The saga of unsung heroes.
King Harsh and King Uccale and King Jaysinh The history of Kashmir has been a portrayal of valour and bravery along with creating treasure of literature and legacy of architectural heritage
The heir of King Sangramraaj named King Harsh ruled Kashmir for Twenty One years. He made tremendous contributions in the field of literature. He himself was an accomplished poet. He was an equally valiant fighter and battled many revolts with his unmatched courage. But, such prowess would be pernicious if not accompanied by long sighted administrative strategies.
King Harsh was inclined towards the affluence of literature, hence wished for smooth and straightforward governance.
Among the kings, of second Lohara dynasty, there were two who made remarkable impact in governance and retrieve Kashmir’ s slipping away glory.
King Uccale (1101 CE to 1111 CE) tried to resurrect the damage done during the rule of King Harsh. He reformed the administration by curbing the corruption and amended the Criminal code to punish the deliquents. His policy of durecting the offender to be involved in Social work in stead of being locked up in jail, paved a new beginning, in rehabilitation of criminals.King Uccale rebuilt some of the temples and maths, destroyed by King Harsh.
But, he was extremely conceited, vain and ill tempered. Quite often, he behaved cynically and that marred his otherwise benevolent regime.From the year 1128 CE to 1155 CE, Kashmir was ruled by King Jaysinh, an extremely determined ruler, who battled numerous scrambles and carved out paths out of innumerable strifes. He was extremely concerned regarding growing Islamic strength over the North-Western region of Bharat. To fight this evil fear King Jaysinh began dialogue with each of the notable kingdoms connected with the Kashmir border. He extended a hand of friendship to King Govindchandra of Kanauj and began friendly dialogues.
King Jaysinh‘s foreign affair strategy was based on this situation. With the help of the neighbouring Hindu kingdoms, king Jaysinh successfully managed to curb the rising strength of Islam. By his time, the foreign invaders and the neighbouring Muslim Sultans had already began leering over Kashmir. The unrequited generosity of King Harsh and the reorganising of Military had negatively impacted and it had opened the gateway for Muslims to be part of Governance and army of Kashmir. This resulted in an atmosphere filled with perpetual mutual discord and rivalry. The Kashmiri kings too began appeasing such elements in order to gain their confidence and this trait continued for centuries till very recently.King Jay Sinh’s rule, recalls the traditions of Emperor Lalitaditya and Emperor Avantivarman. The period is considered as the “age of Aryan renaissance in Kashmir”. He undertook various measures to improve the moral tone of the society. The poor were helped at the time of marriage and religious functions. Liberal grants were extended to scholars and needy Brahmins. Prostitution was curbed, especially in the capital, which was placed under the charge of an upright prefect, Dharya.JaySinh built innumerable new temples and maths, including the famous ‘Simhapura Maths’.
After, the demise of JaySinh in 1155, the process of decay in Kashmir’s strenth which had been rooted during Didda and Harsha’s regime but had been halted by Uccale and JaySinh, hastened.
Hence, this ‘liberal’ and magnanimous policy started to disrupt the prevailing unity as well as character of co-existence and that eventually led to diminishing strength of Kashmir. The internal rifts led to the poison of religious Conversion and paved the path of creating Islamic Kashmir from Hindu regal Kashmir.
Source of Information :
धर्मांतरित कश्मीर : हमारी भूलो का स्मारक
नरेंद्र सेहगल
राजतरंगिणी – कल्हान
My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir Jagmohan
Madhvi Bhuta is the National Executive of BJP Mahila Morcha and a Columnist on various Forums.
