The total reign of the following kings is mentioned as 1266 years.[4]
Gonanditya dynasty (I)
The Gonanda dynasty ruled Kashmir for 1002 years.[4]
Book 2 : Other rulers
No kings mentioned in this book have been traced in any other historical source.[12] These kings ruled Kashmir for 192 years.[4]
Book 3: Restored Gonandiya dynasty
Book 4: Karkota dynasty
Book 5 : Utpala dynasty (Part-I)
Book 6 : Utpala dynasty (Part-II)
Book 7: First Lohara dynasty
Book 8: Second Lohara dynasty
Evaluation
Literary
Kalhana was an educated and sophisticated Sanskrit scholar, well-connected in the highest political circles. His writing is full of literary devices and allusions, concealed by his unique and elegant style.[20]
Historical reliability
Despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, there is little evidence of authenticity in the earlier books of Rajatarangini. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years. Toramana is clearly the Huna king of that name, but his father Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier.[21] Even where the kings mentioned in the first three books are historically attested, Kalhana's account suffers from chronological errors.[22]
Kalhana's account starts to align with other historical evidence only by Book 4, which gives an account of the Karkota dynasty. But even this account is not fully reliable from a historical point of view. For example, Kalhana has highly exaggerated the military conquests of Lalitaditya Muktapida.[18][19]
Sequels
Rājataraṅgiṇī by Jonarāja
During the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin, Jonarāja authored a sequel by the same name. Also known as Dvitīyā Rājataraṅgiṇī ("second Rajatarangini"), it gives an account of Kashmir from c. 1148 CE to 1459 CE.[23]
Jaina-Rājataraṅgiṇī by Śrīvara
After Jonarāja's death in 1459, his disciple Śrīvara Paṇḍita continued his work. He titled his work Jaina-Rājataraṅgiṇī, and it is also known as Tṛtīyā Rājataraṅgiṇī ("third Rājataraṅgiṇī"). It gives an account of Kashmir from 1451 CE to 1486 CE.[24]
Rājāvalipatākā by Prājyabhaṭṭa
Prājyabhaṭṭa's Rājāvalipatākā gave an account of Kashmir from 1486 to 1513. His work is lost.[25]
Caturthī Rājataraṅgiṇī by Śuka
Śuka continued Prājyabhaṭṭa's lost work, resulting in the Caturthī Rājataraṅgiṇī ("fourth Rājataraṅgiṇī"). It begins after the end of Bhaṭṭa Prājya’s Rājāvalipatākā in 1513, while Fatḥ Šāh was still exercising his second reign, and ends in 1597 with the construction of the Naganagarī city fort just before Emperor Akbar’s third visit to Śrīnagara.[25]
Horace Hayman Wilson partially translated the work, and wrote an essay based on it, titled The Hindu History of Kashmir (published in Asiatic Researches Volume 15). Subsequent English translations of Kalhana's Rajatarangini include:
Rajatarangini: The Saga of the Kings of Kashmir by Ranjit Sitaram Pandit (The Indian Press, Allahabad; 1935)
Kings of Kashmira (1879) by Jogesh Chandra Dutt
Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kaśmir by Marc Aurel Stein
In the Guise of Poetry — Kalhaṇa Reconsidered. In: Śāstrārambha. Inquiries into the Preamble in Sanskrit. Edited by Walter Slaje. Preface by Edwin Gerow. (AKM 62). Wiesbaden 2008: 207–244.
Slaje, Walter (2014). Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148–1459). From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn (PDF). Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis. Vol. 7. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Critically Edited by Walter Slaje with an Annotated Translation, Indexes and Maps. [1]
Slaje, Walter (2022). Kaschmir unter den Šāhmīrīden. Śrīvaras Jaina- und Rājataraṅgiṇī, A.D. 1451–1486. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis (in German). Vol. 20. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Four contemporary historical lives of rulers of an Indo-Persian sultanate. Newly published with annotated translation. [2]
Slaje, Walter (2023). Kaschmir im 16. Jahrhundert. Vom unabhängigen Sultanat zur mogulischen Annexion (Śukas Rājataraṅgiṇī, A. D. 1513–1597) (PDF). Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis (in German). Vol. 27. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Republished with an annotated translation. [3]
Translations in other languages include:
Rajatarangini with Hindi commentary by Ramtej Shastri Pandey (Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 1985)
Rajatarangini of Kalhana, edited by Vishwa Bandhu (1963–65); a later addition includes the texts of Jonaraja, Srivara and Suka (1966–67)
Rajatarangini, Hindi translation by Pandit Gopi Krishna Shastri Dwivedi
Histoire Des Rois Du Kachmir: Rajatarangini, French translation by M. Anthony Troyer
Rajatarangini, Urdu translation by Pandit Thakar Acharchand Shahpuriah
Rajatarangini, Telugu translation by Renduchintala Lakshmi Narasimha Sastry
Adaptations
Several books containing legendary stories from Rajatarangini have been compiled by various authors. These include:
S.L. Sadhu's Tales from the Rajatarangini (1967)[26]
Devika Rangachari's Stories from Rajatarangini: Tales of Kashmir (2001)
^Obverse: Shiva Pashupati ("Lord of the Beasts"), making a mudra gesture with right hand and holding filleted trident; behind, a lioness or tiger. Trace of legend Meghana... in Brahmi. Reverse: Goddess seated facing on lotus, holding lotus in both hand, Kidara monogram to left, Jaya in Brahmi to right.
^Obverse: Standing king with two figured seated below. Name "Pravarasena". Reverse: goddess seated on a lion. Legend "Kidāra".
^"Rajatarangini" Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 17 December 2011.
^ a b c d e f g h i jStein 1979, pp. 133–138.
^"Gonanda Dynasty". Kashmir Through Ages. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
^Raina 2013, p. 260.
^"Pandav Dynasty". Kashmir Through Ages. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
^Guruge 1994, pp. 185–186.
^Lahiri 2015, pp. 378–380.
^Guruge 1994, p. 130.
^Pandit, Ranjit Sitaram (1935). River Of Kings (rajatarangini). p. 23 I68-.
^ a b c dStein 1979, p. 65.
^ a b c dCribb, Joe (2016). "Early Medieval Kashmir Coinage – A New Hoard and An Anomaly". Numismatic Digest. 40.
^D. C. Sircar (1969). Ancient Malwa And The Vikramaditya Tradition. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 111. ISBN 978-8121503488. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016.
^Stein 1979, p. 66.
^Stein 1989, pp. 439–441.
^Majumdar, R. C., ed. (1981). A Comprehensive History of India: pt. 1. A.D. 300–985. People's Publishing House. p. 30. The dynasty which he founded ruled for more than two centuries, from c. A.D. 625 to 855 (see Appendix I). Kalhaņa tells us little about Durlabha-vardhana except that he built a temple of Vishņu and granted two villages to Brāhmaṇas. (...) The mixed metal coins bearing the legend Sri Durlabha on the obverse and jayati Kidāra on the reverse, belong to this monarch.
^ a bChadurah 1991, p. 45.
^ a bHasan 1959, p. 54.
^Kalhana – Makers of Indian Literature. IDE087 by Somnath Dhar Paperback (Edition: 1998)
^Machwe, Prabhakar, and Samyukta. 1969. Indian Literature 12 (2). Sahitya Akademi: 72–74.
Bibliography
Dutt, Jogesh Chandra (1879). Kings of Káshmíra. Trübner & Co.
Stein, Marc Aurel (1979) [1900]. "Chronological and Dynastic Tables of Kalhana's Record of Kasmir Kings". Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kasmir. Vol. 1. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0368-8.
Sharma, Tej Ram (2005). Historiography: A History of Historical Writing. Concept. ISBN 978-81-8069-155-3.
Hasan, Mohibbul (1959). Kashmir Under the Sultans. Aakar. ISBN 9788187879497.
Guruge, Ananda (1994). Nuradha Seneviratna (ed.). King Asoka and Buddhism: Historical and Literary Studies. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 978-955-24-0065-0.
Chadurah, Haidar Malik (1991). History of Kashmir. Bhavna Prakashan.
Stein, Marc Aurel (1989). Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0370-1.
Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur The Kashmiri Speaking People. Partridge. ISBN 9781482899450.
Lahiri, Nayanjot (2015). Ashoka in Ancient India. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-91525-1.
