Rajatarangini 1

RajataranginiRjatarangi (Rjataragi "The River of Kings") is a metrical historical chronicle of north-western Indiansubcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir, written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri Brahman Kalhaa in 12th centuryCE.[1]

The work generally records the heritage of Kashmir, but 120 verses of Rjatarangi describe the misrule prevailingin Kashmir during the reign of King Kalash, son of King Ananta Deva of Kashmir. Although the earlier books areinaccurate in their chronology, they still provide an invaluable source of information about early Kashmir and itsneighbors in the north western parts of the Indian subcontinent, and are widely referenced by later historians andethnographers.

Context

The Kashmir region (Kashmir valley is left of the centre of the map - seeenlargement)

The Rajatarangini was written in Sanskrit byKalhana, who was a Kashmiri Brahmin. TheRajataringini provides the earliest source onKashmir that can be labeled as a "historical"text on this region. The broad valley ofKashmir, also spelled Cashmere[2] is almostcompletely surrounded by the GreatHimalayas and the Pir Panjal range.

Kalhana states that the valley of Kashmirwas formerly a lake. This was drained bythe great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son ofMarichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gapin the hills at Baramulla, derived fromSanskrit (Boar's Molar), (Varaha)meaning Boar + (Mula) meaning deep orroot.

Kalhana and his philosophy

Kalhana () (c. 12th century CE) aKashmiri Brahmin was the author ofRajatarangini, and is regarded as Kashmir'sfirst historian.Wikipedia:Disputed statementIn fact, his translator Aurel Stein expressedthe view that his was the only true Sanskrit history. Little is known about him except from what he tells us abouthimself in the opening verses of his book. His father Champaka was the minister (Lord of the Gate) in Harsha ofKashmir's court.

Kalhana in his opening Taranga of Rajatarangini presents his views on how history ought to be written. From Stein'stranslation: Verse 7. Fairness: That noble-minded author is alone worthy of praise whose word, like that of a judge, keeps free

from love or hatred in relating the facts of the past. Verse 11. Cite earlier authors: The oldest extensive works containing the royal chronicles [of Kashmir] have

become fragmentary in consequence of [the appearance of] Suvrata's composition, who condensed them in order

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that (their substance) might be easily remembered. Verse 12. Suvrata's poem, though it has obtained celebrity, does not show dexterity in the exposition of the

subject-matter, as it is rendered troublesome [reading] by misplaced learning. Verse 13. Owing to a certain want of care, there is not a single part in Ksemendra's "List of Kings" (Nrpavali) free

from mistakes, though it is the work of a poet. Verse 14. Eleven works of former scholars containing the chronicles of the kings, I have inspected, as well as the

[Purana containing the] opinions of the sage Nila. Verse 15. By looking at the inscriptions recording the consecretations of temples and grants by former kings, at

laudatory inscriptions and at written works, the trouble arising from many errors has been overcome.Despite these stated principles, and despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, it must beaccepted that his history was far from accurate. In the first three books, there is little evidence of authenticity andserious inconsistencies. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years. Toromanu is clearly the Huna king ofthat name, but his father Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier.[3] It is known, however, that Mihirakula wasthe son of Toramana. The chronicles only start to align with other evidence by book IV.

Structure of RajataranginiThe author of the Rajatarangini history chronicles the rulers of the valley from earliest times, from the epic period ofthe Mahbhrata to the reign of Sangrama Deva (c.1006 CE), before the Muslim era. The list of kings goes back tothe 19th century BCE.[4] Some of the kings and dynasties can be identified with inscriptions and the histories of theempires that periodically included the Kashmir valley, but for long periods the Rajatarangini is the only source.The work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided into eight books called Tarangas (waves).Kalhaas account of Kashmir begins with the legendary reign of Gonarda, who was contemporary to Yudhisthira ofthe Mahbhrata, but the recorded history of Kashmir, as retold by Kalhaa begins from the period of the Mauryas.Kalhaas account also states that the city of Srinagar was founded by the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, and thatBuddhism reached the Kashmir valley during this period. From there, Buddhism spread to several other adjoiningregions including Central Asia, Tibet and China.

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The dynasties

Kushan territories and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka(127147 CE)

The kings of Kashmir described in theRjatarangi can be roughly grouped intodynasties as in the table below.

Notes in parentheses refer to a book and verse.Thus (IV.678) is Book IV verse 678.

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Lands of the Kushanshas (Indo-Sassanian) and Hunas (Kushano-Hepthalites) in565 AD

Gonanda I The Rajatarangini (I.59) lists Gonanda I as the first king of Kashmir, a relative of Jarasasamdha of Magadh.

Lost andUnknownkings

Skipping over "lost kings" we come to Lava of an unknown family. After his family, Godhara of another family ruled (I.95).

Mauryas The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India, founded byChandragupta Maurya in Magadha, in 322 BCE. His grandson Ashoka the Great (273-232 BCE) built many stupas in Kashmir, andwas succeeded by his son Jalauka.

Kushanas After a Damodara ("of Asoka's kula or another"), we have Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka (127147 CE) of the Bactrian KushanEmpire.

(Note the confusion of dates in this and the following sections. Kalhana appears to made little attempt to determine the actual datesand sequence of rule of the kings and dynasties he recorded)

Gonandiya After an Abhimanyu, we come to the main Gonandiya dynasty, founded by Gonanda III. He was (I.191) the first of his race.Nothing is known about his origin. His family ruled for many generations.

Aryaraja andothers

Eventually a Pratapaditya, a relative of Vikrmaditya (not the Shakari) became king (II.6). After a couple of generations a Vijayafrom another family took the throne (II.62).

His son Jayendra was followed by Samdhimati-Aryaraja (34 BCE-17 CE) who had the soul of Jayendra's minister Sandhimati.[5]

Kalhana says that Samdhimat Aryaraja used to spend the most delightful Kashmir summer in worshiping a lingam formed ofsnow/ice in the regions above the forests (II.138). This too appears to be a reference to the ice lingam at Amarnath.

Huna Kalhana describes the rules of Toramana and Mihirakula (510-542 CE), but does not mention that these were Huna people: this isknown from other sources.[6]

Gonandiyaagain

After the Huna, Meghavahana of the Gonandiya family was brought back from Gandhara. His family ruled for a few generations.Meghavahana was a devout Buddhist and prohibited animal slaughter in his domain.

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Karkotadynasty(625-1003CE)

Gonandiya Baladitya made his officer in charge of fodder, Durlabhavardhana (III.489) his son-in-law because he was handsome.Lalitaditya Muktapida (724-760 CE) of this dynasty created an empire based on Kashmir and covering most of North western Indiaand Central Asia.

(With his account of the Karkota dynasty, relatively recent at the time he wrote his chronicles, Kalhana's information becomesmore consistent with other sources.)

Kalhana relates that Laliditya Muktapida invaded the tribes of the north and after defeating the Kambojas, he immediately faced theTusharas. The Tusharas did not give a fight but fled to the mountain ranges leaving their horses in the battle field. Then Lalitaditiyameets the Bhauttas in Baltistan in western Tibet north of Kashmir, then the Dardas in Karakoram/Himalaya, the Valukambudhi andthen he encounters Strirajya, the Uttarakurus and the Pragjyotisha respectively (IV.165-175).

Utpala In the Karkota family, Lalitapida had a concubine, a daughter of a Kalyapala (IV.678). Her son was Chippatajayapida. The youngChippatajayapida was advised by his maternal uncle Utpalaka or Utpala (IV.679). Eventually the Karkota dynasty ended and agrandson of Utpala became king.

Kutumbi After the Utpala dynasty, a Yashaskara became king (V.469). He was a great-grandson of a Viradeva, a Kutumbi (V.469). Heremaybe Kutumbi = kunabi (as in kurmis of UP and Kunbi of Gujarat/Maharastra). He was the son of a treasurer of KarkotaShamkaravarman. Kalhana describes Shamkaravarman (883902) thus (Stein's trans.): "This [king], who did not speak thelanguage of the gods but used vulgar speech fit for drunkards, showed that he was descended from a family of spirit-distillers".This refers to the fact that the power had passed to the brothers of a queen, who was born in a family of spirit-distillers.[7]

Divira After a young son of Yashaskara, Pravaragupta, a Divira (clerk), became king. His son Kshemagupta married Didda, daughter ofSimharaja of Lohara. After ruling indirectly and directly, Didda (980-1003 CE) placed Samgramaraja, son of her brother on thethrone, starting the Lohara dynasty.

Lohara The Lohara family was founded by a Nara of Darvabhisara (IV.712). He was a vyavahari (perhaps merchant) who along withothers who owned villages like him had set up little kingdoms during the last days of Karkotas. The Loharas ruled for manygenerations. The author Kalhana was a son of a minister of Harsha of this family.

EvaluationKalhana lived in a time of political turmoil in Kashmir, at that time a brilliant center of civilization in a sea ofbarbarism. Kalhana was an educated and sophisticated Sanskrit scholar, well-connected in the highest politicalcircles. His writing is full of literary devices and allusions, concealed by his unique and elegant style. Kalhana was apoet.[8] The Rajataringini is a Sanskrit account of the various monarchies of Kashmir, prior to the advent of Islam.Like the Shahnameh is to Persia, the Rajataringini is to Kashmir.

TranslationsRajatarangini was translated into Persian by Zain-ul-Abidin order.There are four English translations of Rjatarangi by: Ranjit Sitaram Pandit Horace Hayman Wilson, secretary of The Asiatic Society of Bengal in the early 19th century, and the first English

translator of the Rajataragini. Jogesh Chandra Dutt in the late 19th century. Aurel Stein, done in the early 20th century, in 3 volumes - the most comprehensive. Gopikrishna Shastri (Ujjain) also translated the work into Hindi.

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Television serialA television series based on Rajatirangini named "Meeras" was begun in 1986 in Doordarshan Srinagar.Another television serial based on this work has been completed by National Award winning director, Jyoti Sarup.The serial will be aired on Doordarshan in 2006.Wikipedia:Please clarify

Footnotes[1] (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ EBchecked/ topic/ 490128/ Rajatarangini) "Rajatarangini." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia

Britannica Online. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2011.[2] "Kashmir." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.[3] A history of Sanskrit literature by Arthur Berriedale Keith, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1993; ISBN 81-208-0979-3, ISBN 978-81-208-0979-6[4] (http:/ / koenraadelst. bharatvani. org/ ) Koenraad Elst: Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate 1999[5] Kalhana's Rajatarangini 2001 - Page 81 "... son Jayendra, consists merely of a fanciful legend spun out in great detail, relating how the pious

and wise minister Samdhimati, whom the wicked king had cruelly put to death was miraculously restored to life by the power of witches...Samdhimati-Aryaraja who seems to have figured in Kashmir tradition as the beau ideal of a royal devotee, ...

[6] The White Huns - The Hephthalites (http:/ / www. silk-road. com/ artl/ heph. shtml)[7][7] Termination of spoken Sanskrit#Evidence from ''Rajatarangini''[8][8] Kalhana - Makers of Indian Literature. IDE087 by Somnath Dhar Paperback (Edition: 1998)

References List of topics on the land and the people of Jammu and Kashmir from a post by Y.K. Malaiya. Used with

permission Talk on the Rajatarangini at the Library of Congress by Chitralekha Zutshi 1:04:51 (http:/ / www. loc. gov/

today/ cyberlc/ feature_wdesc. php?rec=4351|Webcast:) K. N. Dhar on Kalhana (http:/ / www. koausa. org/ Glimpses/ Kalhana. html) Culture and Political History of Kashmir: Medieval Kashmir By Prithivi Nath Kaul Bamzai, 1994 ISBN

81-85880-31-X, 9788185880310

RajataranginiContextKalhana and his philosophyStructure of RajataranginiThe dynastiesEvaluationTranslationsTelevision serialFootnotesReferences

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