History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t8.4

c15.s2.t8.4

and that Yaśovarman was “uprooted entirely” (samūlaṃ udapāṭayat).¹ Further, we are told that “swelled with pride the king (Lalitāditya) granted the land of Kanyakubja with its villages to the (shrine of) Āditya, (which he erected) at that town of Lalitapura” (Latpor).² It thus indicates that Kanauj was annexed to the dominions of Kashmir, and its king perhaps put to death during the course of the conflict.³ But elsewhere Kalhaṇa affirms that Yaśovarman, “who had been served by Vākpatirāja, the illustrious Bhavabhūti, and other poets, (himself) became by his defeat a panegyrist of his (Lalitāditya’s) virtues.”⁴ In the face of this dubious testimony, we would, therefore, suggest that although Yaśovarman was worsted in the fight, the stubborn resistance of the Kanaujias, as is evident from the reference to the “long duration” of the struggle, deterred Lalitāditya from proceeding to extremities, and he suffered his adversary after a nominal acknowledgement of supremacy to remain on the throne. Confirmation of this view may further be had from the *Travels* of Ou-Kông, according to which Mung-ti (Muktāpīḍa) was in alliance with the ruler of Central India (Yaśovarman) and together they blocked “the five passes” leading from Tibet. Here we may also refer to a hoard of Lalitāditya’s coins discovered in the Banda district of the United Provinces.⁵ This find, it has been urged, lends support to the theory that the kingdom of Kanauj passed under the jurisdiction of Lalitāditya and his coins became current there. Such a conclusion, however, does not appear to be quite warranted. The hoard may only represent part of the treasures Lalitāditya carried for the maintenance of his forces, which, to quote the evidence of the *Rājatarangiṇī*, progressed triumphantly eastwards to Gauḍa and other regions. The army perhaps encamped near Banda for sometime, and thus left its mark in the form of these coins.