- Know
about King Lalitaditya who defended India against the Arabs, played an
important role in the foundation of the Rashtrakuta Empire, captured parts of
Central Asia and built grand temples.
He
was the ever undefeated King of Kashmir who tasted victory everywhere he went.
Chinese, the Turkish and the Tibetan legends referred to him as a great
conqueror. He was the first Indian king who gave a befitting reply to the
invading Arabs; one of the few Indian kings who was able to capture Central
Asia.
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PDF. Article is courtesy Bhavan’s Journal.
A
Kashmiri king, his influence spread even to South India and played an important
role in the foundation of the Rashtrakuta Empire there, which became one of the
most powerful kingdoms to have ever existed in South India.
He was the king who blasted the myth that Indians were never
able to capture any foreign lands.
This
great son of India who hailed from Kashmir was none other than Lalitaditya Muktapida
of Karkota dynasty, the mightiest Indian king of his times and beyond. Believed
to be the youngest of the three sons of Kashmiri king Durlabhaka (alias
Pratapaditya), Lalitaditya ascended the throne in 724 AD at a time when the
Karkota dynasty ruled over the present day Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and
Haryana.
Lalitaditya
not only stopped the Arabs from entering India but
also conquered parts of Iran and extended his kingdom up to Tibet and
China. His successful efforts to protect Kashmir and India is something which
the Indian nation cannot and should never forget.
But
it is really sad that the story of this greatest of
kings remains virtually dead and finds no place in history books of
schools and colleges even in post-independent India.
Very
early in his youth the great warrior king had understood that Kashmir was
facing two enemies at the same time; one was the Arab caliphate which had
captured Sindh after defeating Raja Dahir and the other was the Tibetan empire.
It was getting difficult to ward off both the invasions at the same time.
So,
the strategist king allied with Yashovarman of Kannuj, to defend India from the
invasions of both Tibetans and Arabs.
Legend
has it that the Arab Caliphate had allied with Tibetans who were in perpetual
conflict with the Chinese rulers represented at that time by the Tang dynasty.
The alliance was also encroaching on the lands of Tang Empire even though it
was regarded as a powerful regime around 7th century A.D. Lalitadatiya having
found a natural ally in China, made a smart diplomatic move by aligning with
the latter and took advantage of the advanced Chinese military technologies
that helped him in upgrading his own army.
The
famous Iranian scholar and historian Al Beruni records
the victory of this newly formed alliance over the invading Arabs in a
battle that was fought somewhere near Punjab. He even mentions that a festival
was held on the second day of Chaitra (March) every year for centuries to
celebrate the victory.
Later,
Yashovarman defeated the Tibetan king and wrestled kingdoms of the North-East
and Bengal which were under the dominance of Tibetan rulers. Lalitaditya did
not allow the Arabs to regroup and continued expanding his kingdom in Central
Asia capturing parts of Afghanistan and Transoxiana which comprised the
modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and south-west
Kazakhstan.
Lalitaditya
soon became wary of the increasing power of Yashovarman, who seemed to be getting
arrogant. This led to the breaking up of the alliance. Consequently in a
subsequent battle, Yashovarman also was defeated and he accepted the vassal
status under Lalitaditya regime.
Because
of this new status, Yashovarman was obliged to later support Lalitaditya in
defeating the latter’s arch rivals - the later Guptas who controlled the Bengal
region. It is believed that the queen regent of the Deccan had approached
Lalitaditya for help when her brother-in-law was trying to usurp the throne.
Lalitaditya
helped her in restoring her kingdom and placed her son Dantidurga on the
throne. Dantidurga is said to have gone on to
establish one of the biggest empires of South India known as Rashtrakutas.
The
battles Lalitaditya fought have been described by the renowned Kashmiri
historian Kalhana in his classic history of
Kashmir, the Rajataringini (River of Kings), in which he writes, ‘The king, who carried his prowess,
abandoned his (war-like) fury (only) when the (opposing) kings discretely
folded their palms at his victorious onset. At the sound of his drums (beaten)
in attack, the dwellings of his enemies were diverted by the (frightened)
inhabitants and thus resembled women dropping in fright the burden of their
wombs’.
On
the development front Laliditya was a great builder. He reportedly cleared the
silting of Vitasta (the present day Jhelum) river to prevent flooding and
directed the water through canals to far-flung regions. He even reclaimed
swamps to boost agriculture. He is also said to have founded many present-day
cities of Kashmir.
Surya Martand Mandir, Anantnag
Throughout
his empires, he built the temples of many gods including Buddha which shows his
respect for other faiths. But sadly again, there is nothing that remains of
these grand temples today owing to the barbarity unfolded by the Muslim
invaders. However, the grandeur of these temples could be gauged even today by
having an indepth look at the ruins of the rare Martand Sun Temple and scores
of other temples which were pulled down around 15th century AD.
Ironically,
as in life so in death, Lalityadita’s death remains a mystery.
There
are two versions relating to the death of this brave son of India and Kashmir.
One version is that he perished during a military campaign in Aryanaka (Eastern
Iran) due to heavy snowfall which occurred out of season. The other version,
which is unlikely of a brave warrior of his stature, is that he committed
suicide after being separated from his army on a difficult mountain route.
Whatever
may have happened, in reality India lost one of its greatest sons, who made us
all proud.
See
pictures of Surya Martand Mandir made by Lalitaditya
This
article was first published in the Bhavan’s Journal, 31 May 2020 issue. This
article is courtesy and copyright Bhavan’s Journal, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai-400007. eSamskriti has
obtained permission from Bhavan’s Journal to share. Picture of Martand Mandir
by Sanjeev Nayyar.