The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c13.35

v1.c13.35

After another century and a half (*c.* 700-855 A.D.) the Kārkoṭas were overthrown by the Utpalas. “With the accession of Avantivarman (A.D. 855-6 to 833),” the first king of the dynasty, “we reach that period of Kashmir history for which Kalhaṇa’s work presents us with a truly historical record. The use of contemporary accounts from the commencement of the Fifth Book onward becomes evident, not only from the generally sober and mattter-of-fact character of the narrative, but also from the details henceforth furnished regarding many petty events, the memory of which could not have maintained itself in popular tradition, and from the use of exact dates. The fact can scarcely be accidental that Avantivarman, the first king, the date of whose death is shown by Kalhaṇa with year, month, and day, stands at the head of a new dynastic list. It seems to indicate that records based on contemporary annals were contained among Kalhaṇa’s sources only from the commencement of the Utpala dynasty onwards.”¹ The reign of Avantivarman is remarkably free from any ambitious foreign policy or wars of aggression beyond its frontiers. But his reign is important as an era of internal peace and consolidation. Aided by his able *mantri* Śūra, he initiated a series of reforms which soon healed the wounds of misgovernment and internal troubles of the preceding reigns. One of these troubles was the growth of the power of the Dāmaras. The Dāmaras are first mentioned by Kalhaṇa in connection with the reign of Lalitāditya, who is said to have asked his successors not to leave to the villagers “more food supply than required for one year’s consumption, nor more oxen than wanted for (the tillage of) their fields. Because if they should keep more wealth, they would become in a single year very formidable Dāmaras and strong enough to neglect the commands of the king.”² Aided by the weak rule of the later Kārkoṭas, this powerful rural aristocracy was gradually growing up from the well-to-do land-holding class. Their rapacity and insubordination were permanent sources of trouble in later Kashmirian history. But even as early as this reign their land-grabbing instinct is well illustrated by the story of the Dāmara Dhanva of Lahara (mod. Lar district), who took away all the villages belonging to the shrine of Bhūteśvara. We are told by Kalhaṇa that Śūra treated him like a son, and he was so powerful that when summoned to the presence of the *mantri*, “he made the earth shake with the tramp of his foot soldiers, and did not bend his back.” The minister realised the danger to the state from the growth of this new factor in the polity, and meted out the extreme penalty of the law to the miscreant.¹ Amongst the building activities of Śūra must be mentioned the formation of a ‘fine town called Śūrapura’ (mod. Hūrᵃpōr) at the Kashmir end of the Pīr Pantsāl route, to which city he transferred the watch station (*ḍhakka*) from Kramavarta (mod. Kāmelankọth).² This minister, his wife Kāvyadevī, and his son Ratnavardhana were all devotees of Śiva, and built many temples and *maṭhas* in honour of that god.³ The king, we are told “conformed to the pleasures of his minister as (if it were that) of a deity, bore himself (outwardly) as a worshipper of Śiva, though he was (in reality) from childhood a worshipper of Viṣṇu.” He constructed the temple of Śiva Avantīśvara and made other benefactions to the shrines of Tripureśvara, Bhūteśa, and Vijayeśa.⁴ But foremost among the foundations of this reign was the town of Avantipura (mod. Vāntⁱpōr) whose ruins “rank among the most imposing monuments of ancient Kashmir architecture, and sufficiently attest the resources of their builder.”⁵