Thakkana

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Map of Hindu Shahi dynasty

Thakkana was a king of Hindu Shahi Dynasty at Ohind. Thakkana were supporters of the old king Anantadeva father of King Kalasha of Kashmir.

Variants

• Thakkanasimha

• Thakkiya/Thakkiyaka/Thakkiyakas (R.C.Majumdar)

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Thakan (ठाकन) (Jat clan) → Thakkana. Thakkana was a king of Hindu Shahi Dynasty at Ohind. Thakkana were supporters of the old king Anantadeva father of King Kalasha of Kashmir.

History

Rajatarangini mentions Thakkana, who were supporters of the old king Anantadeva father of King Kalasha of Kashmir. (VII:p.200)

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Rajatarangini mentions that ....The king lost his intellect in his anger and impaled Simba and Simba's younger brothers Simha and Thakkanasimha. He made Shrivaka, lord of Kampana, and having confined Janakasimha, he appointed Sujji, brother of Prajji, in the Rājasthāna (palace.) Year 1121 AD (VIII,p.89)

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R.C.Majumdar writes....The verse 151 of the fifth book of Rajatarangini informs us that Samkaravarman "caused the sovereign power, which the superior king Bhoja had seized, to be given up to the scion of the Thakkiya family who had become his servant in the office of the Chamberlain." (Rajatarangini, translated by Stein, p. 206) Now this passage is a difficult one and has been commented upon by various scholars. In the present state of our knowledge there will probably be no hesitation in identifying the superior king Bhoja in the above passage with the great emperor of Kanauj. We learn, then, from the above verse that something was taken by Bhoja, and this was afterwards restored to the Thakkiyakas by Samkaravarman. The question is, what is this thing. According to the different interpretations of Buhler, (Ep. Ind. Vol I, p. 186) Fleet (Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p.110, fn. 31) and Stein it was respectively, " the universal sovereignty," " the dominion taken from the Thakkiyaka family," or " the sovereign power." Now the first seems to be out of question altogether ; for, in the first place, as Samakaravarman's conquest did not extend beyond the Punjab, he could hardly speak of universal sovereignty as being in his power to give, and secondly, even if possible, it would be hardly bestowed upon a family which was admittedly

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[Page-56] subordinate to the Kashmir king. This latter argument also precludes the third view if it means any independent sovereign power, and on the whole, the only possible interpretation seems to be that of Fleet, according to which some dominions of the Punjab which were taken by Bhoja were reconquered by Samkaravarman. Whether this took place during the lifetime of Bhoja or after his death, we cannot possibly determine with any degree of certainty, for the verse admits of both the interpretations. (Ep. Ind , Vol. I, p. 186). The probability, however, is, that the event took place in the reign of Mahendrapaladeva. For Samkaravarman ascended the throne in 883 A. D. and had to fight " numerous battles " with the other rival candidates to the throne, before he could consolidate his position at home and set out on foreign expeditions.

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Rajatarangini writes .... on death of Avantivarman all the members of the family of Utpala aspired to the throne. But Ratnavardhana the Royal guard raised Shankaravarmma, son of the late king, to the throne. The minister Karnapavinnāpa became envious, and raises Sukhavarmma the son of Suravarmma to the dignity of heir-apparent and so the king and the heir-apparent became enemies to each other, and consequently the kingdom was frequently disturbed by their quarrels. Shivashakti and other warriors refused offers of wealth, honor, &c, from the opposite party, and remained faithful to their master, and died for him. Honorable men never desert their party. After much trouble the king prevailed at last. He defeated Samaravarmma and others, on several occasions, and acquired great fame.

Having thus beaten and subjugated his own relatives,he made preparations for foreign conquests. Though the country was weak in population, he was able to set out with nine hundred thousand foot, three hundred elephants, and one hundred thousand horse. He, whose command had been ill obeyed in his own kingdom a short while before, now began to pass orders on kings.

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[p.116]: His army was joined by the forces of tributary kings, and increased as he went on. On his approach the king of Darvabhisara fled in terror and there was no fighting. The Kashmirian army caught several lions and confined them in a fort, a sort of abode in which they had never lived before. The king then marched for the conquest of Gurjjara. Prithivi-chandra the king of Trigarta hid himself, but his son Bhuvanachandra, on whom the king of Kashmira had bestowed wealth before, came to pay homage. But when he saw the large army of Kashmira, he became afraid of being captured, and accordingly turned and fled. The king of Kashmira, whom the historians describe as a very handsome man, was regarded by other kings as Death. Shankaravarmma easily defeated Alakhāna king of Gurjjara who ceded Takka a part of his kingdom to his conqueror. The king of the Thakkiyaka family took service as guard under the king of Kashmira. The latter caused the kingdom of the Thakkiya king which had been usurped by the king of Bhoja to be restored to him. The king of the country which lay between Darat and Turushka, (as the Aryavarta lies between Himalaya and Vindhya,) Lalliya Shahi by name, who was among kings even as the sun is among stars, and was also lord over Alakhāna, did not submit to the king of Kashmira, on which the latter drove him out of his country.

Buddha Prakash mentions

Buddha Prakash mentions ....[p.138]: During the aforesaid period (Bhimadeva of Hindushahi) some significant changes were taking place to the west of the Indus. A Turkish slave of the Samanid, Amir Mansur, named Alptigin, captured Gazni by expelling the Wali of Zabulistan, Abu Bakr-i-Lawik, and founded an independent kingdom there. This heralded the offensive policy of the Muslims in regard to the Shahi kingdom.

From the east, the Pratiharas made an effort to resuscitate their lost influence over the Shahis and counter the importance of Kashmira. The Pratihara King Mahipala invaded the North-West marching at the head of a vast army of horses and elephants and acquired an image of Vaikuntha from the Shahi king obviously after defeating him. Again the pendulum of the Shahis swung from Kashmira towards Kanauj.

Outwitted by Kanauj, Kashmira again tried to resuscitate its influence over the Shahis. Queen Didda, acting as the guardian of King Abhimanyu (958-72), sent the commander-in-chief Yashodhara to invade the Shahis. Yashodhara defeated and captured the ruling Shahi King Thakkana and exacted tribute from him. But the success of Kashmira proved short-lived for Kanauj was again on the offensive.

References

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