Part 4 - Suravarman II (C. 939 A.D.) and the decline of the Utpalas

Suravarman II, who followed Unamattavanti (varman), seems to have had a doubtful ancestry. It appears from the account of the Chronicle that he was afraid of Kamalavardhana, the Commander-in-Chief, who had distinguished himself against the Damaras. Suravarman was yet a child and depended for support upon the sympathy of the Ekangas, Tantrins, counsellors and a few chiefs loyal to the throne. Such a state of affairs was exploited by Kamalavardhana, who held control of Madavarajya and rose in rebellion. Kamalavardhana and Contemporary Politics According to Kalhana, Suravarman was surprised by Kamalavardhana while on a visit to a temple. The child-king was supported by the combined strength of the Ekangas, Tantrins, feudatory chiefs and also 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, V, 440-41. 2. Ibid., I, V, 448. 3. Ibid., I, V,,445-48. Kalhana states in these verses that Suravarman was not a son of the deceased king (445-46) butain the following verses refers him as his son (449). K 4. Ibid., I, v, 445$-49. 5. Ibid., I, V, 451. 6. Ibid., I, V, 449-51.

227 ministers. But Kamalavardhana, after routing the Damaras on the way, gained a decisive victory over 2 the royal supporters and entered the royal palace. suravarman was carried away to safety by his 3 mother. Kamalavardhana, however, exhibited an utter lack of foresight and did not ascend the throne; 4 5 instead, he left the decision for the throne in the hands of a council of the Brahmanas. Very possibly, he was too sure of his choice by the aforesaid council. The council, however, assmbled at the Gokula temple for this very fateful decision and continued its deliberations for several days. When Kamalavardhana, after a few days, reminded the Brahmanas about his candidature for the vacant throne, the latter drove him away by pelting stones at him Similar approaches by the widow of Unmattavanti of the parricidal notoriety - were also rejected and, 1. Syalaharaka here denotes a kind of cavalry force as Pandit and Shastri translate it and, most likely, they might be kings' guards as their number is given only one thousand. (Rajatarangini by Kalhana, Pandit's trans. of I, V, 452, note; 454 note; Rajatarangini by Kalhana, Shastri, Hindi trans., I, V, 454.) 2. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, V, 454. 3. Ibid., I, V, 455. 4. Ibid., I, V, 456-57. 5. Ibid., I, V, 461. 6. Ibid., I, V, 464. TW

228 ultimately, the choice of the council fell on Yasaskara, a man of erudition and one who had returned to the Valley from abroad. The royal house of the Utpalas thus came to an inglorious end. The dynasty had had its share of the worthy rulers of calibre of Avantivarman and Gopala- ren varman, who not only consolidated the fortunes of the family but also proved capable rulers by alleviating the sufferings of the people of the Valley brought upon them by the later Karkotas. But the later rulers of this dynasty viz., Partha, Chakravarman, Unmattavanti, etc., cast all moral obligations to the winds and oppressed the masses through tyrannical exactions. The Tantrins and the Ekangas wrought havoc by their extortions in the name of the kings and, since they wre virtual king-makers, the rulers would not take steps against them. Administrative machinery was corrupt and unscrupulous; even ministers hoarded food-grains, and connived with the Tantrins in creating famine conditions thereby selling their hoards (of grains) at exhorbitant prices and fliecing the people of their wealth. There was an utter dearth of able ministers and men of letters at the royal courts 1. About the ancestry of Yasaskara, Kalhana informs us that his grand-father was Viradeva, who was a common householder. His father, Kamadeva, (Contd.)

- 229 Another noticeable factor of the age was a marked degeneration in social and human values resulting in the fall of moral standards. This was the natural outcome of various factors - licentiousness of the kings and the courtiers, poverty, non-adherence to caste-regulations, non-observance of marriage rules, etc. The lead was taken by kings themselves who married women of low classes and elevated them even 1 to the rank of chief queens. The royal harem, housing several queens, became notorious for laxity of morals amongst the queens, as already noted above. At the same time, the paramours of such queens often conspired against the ruling kings and at times made bold bids for the throne themselves. It was quite natural, under the circumstances, for the royal seraglio to become a centre of intrigues and conspiracies with little regard to stability of succession and welfare of masses. Yet, at the same time, the Utpalas have a biding place in the history of Kashmir for some of their was at first a teacher of the sons of Minister Meruvardhana and, later on, when latter's son, Prabhakaradeva, became the Treasurer of the State (Ganjadhikari), Kamadeva became his family treasurer. But it seems that he was dead, otherwise Yasaskara would not have reached the Valley in poverty with his friend Phalguna (Ibid., I, V, 468-73). 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, V, 387.

230 the activities towards betterment of the lot of the masses, L and one such feature deserves special mention. Irrigation was given its due importance by Avantivarman whose able minister, Suyya, had realized its benefits. Irrigational facilities provided for at the cost of the State went a long way in improving the agricultural output of the Valley. At times, the prices of foodgrains touched the lowest levels of index never before noticed in the Valley. These facilities brought about the maximum amount of available land under the plough and, but for the irresponsible and extortionist attitude of the subsequent rulers, their ministers and other officials of the State, the Valley would have flourished and the masses been content. Another noteworthy feature and closely allied to these irrigational facilities was the construction of numerous bunds and bridges, tanks and reservoirs. These not only checked the recurrent havocs caused by floods and scarcity, but also helped in affording better means of communications. Also, it goes to the credit of the Utpalas that the boundaries of the State were again restored and even extended far beyond. It should be noted that the Utpalas had succeeded to a State whose boundaries had considerably shrunken during the regime of the

- 231 later Karkotas. In fact, the last few of them were practically ruling over a very limited area within the Valley itself. But the conquests of some of the Utpalas, specially those of Sankaravarman, restored the former dimensions of the empire.