Land of Kashyapa - Page#10 - Lalitaditya Muktapida

Lalitaditya Muktapida

The crux of our visit to Kashmir is coming up from this page. Before I plunge into the Ruins of the Hindu temples we visited, I must share a little background about one of our greatest Kings whom our history books had forgotten to mention.

This is about a King whose kingdom might have stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in modern-day Afghanistan to Assam. Rajasthan, Gujarat, and parts of Central India might have been his vassals but we can rule out the possibility of his Southern conquest.

His name and the names of Chalukyan king Vikramaditya II and Pulakeshin II, Prathihara king Nagabhata I, Bappa Rawal of the Mewar dynasty, and Yashovarman of Kannauj were pure terror to the Arab invaders. By their strength of pushing back and their policy of hot pursuit - the mighty Kings ensured that no foreign power could step on Indian soil for nearly three hundred years.

*I reproduce verbatim from the paper titled "Lalitaditya - Alexander of Kashmir" by Zarin Shaffi*

"Chronicler Kalhana in his work Rajatarangini provides detailed information about the Karkota dynasty which held the occupation of the Kashmir valley. The Karkota dynasty took power in the valley of Kashmir in the first half of the 7th century CE.

The Karkota dynasty was founded in 625 CE by Durlabh Vardhana, a contemporary of Harsha of the Pushyabhuti dynasty. Hieun Tsang, a Chinese pilgrim visited Kashmir during Durlabh’s reign. The greatest ruler of the dynasty was Lalitaditya Muktapida who ruled from 724 to 761 CE. His accession to the throne marked an era of glory and prosperity, which Kashmir failed to regain even after centuries. His prolonged wars for expansion like those of Alexander earned him the title of Alexander of Kashmir.

Lalitaditya’s aspiring nature is mentioned in Rajatarangini- For rivers that have set out from their own region the ocean is the limit, but nowhere is there a limit for those who are frankly aspiring to be conquerors.

Lalitaditya launched a policy of expansion and extended the power of Kashmir beyond its boundaries. Lalitaditya was able to vanquish the Turks, Tibetans, Kambojas, and others. The political conditions of the subcontinent provided him an impetus to expand his political dominions. The powerful Gupta empire in the North was at the edge of decline.

In Deccan, the Pallava empire was fading out and Chalukyas of Badami were dying of military exhaustion. In the west, the Sassanian empire collapsed. The Chinese under T’angs who had extended their empire to the west conquering Kutcha, Khotan, Khorasan, and Kashghar were losing control over the provinces.

The downfall of T’ang rule led to an influx of army men to Kashmir. Lalitaditya recruited the Chinese military men and utilized their political and martial techniques, which were far superior to his contemporaries. His conquests were led by a reputed commander Cankunya, who served as a supreme commander-in-chief of T’angs under the title of Can-kiun.

With a powerful trained military, Lalitaditya embarked upon his military conquests in action. The extensive conquests made the Karkota kingdom of Kashmir, the most powerful empire of India after the Guptas. In proximity to Kashmir was the empire of Kanauj under Yasovarman, the successor of Harsha of the Pushyabhuti dynasty. Yasovarman submitted and the whole territory was brought under the Karkota empire. With this victory, he became the master of Kanuaj.

To assert his rights, he marched towards East attacking king Jivitagupta of Gauda, a region comprising Bihar and West Bengal, and advanced up to the seacoast of Orissa.

Lalitaditya allied with the Chalukyas in Deccan and overran Rashtrakuta territories. Lata (Southern Gujarat) was brought under Kashmir. On his way back, he passed through Gujarat, Kathiawar, Malwa, Marwar, and forced Maitrakas of Valabhi and Mauryas of Chittorgarh to submit.

After the victories in the south, Lalitaditya turned his attention to the areas bordering North of Kashmir. According to the sources, his empire extended to the Karakoram range controlling the caravan routes from India to China. He easily brought Dard Desha (northern Pakistan, Kashmir and parts of north-eastern Afghanistan) to the Tukhara country (southernmost region of Kazakhstan) under him.

Tibetan invasion of Kashmir in 747 CE is said to have forced him to turn back. Chinese Annals mention that Laitaditya sent an ambassador to the Chinese court of Yuen Tsun to seek aid from the emperor against the common enemy Tibetans. The Chinese Emperor and Laliaditya despatched approximately 200,000 men against Tibetans and inflicted a crushing defeat. Kalhana and Alberuni mention that Kashmiris observed the second of Chaitra as a day of Lalitaditya’s victory over the Tibetans.

The remarkable military conquests of Lalitaditya earned him the title of Alexander of Kashmir by modern writers. Lalitaditya’s ambitions of conquest resulted in his death. He lost his life in a distant expedition to the North. Kalhana mentions two legends about his death. According to one version, Lalitaditya perished through excessive snow in a country called Aranyaka (modern Afghanistan). Another version made him end his own life to escape being captured when separated from his army and blocked on a difficult mountain range.

Lalitaditya undertook public welfare works such as the construction of canals and irrigation projects. He built a big vihara (monastery) and Buddhist temple at Hushkapura (modern Ushkur). Towns such as Suniscatapur, Lalitapur, Darpitapur, Lokpunya (modern Lokbhavan) were built by him. However, Lalitaditya’s greatest constructions are the city of Parishapura and the temple of Martand.

Lalitaditya’s successors were not as competent as him and the acquired territories began to assert independence under feudatories after his death. Short reigns, disputed successions, civil war, and aimless expeditions such as those of king Jayapida soon reduced the Karkota dynasty to a mere shadow.

Lalitadtiya was not only a tireless warrior and great conqueror but also an eminent sponsor of learning art and architecture. His virtues as a humane conqueror, patron of art and architecture, and thorough sponsorships to scholars rank him as one of the greatest kings of India."

He was perhaps the only ruler who made Akhand Bharath a reality said a tweet

I took this photo at the Martand temple which Lalitaditya Muktapida built some 1250 years ago. More about this magnificent Sun temple which lies in ruins when I write about it on my next page.

Sriram(Hari)