Lohara dynasty

This article is about the dynasty of Kashmir. For the village in India, see Lohara.

The Lohara dynasty were the first Hindu rulers of Kashmir between 1003 and approximately 1320. The weak rule during the second regime of the Lohara Dynasty, internecine fighting and corruption endemic during this period, with only brief years of respite, gave rise to the growth of Islamic supremacy in the region.

Origins

The seat of the Lohara dynasty was a hill-fortress called Loharakotta according to the Rajatarangini, a work written by Kalhana in the mid-twelfth century and upon which many and perhaps all studies of the first 150 years of the dynasty depend. The precise location of this fortress has been the subject of academic debate over a prolonged period. Stein, a translator of Kalhana, has discussed some of these theories and concludes that it lay in the Pir Panjal range of mountains, on a trade route between western Punjab and Kashmir. As such, it was not itself in Kashmir but in the kingdom of Lohara, centred around a group of large villages collectively known as Lohrin, which itself was a name shared by the valley in which they were situated and a river that ran through it. The Lohara kingdom probably extended into neighbouring valleys.

Didda, a daughter of the king of Lohara called Simharāja, had married the king of Kashmir, Ksemgupta, thus uniting the two areas. When her husband died in 958, she assumed power as Regent for her young son, Abhimanyu II. Upon the death of Abhimanyu in 972 she performed the same office for his sons, Nandigupta, Tribhuvanagupta and Bhimagupta, respectively. She killed all of these grandchildren in turn. As Regent she effectively had sole power over the kingdom, and with the killing by torture of Bhimagupta in 980 she became ruler in her own right.

Didda subsequently adopted a nephew, Samgrāmarāja, to be her heir in Kashmir but left the rule of Lohara to Vigraharāja, who was either another nephew or perhaps one of her brothers. From this decision arose the Lohara dynasty of Kashmir, although Vigraharāja even during her lifetime made attempts to assert his right to that area as well as Lohara. What was to follow was around three centuries of "endless rebellions and other internal troubles".

First Lohara dynasty

Samgrāmarāja

The reign of Samgrāmarāja between 1003 and June or July of 1028 was largely characterised by the actions of those in his court, who preyed on his subjects to satisfy their own greed, and by the role of the prime minister, Tunga. The latter was a former herdsman who had become the lover of Didda and was her prime minister. He had wielded much power in working with Didda to assert her dominance over the kingdom, and he continued to use that power after her death. Samgrāmarāja was afraid of him and for many years allowed him to have his way. Indeed, it was Tunga who appointed many of the corrupt officials who proceeded to extract significant amounts of wealth from the kingdom's subjects. These appointees, and their actions, made Tunga unpopular and his age may wekk have contributed to his increasing inability to deal with challenges from opponents within and without the court. Samgrāmarāja quietly supported the plots to remove the minister and eventually Tunga was murdered, although this did little to improve matters either in the court or the country as his death caused an influx of royal favourites who were no less corrupt than those who had been appointed by him.

Harirāja and Ananta

Samgrāmarāja's son, Harirāja, succeeded him but reigned for only 22 days before dying and being succeeded in turn by another son, Ananta. It was around this time that Vigraharāja attempted once more to take control of Kashmir, taking an army to do battle near to the capital at Srinagar and being killed in defeat.

The period of rule by Ananta was characterised by royal profligacy; he accumulated debts so large that it necessitated the pawning of the royal diadem, although when his queen, Sūryamatī, intervened the situation was improved. She was able to settle the debts incurred by her husband by use of her own resources and she also oversaw the appointment of ministers with ability in order to stabilise the government.

Kalaśa, Utkarsa and Harsa

Ananta was succeeded in 1063 by Kalaśa, who ruled until 1089. Another weak-willed man, who involved himself in an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Kalaśa was dominated by those surrounding him at court and spent little time on matters of government.

Sources differ regarding which of the sons of Kalaśa succeeded to his throne. Hasan is of the opinion that it was Harsa but Stein believes it to have been Utkarsa, a younger son. Ksitirāja, who was the son and heir of Vigraharāja, had abdicated his rights and passed control of Lohara to Utkarsa. According to Stein, Utkarsa became monarch of both Kashmir and Lohara on the death of Kalaśa, bringing the two kingdoms together as they had been in the time of Didda. It is at this time that the fortress became the dynastic seat.

Which ever source is correct regarding the line of succession, they agree that Harsa did become king in 1089. He was initially a cultured man with much to offer his people but he became as prone to the influence of certain favourites, corrupted, cruel and profligate as his predecessors, as well as being another who indulged in incest. Under his rule even night soil was taxed, while temples were looted to further raise money to fund his failed military ventures and his indulgent lifestyle. All but two of the statues of Buddha in his kingdom were destroyed during his rule. He conducted campaigns in the east of the valley to wrest control of land back from feudatory noblemen, who were known as Dāmaras, and in 1101 they murdered him. Stein describes that while Harsa's rule seemed at first to have "secured a period of consolidation and of prosperous peace ... [it] had subsequently fallen a victim to his own Nero-like propensities".

Second Lohara dynasty

Uccala

Uccala, who was from a side-branch of the Lohara royal line, succeeded to the throne and reigned for a decade. According to Stein, the two kingdoms of Kashmir and Lohara were again split at the time of his accession, with Lohara being governed by Sussala, the younger brother of Uccala. The two brothers had led the rebellion against Harsa. The rule of Uccala was largely a victim of inherited circumstances, and in particular the fact that the power of the dāmaras which had caused the downfall of Harsa was also a strength that could now be turned on him. He was unable to stabilise the penurious kingdom, either economically or in terms of authority, although it was not due to any lack of capability on his part and he did succeed in forming an alliance with the most powerful dāmara, Gargacandra. He was, in the opinion of Hasan, an able and conscientious ruler.

Radda, Salhana and Sussala

The downfall of Uccala came in December 1111 as a result a conspiracy, and after a prior attempt by Sussala to overthrow him. Sussala was not in the vicinity at the time that Uccala was murdered but within days had attempted a hazardous winter crossing over the mountains to the capital of Srinagar. Foiled by the winter weather on this occasion, he was able a few months later to venture once more and he proceeded to take control of Kashmir from a half-brother, Salhana. Salhana had himself taken the throne after the briefest of reigns by Radda, one of the leaders of the conspiracy against Uccala, whose rule lasted a single day. It was Gargacandra who organised the defeat of the conspirators and it was he who installed Salhana, using him as a puppet for the violent four months until the arrival of Sussala, a period which Kalhana described as a "long evil dream".

Gargacandra had again been kingmaker in allying with Sussala, whom Stein believes to have been "personally brave, but rash, cruel and inconsiderate" and whose rule was, "practically one long and disastrous struggle with the irrepressible Dāmaras and with dangerous pretenders." Having turned on Gargacandra and defeated him, Sussala was faced by other Dāmaras who in the absence of the once-dominant kingmaker saw an opportunity to challenge the king. They found a potential candidate for the throne in Bhikşācara, a grandson of Harsa. and managed to install him briefly in 1120 when their numbers had swollen sufficiently in opposition to the brutally oppressive measures adopted by Sussala. The restoration of Harsa's dynastic line did not last for long: a fightback by Sussala, who had decamped in defeat from Srinagar to Lohar, resulted in the pretender being deposed around six months later, in early 1121. Thereafter, Sussala resumed his oppression and treated the wealth of his people as being his own. He also imprisoned troublesome members of his own family but, like others before him, he was unable to control the lawlessness among the feudatory chiefs. While squabbling among the Dāmaras had assisted him in regaining the throne, he found himself frequently under siege upon his return as they sought to maintain a state of near anarchy in which they could profit for themselves.

Jayasimha

Jayasimha succeeded his father in 1128 during a period when there was open rebellion. A plot intended to assert authority had backfired on Sussala and caused his death. Jayasimha was not a forceful character but he did nonetheless manage to bring about both peace and a degree of economic well-being during his reign, which lasted until 1155. Bhikşācara mounted further attempts to regain the throne during the first two years and no sooner had he been killed than another challenger, Lothana, a brother of Salhana, succeeded in taking control of Lohara. That territory was subsequently recaptured but challenges continued from Lothana and two others who sought the throne, Mallājuna and Bhoja, the latter being a son of Salhana. Throughout this period there was also further troublesome behaviour generally from the Dāmaras, as so often in the past, and also as in the past it was the fact that those chiefs also fought among themselves which enabled Jayasimha to survive. Peace came after 1145 and Jayasimha was able to employ his methods of kingship, which relied on diplomacy and Machiavellian plotting, for the greater good of his kingdom. His success has led Hasan to describe him as "the last great Hindu ruler of Kashmir."

Successors to Jayasimha

From the end of the rule of Jayasimha in 1155 and until the accession of Jagadeva in 1198, his successors reverted to type. Hasan describes that they "... were weak and incompetent. They neglected their duty of protecting their subjects and instead robbed them with the help of their favourites. Their misrule was taken advantage of by the nobles who became strong and defied the royal authority." Jagadeva attempted to emulate Jayasimha but had a turbulent time, being at one stage forced out of his own kingdom by his officials. His death came by poison in 1212 or 1213 and his successors met with no more success; his son, Rājadeva, survived until 1235 but any power that he may have had was shackled by the nobility; his grandson, Samgrāmadeva, who ruled from 1235 to 1252, was forced out of the kingdom just as Jagadeva had been and then killed soon after his return.

Another son of Rājadeva became king in 1252. This was Rāmadeva, who had no children and appointed Laksmandadeva, the son of a Brahmin, to be his heir. Although the period of Rāmadeva's reign was calm, that of Laksmandadeva saw deterioration in the situation once more. In this reign, which began in 1273, the troubles were caused not only by the fractious nobility but also by the territorial encroachment of Turks. As with his predecessors and successors, he thought little of spending money on border protection. By 1286, when Laksmandadeva'a son, Simhadeva, came to the throne, the kingdom was a much smaller place. Simhadeva survived until 1301, a largely ineffective ruler who was dominated by his advisers. He was killed by a man whom he had cuckolded.

The last of the dynasty was Sūhadeva, the brother of Simhadeva. He was a strong ruler but also an unpopular one. He taxed heavily and exempted not even the Brahmins from his exactions. Although he managed to unite the kingdom under his control there is a sense in which the majority of it was united against him. Furthermore, "Socially and morally the people of Kashmir had sunk to the lowest depths, for old and young alike had taken to falsehood, intrigue, dishonesty and discord."

Impact

Mohibbul Hasan describes the collapse of order as

The Dãmaras or feudal chiefs grew powerful, defied royal authority, and by their constant revolts plunged the country into confusion. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradations.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Hasan, Mohibbul (2005) [1959]. Kashmir Under the Sultans (Reprinted ed.). Delhi: Aakar Books. pp. 29–32. ISBN 9788187879497. Retrieved 2011-07-10. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |reflink= ignored (help)
• Stein, Mark Aurel (1989) [1900]. Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 1 (Reprinted ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120803695. Retrieved 2011-07-11. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |reflink= ignored (help)
• Stein, Mark Aurel (1989) [1900]. Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 2 (Reprinted ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120803701. Retrieved 2011-07-10. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |reflink= ignored (help)