Gonanda dynasty of Kashmir (Gonanda dynasty II) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 25 CE–c. 625 CE | |||||||||||||
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| Common languages | Sanskrit | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Pre Classical India | ||||||||||||
• Established | c. 25 CE | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 625 CE | ||||||||||||
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The Second Gonanda dynasty (or Restored Gonanda dynasty), was a Kashmiri Hindu dynasty. According to Kalhana, this dynasty ruled Kashmir just before the Karkotas. [2] [3]
No contemporary literature exists.
The sole mentions are retrieved from the third book of Rajatarangini , an 11th-century work by Kalhana, which aimed to sketch an outline of Kashmir's history since ancient times, and did discuss the Karkota dynasty in depth. [4] [5] [lower-alpha 1] Kalhana claimed to have depended on a variety of sources — earlier historical works, dynastic genealogies, inscriptions, coins and Puranas. [6]
Several coins bearing names roughly consistent with the names of the Gonanda rulers — Śrī Meghamah (prob. king Meghavahana), Śrī Pravarasenah (King Pravarasena), Śrī Tuysīna (prob. King Tunjina), and Śrī Toramaņa (Toramana) — have been recently discovered. [7] These coins are quite rare, made of copper, silver, or debased gold, and generally follow Kushan and Kidarite designs. [7]
They show on the obverse a standing Shiva figures, variously accompanied by animals or Gana attendants, with the name of the king in the Brahmi script. [7] On the reverse, the Goddess Ardoxsho or Sri Lakshmi appears seated, with a Kidara monogram to left, and Jaya in Brahmi to right. [7]
The third book of the Rajatarangini , the last Gonanda dynasty of Kashmir ruled for about 590 years, until the establishment of the Karkota dynasty. [9] However the chronology is widely deemed to be faulty and on cross-vetting with coins and inscriptions from outside Kashmir, the names of some of the Gonanda rulers are found to roughly correspond with the Alchon Huns, who ruled hundreds of years later than the time-frame assigned by Kalhana. [10] [11] In Kalhana's narrative, names of some rulers are reshuffled and/or repeated multiple times across the first and third book, some stories are retrofitted and recycled, some reigns are impossibly long, and some rulers are telescoped into the past. [12]
This dynasty was of Kashmiri origin, and around late 400 ce this dynasty was influenced by Kiderites and Alkhon Huns or Huna people,the Huna princes did marriages with members of this dynasty, that's how it was established.according to some theories their founder Meghavahana is a descendent of Great Kushan king Kanishka from maternal line and Huna king Toramana from Paternal line.
This sections gives a literal description of the content of the third book in Rajatarngini. Efforts by historians to probe into individual kings are mentioned.
Meghavahana was the son of Yudhisthira I's great-grandson, who had been granted asylum by Gopaditya, the king of Gandhara. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 34 years. Meghavahana had been selected the husband of a Vaishnavite princess at a Swayamvara in another kingdom. The ministers of Kashmir brought him to Kashmir after San dhimati proved to be an unwilling king. Meghavahana banned animal slaughter and compensated those who earned their living through hunting. He patrnozed Brahmins, and set up a monastery. His queens built Buddhist viharas and monasteries. He subdued kings in regions as far as Sinhala Kingdom, forcing them to abandon animal slaughter.
Son of Meghavahana. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 30 years.
Son of Shreshtasena, assisted by his brother and co-regent Toramana. The king imprisoned Toramana, when the latter stuck royal coins in his own name. Toramana's son Pravarasena, who had been brought up in secrecy by his mother Anjana, freed him. Hiranya died childless. Several coins of a king named Toramana have been found in the Kashmir region. This king is identified by some with Huna ruler Toramana, although his successor Mihirakula is placed much earlier by Kalhana. [13] Kalhana assigns a regnal span of about 30 years.
Son of Pravarasena I, Vice-king of Hiranya. [7] Kalhana assigns a regnal span of years.
According to Kalhana, the emperor Vikramditya (alias Harsha) of Ujjayini defeated the Shakas, and made his friend and poet Matrigupta the ruler of Kashmir. After Vikramaditya's death, Matrigupta abdicated the throne in favour of Pravarasena. According to D. C. Sircar, Kalhana has confused the legendary Vikramaditya of Ujjain with the Vardhana Emperor Harsha (c. 606-47 CE). [14] The latter is identified with Shiladitya mentioned in Xuanzang's account. However, according to M. A. Stein, Kalhana's Vikramaditya is another Shiladitya mentioned in Xuanzang's account: a king of Malwa around 580 CE. [15] Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 4 years and 9 months.
Historical evidence suggests that a king named Pravarasena ruled Kashmir in the 6th century CE. [13] According to Kalhana, Pravarasena subdued many other kings, in lands as far as Saurashtra. He restored the rule of Vikramaditya's son Pratapshila (alias Shiladitya), who had been expelled from Ujjain by his enemies. Pratapshila agreed to be a vassal of Pravarasena after initial resistance. He founded a city called Pravarapura, which is identified by later historians as the modern city of Srinagar on the basis topographical details. [16] Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 60 years.
Son of Pravarasena II. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 39 years and 8 months.
Son of Yudhishthira II and Padmavati. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 13 years.
Younger brother of Narendraditya. His queen Ranarambha was an incarnation of Bhramaravasini. The Chola king Ratisena had found her among the waves, during an ocean worship ritual. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 300 years.
Son of Ranaditya. Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 42 years.
Younger brother of Vikramaditya. He subdued several enemies. Baladitya (apparently) had no male heir but a daughter Anaṅgalekhā and did not wish his territory to be annexed by in-laws. [17] [9] To avert such a possibility he married her to Durlabhavardhana, a low-caste employee having no royal lineage. [9] However, after Baladitya's death, Durlabhavardhana ascended to the throne with help from a minister, and claimed descent from the mythical Naga king Karkotaka, establishing the Karkota Dynasty. [18] [19] [20] [21] [9]
This view is accepted by Witzel. [22] Kalhana assigns a regnal span of 36 years and 8 months.
Kalhana was the author of Rajatarangini, an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is Mark Aurel Stein. Robin Donkin has argued that with the exception of Kalhana, "there are no [native Indian] literary works with a developed sense of chronology, or indeed much sense of place, before the thirteenth century".
Lalitaditya alias Muktapida was a monarch belonging to the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir region in the Indian subcontinent.
Rājataraṅgiṇī is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. The work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided between eight books called tarangas ("waves").
Khasas were an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe and a late Janapada kingdom from Himalayan regions of northern Indian subcontinent mentioned in the various historical Indian inscriptions and ancient Indian Hindu and Tibetan literatures. European sources described the Khasa tribe living in the Northwest Himalayas and the Roman geographer Pliny The Elder specifically described them as "Indian people". They were reported to have lived around Gandhara, Trigarta and Madra Kingdom as per the Mahabharata.
Buddhism was an important part of the classical Kashmiri culture, as is reflected in the Nilamata Purana and Kalhana's Rajatarangini. Buddhism is generally believed to have become dominant in Kashmir in the time of Emperor Ashoka, although it was widespread there long before his time, enjoying the patronage not only of Buddhist rulers but of Hindu rulers too. From Kashmir, it spread to the neighbouring Ladakh, Tibet and China proper. Accounts of patronage of Buddhism by the rulers of Kashmir are found in the Rajatarangini and also in the accounts of three Chinese visitors to Kashmir during 630-760 AD.
Didda, also known as The Catherine of Kashmir, was the ruler of Kashmir from 980 CE to 1003 CE. She first acted as regent for her son and various grandsons from 958 CE to 980 CE, and from 980 CE as sole ruler and monarch. Most knowledge relating to her is obtained from the Rajatarangini, a work written by Kalhana in the twelfth century.
Sugandha was the ruler of Kashmir in the northern Indian subcontinent during the 10th century.
Toramana also called Toramana Shahi Jauvla was a king of the Alchon Huns who ruled in northern India in the late 5th and the early 6th century CE. Toramana consolidated the Hephthalite power in Punjab, and conquered northern and central India including Eran in Madhya Pradesh. Toramana used the title "Great King of Kings", equivalent to "Emperor", in his inscriptions, such as the Eran boar inscription.
Meghavahana was ruler and founder of second Gonanda dynasty of Kashmir during middle of first millennium CE. Meghavahana was 80th ruler of the Gonanda line of rulers, he was followed by 81st ruler Pravarasena.
Aryaraja was a king of Kashmir who features in Rajatarangini, a legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE.
Parihaspora or Parihaspur or Paraspore or Paraspur was a small town 22 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley. It was built on a plateau above the Jhelum River. It was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (695–731) and served as the capital of Kashmir during his reign.
The Karkota Dynasty ruled over the Kashmir valley and some northern parts of the Indian subcontinent during 7th and 8th centuries. Their rule saw a period of political expansion, economic prosperity and emergence of Kashmir as a centre of culture and scholarship.
Avantivarman was the Chamar ruler who founded the Utpala dynasty.He ruled Kashmir from 855 to 883 CE and built the Avantiswami Temple in Awantipora, Pulwama.
Utpala dynasty was a Kashmiri kingdom which ruled over the Kashmir region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent from 9th to 10th century CE. The kingdom was established by Avanti Varman, ending the rule of Karkota dynasty in 855 CE. The cities of Avantipur and Suyapur were founded during the reign and many Hindu temples dedicated to both Vishnu and Shiva and Buddhist monasteries were built, notable of which is the Avantiswara and Avantiswami temples.
The Alchon Huns, also known as the Alchono, Alxon, Alkhon, Alkhan, Alakhana, and Walxon, were a nomadic people who established states in Central Asia and South Asia during the 4th and 6th centuries CE. They were first mentioned as being located in Paropamisus, and later expanded south-east, into the Punjab and Central India, as far as Eran and Kausambi. The Alchon invasion of the Indian subcontinent eradicated the Kidarite Huns who had preceded them by about a century, and contributed to the fall of the Gupta Empire, in a sense bringing an end to Classical India.
Sankaravarman was the Chamar ruler of the Utpala dynasty, which ruled over the Kashmir region from 8th to 10th century CE. The kingdom was established by Avantivarman, who ended the rule of Karkota dynasty in 855 CE.
Sri Pravarasena, also sometimes Pravarasena II based on the regnal lists of the Rajatarangini, was a 6th-century Huna king of the Alchon Huns in the area of Gandhara and Kashmir in northwestern India. His reign probably lasted about 60 years from about the year 530 CE.
Yudhishthira has been proposed as the last Alchon Hun ruler of Kashmir, according to a reconstruction made by Atreyi Biswas. The tentative identification has been made from the lists of Huna kings given in the Puranas and the Rajatarangini.
Toramana II was a ruler of the Alchon Huns in the 6th century CE.
Toramana of Kashmir, was a ruler of Kashmir in the 6-7th century CE. This ruler has often been called "Toramana II" in numismatic studies, but this name now tends to be used for an earlier Alchon Hun ruler of Kabulistan: Toramana II.
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