Priya.Miahram: minor refine intro after review and fixed typos to improve readability

2026-03-22T20:53:04Z

minor refine intro after review and fixed typos to improve readability

Bot at 23:12, 1 September 2022

2022-09-01T23:12:48Z

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{{short description|Queen of Kashmir}}
{{About||the village with the same name|Sugandha, Hooghly|Sugandha River in Bangladesh|Bishkhali River}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = Sri Sugandha Deva
| name = Sugandha
| image = Queen Sugandha Coin.jpg
| caption = Coinage of Queen Sugandha. 'Sri Sugandha Deva' is written in [[Sharada script]].
| succession = Queen Regnant of Kashmir
| reign = 904 – 906
| predecessor = Sankata
| successor = Partha
|reign-type2 = Tenure
|reign2 = 902 – 904
|succession2 = Queen Regent of Kashmir
|pre-type2 = Monarch
|predecessor2 = Gopalavarman
|succession3 = Queen Consort of Kashmir
|reign3 = 883 – 902
|pre-type3 = Monarch
|predecessor3 = [[Sankaravarman]]
|reign-type3 = Tenure
| house = [[Utpala dynasty]]
| birth_date =
| father = Svamiraja
| mother =
| issue = Gopalavarman
| spouse = [[Sankaravarman]]
| death_date = 914 CE
| death_place = Nispalaka Vihara
| place of burial =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| regnal name =
}}

'''Sugandha''' ({{abbr|fl.|floruit}} 883 – 914) was the ruler of [[Kashmir]] in the northern [[Indian subcontinent]] during the 10th century.

She was the Queen Consort of Kashmir from 885 to 902 by marriage to Sankaravarman, the King of Kashmir. She served as Queen Regent of Kashmir during the minority of her son king Gopalavarman between 902 and 904. She was declared monarch in her own right in 904 as Sri Sugandha Deva, Queen of Kashmir, when all successors to the throne has died. She was dethroned by the Tantrins in 906 and they installed Partha as monarch. Sugandha continued to claim the throne of Kashmir and retreated to live in Haskapura (present-day Ushkur, Baramulla). In 914 she went to war against Partha and the Tantrins, but was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called ''Nispalaka Vihara''.

== Queen consort ==

Sugandha was the daughter of Svamiraja, the king of a kingdom near Kashmir. Sugandha was married to Sankaravarman, who reigned as King of Kashmir from 885 CE until 902 CE. He had at-least three other wives, including one Surendravati,<ref name="raja" /> but Sugangha acted as his queen consort.<ref name="raja" />

Sankaravarman died in 902 of a stray-arrow at Urusha (present-day [[Hazara, Pakistan]]), whilst returning from a not-so-successful conquest, where Sugandha had also accompanied him.<ref name="sen"/><ref name="Klife">{{Cite web|date=19 January 2016 |title=Kashmir's Fairer Lords|url=https://kashmirlife.net/kashmirs-fairer-lords-issue-44-vol-07-94412/ |work=Kashmir Life |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> Following his death, he was succeeded by his son, Gopalavarman. While some of Sankaravarman's queens and servants died by [[Sati (practice)|Sati]], the Dowager Queen Sugandha refused it in order to act as Queen Mother and regent for Gopalavarman.<ref name="raja" /> After Sankaravarman's last rites had finished, Gopalavarman was crowned the King of Kashmir.<ref name="Klife"/>

==Reign as regent==

Although Sugandha was good at managing the affars of the kingdom, she took pleasure in bodily indulgences. Various historians accuse her of being intimate to her treasury minister Prabhakaradeva, who they describe as her paramour.<ref name="bamzai"/> Prabhakaradeva used to exercise the real powers of the King.<ref name="sen"/><ref name="Klife"/> He engaged in prolonged theft of state-treasures and was finally probed by Gopalavarman. In due course, Prabhakaradeva employed a relative Ramadeva to assassinate the king by practice of witchcraft. Gopalavarman died of a fever and Ramadeva died by suicide, after his conspiracy became public knowledge.<ref name="bamzai"/><ref name="raja" /><ref name="Klife"/>

After Gopalavarman's death, his brother Sankata became King, but he died mysteriously after ten days.<ref name="raja">{{citation |first=Mark Aurel |last=Stein |author-link=Mark Aurel Stein |title=Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir, Volume 1 |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1989a |orig-year=1900 |isbn=978-81-208-0369-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dfT2D8mnukC}}</ref><ref name="bamzai"/> After Sankaravarman's lineage died out, Kashmir fell into a political turmoil. Courtiers started plotting a coup and public figures called a Maha-Panchayat to choose the kingdom's ruler. As Sugandha was quite popular among the people, she was proclaimed the sovereign of Kashmir.<ref name="Klife"/>

== Reign as monarch ==

In 904 CE, Sugandha assumed royal power and ruled Kashmir in her own right. Some historians believe that she did it apparently with an intention of securing it for her grandson — the yet-unborn child of Jayalakshmi.<ref name="raja" /> She ruled Kashmir for two years ({{abbr|r.|reigned}} 904 – 906).

She hoped that she would be succeeded by her unborn grandson, the son of Gopalavarman, but her daughter-in-law Jayalakshmi's pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth. Sugandha, now in despair, wished that she be succeeded by one of her blood-relatives, Nirjitavarman, a grandson of Suravarman and a half-brother of [[Avantivarman of Kashmir|Avantivarman]], nicknamed "Pangu" (lame).<ref name="bamzai">{{cite book|last1=Bamzai|first1=P.N.K.|year=1994|ref=hav|title=Culture and Political History of Kashmir: Volume 1|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Culture_and_Political_History_of_Kashmir/1eMfzTBcXcYC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |publisher=M.D. Publications |pages=139–140}}</ref><ref name="raja" /><ref name="sen"/>

She nominated Pangu as the successor to the throne and in doing this, she had to seek the advice and permission of her ministers.<ref name="bamzai"/> Sugandha's choice was met with considerable resistance from the ministers as well as the Tantrins, on grounds of Nirjitavarman's lameness. Sugandha was dethroned by the Tantrins and they installed Nirjitavarman's ten-year-old son Partha as monarch instead.<ref name="raja" /><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/42720623|year=1843|journal=The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society|jstor=42720623|title=The Ancient Coinage of Kashmir. With Chronological and Historical Notes, from the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Conquest of the Country by the Moguls|last1=Cunningham|first1=Lieutenant A.|last2=Engineers|first2=Bengal|volume=6|pages=1–38}}</ref>

== Later life ==
Following her dethronement in 906 CE, Sugandha retreated to live in Haskapura (present-day Ushkur, Baramulla), and continued to claim the throne of Kashmir.<ref name="Klife"/>

In 914, after eight years of exile in Haskapura, Sugandha was persuaded by the Ekangas, Royal bodyguards and other factions loyal to her, to wage a war against Partha and the Tantrins.<ref name="thapar">Thapar, Romila. ''A History of India'', vol. 1. London: [[Penguin Books]], 1987. pp. 225–226.</ref> The fierce battle occurred in the suburbs of Srinagar in April 914 CE.<ref name="Klife"/>

She was defeated and captured by the Tantrins.<ref name="bamzai"/> Sugandha was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called ''Nispalaka Vihara''.<ref name="raja" /> Kalhana observes: "Strange are the ways of fate, ever falling and rising".<ref name="sen">{{cite book|last1=Sen|first1=Sailendra Nath|year=1999|ref=hav|title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |publisher=New Age International|isbn=9788122411980|pages=296}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
In early medieval Kashmir, the rule of the Utpala dynasty in the Vale of Kashmir was dominated by the rivalry of two military factions, the Tantrins and the Ekangas.<ref name="bamzai"/> Their vying led to the installment of new monarchs and dethronement of others.<ref name="saga">{{Cite web|title=History of India:Kashmir |url=http://indiansaga.com/history/kashmir.html |work=IndianSaga |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> Tantrins were a strong military class organisation. Tantrin foot-soldiers had formed a confederacy and were strong enough to punish or to favour the rulers of the kingdom.<ref name="pooja">{{citation |first=Dr Pooja |last=Prasher |title=VOL. 2, ISSUE 5 (2017) Military castes of ancient Kashir with special reference to Rajatarangini of Kalhana |publisher=educationjournal.org |year=2017 |url=http://www.educationjournal.org/archives/2017/vol2/issue5/2-5-58}}</ref> Ekangas are said to have been Royal bodyguards, who influenced the affairs of the court and the state.<ref name="pooja"/> After Sugandha was defeated in 914 CE, and none of the succeeding rulers was able to assert their supremacy over the Tantrins.<ref name="thapar"/>

Finally, feudal landowners, known as ''damaras'', were called put an end to the power struggle. They successfully destroyed the power of the Tantrins, after which the rulers of Kashmir were faced with the new problems of curbing the power of the landowners, as is evident from political events during the rule of [[Didda|Queen Didda]].<ref name="saga"/>

== Legacy ==
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 280
| caption_align = center
| align = right
| title =
| image1 = Shankaragaurishvara temple.jpg
| image2 = Sugandhesa Temple.jpg
| footer = {{font|size=100%|font=Sans-serif|text=Remains of [[Shankaragaurishvara Temple|Sankara Gauresa]] (left) and Sugandesha Temple (right), at present-day Pattan, Kashmir}}
}}
Some historians call her reign as the "golden age" of Kashmir. Historian Premnath Bazaz states that "She was loved by the people, trusted by the courtiers, and admired by the army".<ref name="Klife"/>

Sugandha's reign constitutes the first concrete and historically verifiable reign of a female sovereign in Kashmir's history and ruled at the behest of her subjects.<ref>{{cite book|year=2006|ref=hav|title=Coins in India: Power and Communication|publisher=Marg Publications|isbn=9788185026732}}</ref><ref name="scroll"/>

During her reign, Sugandha built the towns of Sugandhapura and Gopalapura, the Vishnu temple Gopalakesava, and the monastery of Gopalamatha.<ref>{{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><ref name="bamzai"/> She also built the Sugandesha Temple, located at Pattan, which has a square sanctum with a portico in front and a peristyle around.<ref>{{Cite web|title= The Sugandesha Temple |url=https://travelthehimalayas.com/sugandesha-temple |work=Travel the Himalayas |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

Sankaravarman, along with Sugandha, dedicated two temples to Mahadeva, namely [[Shankaragaurishvara Temple|Sankara Gauresa]] and Sugandhesvara at the new capital of Sankarapura. These two stately temples are still standing today at modern-day Pattan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lawrence|first1=Sir Walter Roper|year=2005|ref=hav|title=The Valley of Kashmir|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120616301|pages=175}}</ref>

Sugandha's coinage is an important corroborative evidence of her power and refers to her by the masculine epithet, ''Sri Sugandha Deva''.<ref name="scroll">{{cite web|date=19 April 2015|title=Five extraordinary Indian queens who have been reduced to mere footnotes in history|url=https://scroll.in/article/700539/five-extraordinary-indian-queens-who-have-been-reduced-to-mere-footnotes-in-history|access-date=5 May 2021|work=Scroll.in}}</ref> [[Ardoksho|Ardochsho]] (Goddess Lakshmi) is seen seated in [[Lalitasana]] in most of the coins and Sharda script is distinctly visible.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 August 2018 |title=Affirmation of women empowerment: Women on Indian coins-I |url=https://www.mintageworld.com/blog/women-indian-coins/ |work=Mintage World |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

== Timeline ==
<timeline>
Define $width = 1000 # 5 pixels per year ($end - $start) × 12
Define $warning = 1080 # $width - 120
Define $height = 300 # 6 × 25 + 150
Define $footnote = 800 # $width - 400

DateFormat = yyyy
Define $start = 882
Define $end = 915

ImageSize = width:$width height:$height
PlotArea = right:10 left:1 bottom:80 top:60
Period = from:$start till:$end
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1

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id:bg value:white
id:lightline value:rgb(0.8, 0.8, 0.8)
id:lighttext value:rgb(0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
id:CONSORT value:lightorange Legend: Consort
id:REGENT value:pink Legend: Regent
id:SOVEREIGN value:skyblue Legend: Sovereign
id:PRETENDER value:tan1 Legend: Pretender
id:NAME value:rgb(0.15, 0.13, 0.05)

BackgroundColors = canvas:bg
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightline unit:year increment:2 start:$start
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:lighttext unit:year increment:2 start:882

Define $dy = -5 # shift text to button side of bar

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bar:1 width:20
color:CONSORT align:center fontsize:M
from:883 till:902 shift:(-1,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Queen Consort to Sankaravarman
bar:2 width:20
color:REGENT align:left fontsize:M
from:902 till:904 shift:(-20,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Queen Regent to Gopalavarman
bar:3 width:20
color:SOVEREIGN align:left fontsize:M
from:904 till:906 shift:(-20,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Sovereign of Kashmir
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from:906 till:914 shift:(-70,$dy) textcolor:NAME text:Pretender to the throne

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text:"Prominent positions held by Sugandha in her lifetime"
</timeline>

==See also==
* [[Queen Didda]]
* [[Kota Rani]]
* [[Rajatarangini]]

== Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Indian female royalty]]
[[Category:10th-century women rulers]]
[[Category:Indian women in war]]
[[Category:Rulers of Kashmir]]
[[Category:Women in medieval warfare]]
[[Category:10th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:10th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:10th-century Indian monarchs]]

Sugandha - Revision history

Priya.Miahram: minor refine intro after review and fixed typos to improve readability

Bot at 23:12, 1 September 2022