Hello Ladies & Gents,How are we this lovely evening ? Now all these days I spoke with you all about LONG FORGOTTEN TEMPLES OF PAKISTAN. I kept speaking about these important lost temples & fortress but never let you all know about the great Dynasty who built them and left for us to know more about them.This Dynasty is an Major contributor to those lost pages in the Sands of Time sharing the ancient thread between Buddhism & Hinduism.So lets take an looksie shall we.I Give You All......... Hindu Shahi Kings a.k.a Kabul Shahi Kings :- The Shahi (Devanagari: शाही),Sahi, also called Shahiya dynasties ruled one of the Middle kingdoms of India which included portions of the Kabulistan and the old province of northern Pakistan, from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. The kingdom was known as Kabul Shahi (Kabul-shāhān or Ratbél-shāhān in Persian کابلشاهان یا رتبیل شاهان) between 565 and 879 AD when they had Kapisa and Kabul as their capitals, and later as Hindu Shahi. The Shahis of Kabul/Pakistan are generally divided into the two eras of the so-called Buddhist-Shahis and the so-called Hindu-Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around AD 870. The title of Shahi :- In ancient time, the title Shahi appears to be a quite popular royal title in Afghanistan and the north-western areas of the Indian sub-continent. It was used by the rulers of Kapisa/Kabul, and Gilgit.In Persian form, the title appears as Kshathiya, Kshathiya Kshathiyanam, Shao of the Kushanas and the Ssaha of Mihirakula (Huna chief).The Kushanas are stated to have adopted the title Shah-in-shahi (Shaonano shao) in imitation of Achaemenid practice. An ancient Jaina work, Kalakacarya-kathanaka, says that the rulers of the Sakas who had invaded Ujjaini/Malwa in 62 BC also used the titles of Sahi and Sahnusahi. Since the title Shahi was used by the rulers of Kapisa/Kabul also in imitation of Kushana Shao, it has been speculated by some writers that the Shahi dynasty of Kapisa/Kabul or Gandhara was a foreign dynasty and had descended from the Kushans or Turks (Turushkas).However, the title has been used by several rulers irrespective of any racial connotations and this may refute the above speculation. In addition, one ancient inscription and several ancient Buddhist manuscripts from the Gilgit area between upper Indus and river Kabul shed some light on the three kings who ruled in the Gilgit region in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. They also bore Shahi titles and their names are mentioned as Patoladeva alias Navasurendradiyta Nandin, Srideva alias Surendra Vikrmadiyta Nandin and Patoladeva alias Vajraditya Nandin. It is very relevant to mention here that each of the Shahi rulers mentioned in the above list of Gilgit rulers has Nandin as his surname or last name It is more than likely that the surname Nandin refers to their clan name. It is also very remarkable that the modern Kamboj tribe of northern Punjab still has Nandan (Nandin) as one of their important clan names. It is therefore very likely that these Gilgit rulers of upper Indus may also have belonged to the Kamboja lineage.Furthermore, Shahi, Sahi, Shahiya as a septal name is still carried by a section of the Punjab Kambojs which appears to be a relic from the Shahi title of their Kabul/Kapisa princes. Alberunis reference to the supplanting of the Kabul Shahi dynasty in about AD 870 by a Brahmin called Kallar actually implies only that the religious faith of the royal family had changed from Buddhism to Hinduism by about that date; it might not have actually involved any physical supplanting of the existing Kabul Shahi dynasty as is stated by Alberuni whose account of early Shahis is indeed based on telltale stories. Archeological sites of the period, including a major Hindu Shahi temple north of Kabul and a chapel in Ghazni, contain both the pre-dominant Hindu and Buddhist statuary, suggesting that there was a close interaction between the two religions. When the Chinese visitor Hsuan-tsang visited Kapisa (about 60 km north of modern Kabul) in the 7th century, the local ruler was a Kshatriya King Shahi Khingala. In the wake of Muslim invasions of Kabul and Kapisa in second half of the 7th century (AD 664), the Kapisa/Kabul ruler called by Muslim writers Kabul Shah (Shahi of Kabul) made an appeal to the Ksatriyas of the Hind who had gathered there in large numbers for assistance and drove out the Muslim invaders as far as Bost.This king of Kapisa/Kabul who faced the Muslim invasion was undoubtedly a Ksatriya. The Hindu Shahis became engaged with the Yamini Turks of Ghazni over supremacy of the eastern regions of Afghanistan initially before it extended towards the Punjab region. They briefly recaptured the Kabul Valley from the Samanid successors of the Saffarids, until a general named Alptigin drove out the Samanid wali of Zabulistan and established the Ghaznavid dynasty at Ghazna. Under his general and successor Sabuktigin the Ghaznavids had begun to raid the provinces of Lamghan. and Multan. This precipated an alliance first between the then King Jayapala and the Amirs of Multan, and then in a second battle in alliance with Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar, and Kannauj which saw the Hindu Shahi lose all lands west of the Indus River. His successor Anandapala arrived at a tributary arrangement with Sebuktigins successor, Mahmud of Ghazni, before he was defeated and exiled to Kashmir in the early 11th century. Al-Idirisi (AD 1100-1165/66) testifies that until as late as the 12th century, a contract of investiture for every Shahi king was performed at Kabul and that here he was obliged to agree to certain ancient conditions which completed the contract. Kalhana remarked: To this day, the appellation Shahi throws its lustre on a numberless host of kshatriya abroad who trace their origin to that family. The kings of Kashmir were related to the Shahis through marital and political alliance. Didda, a queen of Kashmir was a granddaughter of the Brahmin Shahi Bhima, who was married to Kshemagupta (r. 951–959). Bhima had visited Kashmir and built the temple Bhima Keshava. The sons Rudrapal, Diddapal, Kshempala, and Anangpala served as generals in Kashmir. They gained prominence in the Kashmiri royal court where they occupied influential positions and intermarried with the royal family. Hindu Kashmir had aided the Hindus Shahis against Mahmud of Ghazni. As a result after barely defeating the Hindu Shahis, Mahmud marched his men to Hindu Kashmir to take revenge for Kashmirs support of the Hindu Shahis. However, twice Mahmud was soundly defeated by the Kashmiris and had to lick his wounds. He never was able to take on Hindu Kashmir. All sources, including the famous Al-Biruni, accept this. Al-Biruni was with Mahmud on these campaigns. They are mentioned frequently in Rajatarangini of Kalhana written during AD 1147–49. Rudrapal was mentioned by the writer Kalhana as a valiant general in the campaigns he led to quell resistance to the Kashmiran kings whom they served whilst in exile. His later descendants fell out of favour at the royal court and were exiled to the Siwalik Hills, retaining control of the Mandu fort. After a brief period, they rose again to take control of Mathura under Raja Dhrupet Dev in the 12th century before the campaigns of the Ghorid Empire. The Janjua Rajputs of Punjab are the descendants of the House of Jayapala.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 16:31:55 +0000
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