Utpala dynasty

2023-11-06T11:38:12Z

Iraniandasa:

{{Short description|855–1003 dynasty of Kashmir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox country
|conventional_long_name = Utpala dynasty
|common_name = Utpala dynasty
|era = [[Medieval history|Medieval]]
|government_type = [[Monarchy]]
|year_start = 855 CE
|year_end = 1003 CE
|image_map =
|image_map_caption=
|image_coat = [[File:Sankaravarman, Dupatalas (Kashmir) Circa 883-902 CE.jpg|270px|center]]
|symbol_type = Coinage of King Sankaravarman, Dupatalas (Kashmir) Circa 883-902 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchiner |first1=Michael |title=Oriental coins and their values: Non-islamic states and Western colonies : A.D. 600-1979, Volume 3|date=1979 |publisher=Hawkins |pages=37 (coin 159–160) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMeWoAEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Alexander |title=Coins Of Mediaeval India From The Seventh Century |date=1894 |page=Plate IV, No 2 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.127720/page/n26/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name="Cunn">{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Alexander |title=Coins Of Mediaeval India From The Seventh Century |date=1894 |page=45 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.127720/page/n48/mode/1up}}</ref>
|image_map2 ={{Location map+
|South Asia
|float = center
|width = 280
|caption = {{center|Location of the heartland of the Utpala dynasty, and neighboring polities circa 900 CE}}
|nodiv = 1
|mini = 1
|relief=yes
|places =
{{Annotation|220|5|South-Asia<br>900 CE|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=10|color=#000000}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=37|N |long=70|E |label=<div talign=center>[[Hindu Shahis|HINDU<br>SHAHIS]]</div>|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=34|N |long=63.5|E |label=[[Saffarid dynasty|SAFFARID<br>DYNASTY]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=41.3|N |long=82|E |label=[[Kara-Khanid Khanate|{{center|KARAKHANID<br>KHANATE}}]]|position=bottom |label_size=80|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=30|N |long=78|E |label=[[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|<div talign=center>GUJARA-<br>PRATIHARAS</div>]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=28|N |long=87|E |label=[[Pala Empire|<div talign=center>PALA EMPIRE</div>]]|position=bottom |label_size=90|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=34|N |long=74.8|E |label=|position=top |label_size=70|mark=U+25A2.svg|marksize=45}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=34.09|N |long=74.79|E |label='''[[Srinagar]]''' |position=bottom |label_size=60|mark=Button Icon White.svg|marksize=7}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=27|N |long=68.5|E |label=[[Habbari dynasty|'''HABBARIS<br>EMIRATE''']]|position=bottom |label_size=55|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=31|N |long=71.5|E |label=[[Emirate of Multan|'''MULTAN<br />EMIRATE''']]|position=bottom |label_size=55|mark=Button Icon Black.svg|marksize=0}}
{{location map~ |South Asia |lat=20|N |long=76|E |label=[[Rashtrakuta dynasty|RASHTRAKUTAS]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=File:1000x1.png|marksize=0}}

}}
|capital = [[Awantipora|Avantipur]]
|common_languages = [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]
|religion = [[Hinduism]] <br/> [[Buddhism]]
|title_leader = Monarch
|leader1 = [[Avanti Varman (Utpala dynasty)|Avantivarman]]
|year_leader1 = 855 – 883 CE
|leader2 = Shankaravarman
|year_leader2= 885 – 902 CE
|leader3 = [[Sugandha]]
|year_leader3= 904 – 906 CE
|leader4 = [[Didda]]
|year_leader4= 980 – 1003 CE
|p1 = Karkoṭa Empire
|s1 = Lohara dynasty
|today = [[Afghanistan]]<br>[[India]]<br>[[Pakistan]]
}}

'''Utpala dynasty''' was a [[Chamar]] 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 (Utpala dynasty)|Avanti Varman]], ending the rule of [[Karkota dynasty]] in 855 CE.<ref name="Reign">{{cite book|title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization|first=Sailendra Nath|last=Sen|publisher=New Age International|year=1999|page=295|isbn=978-8122-411-98-0}}</ref><ref name="Suyya">{{cite book|title=Kashur The Kashmiri Speaking People: Analytical Perspective|first=Mohini Qasba|last=Raina|publisher=Partridge Publishing Singapore|year=2013|isbn=978-1482-899-47-4|page=9}}</ref> The cities of [[Awantipora|Avantipur]] and [[Sopore|Suyapur]] were founded during the reign and many [[Hindu temples]] dedicated to both [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]] and [[Buddhist monastery|Buddhist monasteries]] were built, notable of which is the [[Awanti Swami temple|Avantiswara and Avantiswami]] temples.<ref name="Culture">{{cite book|title=Cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir|page=88|first=K|last=Warikoo|publisher=Pentagon Press|year=2009|isbn=978-8182-743-76-2}}</ref>

== Sources ==

=== Literature ===
The ''[[Rajatarangini]]'', an 11th-century work by Kalhana, was aimed at sketching an outline of Kashmir's history since ancient times, and did discuss the Utpala dynasty over the fifth book.<ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Siudmak|first=John|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004248328/B9789004248328_003.xml|title=1. Historical and Cultural Background of Kashmir Up to 1003 AD|date=2013-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-24832-8|pages=11, 16–19, 251, 262|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Zutshi|first=Chitralekha|title=Kashmir|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|location=Delhi|at=Especially Blessed Landscape/Peripheral Kingdom|chapter=Kashmir as Sacred Space}}</ref>{{Efn|At least three other Rajataranginis were composed in medieval Kashmir. They are since-lost.<ref name=":15" />}} He depended on a variety of material including earlier historical works, dynastic genealogies, inscriptions, coins and Puranas.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=Witzel|first=Michael|date=1990|title=On Indian Historical Writing: The role of the Vamsavalis|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjasas1989/1990/2/1990_2_1/_article/-char/ja|journal=南アジア研究|publisher=Japanese Association for South Asian Studies|volume=2|pages=10–11, 30|doi=10.11384/jjasas1989.1990.1}}</ref>

The work has a contested repute of being the only pre-modern work in Sanskrit resembling positivist notions of history; however, its accuracy is disputed — Zutshi and other scholars find the poem to be a blend of "mythical, political, social, spiritual, and geographical" narratives, which aimed at defining Kashmir as an idealized ethical space.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Roy|first=Kumkum|date=1994|title=Defining the Household: Some Aspects of Prescription and Practice in Early India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517849|journal=Social Scientist|volume=22|issue=1/2|pages=15|doi=10.2307/3517849|issn=0970-0293|jstor=3517849}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shulman|first=David|date=2013-04-01|title=Preface: Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī: What is it?|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0019464613487096|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=50|issue=2|pages=127–130|doi=10.1177/0019464613487096|issn=0019-4646|s2cid=220678233}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite journal|last=Bronner|first=Yigal|date=2013-04-01|title=From conqueror to connoisseur: Kalhaṇa's account of Jayāpīḍa and the fashioning of Kashmir as a Kingdom of learning|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0019464613487098|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=50|issue=2|pages=161–177|doi=10.1177/0019464613487098|issn=0019-4646|s2cid=144762916}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last=ZUTSHI|first=CHITRALEKHA|date=2011|title=Translating the Past: Rethinking "Rajatarangini" Narratives in Colonial India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41302205|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=70|issue=1|pages=5–27|doi=10.1017/S0021911810002998|issn=0021-9118|jstor=41302205|s2cid=146160013}}</ref><ref name=":25">{{Cite book|last=Dezső|first=Csaba|title=Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History|publisher=Barkhuis|year=2020|isbn=9789493194014|editor-last=Balogh|editor-first=Daniel|location=Groningen|pages=296–308|chapter=X.1.3: The Kashmir Secular Tradition}}</ref><ref name=":20">{{Cite book|last=Biswas|first=Atreyi|url=|title=The Political History of the Hūṇas in India|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|year=1971|isbn=978-0-88386-301-5|pages=112–113, 135, 138, 143|language=en}}</ref> Nonetheless, historical accuracy increases drastically from the fourth book onward, starting with the narration of Karkota dynasty; the book—typically the critical edition by [[Aurel Stein]]—has been heavily cited to reconstruct Kashmiri history.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last=Witzel|first=Michael|date=September 1991|title=THE BRAHMINS OF KASHMIR|url=https://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/KashmiriBrahmins.pdf|url-status=live|pages=24–28}}</ref><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":23" /><ref name=":15" />{{Efn|Stein comments, "With the accession of Avantivarman, we reach that period of Kasmir history for which Kalhana's work presents us with a truly historical record."}}

=== Coins ===
Coins issued by all major rulers have been located.<ref name="Cunn" />

== Establishment ==
Cippatajayapida, the last significant ruler of the Karkota dynasty was murdered in around 840. Subsequently, his maternal uncles — Padma, Utpala, Kalyana, Mamma, and Dharma — gained considerable power and engaged in an internecine warfare to retain complete control of the empire, whilst installing puppet kings belonging to the Karkota lineage.<ref name=":232">{{Cite book|last=Siudmak|first=John|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004248328/B9789004248328_003.xml|title=1. Historical and Cultural Background of Kashmir Up to 1003 AD|date=2013-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-24832-8|pages=11, 16–19, 251, 262|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite book|last=Stein|first=Marc Aurel|title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir|publisher=[[Archibald Constable]]|year=1900|location=Westminster|pages=97–103, 137, 143 (Introduction), 186–232 (The Rajatarangini of Kalahana: Fifth Book)}}</ref>

Tribhuvanapida's son, Ajitapida was nominated by Utpala immediately after Cippatajayapida's death.<ref name=":16" /> A few years afterwards, Mamma waged a successful battle against Utpala, and installed Anangipida.<ref name=":16" /> Three years later, Utpala's son Sukhavarman rebelled successfully and installed Utpalapida, a son of Ajitapida.<ref name=":16" /> Within a few years, Sukhavarman set out to assume the throne for himself but was murdered by a relative; finally, his son Avantivarman deposed Utpalapida and claimed the throne c. 855 with help from minister Sura, thus establishing the Utpala dynasty.<ref name=":232" /><ref name=":16" />

== Rule ==

=== Avantivarman ===
[[File:Avantipura 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Avantiswami Temple|Avantiswami Hindu Temple]] was built by Avantivarman.]]
Avantivarman, the first and greatest ruler of the dynasty, ascended to the throne in about 855/856 AD, and went on to rule for 27 years until 883.<ref name=":16" /> Rajatarangini records no military activity during his reign and frontier territories remained outside Kashmir sovereignty.<ref name=":16" />

His minister Suyya was responsible for several innovations in the field of irrigation and water-management.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bilham|first1=Roger|last2=Bali|first2=Bikram Singh|date=2014-02-01|title=A ninth century earthquake-induced landslide and flood in the Kashmir Valley, and earthquake damage to Kashmir's Medieval temples|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9504-x|journal=Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering|language=en|volume=12|issue=1|pages=79–109|doi=10.1007/s10518-013-9504-x|s2cid=96425661|issn=1573-1456}}</ref>

=== Samkaravarman ===
[[File:Reliquary (possibly) with scenes from the Life of Buddha, Kingdom of Kashmir, 10th century CE.jpg|thumb|Reliquary (?) with scenes from the Life of Buddha, Kashmir, at the time of the Utpala dynasty, 10th century CE. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38245 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kossak |first1=Steven |last2=Lerner |first2=Martin |title=The Arts of South and Southeast Asia |journal=The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin |date=1994 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=35, fig.25 |doi=10.2307/3269200 |jstor=3269200 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Arts_of_South_and_Southeast_Asia_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_Bulletin_v_51_no_4_Spring_1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 10, Asia |page=128|date=1987 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=9780870994531|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XExZFpjY5isC&pg=PA128}}</ref>]]

==== Accession and Early Rule ====
The death of Avantivarman led to a power struggle.<ref name=":16" /> [[Sankaravarman]] was placed at the helm of affairs by Ratnavardhana, the [[Chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]].<ref name=":16" /> However, counselor Karnapa throned Sukhavarman instead.<ref name=":16" /> Multiple battles were waged, before the latter emerged victorious.<ref name=":16" />

Kalhana notes that Samkaravarman invaded [[Gujarat]] with an army composed of "nine lac infantrymen, three hundred elephants and one lac cavalry"; Alakhana, the local ruler had to gift a swath of territory to maintain his sovereignty.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stein|first=Marc Aurel|date=1973|title=A Contribution to the History of the Śāhis of Kābul|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29755834|journal=East and West|volume=23|issue=1/2|pages=13–20|jstor=29755834|issn=0012-8376}}</ref>{{Efn|For more details see {{Cite journal|last=Kuwayama|first=Shoshin|date=1976|title=The Turki Śāhis and Relevant Brahmanical Sculptures in Afghanistan|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29756318|journal=East and West|volume=26|issue=3/4|pages=375–407|jstor=29756318|issn=0012-8376}}}} Samkaravarman was married to Sugandha, the daughter of a neighboring king and had at-least three other queens including one Surendravati.<ref name=":16" /> He is remarked to have brought cultural as well as economic prosperity.<ref name=":16" />

==== Despotism and Death ====
However, the later years of his regime were cruel and marked by rampant oppression, especially from a fiscal perspective.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana described him to be a "robber" who seized profits exacted by temples, plundered religious institutions and brought agraharas etc. under direct control of the crown whilst providing minimal compensations.<ref name=":16" />

Forced labor were systematically legitimized in Kashmir for the first time and not rendering such services was made into an offense.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sharma|first=Mahesh|date=2004-12-01|title=State formation and cultural complex in western Himalaya: Chamba genealogy and epigraphs—700-1650 C.E.|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=400–401|doi=10.1177/001946460404100403|s2cid=144871096|issn=0019-4646}}</ref> New revenue offices were created and an elaborate taxation scheme was devised, which led to the employment of numerous Kayasthas in royal service.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana blames these lowly Kayasthas for driving honest villagers to poverty and destroying all repute of Samkaravarman.<ref name=":16" /> Scholarship struggled to flourish and court-poets lived a pitiful existence, without pay.<ref name=":16" /> Famines and other calamities became commonplace.<ref name=":16" />

These continued despite Gopalavarman accusing his father of unbound greed and inflicting terrible misfortune on the subjects.<ref name=":16" /> Finally, Samkaravarman died in 902 of a stray-arrow at a foreign territory, whilst returning from a successful conquest.<ref name=":16" /> His ministers guarded-back the corpse to Kashmir, where last respects were conferred and funeral rites organized; some of his queens and servants died by [[Sati (practice)|Sati]].<ref name=":16" /> Despite having thirty to forty issues, none other than Gopalavarman and Samkata survived past infancy, in what Kalnana ascribed to [[karma]].<ref name=":16" />

=== Gopalavarman ===
Gopalavarman was installed as the new king, with [[John Nemec]] noting that the labyrinthine series of coups to start with him would be worthy of a [[Mahabharata]]-like epic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nemec|first=John|date=2017|title=Dying to Redress the Grievance of Another: On prāya / prāyopaveśa(na) in Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.1.0043|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=137|issue=1|pages=49|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.1.0043|jstor=10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.1.0043|issn=0003-0279}}</ref> He had a short reign of two years (902-904) under the regency of Sugandha.<ref name=":16" />

Gopalavarman led a famed [[Hindu Shahi#Kamalavarman attacks Ghazni|expedition]] against a rebel Hindu Shahi king of [[Udabhanda]] c. 903 and bestowed the spoils on a "Toramana-Kamaluka."<ref name=":16" /> However, this victory however turned him haughty and the court became unapproachable for the commoners.<ref name=":16" /> Effective power began to wielded by Sugandha's paramour, Prabhakaradeva who was also the royal treasurer.<ref name=":16" /> This continued till he was caught in the act of embezzling state-coffers and a probe launched.<ref name=":16" />

Prabhakaradeva employed Ramadeva—one of his relatives—to assassinate the king by practice of witchcraft.<ref name=":16" /> Gopalavarman died of a fever soon and Ramadeva died by suicide, after his conspiracy became public knowledge.<ref name=":16" /> Gopalavarman had at-least two consorts — Nanda, a child-girl and Jayalakshmi.<ref name=":16" /> He had no issue at the time of his death but Jayalakshmi was already pregnant.<ref name=":16" /> Consequently, Samkata ascended the throne only to die after ten days.<ref name=":16" />

=== Sugandha ===
[[File:Queen Sugandha Coin.jpg|thumb|Coinage of Queen [[Sugandha]]. 'Sri Sugandha Deva' is written in [[Sharada script]].]]
[[Sugandha]] seized the throne after Samkata, apparently with an intention of securing it for her grandson (from Jayalakshmi); however, he died soon after birth.<ref name=":16" /> She took the throne for herself and ruled for two years—in an environment marked by upheaval of the Tantrins—before trying to install Nirjitavarman, a grandson of Suravarman as well as her blood-relative.<ref name=":16" />

This was met with considerable resistance from the ministers as well as the Tantrins, on grounds of his lameness and they installed Nirjitavarman's child-son Partha instead.<ref name=":16" /> Thereafter, Nirjitavarman was retained as a regent but Sugandha and her counsel were ousted.<ref name=":16" />{{Efn|The banishment, apparently, was also a retaliation against Prabhakaradeva insulting the Tantrins earlier. Sugandha relocated to Haskapura.}}

=== Partha and Nirjitavarman ===
Crowned at an age of ten, his reign of ten years (906-921) were under the regency of Nirjitavarman, who in turn was a puppet at the hands of Tantrins and the ministers.<ref name=":16" /> The subjects were oppressed and heavy bribes were exacted.<ref name=":16" />

Samkaravardhana, the eldest minister allied with another minister Sugandhaditya to plunder the royal finances; prime-minister Merubardhana's sons accrued riches as well.<ref name=":16" /> In 914, Sugandha sought to unsuccessfully regain the throne with help from Ekangas and clashed with the Tantrins in a battle; she was imprisoned and executed.<ref name=":16" /> In 917, Kalhana mentions of a flood which subsequently led to a cataclysmic famine; the ministers along with Tantrins made profits by selling hoarded rice at high prices.<ref name=":16" />

Partha had multiple wives, a mistress Sambavati, and at-least two sons Unmattavanti and Samkaravarman II.<ref name=":16" /> Nirjitavarman had at-least two queens — Bappatadevi and Mrigavati, who was the daughter of Meruvardhana.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana notes both of them to have entered into sexual relations with Sugandhaditya, in order to secure the throne for their respective sons — Cakravarman and Suravarman I.<ref name=":16" /> The entire span was marked by struggles for the throne between Partha and Nirjitavarman and in 921, Partha was finally overthrown by the Tantrins.<ref name=":16" /> Nothing is recorded by Kalhana about Nirjitavarman's rule of two years.<ref name=":16" /> He died, after having placed Cakravarman on the throne.<ref name=":16" />

=== Cakravarman and others ===
[[File:Four-Armed Goddess, possibly Sarada, late 9th century CE, Ancient Kingdom of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir.jpg|thumb|Four-Armed Goddess, possibly [[Saraswati|Sarada]], at the time of the Utpala dynasty, late 9th century CE. Jammu and Kashmir.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38252 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 10, Asia |date=1987 |page=127|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=9780870994531 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XExZFpjY5isC&pg=PA127}}</ref>]]
Cakravarman was yet another child-ruler; the Tantrins immediately tried to install back Partha but in vain.<ref name=":16" /> Cakravarman went on to rule for ten years (till 933/934), a few months under the regency of his mother and then, under grandmother Ksillika.<ref name=":16" />

A new revolution by the Tantrins then installed Suravarman I; he ruled for about a year before being compelled to abdicate the throne, after failing to raise the demanded bribes.<ref name=":16" /> Partha was re-installed with Sambavati conciliating the Tantrins in his favor but deposed within a very short time-span, as Cakravarman promised the Tantrins with even greater riches.<ref name=":16" /> After restoration in 935, he installed Tantrins at important offices but had to flee again, after failing to raise enough taxes.<ref name=":16" />

Following Cakravarman's abdication, Samkaravardhana dispatched his brother Sambhuvardhana to negotiate with the Tantrins on his behalf.<ref name=":16" /> In the negotiating tables, he promised even greater bribes and purchased the crown for himself, deceiving Samkaravardhana.<ref name=":16" />

==== Cakravarman Restored ====
In the meanwhile, Cakravarman forged an alliance with the Damaras (led by Samgrama) in exile and their combined forces took on Sambhuvardhana in the spring of 936 near Padmapura - modern day [[Pampore]].<ref name=":16" /> Samkaravardhana, who served as the war-commander for the tantrins was slain by Cakravarman himself, in what Kalhana described as a moment of impeccable valor and significance, as the rest were now easily routed.<ref name=":16" /> Cakravarman was reinstalled after a victory-parade through the city and he rejected pardoning Sambhuvardhana and a bunch of tantrins, who were caught whilst fleeing away.<ref name=":16" />

His subsequent rule of about a year is held to be cruel and excessive, as Kalhana deems him to have been led astray by excessive praises and from intermingling with people from low castes.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=HANNEDER|first=J.|title=On "The Death of Sanskrit"|date=2002|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24664154|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=45|issue=4|pages=305|doi=10.1163/000000002124994847|jstor=24664154|issn=0019-7246}}</ref> Particular criticism is reserved for his' granting an audience to Ranga, a famed singer from the lowly Domba caste; her daughters Hamsi and Nagalata are alleged to have ensnared the king in the process.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=VEKERDI|first=JÓZSEF|title=On the Social Prehistory of the Gypsies|date=1981|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23682188|journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|volume=35|issue=2/3|pages=243–254|jstor=23682188|issn=0001-6446}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zoller|first=Claus Peter|date=2017|title=Traditions of transgressive sacrality (against blasphemy) in Hinduism|journal=Acta Orientalia|language=en|volume=78|pages=1–162|doi=10.5617/ao.7265|issn=1600-0439}}</ref>

Hamsi soon became the chief-queen and began to control the affairs of state by installing fellow Dombas (and people who were subservient to them) at important offices: they became the king's closest friends and their oral commands were as powerful as royal decrees.<ref name=":16" /> Courtiers had to eat the remnants of [[Uchchhishta|food left over by the Dombas]] and ministers adorn clothes, bearing menstrual stains of Domba queens.<ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=White|first=David Gordon|title=The Eternal Food: Gastronomic Ideas and Experiences of Hindus and Buddhists|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1992|isbn=978-1-4384-0891-0|editor-last=Khare|editor-first=Ravindra|location=Albany|language=en|chapter=You Are What You Eat: The Anomalous Status of Dog-Cookers in Hindu Mythology|author-link=David Gordon White}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Törzsök|first=Judit|date=2012|title=Tolerance and its limits in twelfth century Kashmir: tantric elements in Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī|journal=Indologica Taurinensia|volume=XXXVIII|pages=15}}</ref> Sacred spaces were regularly "polluted" by the low castes.<ref name=":16" /> Cakravarman's Domba counsel allegedly even made him rape a Brahmin wife during her ritualistic fast, on the pretext of [[Prāyaścitta|atoning]] his sins for having engaged in sexual relations with out-caste women.<ref name=":16" />

In the summer of 937, a group of Damara guards attacked Cakravarman in a privy at night and chased him into Hamsi's sleeping-chamber; Cakravarman—failing to locate any weapon—met with his end, in her embrace.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana notes this to be a retaliation to his' killing numerous Damaras, in breach of the earlier alliance.<ref name=":16" /> Cakravarman's wives had allegedly urged the guards to [[Stoning|stone]] his knees in his final dying moments.<ref name=":16" />

=== Unmattavanti ===
Unmattavanti ascended to the throne after Cakravarman, with help from minister Sarvata and others.<ref name=":16" /> In a regime marked by wanton violence, ridiculousness, and oppression, he was effectively controlled by a minister named Parvagupta, who desired for the throne.<ref name=":16" /> Unmattavanti employed Kayasthas in royal services and appointed Rakka, a Brahmin foot-soldier from the house of Samgrama, as the prime-minister.<ref name=":16" />

At Parvagupta's behest, he had his brothers starved to death and his unarmed father (and step-mothers) assassinated.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana mentions of Unmattavanti to have been delighted at seeing Partha's corpse, which was even dagger-ed by Parvagupta's son Devagupta in front of him.<ref name=":16" /> Kalhana also accuses Unmattavanti of engaging in a range of dastardly acts including mutilating pregnant women, [[Amputation|amputating]] limbs of laborers, and hitting naked women at their [[Cleavage (breasts)|cleavage]].<ref name=":16" />

Unmattavanti has fourteen queens and probably no son.<ref name=":16" /> He died of a chronic disease in 939, suffering immense pain; before his death, he had Suravarman II (who was falsely proclaimed by the servants of his seraglio to be his own son) crowned.<ref name=":16" />

=== Suravarman II and Disintegration ===
Suravarman II reigned for hardly a few days, before being ousted by his commander-in-chief Kamalvardhana, who had declared rebellion from his base in Madavarajya against the Damras (and by extension, the Utpalas).<ref name=":16" /> He fled the kingdom with his mother, bringing the Utpala Dynasty to an end.<ref name=":16" /> Kamalvardhana convened an assembly of Brahmins to appoint the next ruler, who rejected his self-nomination as well as a request from Suravarman II's mother.<ref name=":16" />

Yasaskara, the son of Prabhakaradeva was instead chosen.<ref name=":16" /> This brought an end to the Utpala dynasty and would set the stage for [[Didda|Didda's]] autocracy.<ref name=":16" />

== Society ==

===Religion===
Avantivarman was a devout Vaishnav in his private life but granted public patronage to Shiva.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=PAL|first=PRATAPADITYA|date=2007|title=Evidence of Jainism in Afghanistan and Kashmir in Ancient Times|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24049361|journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute|volume=21|pages=32|jstor=24049361|issn=0890-4464}}</ref> Vaikuntha Chaturmurti continued to be the [[Kuladevata|tutelary deity]] of the Utpala dynasy; He was also venerated in adjoining regions.<ref name="Publications1989">{{cite book|author=Marg Publications|title=Art and architecture of ancient Kashmir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQfqAAAAMAAJ|access-date=17 December 2012|year=1989|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=978-81-85026-06-0|page=85}}</ref>

== Art and architecture ==

=== Literature ===
All surviving literature are traced from the court of Avantivarman, who was a famed patron of arts; Ratnakara and [[Anandavardhana]] were his court-poets.<ref name=":16" />

===Shrines and Cities===
Avantivarman along with his chief-minister Sura commissioned numerous temples and towns — Avantipura, Surapura and the [[Avantiswami Temple]].<ref name=":16" /> Suyya established the town of Suyyapura.<ref name=":16" /> Samkaravarman established Samkarapura (modern-day [[Pattan]]) and, in conjunction with Sugandha, the Shiva-temples of Samkaragaurisa and Sugandhesa.<ref name=":16" /> Another Shiva-temple in Fattegarh has been dated to his times.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Granoff|first=Phyllis|date=1979|title=Maheśvara/Mahākāla: A Unique Buddhist Image from Kaśmīr|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249500|journal=Artibus Asiae|volume=41|issue=1|pages=64–82|doi=10.2307/3249500|jstor=3249500|issn=0004-3648}}</ref>{{Efn|For a detailed description, see {{Cite journal|last=G. Cowlie|first=W.|date=31 August 1866|title=Notes on Some of the Temples of Kashmir|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/128647#page/159/mode/1up|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|volume=XXXV|issue=II|pages=113–114}}}} Sugandha, during her rule, got constructed the towns of Sugandhapura and Gopalapura, the Vishnu temple Gopalakesava, and the monastery Gopalamatha.<ref name=":16" /> Nanda consecrated the shrines of Nandakesava and Nandamatha.<ref name=":16" /> Meruvardhana built the Vishnu shrine of Meruvardhanasvamin at Puranadhisthana (modern-day [[Pandrethan]]).<ref name=":16" /> Sambavati was responsible for founding the Shiva-shrine of Sambveswara.<ref name=":16" /><gallery widths="170" heights="170" perrow="4">
File:Avantipura ruins.JPG|Remains of the [[Avantiswami Temple]] built by [[Avantivarman of Kashmir|Avantivarman]], of the Utpala dynasty
File:Avantipura 3.jpg|Reliefs from the [[Avantiswami Temple]]
</gallery>

===Sculpture===
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px" perrow="4">
File:The Buddhist Deity Chakrasamvara LACMA M.85.2.4.jpg|The Buddhist Deity Chakrasamvara, 9th-10th century CE. LACMA.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Buddhist Deity Chakrasamvara LACMA Collections |url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/250016 |website=collections.lacma.org}}</ref>
File:Bodhisattva Padmapani Kashmir Linden-Museum Stuttgart.jpg|Bodhisattva Padmapani, Kashmir, 10th century, [[Linden Museum]], Stuttgart.
</gallery>
== List of rulers ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Ruler !! Reign
|-
| [[Avanti Varman (Utpala dynasty)|Avantivarman]] || 853/855 – 883 CE
|-
| [[Sankaravarman|Shankaravarman]]|| 883 – 902 CE
|-
| Gopalavarman || 902 – 904 CE
|-
| Sankata || 904 CE
|-
| [[Sugandha]] || 904 – 906 CE
|-
| Partha || 906 – 921 CE
|-
| Nirjitavarman || 921 – 922 CE
|-
| Chakravarman || 922 – 933 CE
|-
| Shuravarman I || 933 – 934 CE
|-
| Partha (2nd reign) || 934 – 935 CE
|-
| Chakravarman (2nd reign) || 935 CE
|-
| Shankaravardhana (or Shambhuvardhana) || 935 – 936 CE
|-
| Chakravarman (3rd reign) || 936 – 937 CE
|-
| Unmattavanti ("Mad Avanti") || 937 – 939 CE
|-
| Shuravarman II || 939 CE
|-
| Yashaskara-deva || 939 CE
|-
| Varnata || 948 CE
|-
| Sangramadeva (Sanggrama I) || 948 CE
|-
| Parvagupta || 948 – 950 CE
|-
| Kshemagupta || 950 – 958 CE
|-
| Abhimanyu II || 958 – 972 CE
|-
| Nandigupta || 972 – 973 CE
|-
| Tribhuvanagupta || 973 – 975 CE
|-
| Bhimagupta || 975 – 980 CE
|-
| [[Didda]] || 980 to 1009/1012 CE
|}

[[Didda]] (c. 980 – 1003 CE) placed [[Samgrāmarāja]], son of her brother on the throne, who became founder of the '''[[Lohara dynasty]]'''.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Utpala dynasty| ]]
[[Category:9th-century establishments in India]]
[[Category:11th-century disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:History of Kashmir]]
[[Category:Dynasties of India]]
[[Category:Hindu dynasties]]
[[Category:Empires and kingdoms of India]]

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Utpala dynasty