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The Utpala war of succession in Kashmir

VictorShankaravarman, son of AvantivarmanShankaravarman
883vs
A rival claimant of the Utpala family and his party of ministersSukhavarman, by Kalhana’s account

When Avantivarman, the builder-king of Kashmir, died in 883, his family and ministers split. His son Shankaravarman fought his way to the throne.

Date: 883 CE, after the death of AvantivarmanWhere: Kashmir valley, around SrinagarType: Battle
Photo: Tamjeed Ahmed · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Cite

MLA

“The Utpala war of succession in Kashmir.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/shankaravarman-wins-utpala-succession/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). The Utpala war of succession in Kashmir. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/shankaravarman-wins-utpala-succession/

Result

Shankaravarman defeated his rivals and took the throne of Kashmir.

01After Avantivarman

Avantivarman had given Kashmir three decades of peace. His engineer Suyya had drained and embanked the Vitasta to save the valley from floods, and the king had built the temples of Avantipura. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Book V, describes how at his death the ministers divided, some backing Shankaravarman and others a cousin from the Utpala house. Fighting followed in the valley before Shankaravarman prevailed and was crowned.

02A restless king

Shankaravarman turned out very different from his father. He led armies out of the valley, south-west into the Punjab against the Gurjara chief Alakhana and towards the Shahi kingdom of Udabhanda, and Kalhana criticises him for heavy taxes and for taking the wealth of temples to pay for his wars. His reign ended violently on campaign at Urasa in 902, as told in later entries.

Kalhana
Person · 12th century CE; Rajatarangini 1148–1150 CEKalhanaKalhana, son of Champaka, minister to King Harsha of Kashmir, wrote the Rajatarangini (‘River of Kings’) in 1148–1150 CE: about 7,800 verses in eight tarangas tracing the kings of Kashmir from the earliest times to his own day.Read →
Why it matters

It opened the last vigorous reign of the Utpala dynasty and its wars beyond the valley.

People 1

KalhanaScholar
12th century CE; Rajatarangini 1148–1150 CE

Kalhana

Historian of Kashmir, author of the Rajatarangini

Places 1

Srinagar (Pravarapura)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Srinagar (Pravarapura)

The city of Shri, Lakshmi, on the Vitasta. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini records its founding by Pravarasena II; it was the seat of Kashmir’s Hindu kings, then of sultans, Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and the Dogras.

Places near the battlefield 6

Shankaracharya Temple, SrinagarStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Shankaracharya Temple, Srinagar

A stone Shiva temple on the hill that rises about 300 metres above Srinagar and the Dal lake, linked by Kashmiri tradition with Adi Shankaracharya’s stay in the valley.

Pandrethan Shiva Temple, SrinagarStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Pandrethan Shiva Temple, Srinagar

A small, nearly complete Kashmiri stone temple standing in a spring-fed tank at Pandrethan, the site of Puranadhishthana, the old capital of Kashmir. It is one of the best-preserved temples of the valley.

Kheer Bhawani, TulmulStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Kheer Bhawani, Tulmul

The spring of Mata Ragnya Devi at Tulmul, the kuldevi of many Kashmiri Pandit families, worshipped with offerings of kheer poured into the water.

ParihasapuraRuined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Parihasapura

The city that Lalitaditya Muktapida built on a plateau above the Jhelum near Srinagar, with temples of Vishnu as Parihasakeshava and Muktakeshava and a great stupa raised by his minister. Only the platforms and broken stones are left.

Avantiswami TempleRuined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Avantiswami Temple

The Vishnu temple built by Avantivarman, founder of the Utpala dynasty, at his new town of Avantipura on the Jhelum. Its plinth, colonnade and carved gateway survive.

Payar Shiva Temple, PulwamaStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Payar Shiva Temple, Pulwama

A small complete Shiva temple of the old Kashmiri style in Payar village, built of a few huge blocks of stone, with a linga still in its sanctum. The Muslim families of the village have looked after it for generations.