Karkota Dynasty: The Naga Clan Who Ruled Kashmir

The dynasty came into existence only because the last ruler of the Gondwana dynasty wanted to defy the prediction of an astrologer but it gave the rulers who left their names to be forever written in the history, the unremembered rulers of the Kashmir valley.

Ruins Of Martanda Sun Temple; Image Source: Wikipedia

We all must have heard of the great empires and dynasties' stories like the Mauryan empire, Akbar’s regime, the Gupta dynasty, and many more. And all the history we have read so far is all about the heart of India but here is the history of “paradise on earth,” the valley of mountains, Kashmir. There is hardly any history about the Kashmir valley found in the books. The great kings of Kashmir are not remembered clearly as we people never bothered to know about the cities covered in snow with beautiful sceneries to watch all around.

Many rulers must have ruled this beautiful place but here comes the twist. The Karkota dynasty rose from the dust. The origin of the first Karkota ruler is still buried in mystery but it is said that the first ruler Durlabhavardhana comes from the Nagas clan.

It all started when the last ruler of the Gondwana dynasty Baladitya decided to marry off his daughter to a man of lowly origin just to defy the saying of an astrologer that his kingdom will come to an end with his death and his son in law will rule the kingdom. He found Durlabhavardhana the keeper of his horses the perfect fit but little did he know that Durlabhavardhana was a very clever man. Baladitya married his only daughter Agnalekha to Durlabhavardhana but she was a lady of easy virtue and made illicit relations with one of the ministers of his father and got caught.

As Durlabhavardhana was of lowly origin it would have been hard for him to become the king but with the help of ministers, he became the king. and the founder of the Karkota dynasty. He ruled for 36 years from 625-661 CE. Hiuen Tsang the Chinese pilgrim had visited Kashmir in the reign of Durlabhavardhana and he mentions in his book that the Kashmir valley was so beautiful, producing fruits and flowers and medicinal plants as well. However, it is not undeniable that with the accession of the Karkota dynasty the valley of Kashmir entered into an important stage of history. In the records of Hiuen Tsang, we find that the kingdom was extended deep into Punjab telling us the stronghold of king Durlabhavardhana.

Chandrapida the grandson of Durlabhavardhana succeeded his father Pratapaditya II around 711 or 713 CE. By this time the Arabs most probably reached the frontiers of Kashmir. The king got frightened and sent an embassy to the Chinese court seeking help but after not getting any positive response from the Chinese court. King Chandrapida somehow was able to defend his kingdom from the attack of invaders. For this victory, he was rewarded with the title of “king of Kashmir” in 720 CE by the Chinese emperor Xuan Zong. Unfortunately, he didn't live long and was soon assassinated by his brother Tarapida. Tarapida was not a great ruler and ruled for only 4 years and later on, he was murdered.

Then the youngest son of Pratapaditya II ascended the throne and this was in the reign of Lalitaditya the kingdom of Kashmir reach its apex of fame. King Lalitaditya made wide conquests in his reign and it's been said that rulers of Jalamdhara or Kangra, Lohara or Poonch, and the region lying between the rivers Ganges and Jammu, calledAntarvedi also had submitted to the king of Kashmir.

His first conquest was against Yasovarman of Kannauj. Somehow these conquests reduced king Lalitaditya’s hold in the vast kingdom of Kashmir, the south, and the southeast of Kashmir. In the clash between Lalitaditya and Yasovarman, it is been said that Yasovarman was as tough as a mountain yet Lalitaditya beat him easily. When the treaty of peace was to be signed between them Lalitaditya’s foreign minister objected to it stating that Yasovarman is given more importance than Lalitaditya. Though Lalitaditya wanted the war to be overseeing the condition of his army yet he went with his foreign minister’s words and later on it ended with a resumption of war and Yasowarman’s power was crushed completely. Then it's been said that he went into a conquest round whole of India. Lalitaditya first Marched towards Kalinga, the ruler of Bengal sent numberless armies to defeat Kalinga. After that, he passed through the Karnata region resting there for some time, and then embarked to the western region to overrun the seven Konkonas and advanced Dwarka. After that, he conquered Ujjain too. Seeing that he has defeated almost all the kings he tracked back to Kashmir but it's been said that before he ascended the throne he has defeated the Kambhojas of Afghanistan, Tuhkharas( including Blakh and Bokhara), Bhauttas, Darads, and a king called Mammuni.

Before he ascended to the throne the business of the state was carried on by eighteen chief officials or karmasthanas but now the work has increased so he created five new functionaries that are mahapratiharapida( high chamberlain), mahasanbhivigraha( chief minister), mahavasal(master of horses), Mahabhanbhaga (keeper of treasury) and mahasadhanabhaga. These five officials were headed by Panchamahasabda. As the Karkota rulers were omnistic, the remains of the viharas and stupas could be found there around. Lalitaditya built so many alluring temples but out of all those, the one which was the most bewitching was the temple of Martanda. It was built in honour of the sun god near tirtha of the same name which is now called Mattan and it still stands as the memorial of the greatness of king Lalitaditya. King Lalitaditya not only built temples but also build stupas and viharas. We can surely say that the architecture of Kashmir reached the stage of full maturity in his time

He was a great ruler and a tolerant ruler as could be proved by his religious policy. Though he was a follower of Vishnu and naturally vaishnavas received liberal patronage at his hands he still gave full respect and freedom to other religions to flourish side-by-side and it can be seen by the number of viharas and stupas that existed in his time. Besides architecture, Lalitaditya patronized learning also. In short, Lalitaditya has left many marks on the sands of time as a conqueror, administrator, and patron of architecture and literature but he didn't rule for a long time as he had a serious shortcoming as he drank like a mad man.