The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c13.239

v1.c13.239

Early in 1122 A.D. Bhikṣācāra returned to Kashmir with Pṛthvihara and other followers. In the subsequent struggles Sussala, after gaining some minor successes in Vijayakṣetra, was compelled to retreat towards Śrīnagara, and lost heavily while crossing the Gambhīrā (confluence of the Vitastā and Viśokā). He reached the capital with 'only the thousandth part of his army.' As the royal troops were completely destroyed by Pṛthvihara, the king was again besieged in Śrīnagara. But though Sussala lost many troops, he kept up his courage, and with the assistance of 'twenty or thirty Rājputras' from Campā, Vallāpura, and the hill-regions to the south of Kashmir, held the besieging armies at bay. It was no doubt to the bravery and devotion of these Rajput mercenaries that Sussala owed his victory over the rebels near the Gopādri (mod. Takht-i-Sulaimān), S.E. of the city (1122 A.D.).¹ After this defeat the Ḍāmaras were compelled to raise their siege, and Sussala resumed the offensive. But his success appears to have been limited. In the spring of 1123-24 Bhikṣācāra again besieged the capital, and unceasing encounters took place all round Śrīnagara. In one of these engagements, the Ḍāmaras set fire to the city, which was soon 'reduced to a heap of earth.' Still the bravery and superior tactical skill of Sussala, prevented the city from falling into the hands of the enemy, but as the foodstores of the capital had been completely consumed by fire, while outside the city the Ḍāmaras seized all the produce of the fields and blocked the roads, Śrīnagara soon fell into the grip of a terrible famine. People died by thousands and the stench produced by the decomposing corpses in the Vitastā became unbearable. The ground became, 'white with the fragments and skulls from fleshless human skeletons.'² The sufferings of the brave king were further increased at this time by the news of the death of his beloved queen Meghamañjarī. In his dejected state of mind Sussala thought of renouncing his throne, and with this object in view brought his son Jayasiṁha from Lohara and had him crowned in Āṣāḍha, 1123 A.D. But he soon grew suspicious even of his son, and kept all real power in his own hands. Fortune, however, at last appeared to smile on him. Soon after his son's coronation 'the blockade of the city, the drought, the plague, the robberies, and other troubles ceased.' The rebels were defeated at Kalyāṇapura (mod. Kalampōr in the Sukru Pargana, 74° 54' long. 33° 48' lat.), and Bhikṣācāra and his Ḍāmara supporters were thereupon compelled to retire to Śamālā (mod. Hamal district to the west of Sopur).¹ The king now formed a plan for destroying his hated enemy by getting hold of his person. For this purpose he entered into a plot with Utpala, 'the constant companion' of the powerful Ḍāmara Ṭikka. 'He asked him under promises of power and grants to kill Bhikṣācāra at Ṭikka's seat, and then Ṭikka.' But the wife of Utpala persuaded him to change his plan and form a conspiracy to kill the king himself. In spite of warnings by trusted servants, the king constantly held secret conferences with Utpala and his associates. On one of these occasions, when Sussala was unattended by guards, they approached him under the pretext of making a 'communication' and brutally killed him, in 1128 A.D. At the time of his death Sussala had only passed his 55th year.²