Death of Shankaravarman at Urasa

01Kalhana’s account

Rajatarangini Book V tells the end plainly. On the way back from his western expedition the king’s camp came into conflict with the inhabitants of Urasa, the valley of Hazara. In the fight an arrow from the hill men hit him in the throat. He lived long enough to make his son Gopalavarman his heir, and his ministers marched the army home in good order, concealing his death until they were safe within the frontier.

02The beginning of disorder

Several of Shankaravarman’s queens followed him on the funeral pyre, Kalhana records. His death opened the most troubled century of Kashmir’s history. The boy king Gopalavarman reigned under his mother Sugandha and the minister Prabhakaradeva, and the palace guards known as the Tantrins soon began to make and unmake kings for money. Within twelve years of Urasa, Kashmir had seen a succession of short reigns, a regent queen and a guard that sold the crown.

Dynasty · 855–939 CEUtpala dynasty of KashmirAvantivarman and his engineer Suyya drained the Kashmir valley and gave it peace and grain. The Avantiswami temple he built still stands, and his court held the poet-critic Anandavardhana.Read →