History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c34.s8.13

v3.c34.s8.13

Vikramāditya is said to have married Chandralekhā daughter of a Śilāhāra prince of Karahātaka and Bilhaṇa describes the svayamvara of the princess. It is probably an unhistorical description; for svayamvaras or self-choice marriages were a dead institution at this time. And where Vikrama the imperial lord of the Deccan becomes a suitor, it is impossible for the bride to marry any other prince for the other princes must all be feudatories. The princess was a lady of extraordinary beauty as it is recorded by Kalhaṇa that Harsha king of Kashmir intended to invade Karṇātaka for the possession of that princess;* this is also, we think, another poetical but unreal fancy. Vikrama as usual with kings of those days had many wives and these queens had separate villages assigned to them.