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History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t9: Date of the defeat

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t9

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English

Date of the defeat

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From the account of Lalitāditya’s embassy to China Dr. Stein thinks that he must have subdued Yaśovarman after the date of the embassy i.e., long after A. D. 736.¹ Smith, on the other hand, definitively places the event in 745 A. D.;² but in our humble opinion the catastrophe occurred earlier in his reign. In stanzas 827-31 of S. P. Pandit’s edition of the *Gauḍavaho* we have mention of some portentous happenings, which took place on the occasion “when the corner of Yaśovarman’s eye became twisted in consequence of a momentary shaking of his (kingly) position.” This has been taken by Professor Jacobi to be a reference to Lalitāditya’s invasion; and he seems to be right considering that his (Yaśovarman’s) defeat did not entail death or dethronement. Among other portentous occurrences was the assumption by the disc of the sun when it was pierced through by the Ketu, of the form of an anklet as it were of the Lakṣmī (fortune) of the three worlds dislocated from her foot when she thrust it forth violently in anger (stanza 829). Evidently this passage alludes to an eclipse of the sun, which, according to astronomical calculations made by Prof. Jacobi, occurred and was visible at Kanauj on the 14th day of August, 733 A. D.¹ Hence this year also represents the date of the attack on Kanauj.

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¹ *Rājat.*, Trans. Introd., Vol. I, p. 89. The claim of the Kashmiri ambassador that the king of Central India, identified with Yaśovarman, was his master’s ally, would further confirm our contention that the two monarchs became friends after a trial of strength.

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² *J. R. A. S.*, 1908-9, p. 761. The date has been fixed as A. D. 740 in *Early History of India*, 4th ed., p. 392.

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¹ Gottingische Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1888, vol. II, pp. 67-68.

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