The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c13.228

v1.c13.228

Sussala utilised this interval of peace to establish the finances of his state on a more secure foundation. For this purpose he secured the services of Gauraka as his prime minister (*Sarvādhikāra*). This minister by depriving the royal servants ‘of the living they had found in numerous offices, always kept the king’s treasury full.’ The system of revenue administration and taxation established by Gauraka appears to have caused considerable suffering, and the king became unpopular by sending ‘his sordid gains’ for safety to the castle of Lohara.³ In 1117 A.D. he found himself strong enough to attack Gargacandra. After undermining his position with the assistance of the rival Ḍāmara Mallakoṣṭha, Sussala forced Gargacandra to submit. Later on, when the Ḍāmara came to his court, the king had him arrested with his sons and strangled in prison (1118 A.D). At this time Maṇidhara, the ruler of the Darads, paid a friendly visit to Kashmir.¹ Soon after this event Sussala took up the cause of Nāgapāla, who had sought his protection against his brother Somapāla, the chief of Rājapurī. Somapāla, when his friendly overtures failed, retaliated by inviting Bhikṣācāra to his court. To counteract this danger Sussala marched into Rājapurī with a large army and put Nāgapāla on the throne. But though the king stayed there for 7 months, ‘causing terror to his various enemies,’ the people of the hill state remained steadfast in their loyalty to their former chief; and when Sussala returned to Kashmir in A.D. 1119, ‘Nāgapala too followed him, having lost his throne.’² The military expenditure involved in this expedition led Sussala to increase the rigour of his taxations and reduce his expenditure. Even Gauraka was found unsuited for his duties and dismissed from his post. The king then began sending ‘into the castle of Lohara masses of gold, having made them into gold bricks (ingots).’ The result of this policy was increased discontent amongst the officials and the nobles, which after smouldering for some time burst into flame in 1120 in a great rising of the Ḍāmaras.³ In vain did the king try to overawe the barons by a reckless slaughter and imprisonment of prominent Ḍāmaras on whom he could lay his hands. The leaders of the rebellion, Pṛthvīhara and Mallakoṣṭha, after gaining some minor successes against the king, ‘gave the revolt unity and a well defined object,’ by bringing Bhikṣācāra into Kashmir. Though ‘the king exerted himself by violent efforts to check the growing ascendency of the Ḍāmara hosts, his position daily grew more insecure on account of his injudicious acts. Thus by his ungrateful and harsh conduct he drove the loyal and brave Commander-in-chief Tilaka into the enemy's arms. When in Āṣāḍha 1120 his troops were routed by Pṛthvīhara, Sussala remembering the tragic fate of Harṣa prudently sent his queens and family to the safety of the castle of Lohara. In the meantime the rebels with Bhikṣācāra at their head gradually surrounded Śrīnagara. Sussala defended his capital with great bravery. But he was harassed by the callous indifference of the citizens, by the sacred fasts of the Brahman assemblies, who by this means tried to gain control of the king's affairs, and by treachery and desertion on every side. In spite of this, the rebels hampered by dissensions in their camps, failed to penetrate the defences of the city. At last, 'when the Dāmara bands were thinking of retreat' a rebellion broke out amongst the king's own troops in the city, 'who with drawn swords blocked the doors in the royal palace' and demanded extra allowances. This new danger at last forced Sussala to decide to leave the city. Followed by 5 or 6 thousand soldiers, the king marched out of Śrīnagara 'on the 6th of the dark half of Mārgaśiras' in the year 1120 A.D. and by a judicious distribution of gold and his own presence of mind reached Lohara in safety.¹