Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c7.112

c7.112

This can be clearly realized when we notice that the very idea of the election of the king appeared totally strange to the 12th century historian Kalhaṇa. He writes that when the Utpala dynasty came to an end in Kashmir in A.D. 939, one Kamalavardhana managed to get effective control of the government. Instead of crowning himself king immediately, he asked the Brāhmaṇas of the capital to elect somebody to the kingship, thinking they would naturally support his claim. Kalhaṇa then says that it was the most foolish procedure that could ever have been thought of, comparable to the conduct of a person who, not accepting the love offer of a woman of exceptional beauty coming herself to his house, infatuated and begging to be accepted, sends for her the next day to inquire whether she would come. In this particular case the Brāhmaṇas went on discussing the question for days, without coming to a decision. In the meanwhile, another claimant to the throne, Śūravarman, more forcefully pressed his claims and occupied the capital; the Brāhmaṇas then hastened to anoint him king.²