The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c13.108

v1.c13.108

He was succeeded by his son Kṣemagupta, a worthless young man addicted to licentious habits and drinking, and fond of evil company. In the hands of "Vāmana and other roguish sons of Jiṣṇu" he danced "just as if he were a doll pulled by strolling players with strings." Of the disgusting revels and corruptions of his court it will be sufficient to quote only the following verse of Kalhaṇa: "Among his minions the two beggars Hari and Dhūrjaṭi were simpletons in the art of procuring, as they protected the virtue of their mothers."³ In order to kill the Dāmara Saṁgrāma, who had taken asylum in the famous Jayendravihāra, the king burnt it down and founded the temple of Kṣemagaurīśvara with its ruins. The only important incident of his reign is his marriage with Diddā, daughter of Siṁharāja, the lord of Lohara, and grand-daughter of the *Sāhi* ruler Bhīma.⁴ From this time onward the influence of the *Sāhis* and the House of Lohara gradually increased in the Kashmirian court and had important consequences on its future history. We are told that Diddā so much engrossed the mind of the king that he "became known by the humiliating appellation *Diddā-Kṣema*." The truth of this statement of Kalhaṇa is verified by the copper coins of this king with the legend *Di-Kṣema* which is no doubt a contraction of the above name. It is certainly an indication of the prominent position held by the young queen during her husband's reign. This conclusion is further strengthened by the fact that while the coins of Kṣemagupta bearing the naine of the queen "are extremely common,... the single name coin is unique."¹ In the course of a jackal hunt, the young king was shaken with fright by seeing "a flame issuing from the mouth of a howling jackal." As a consequence of this, the king contracted *lūtā* disease,² and died in A.D. 958.³