The Tantrins crush Queen Sugandha’s return

01The queen and the guards

After the deaths of her son Gopalavarman and his brother, Sugandha ruled Kashmir herself for about two years, from 904. Kalhana says she lost power when she tried to choose an heir the Tantrins did not want, and they drove her out. In 914 she came back with the Ekangas, the old royal body-guard, to try to recover the throne. The Tantrins met her army, routed it, took her prisoner and had her put to death at a monastery.

02Kings for sale

For two decades after this the Tantrins were the real power in Kashmir. They set up and deposed kings according to who paid them most, and the treasury was emptied to buy their loyalty. Kalhana describes the period with open bitterness. Their hold was broken only in the 930s, when Chakravarman turned the Damaras, the landholding gentry, against them. The Damaras in turn became the great disturbing force of Kashmir for the next two centuries.

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 →