History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.58

v1.c14.58

Sir V. Smith observes in his history, "During his reign (Śankaravarman's 883-902 A. D.) the last of the Turki Shahi kings, desendants of Kanishka was overthrown by the Brahmin Lalliya (p. 373 V. S. 3rd Edn.) Lalliya undoubtedly founded a dynasty but the dynasty he supplanted was not a Turki dynasty founded by Kanishka. (The Pālas appear to be the descendants of Toramāna son of Lalliya. They seem to be Brahmins from the Rājatarangini also, but their daughters were indiscriminately given. One grand daughter Diddā was married to Kshemagupta; another was married to Tunga's son, and another to the Lohara king). For the Kshatriya dynasty noticed by Hiuen Tsang was not descended from Kanishka as Sir V. Smith holds. The Kanishka family no doubt reigned in Gāndhāra at Purushapura or Peshawar where his famous Stūpa existed for a long time. But this family was overthrown already in Hiuen Tsang's time as mentioned by him, Gāndhāra being stated by him as reduced to subjection by the Kshatriya king of Kabul. It may be surmised that this Kshatriya dynasty of Kabul terminated sometime before 883 and a Brahmin dynasty came into its place of which Lalliya was probably the founder and which had marriage relations with Kashmir kings. We will discuss the question whether the dynasty overthrown by Lalliya was Turki as Alberuni thinks or Kshatriya as Hiuen Tsang describes in a separate note.