- Lalitaditya Muktapida
Lalitaditya Muktapida was the emperor of
Kashmir from 724 to 760 under the Karkota dynasty. During his reign, he conquered most of Northern India andCentral Asia .According to the historian Mazumdar, Lalitaditya concentrated his attention on the areas in the north after important victories in the south. His empire reached the remote corner of the
Karakoram mountain range.In the beginning of the 8th century, the
Arab invasion had started knocking at the door of theKabul valley. During this period, the Muslim power inSindh was trying to march towards the north.While the empires of Kabul and
Gandhar were occupied by these invasions, Lalitaditya used the opportunity to establish his foothold in the north, moving with his victorious army fromDardistan toTurkey . The entire area was rich inKashmir i traditions and education, due to the efforts of monks and Kashmiri people in towns of Central Asia. Lalitaditya achieved an easy victory in this region.After the end of
Teng reign, those states that had come under the Chinese rule had disintegrated because of civil wars.Kashmir, at that time, was the most powerful state. During the time of Lalitaditya, its boundaries covered an area from
Tibet in the east toIran and Turkey in the west and from Central Asia in the north toOrissa and the seashores ofDwarka in the south.Lalitaditya expressed interest in other areas besides his army life. Art and trade gained importance during his reign, religious festivals were held, and special facilities and encouragement were provided to support painters and sculptors. He was a successful writer and a
Veena player. Bamzai wrote that Lalitaditya's war victories have received special place among different accounts of his reign. He was later made a hero of Kashmiris. Lalitaditya is considered to be the greatest ruler of Kashmir due to his encouragement of art, great work in human welfare, love of education, protection of scholars, and kindness.Military campaigns
Kalhana in his "Rajatarangini " credits king Lalitaditya with leading an aggressive military campaigns in Northern India and Central Asia. He conquered most ofAryavarta , while defeatingYasovarman ofKanyakubja and conqueringBengal , Kalinga,Karnataka , the Kaveri Valley, Mount Malaya, theKonkan ,Dvaraka ,Avanti and Gaudas. He then broke into theUttarapatha and defeated the rebellioustribe s of theKamboja s, Tukharas (Turks inTurkmenistan andTocharians inBadakhshan ), Bhautas (Tibetans inBaltistan andTibet ) andDaradas (Dards). His campaign then led him to subjugate the kingdoms ofPragjyotisha , Strirajya and theUttarakurus . [Kalhana (1147-1149). "Rajatarangini ".] [Sheldon Pollock (2006). " [http://web.mit.edu/~shekhar/www/southasia/pollock_I.pdf The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India] " (p. 241-242).] [Sunil Fotedar (June 1984). [http://www.ikashmir.net/glimpses/doc/glimpses.pdf "The Kashmir Series: Glimpses of Kashmiri Culture - Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari"] (p. 57).]References
*R.C. Mazumdar, Ancient India, Page 383.
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