History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.3

v1.c7.3

To commence from the extreme north-west we have first to notice the country of Kapiśa (Kabul) the king of which was a Kshatriya and a Buddhist. Who this king was we are unable to ascertain, but he held under subjection the adjoining kingdoms of Lampāk, Nagara and Gāndhāra, all beyond the Indus. The ruling family in Gāndhāra is said by Hiuen Tsang to have been destroyed and the country and the capital were in ruins. Probably the Huns who ruled in this country in the days of Harsha's father were, after their defeat by him, conquered by Kapiśa. The next important kingdom mentioned beyond the Indus and along the Suvastu (Swat) was Udyāna or modern Swat, a stronghold of Buddhism even in the days of Hiuen Tsang. Crossing the Indus, the third important kingdom then was that of Kashmir which held under its sway the three minor kingdoms of Taxila, Sinhapura and Uraśa. The king of Kashmir, at this time, was Durlabhavardhana who according to the Rājataranginī inaugurated the Karkota dynasty in Kashmir. Hiuen Tsang also notices that the kings of Kashmir were protected by a dragon. According to Kalhana, this king was a son-in-law of the last king of the Gonardīya dynasty, named Bālāditya. He is said by Kalhana to have come to the throne in 3677 of the Laukika era or 601 A. D. and to have ruled for 36 years, which makes him a contemporary of Harsha almost from beginning to end. The dynasty founded by him was called the Karkota dynasty, Karkota being the name of a dragon by whose favour he was supposed to have risen to importance. He established his sway over the northern portion of the Panjab as well as certain hill states adjoining Kashmir and was thus a powerful king. Probably it was he who, in the difficult Himalayas, was made to acknowledge the nominal suzerainty of Harsha and compelled to pay tribute as mentioned by Bāna. The people of Kashmir as described by Hiuen Tsang were then exactly what they are at present, handsome and fond of learning, but strangely enough Hiuen Tsang describes them as deceitful.