Shankaravarman’s campaigns against Alakhana and the Shahis

01Against Alakhana

Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Book V, says Shankaravarman marched out with a great army and first humbled the ruler of Darvabhisara, the hill tract south of the valley. He then defeated Alakhana, the Gurjara king, who to save himself gave up the Takka country, a part of the Punjab plains. Kalhana says the army was so large that the march itself was a burden on the land, a hint of the heavy cost that he holds against this king.

02Lalliya Shahi

Beyond lay the Hindu Shahi kingdom, ruled from Udabhanda on the Indus by Lalliya. Kalhana praises Lalliya as a king so strong that other rulers sought refuge in his city as in a fortress, and whose fame outshone the kings of the north. He records Shankaravarman’s intent to bring him down, but no victory. The Kashmir army turned back, and a generation later Kashmir would interfere in the Shahi succession by other means.

Dynasty · c. 822–1026 CEHindu Shahis of Kabul and UdabhandapuraA Brahmin minister founded this house in the Kabul valley, and for two hundred years it stood between India and the armies coming from the west. Jayapala, Anandapala and Trilochanapala fought Ghazni until the line ended in 1026.Read →