The Early karkotas..

In The Medieval Texts The Land Of Kashmir Is Regarded As The Heaven On The
Earth,But ones Who Laid The Very Foundations Of This Heaven Of Earth Are In The
Shadow Of Ignorance,The First imperial Sovereign Power Of Kashmir Was The
Karkota Dynasty,The Foundation Of Dynasty Was Laid By The Dhurlabhavardhana In
The 625/26 Ad,We Find A Really Interesting Story About The Establishment Of The
Dynasty In The 12th Century Chronicle Rajtarangini Compiled By Court Poet Of
Lohara Dynasty Kalhana..

The Kalhana's Rajtarangini is Also Consider As NripavalI[नप

ृ ावल ] Of Kashmir..

The Literal Meaning Of Rajtarangini Is ‘River Of Kings’,The Kashmir Had Tradition

Of History Writing Many Rajtaranginis Are Part Of This Glorious Tradition Such As
The Work Of Jaunaraja,But Undoubtedly Most Famous And Popular Is The Kalhana‘s
Rajtarangini..

According to Kalhana the Dhurlabhavardhana Was A O cial Who Used To Work In

The Court Of Second Gonanda Dynasty Under The King baladitya,The baladitya in
Order To prevent His Dynasty to lost in the pages of history And to prevent His
In-law to hijack or seizure his Kingdom‘s power,married his beautiful daughter
ananglekha to Dhurlabhavardhana,Soon In the Story We Find That Ananglekha Had
An A air With The Minister Kanakha,Who Was Very Influential minister in her
Fathers Court,when Dhurlabhavardhana Came To know About this he Didn't
punished them but by using his Wisdom And Patience He Warned the kanakha,in the
burden Of Guilt The Kanakha Realized his mistake And later he helped
Dhurlabhavardhana in the Consolidation Of Power And His Coronation As The Next
King Of Kashmir...

However If we See The Other Side Of Coin,The Historians Who have Done
Critical Analysis Of The Story have narrated by Kalhana mentioned some
critical notes As The Remaining Alchon Huns Were Ruling The Kashmir
Valley Since The Defeat Of mihirkula And Author Sanjay Sonawani Di ers
From The A air Angle Of The Story And Apart From Some Numismatic
Evidences Of First Gonanda Dynasty We Don't really Have Su cient
Evidences About This Second Gonanda Dynasty Mentioned by The Kalhana..
Further Kalhana Connects The Ancestry Of The Dhurlabhavardhana To The
Mythical Karkota Naga, The Origin Of The Karkota Dynasty is the mysterious
puzzle For The Scholar's,Kalahana Refers A Term Kayastha with the
Dhurlabhavardhana,Now We don't know if Kalhana is using the term in
O cial Work Related Manner Or in Caste sense,The Class Of O cial workers
Were Also Used To Refer As Kayastha in the later Texts And the Nagas Were A
Really Influential power in The Political Landscape Of Northern India In Pre
Gupta Era As Well As During The Gupta Period And The Contemporary Events
Of Gupta Age..

The Chinese Buddhist Traveler Xaunzang Visited Kashmir During the reign Of
Dhurlabhavardhana
And Stayed Two Years In The Region From 631 Ce To 633 Ce,Based On The
Account Of Chinese Pilgrim We Come To Know That Kashmir Had Control
Over The City Of Takshashila, The Ancient Great City Had Lost It's
Prominence Due To The Huna/Hunnic Invasions Of Previous Century And
The Singhapura,The urasa[Hazara In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa],City Of Rajpura
And Protsana And Xaunzang Also Mention About The Local Population And
The Famous Sites Of Kashmir Including Famous Sharada Mahashakti peeth
Of Sharda Kshetra Which Was Also The Famous Seat Of Learning..

The Chinese Imperial Records Mentions That Between The 627 To 649 Ce The
King Tu-lo-pa
[Chinese Name For The [Dhurlabhavardhana] Had Established Control Over
The Route Between China And Kabul,Thereby Enabling The Chinese
Ambassadors And Diplomats To Travel Freely..

From The Contemporary Records We Can Say That Kashmir Was An

Sovereign Power And Was Spreading Its Influence In The North-west
Portions Of Our Subcontinent,The Xuanzang Clearly Mentions Kashmir As An
Independent Force Not A ected By Any External Power So This Theory Of
Kashmir Being Vassal Of Pushyabhuti Emperor Harshavardhan Is Not
Accurate in Terms Of Historical Data,The Trade And Commerce Rose Under
The Rule Of King Dhurlabhavardhana…

After The Reign Of More Than 36 Years The Durlabhavardhana Passed Away
In 662 Ce..
After Durlabhavardhana,His Son Durlabhaka Became The Next Karkota King
Of Kashmir,He Ruled 50 Years With Having Peaceful Environment In His
Kingdom And Trade between Kashmir And Neighboring Powers Rose
Significantly,In The Similar Time period Barha Tegin Established The Turk
Shahi In The Kabul From The Ashes Of The Nezak Huns..

We Find Coin And Seal Of Durlabhaka Till Jalandhar In Punjab Which Show
Possible Sphere Of Kashmir During His Rule,Both Durlabhaka And
Durlabhavardhana‘s Reign Was Free From Any External or Internal Threat In
Kashmir And We Find No Invasion Or Massive Military Expedition In These
86 years,This Peaceful Time period Of Near 9 Decades Played A Crucial Role In
The Consolidation Of Power Of Karkota Dynasty..

The Rajtarangini Narrate Us A Really Interesting Story About The Personal

Life Of The King Durlabhaka,The King Of Kashmir Had A Really Close
Merchant Friend Nona,Who Was Very Influential And Rich,Nona And King
Used To Visit Each Other On Many Occasions,On One Such Occasion King
happened To See The Stunningly Beautiful And Gorgeous Wife Of Merchant
Nona Known As Narendraprabha,Just In The One Glimpse Of Eye's The King
And Narendraprabha Fall in Love With Each Other,But The Rajdharma And
The Principal Of Kingship Didn't Allowed Him The Confessions Of Love To
Someone Other's Precious Wife,And To Betray That Person Who Is The Very
Close Friend Of Him,Nona After Knowing The Secret feelings Of His Dear
Friend And His Pretty Wife, Voluntarily Gave His Wife To King And With The
Sacrifice And Consent Of Nona This Love Story Got Its Happy Ending..

later The Royal Couple Was Blessed With The Three Sons Named
Chandrapida,Tarapida And Most Famous Muktapida,The Description Of Story
In Terms Of Poetry Is Definitely Beautiful But In The Terms Of History Is
Somewhat Fanciful,It Is Also Indicates That Such marriages Were Not Taboo
In The Ancient India And Were Gradually Accepted By The Society..

Durlabhaka Used Pratapaditya As His Honorific Title,He Established The

Town Of Pratapapur Today Known As Town Called Tapar..
After The 50 Years Of Peaceful Rule,The Durlabhaka Was Succeeded By His
Eldest Son Chandrapida In The 712 Ce, Although The Kashmir Was In The Era
Of Prosperity And Peace,But Many Big Events Were Happening In The Outer
World One Such Even Was The Rise Of Arab Strom In Whole World And The
Political Landscape Of Central Asia,The Backyard Of Kashmir Was Seeing The
Rise Of Tibetan Empire And The Tang Empire Was Re-establishing Itself After
The Sudden Intervention Of Zhou Dynasty Under Empress/Regent Wu
Zetian/Wu Zhou From 690 To 705 Ce,In The Same Year Of 712 Ad The Arab
Invader Muhammad-Bin-Qasim Defeated The Raja Dahir Of Sind In Battle Of
Alor And Ended The Dynasty Of Chach Along With The Hindu Rule In Sindh
And Soon He Captured Multan After The Armed Struggle Of Two Months..

Jaisimha or Jaisen,Son Of Dahir Was Able To Flee From Battle And Continued
The Struggle It Would Be The Statment Of Massive Ignorance If Some Dare To
Say That Invasion Of Sind And The Arab Raids On Kabul-Shahi Territories
Wouldn't Have A ected The Kashmir,Both Kabul-Shahi And The Sind Were
The Neighborhood Kingdoms Of Kashmir And Karkota Kings,The
Kabul-Shahis Were Able To Repulsed The Previous Arab Raids On Their
Territories And One Important Notable Thing Is That Arabs Had Passed From
The Famous Bolan Pass And Here They Have To Dealt With The Kabul-Shahis
But Arabs Were Able To Find Their Way Towards Sind..

After The Arab Conquest Of Sind And Multan Qasim Moved Further Focused
His Attention On The Other Neighboring Kingdoms..

He Issued A Letter Addressing To The Hindu Kingdoms In Which He Threaten

The Kings “Surrender To The Caliphate And Accept The Faith Of Islam”..

The King Chandrapida Was Able To Understand That The Next Target Of
Arabs Would Definitely Be Kingdom Of Kashmir,He Started His Preparations
To Face And Teach Lessons To The Invading Party And After This He Played A
Really Great Diplomatic Move In The Chess Of Power Politics..

In The Year 713 Ce,He Sent A Diplomatic Mission To The Mighty Tang Empire
Of China In Order To Convince The Tang Court For The Military Assistance
Against The Rising Threat Of The Umayyad Caliphate,But The Tang Court Was
Busy In Restoring Itself So They Were Not In Position To Help Chandrapida In
Immediate E ect But This Move Led The Formation Of Diplomatic Relations
Between The Sri Nagar And Chang'an And Tang Envoy Visited Kashmir in 720
Ce In Response Of Previous Kashmiri Diplomatic Mission..

The Arabs Raided The Jalandhar,Kangda [Al-Kiraj,Referred In The Arab

Texts],The Kangra Was Also The Frontier Of Kashmir And The Bu er Zone
Between The Mighty Kashmir And The Powerful Kannauj,An Arab Army Was
Dispatched To Attack Kannauj But Only To Be Perished At The Hands Of The
Hindus As Arab Sources Are Silent About The Outcome Of This Expedition,
Similarly The Waves Of Arabs Were Also Sheltered Against The Mountainous
Will Of Chandrapida..

In The 715 Ce, Muhammad Bin Qasim Was Recalled By The Caliph,And Later
Due To the Internal Political Feuds Of Arabs He Was Killed On The Order Of
Caliph,The Local Stories Suggests That Surya And Parmila Devi, Daughters Of
The Raja Dahir Were Captured By Arabs Due To The Treachery,Both Of Them
Were Enslaved And Took As The War booty For Caliph,And Both Of Them
Plotted The killing Of Qasim As Their Revenge Of His Atrocities In Sindh,
However The Arab Writers Of Later Period Mentions Internal Rift As The
Reason Of Killing Of Bin-Qasim In Such Brutal Manner..

The Sudden Recall Of Qasim Led Anarchy And Turbulence In The Conquered
Territories Of Arabs,The Caliph Had Sent General Named Habib To Put Down
Anarchy In Al-Hind[Arabic Name Of Indian Territories],The Chandrapida
Ruled Till The 720 Ce And His Life Was Ended By His Own Blood,His Younger
Brother Tarapida By Hiring A Sorcerer..

Although The Rule Of Chandrapida Was Short-lived And Was Only Of Eighth
Years,But The Significant Events And His Decision Making Skills Made His
Rule Very Significant In The History Of Kashmir,He Is Described As Very
Virtuous And A Person With A Strong Sense Of Justice By Kalhana..

After The Able Chandrapida,His Younger Brother Tarapida Became The

King,Who Has Considered Responsible For The Death Of Chandrapida By
Kalhana,His Rule Is Described As Full Of Tyranny And Oppression In
Rajtarangini,He Ruled For The 4 Year Of Span And Was Killed By The Tantra
Vidhya Of Brahmins As Narrated By Kalhana..

In The 722 Ce The Chinese Tang Court And Tibetan Empire Again Become
Hostile To Each Other After The Tang-Tibetan Peace treaty Of 707 Ce And
Tang Forces Invaded The Bolor[Name of Area Of Gilgit-Baltistan In Chinese
Records],The Chinese Were Able To Capture The Bolor And In October,722 Ce
A Tang Deligation Visited Court Of Kashmir And Thanked The King Of
Kashmir For The His Assistance In This Expedition,The Chinese Records
Notes That Kashmir Supported Tang Forces By Providing Essential Supplies
To Them,so This Policy Of Being Friendly Towards Chinese Court Was Also
Carried By The Tarapida During His Rule Also,From This Event We Can Also
Assume That Kashmir Was Now A Big Regional Player In The Region During
This Time..

Another Interesting Event Took Place In This Time Period,After A Long And
Incessant Conflict Between The Tibetans And Tang China A Peace Treaty Was
Signed Between Both Empires In 707 Ce And As A Result Of This Peace Treaty
One Of Chinese Princess jingcheng Was Married To Tibetan King Tridé
Tsukten Also Known As Me Agtsom,In The Year Of 710,But In 724 Ce She Sent
Two Chinese Messengers From Secret Routes To The Court Of Kashmir
Asking For The Asylum In Kashmir,The Closest Pro Chinese Kingdom and A
Important Regional Power,This Secret Message Was Sent To Tang Court By
The Tigin Zibil,King Of Zabulistan By A Delegation,So Kashmir Must Have
Shared Information With The Kabul And Zabulistan Also,The King Tarapida
Accepted The Request Of Princess jingcheng,But Giving Her Refuge In
Kashmir Was The Direct Invitation to A Massive Tibetan Invasion,So King
Asked Zabulistan For Assisting Kashmir With Military Help,And This
Message Was Also Carried To Tang Court By Zabul, Perhaps The Sudden
Death Of Tarapida In 724 Ce Led The Plans Of Princess Of Escaping From
Tibetan Empire In Vain And Now Her Plans Were Spolied And She Remained
In Tibbet Till Her Death In 738-39 Caused by A Famine Outbreak...

So The Contemporary Events Project A Really Di erent Image Of Tarapida,So

At Least In The Respect Of Political Decisions He Was Much Di erent Than
His Image Portrayed By The Kalhana..
The Events During The Reign Of Tarapida Also Indicates A Possibility Of A
Millitary Pact Between The Kashmir And Tang Empire,The Deligation Sent By
Zabulistan Also Pushes A Great Possibility Of Mutual Alliance Between The
Kashmir,Zabul–Kabul And The Tang Court To Counter Their Common
Enemies…

After The Tarapida A Sun Was Going To Be Rise In The Political Theatre Of
Whole Bharatvarsh,The One Who Became Immortal In The Memories Of
Kashmiri Hindus,And This Hero Was Muktapida Allies The Honorific Title Of
Lalitaditya…

Sources

Kalhana's Rajtarangini [Vol.1 By Pandit Dugaprasad 1891 Edition]

Bravehearts Of Bharat: Vignettes From Indian History By Vikram Sampath

Emperor Of Kashmir Lalitaditya The Great By Sanjay Sonawani

The Classical Age By R.C. Majumdar

Kashmir,Tang China And Muktapida Lalitaditya's Ascendency Over The Southern

Hindukush Region
By Tansen Sen

Articles About Tang Dynasty.

Written And Researched By Mridul Purohit