, violent self-will and reckless supineness, cunning and want of thought – these and other apparently irreconcilable features in turn display themselves in Harsha’s chequered life.” His early rule, however, was characterized by prudence, and his munificence towards men of learning attracted many scholars from other countries. From Kalhana’s account it appears that Harsha supported Turushka (Muslim) captains of hundreds with money, or in the words of Sir Aurel Stein, Harsha had “Muhammadan troop leaders”in his service. Harsha’s elaborate fashions in dress and ornaments and his multifarious extravagances, however, soon involved him heavily in debt, to rescue himself from which he took to the spoliation of temples. He robbed them of their treasures. But he did not stop there. His tendencies led him on to the confiscation of cult images in order to possess himself of the valuable metal of which they were made. He was further reduced to the necessity of levying new and oppressive imposts. Even night-soil became the object of taxation. Harsha abandoned himself more and more to excesses and follies of all kinds. The country was visited by many calamities. Plague reduced the population, robber bands infested the roads, and floods occurred which brought famine and universal distress. But the fiscal exactions of the King continued unabated. The result was that his armies were humiliated abroad, and he was surrounded by conspiracies at home. When Harsha’s nephews, Ucchala and Sussala, raised the standard of revolt, all flocked to it. The palace was given to flames. The queens were burnt to death, the heir-apparent was killed. The king was hunted down and mercilessly slain in 1101. And his body, “naked like that of a pauper,”was cremated by a compassionate wood-dealer.
Reference:
Sufi,G.M.D (1996). Kashmir Under The Mughals. Kashir: Being A History Of Kashmir(pp.58-62) Delhi:Capital Publishing House.
