Laliaditya Muktapeeda, When Kashmiri Sword Protected India.
Kashmir has always been the crown of Mother India. From Himalayan salt to Himalayan shawl and from Himalayan apple to Himalayan saffron, this land has always served Indians the best quality of products grown in its fertile soil or manufactured by its able craftsmen.
Himalayan ranges of Kashmir prevents the cold winds of Siberia to enter in India which is the reason behind India’s adorning climate which in turn is the reason behind India’s multi-cultural society.
Even today, Kashmir is the most preferred tourist destination in India. The land of Kashmir has always been pronounced as the land of Knowledge and peace. “Sharadapeetha” Indian’s most renowned Ancient University was situated in this land in a village called Sharada which is now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Word Sharada stands for Goddess ‘Sarawaswati’ herself, it is said that Mata Saraswati the goddess of Knowledge and Intellect resides in “Sharadapeetha”.
But there was a time when Kashmir was not only known for its intellect but it was also famous for the valour of its brave sons. It was the time when fresh wave of Invaders was knocking at the door of India. Arab invaders were storming towards India after plundering the old and established empires of Egypt and Babylon. In the early 8th century Arabs were able to conquer Sindh from Raja Dahir and were also had established their footprints in western Punjab which is now Pakistan. They also had strong encampments in the city of Multan. After conquering Sindh in 712 A.D., now Arabs were looking forward in Central India. They could use Sindh and Multan as their Launchpad against other central and southern Indian Kingdoms and Chiefdoms.
India at that time was divided into multiple Kingdoms and Chiefdoms. Very few empires were there who could challenge this new wave of Invasions. Among those, one was Kannauj ruled by Yashoverman, others were Ujjain, Ruled by Nagbhatta of Pratihar Dyansty, Chalukyas of Vadami and Rashtrakutas of Manyakhet. Nagbhatt and Yashoverman were ruling in Central India while Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas were in Southern India. Empire of Sindh which was holding the western front was devastated by the Arabs in 712 A.D., now Chittore of Rajasthan was the only Kingdom which dared to challenge the Mighty Arabs.
It was a terrifying period for India when King Lalitaditya Muktapeeda was crowned over the throne of Kashmir. Different historians tell different years of his accession but the most accepted year is the year of 724 A.D.
Lalitaditya belonged to the Karkota Kayastha Dynasty founded by King Durlabhvardhana in year 626 A.D., and he was the fifth King of the Dynasty to rule Kashmir. As per the oral story, Lalitaditya had to fight on three different fronts against three different enemies. One were the Daradas of Gilgitt and Baltistan(then Patolasthan) the arch enemies of Karkotas from the period of king Durlabhvardhana. Others were the Tibbets who had an eye over the Kashmiri territories of Leh-Laddakh and third were the newly arrived Arabs who were there to swallow each and every inch of Indian Land including Kashmir.
Story says that Karkotas had alliances with the Tang Empire of China which was flourishing in that period of time. Chandrapeeda, Lalitaditya’s older brother had sent a mission to Tang Empire seeking their help against Muhammad-Bin-Kasim. Although no help came from there, but Chandrapeeda was able to beat Arabs back. He was well known for his intelligence and Valour and was loved by his people. He was murdered by Tarapeeda, his younger brother who was not as strong as him and died after ruling for four years. Hence the youngest and perhaps the greatest Muktapeeda ascended the throne as Lalitaditya.
Lalitaditya also had sent missions to Tang Court like his ancestors. Possibly they were the only support of Karkotas against the Mighty Tibetan Empire and the Turkish-Darada Kingdoms. Tang Empire was also encountering the Arabs in Central Asia hence it could help Lalitaditya against them too.
Against Daradas…
Lalitaditya was an ambitious ruler and he cannot tolerate his enemies. There is a story that he defeated an Arab expedition somewhere in Krishnaganaga valley(Neelum valley) which were sent to destroy the Saharadapeetha. He then turned his attention towards Daradas and raided their territories. He gave some hard blows to Darada forces before they surrendered in front of him.
It is also said that he offered food supplies for two lakh Chinese troops if Emperor of Tang Dynasty send them in Gilgitt-Baltistan’s territory against the Tibbets. It may be because Tibbets had an eye over Darada territories, even today we pronounce those territories as ‘Mini Tibet’ and both the Shah(King) of Daradas and Lalitaditya were not able to repulse the possible Tibetan attack without the help of Tang empire.
It seems that after defeating Daradas, Lalitaditya got alarmed for security of his newly acquired territories and hence he send messages to Tang Empire asking for their help against the Tibetan Empire. It seems it was the year 733 A.D. when Lalitaditya first defeated the Daradas.
Against Yashoverman of Kannuj:
After the demise of great King Harshwardhana(606-647A.D.) it appears that a power vacuum was installed in central India. Harsha’s empire was now divided into multiple small kingdoms mostly controlled by those Kings who or whose ancestors had worked as commanders under Harsha’s emperorship.
Pratiharas of Ujjain are one such example, although from the western most Kingdom of Vallabhi in Gujrat region to Gauda region which was the eastern most boundary of Harsha’s empire was divided by different Chiefdoms who were now Kingdoms in their own right.
Kannauj at that time was one of the most popular canters of power
and trade. It was flourishing in early 8th century and Yashoverman was ruling it when Lalitaditya was crowned in Kashmir. Yashoverman was a great warrior and as per his court poets he had conquered the land of Gaudas(Bengal Region), Kalinga(Odisha) and Dravidas(South India) although some historian says that these victories are the exaggerated by Yashoverman’s court poet Vakpati while some believe that he campaigned in those regions as an ally to Lalitaditya after getting defeated by him.
Yashoverman and Lalitaditya both were neighbours after Trigarta Kingdom surrendered its sovereignty to Karkotas expanding Lalitaditya’s empire to Punjab and Himachal while Yashovarman’s northern boundries were touching the regions of lower Punjab and modern Hariyana. There are tales too that once they both were allies against Tibetan empire or possibly Yashoverman became an ally of Lalitaditya after he subjugated his territories.
One thing which seems clear that both these kings had ambitions of Digvijay (Ruling whole of India) and this ambition may was the reason behind that Great War which occurred between them in the middle of the 8th century. Lalitaditya tried to have a peace treaty with Yashoverman but his Minister Mitra Sharma(Possible name) denied the conditions levied by Yashoverman’s minister over Kashmir.
The war ended with a decisive victory of Kashmir and Yashoverman had to finally surrender his weapons to Lalitaditya. Lalitaditya re-established Yashoverman over the Kannauj throne as his vessel. After that he led his forces towards the east parallel to River Ganga and sacked Gauda(Bangla) and then Kalinga(Odisha) region.
Ujjain
Kingdom of Ujjain was then ruled by King Nagbhatt. Kingdom of Ujjain was in the hit list of Arabs who had secured strong positions in Sindh after defeating raja Dahir. Lalitaditya visited the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain and offered his tribute to Mahakal(God Shiva), Nagbhatt treated him respectfully and possibilities are that Lalitaditya’s campaign ended with friendly engagement and discussion between him and Nagbhatt.
Nagbhatt was instrumental in creating an Indian alliance of Rashtrakutas-Pratiharas-Chalukyas and Guhilas against the Invading Arabs. Kashmiri Historian Kalhana, who wrote Rajtarangini a book which provides a list of Dynasties and Kings who ruled Kashmir from the very early period of time. (Probably from the Time of Pauranic King Neel who was a son of Vaidik Sage Kashyap and is considered as the first ruler of Kashmir) Kalhana describe in his book that all those southern empires like Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas were subjugated by Lalitaditya.
He talks about queen of Ratta who was ruling Dakshinapath at that time surrendered to Lalitaditya. Historians define Ratta as Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakhet and Queen of Ratta as Queen Bhavangana who was ruling Manyakhet after the demise of her husband Indra. Although Queen Bhavangana’s son Dantidurga was crowned on the throne in year 735 A.D., hence it seems that Lalitaditya’s campaign over Manyakhet occurred somewhere between 733 A.D. and 735 A.D..
Queen Bhavangana was a Chalukya princes before her marriage to Indra, hence possibilities are that Vikramaditya, the then King of Chalukyas(Of Vadami) joined Lalitaditya with Rashtrakutas. Lalitaditya’s successful campaigns in South may’ve helped Nagbhatt to form or strengthen his alliance against the Invading Arabs. Possibly Lalitaditya’s intervention in the central and southern politics strengthen the motivation of Indian Empires to route the invaders.
Or probably he became the overlord of that area and ordered his vessels to come and unite against the Arabs.
Kathiyawad and Mewar
After successful campaigns in south Lalitaditya marched north towards the western Kingdoms of India where he defeated the Vallabhi king and Karka, the King of Lata region (Kathiyawad). It is said that Karka or Kayya of Lata travelled to Kashmir and built a temple there. May be he was taken to Kashmir as a political prisoner after getting defeated by Lalitaditya.
After Defeating Karka, Lalitaditya marched towards Rajputana. A story is told in oral tradition that when Lalitaditya was about to enter Rajputana, he found a Rajput commander who was severely wounded, he told him that he suggested his King to surrender to Lalitaditya but he didn’t considered his advice and punished him, he somehow managed to escape from there. That commander first won Lalitaditya’s trust and then misled his army into the desert (Probably the desert of Thar).
Later he disclosed the truth that he had wounded himself and came to Lalitaditya so that he can mislead him in the desert. Kashmiri soldiers were not able to bear that kind of climate and were started dying due to the lack of food and water.
But finally Lalitaditya was able to calculate the right direction and he actually found a source of water in that desert. One day he saw a bunch of green grass in the desert, he holds his spear tight and threw it towards that bunch of grass, he threw it with all his might, when he removed his spear, he found wet soil on its blade. He ordered his soldiers to dig at that place and after a few meters of digging they found clean and sweet water, it also gave him a sign that they are close to some village or town.
After successfully getting out of the desert he met a Rajput king who surrendered in front of him. Lalitaditya treated him respectfully and returned his crown to him, it is a historical belief that Lalitaditya also had met the Legendry Bappa Rawal or King Kalbhoj of Chittore. Possibly till that time Rawal Kalbhoj had already repulsed an Arab attack launched by Junaid. It is possible that Lalitaditya played an important role in the alliance of Nagbhatt of Ujjain, Vikramaditya of Vadami and Kalbhoj of Mewar. After successful campaigns in Rajputana, Lalitaditya returned to Kashmir.
Against Turushkas(Turks):
Most historians believe that Kashmir alone did not have such manpower which could conquer the whole of India as well as the Turkish regions. But Karkota Empire was not just limited to the Valley, parts of Jammu and Himachal were also annexed by them. Possibly the Rajputs of Jammu and Himachal were also campaigning with Lalitaditya and possibly the warriors of surrounding kingdoms like Kabul Shahis and western Punjab regions were too with him in his army, although we don’t have any record of Lalitaditya’s army, its formation, techniques and its soldier’s caste-regions but there is a possibility that warriors from the surrounding areas may have joined his forces.
History writers also say that Lalitaditya campaigned in the north of Kashmir (Against Turks) as a vessel of Tang Empire. Yes he had offered his support to Tang Soldiers and possibilities are that he provided logistic supports to Tang army during the Tibetan Invasion of Kashmir in 747 A.D. and he repulsed that attack with the help of Tang forces. But Tang records like new book of Tang which thoroughly describes the events occurred in empire do not describe any such thing about Lalitaditya.
They tells that Lalitaditya sent his missions to them but after 751 A.D. no records are there which could tell us that Lalitaditya had assisted Tang Empire to conquer any territory.
The other possibility is that when in year 751 A.D., Tang Empire lost control in central Asian regions after losing the battle of Talas against Arabs and when Arabs themselves indulged into a civil war rebelled by Abu-Muslim, this provided an opportunity to Lalitaditya to move north and subjugate the territories of different Turkish tribes.
As per that story, he led his army towards Hindukush-Pamir region and Defeated Daradas, Kambhojas and Turks there. Then he further marched towards Bukhara and defeated the Mummuni (possibly reference to Muslims) an Arab governor of Bukhara and subjugated that land too. Kalhana describe Lalitaditya’s victory over Mummuni while Al-Baruni a famous Persian scholar and historian who visited Kashmir in 11th century also writes in his book that an Arab governor Momin was defeated by a Kashmiri king Mutthai (Driven from Muktapeeda, Lalitaditya’s original name).
If these records are true then possibilities are that once Lalitaditya use to control a large part of Famous Silk Road and both Uttarapath and Dakshinapath of India. All these three routes were the lifeline of Indian and Asian trade, those who could control them could drive tremendous amount of wealth for their Empires and for themselves.
Demise:
As per Al-Baruni, Kashmiris use to call Lalitaditya the ‘Universal Monarch’. He also had given a last blow to Arabs after that they decided to quit their campaigns against India. Although more research is needed on this issue but one thing is clear that if Lalitaditya had controlled such a vast territory in India then he was the reason behind the successful Indian Alliance against Arabs and India’s decisive victory against the Invaders.
Although it’s a fact that Lalitaditya’s Empire was not structured as the Mauryan or Mughal Empires were, he never subjugated the territory, he always sent the crown back to the defeated King. He crowned Yashoverman again over the throne of Kannauj after giving him a severe blow, also his treaties with Pratiharas or Rashtrakutas seems to be more like a friendly alliance than the imposition of his rule over them.
Hence his empire was not same in character as Mauryan or Mughal Empire but still if we believe the sources we have then we’ll find an Empire bigger than the Kingdoms of Ashoka and Akbar combined, its borders stretched from Caspian sea in the north to Kaveri basin in the south and from Gujrat in the west to Bengal in the east.
Another important thing is that the life of his empire was very short. Lalitaditya died in 760 A.D. and if we believe that he started his northern campaigns against Turks in 751 A.D. then we can say that his empire last hardly for ten years while his sovereignty over other Indian Kingdom last for about 20 years. After his death his elder son Kavalyapeeda maintained the boundaries of his empire for another one year but after his demise, the younger son Vajraditya was not able to hold the territories which Lalitaditya had conquered.
Story is that Lalitaditya died in an expedition somewhere north of the Hindu-Kush Mountains. One story says that when after beating Arabs in Lohkot (may be the Lohkot of Kashmir or the modern Lahore region), his ministers asked him to return to Kashmir, But he denied their request and sent a letter to his Minister Chakun describing how his empire should run, he left from there to HinduKush region and died in a cyclone there, that’s the one story. The other story says that he killed himself after losing his soldiers in cyclone while another lesser known story is that he took Sanyas after beating the Arabs and Conquering the Turks and went to Himalayan mountains and never came back.
A Great Builder:
Other than being a tremendous horse rider and a fearsome swordfighter, Lalitaditya was a great Builder too. He constructed a whole new city and named it ‘Parihaspur’ which literary means ‘The City of Happiness’ its ruins are still there in Kashmir about 22 K.M. north of Srinagar. Parihaspura was his capital at that time.
Other than Parihaspura he constructed other town like ‘Sunishchitpura’ when he decided to conquer the world, Phala-Pura which as per M.A. Stain is located near Parihaspura, Town of Lokpunya which is found near the modern Larikpur, the town of Lalitpura which was built by his architect when he was campaigning in central and southern India, but this angered Lalitaditya, the town is identified in modern Lethipura or Latpore town. He also Constructed the town of Pranotsa when he finally pledge (took a Pran) to leave. (As per the lesser known story, he left the Kingdom after taking sanyas). Pranotsa is identified as the modern Poonch town.
He also constructed many temples and shrines during his rule, Kalhana state that he, his queens and his minister constructed many shrines and temples in the valley. Most famous of them was the ‘Marthanda Temple’, it was a sun temple and its ruins are still there in Anantnag district of Kashmir. That temple was finally destroyed by ‘Sikandar Butshikan’ of Shamshuddin dynasty in early 15th century.
Historical Views On Lalitaditya:
There are confusions regarding Lalitaditya’s vast empire. As I wrote earlier that his empire was not same in character as the Mauryan or Mughal Empires, he never subjugated or installed his own representatives in the defeated Kingdoms. His empire was actually a group of independent Indian Kings who were free to rule their states recognising his supremacy. Historians believe his victory over Kannauj as a fact although Historian Shyam Manohar Mishra says that Yashoverman soon became free as Lalitaditya engaged in other conflicts in north. While historian ‘Shailendra Nath Sen’ writes in his book ‘Ancient Indian History and Civilisation’ that Lalitaditya’s and Yashoverman were once united against Tibbets and Arabs and Lalitadtitya had also defeated the Tibbets on his own (without any Chinese support), later he conquered Kannauj, Gauda and Deccen regions and “despite the lack of corroborative evidences, Lalitaditya’s conquests are by no means insignificant. For centuries peoples of Kashmir hailed him as ‘Universal Monarch’,”.
Historian M.A. stein believe that Lalitaditya’s defeat over Yashoverman was a fact but he discard his victories over eastern and southern Indian Kingdoms saying that Kashmir didn’t have such manpower and resources to conquer the country. While Art Historian ‘Hermann Goetz’ believes in Lalitaditya’s victories as described by Kalhana, he counters M.A. Stein’s theory saying that Lalitaditya defeated Indian Kingdoms because he had support of Chinese weaponry and the contemporary Indian Kingdoms were weakened after Arab Invasions.
Hermann Goetz recognise Lalitaditya’s victory over Hindukush-Pamir region while historian ‘Tansen Sen’ rejects his theory saying no contemporary proves are available regarding Lalitaditya’s march in the Hindukush-Pamir region, there are no records of his march either in Tang or Tibetan books, nor it is recorded by the monks of Lalitaditya’s time. But here we must note that Al-Baruni writes about Kashmiri king Mutthai’s victory over Bukhara, Mutthai’s victory over Turks was celebrated in Kashmir every year on the 2nd day of Chaitra month as per the Hindu calendar.
Above records clearly states that there is a tire need to research about Lalitaditya’s empire as well as the other contemporary Kingdoms of that era. Three things are clear, First is that Lalitaditya’s empire was not same in character like other great Indian empires were (Mughals and Mauryas, also Guptas and Harshwardha’s empire too). Second, his empire’s lifespan was very short hence it wasn’t able to produce the kind of records which were produced by Mughals and other great Indian empires, Third, An Indian alliance had won a decisive victory against the Invading Arabs, was there any role of Lalitaditya in forming that alliance, Despite fighting against them on his own resources.
Full truth will come after thorough research but whatever the current records now we have, we can say ‘There was a Kashmiri Emperor who had established his territorial supremacy to such a vast extent which no Indian king was able to achieve. Unfortunately his empire had a very short lifespan hence we do not believe in its existence’.
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