Hindu Shahi

In theory, the caliph as the successor of the Prophet was the fountainhead of all political authority. Kings and all tribal chiefs were subordinate to him and his sanction alone could provide the legal basis for their authority. With the waning of political might of the caliphate, its governors in Khurasan set up their own strong kingdom – the Samanid dynasty (c. 819-1005 CE) – controlling regions west and north of Hindu Kush up to Balkh. Under the loosely centralized feudal government of the Samanids, Transoxiana and Khurasan prospered with a notable expansion of industry and commerce. Samanids were great art patrons and they turned Bukhara and Samarkand into famous cultural centres, rivaling Baghdad.[16]

According to The Mazare Sharif Inscription of the Time of the Shahi Ruler Veka, recently discovered from northern Afghanistan and reported by the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations, Islamabad, Veka (sic.) conquered northern region of Afghanistan ‘with eightfold forces’ and ruled there. He established a Shiva temple there which was inaugurated by Parimaha Maitya (the Great Minister).[17] He also issued copper coins of the Elephant and Lion type with the legend Shri Vakkadeva.

Nine principal issues of Bull and Horseman silver coins and only one issue of corresponding copper coins of Spalapatideva have become available. As many as five Elephant and Lion type of copper coins of Shri Vakkadeva are available and curiously the copper issues of Vakka are contemporaneous with the silver issues of Spalapati.[18]

On his way back from Balkh, Yaqub is stated to have attacked Kabul. "Whether the word Kabul stands here for the city in particular or Kabul valley in general, is not clearly stated. The sequence of events, however, suggests that latter was probably the case" (Abdur Rahman).[19] As we know, Shahis had a governor in Northern Afghanistan. Invasion of this province was an attack on (the state of) Kabul and the idols, say from the Shiva temple established by Vakkadeva would verily be ‘idols from Kabul’. There is no indication of a direct battle between Yaqub and the king of Kabul, which event could not go unreported.[20]

It was some time during this period that the Hindu Shahis shifted their capital from Kabul to Udabhandapura.

Reliable evidence has now become available indicating that this oft-quoted narration by ‘Ufi was short of the ‘whole truth’. Kamlu did not stop in his tracks by Fardaghan's ingenious propaganda. Tarikh-i-Sistan illuminates the history of this period differently. Amr-i-Lais's pre-occupation with affairs in Khurasan and the provocative action of his newly appointed governor of Ghazni, prompted two Indian Kings (Rai of Hindustan), whose names reported in very corrupt form have been restored as Ashta and Tormana, to take firm retaliatory measures. They combined their forces and launched a united invasion of Ghazni. Fardaghan is said to have opposed the Hindu army. The Tarikh does not tell us whether the city of Ghazni was actually occupied by the victors at this stage or the name Ghazni stands for the province of Zabulistan, and not the city of Ghazni. The news of this invasion reached Amr when he was in Gurgan on his way to his last encounter with Ismail. In April 900 Amr was decisively defeated and sent as a prisoner to Baghdad where he breathed his last. He must have passed through Gurgan only a couple of months before his defeat. Thus Kamlu's invasion of Zabulistan can safely be placed in the beginning of 900 at the latest.[21]

Having successfully dealt with the Saffarids, Ashta (the governor of Kabul) appears to have stayed back and maneuvered a ‘palace coup’. He seized the Shahi throne at Udabhandapura, dislodging his brother Kamalavarman but the state of Kashmir intervened. Rajatarangini records that Prabhakaradeva the Koshadhyaksha (Superintendent of Treasury) led a victorious expedition against the Shahi power at the town of Udabhandapura and bestowed the kingdom of the rebellious Shahi (Ajna Atikrami Shahi – a Shahi violator of order) upon Tormana, Lalliya's son and gave him the new name Kamaluka. This may have happened in 903 during the reign of child king Gopalavarman (r. 902-904) ruling under the guardianship of his mother Sugandha.

Kamaluka has been identified as Kamalavarman, son of Lalliya (Samantadeva). He was succeeded by his son, Bhimadeva.

During the reign of Kamalavarman, the Saffarid rule weakened precipitately and ultimately Sistan became a part of the Samanid Empire. The disorder generally prevailed and the control of Zabulistan changed hands frequently. Taking advantage of the situation, the Shahis stepped up activities on their western frontier. The result was the emergence of a small Hindu power at Ghazni, supported by the Shahis. "The authorities either themselves of early date or enshrining early information mention Lawik" who was a Hindu as the ruler at Ghazni, before this place was taken over by the Turkish slave governor of the Samanids.[22]

By the middle of the tenth century, Turkish slaves began to acquire power in the Samanid realm, as they were holding principal offices in the court and kingdom. One of these, Alaptagin, a former Hajib or Door Keeper, defeated the superior royal army near Khulm Pass and decided to carve out an independent kingdom for himself. He first took over Bamian ‘the country of the infidel (Hindu) Shir Barak’. He next turned to Ghazni where Lawik, its ruler, submitted after a prolonged siege of four months. Alaptagin thus became the undisputed master of Ghazni but he died soon thereafter and his son Abu Ishaq succeeded him in 963.

Substitution of Hindu potentates of Bamian and Ghazni by an emerging Turkish power posed a serious threat to the Shahi kingdom which acted with ‘remarkable alacrity’ at this stage. The Lawik was sent back to Ghazni with a huge army which ousted the Turks and sent Abu Ishaq flying to Bukhara. The Shahis had secured their western frontier – for the time being. But the gathering storm had not blown away.

Bhimadeva had only one daughter named Shreelekha and no son. This daughter was married to Simhraja of the Lohara dynasty.

The Shahi state had successfully managed to ward off danger from the strong neighbouring kingdom of the Samanids for more than a century. That Muslim kingdom was gradually decaying but its ambitious Turk officers were acquiring power and setting up personal fiefdoms, menacing the Hindu states south of Koh Hindu Kush. Though ruling with grandeur, unmolested by any neighbouring kingdom, Bhimadeva was getting old and must have been weighing his options in the matter of succession, because he did not have a male heir. The Shahi kingdom was strong and prosperous but not easy to govern - and protect. He could not count either on the Lawiks or his granddaughter Didda of Kashmir for this onerous responsibility. He selected the allied kingdom of Punjab for this honour and probably installed a successor in his own life for the succession seems to have been without ‘contest or convulsion’.[23]

Jayapaladeva attacked the growing power Sabuktagin and was a fierce battle in which Jayapala was defeated. He lost more territory but continued to rule from Waihind and Peshawar.

Sabuktagin then became more involved in the affairs of the Samanid state and left the Shahis in peace. He became very powerful in the Samanid Kingdom by virtue of his strong and disciplined army. Sabuktagin died at Balkh in 997 at the age of fifty six. After a struggle for succession with brothers, his son Mahmud ascended the throne of Ghazni in 998. Mahmud first consolidated his position on his western front, even if he had to challenge the authority of his Samani over-lord. Soon he had control over Herat, Balkh, Bust and Khurasan. Recognising his power, the Caliph of Baghdad acknowledged him as a sovereign in his own right and conferred high sounding titles on him. The Ghaznavids had thus acquired a status equal to their former masters – the Samanids. The balance of power had been gradually tilting in favour of Ghazni.