History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.4

v1.c7.4

The next country of importance is the one which Hiuen Tsang calls Tekka, the former capital of which was Śākala and a former noted king of which was Mihirakula. Both Śākala and Mihirakula are names of note in the ancient history of India but this capital Śākala was now in ruins. The new capital and the name of Tekka have not been identified. It is possible to identify Tekka, however, with the Tāk of the Chachnāma and the Tāk royal family enumerated among the 36 royal families of India. The Tāk according to Todd disappeared from Indian history owing to conversion to Mahomedanism in the 13th century A. D. The Tekka kingdom appears to have held extensive sway, as Mulasthānapura (Multan) and Parvata are said by Hiuen Tsang to have been subject to Tekka in his days. All these countries were not pre-eminently Buddhist and it may be conjectured that they were the places where old Hindu worship then flourished. Mihirakula was a persecutor of Buddhists, and at Multan there was the famous temple of the Sun worshipped by devotees throughout India. Who the Tekka king was, it would be most interesting to discover. He was the most important king of the Panjab so to speak, though as his country lay between Kashmir and Thanesar, his subordination to Harsha may be inferred.