Hindu Shahi

Saffarid coinage in Kabul, with Arabic

Coinage of the Saffarid Governor of Kabul after the capture of the city, issued around 870 CE in Kabul on the Hindu Shahi model. Abassid dirham weight standard. Obverse: Recumbent bull with Nagari legend (Śrī Khūdarayakah, "The fortunate small Raja"), trisula mark on the hump of the bull. Reverse: horseman with (ma) in Nagari to left, عدل (’adl, "Justice") in Arabic to right.[21]

In 870, the first Hindu Shahi King Kallar lost the city of Kabul. He was displaced from there by the local Saffarid dynasty which was ruled by Emir Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar. Due to the ongoing conquests of the local Saffarids and Samanids, the Hindu Shahis moved their capital in 870 to Udabhandapura (Also called Waihund or Hund), located on the banks of the Indus.[22][23]

The new Saffarid Governor of Kabul is known to have issued coinage after the capture of the city around 870 CE, on the Hindu Shahi model. The new coins used the Abassid dirham weight standard, rather than the Hindu Shahi standard. Although the design was generally identical with the Hindu Shahi coins, the legend on the reverse incorporated the Arabic word عدل (’adl, "Justice"). The obverse had the Nagari legend Śrī Khūdarayakah ("The fortunate small Raja").[24]

The loss of Kabul remained short as in 879 CE the Hindu Shahi captured the city back. This victory remained short too due to Samanid expansion in the region which eventually led to the final Shahi rule in Kabul around 900 CE. The Hindu Shahi remained strong in Gandhara and other parts of the Punjab.[14]

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.[25]

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).[26] 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.[27]

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

Ekhamukhaling: linga with face of Shiva. 9th century Afghanistan. Art of the Hindu Shahi kingdom.[28][29][30][31]

Reliable evidence has now become available indicating that this oft-quoted narration by ‘Ufi was short of the ‘whole truth’. Kamlavarman 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.[32]

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.[33]

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.

Later and strongly debased Hindu Shahi coinage, circa 950 CE. Obverse: Recumbent bull with legend Śri Bhīmadeva. Reverse: Horseman holding banner; na in Nagari to left; trace of symbol to right.[20]

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’.[34]

Disaster of the army of Jayapala against Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 CE.[35]

With Jayapala , a new dynasty started ruling over the former Shahi kingdom of southeastern Afghanistan and the change over was smooth and consensual. On his coronation, Jayapala used the additional name-suffix Deva from his predecessor's dynasty in addition to the pala name-ending of his own family. (With Kabul lost during the lifetime of Jayapaladeva, his successors – Anandapala, Trilochanapala and Bhimapala - reverted to their own family pala-ending names.) Jayapala did not issue any coins in his own name. Bull and Horseman coins with the legend Samantadeva, in billon, seem to have been struck during Jayapala's reign. As the successor of Bhima, Jayapala was a Shahi monarch of the state of Kabul, which now included Punjab. Minhaj-ud-din describes Jayapala as "the greatest of the Rais of Hindustan."[36]

From the beginning, Jayapala followed an aggressive and pro-active policy towards the Turks. As stated earlier, Abu Ishaq had been evicted from Ghazni and the Lawiks were installed there with Shahi help. In 965, Abu Ishaq regained Ghazni with assistance from the Samanid ruler Abu Mansur and the Lawik fled to ‘Hind’ once again to seek help from the Shahis. Ultimately, Sabuktagin descended the throne of Ghazni in 977. He soon added Bust, Dawar, Qusdar, Tukhristan and Ghur to his dominions. Conflict with ‘Hind’ could not have been postponed for too long.

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 CE at the age of fifty six.

Silver jitals of Mahmud of Ghazni (ruled 999-1030 CE) with bilingual Arabic and Sanskrit, minted in Lahore in 1028.

After a struggle for succession with brothers, his son Mahmud of Ghazni 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.

Coinage of Mas'ud I of Ghazni, derived from Hindu Shahi designs, with the name of Mas'ud in Arabic.

Abbasid Silver Dirham in the name of the Abbasid caliph Al-Muqtadir (reign: 908–932 CE), designed on the model of the coinage of the Hindu Shahis.[37]

The Turk Shahis had resisted for more than 200 years to the eastward expansion of the Muslim forces of the Abbasid Caliphate, effectively blocking the Muslim conquests in India, until they fell to the Persian Saffarids in the 9th century CE. The long resistance of the Turk Shahis against Muslim expansion may have contributed to the preservation of Indian culture and Hinduism, as "the militant process of conversion" to Islam in conquered lands, which had deeply affected the Near East and the Iranian world, already "was a thing of the past" in the 10th century CE.[38]

The Persiante Turkic Ghaznavids finally broke through into India after overpowering the declining Hindu Shahis and Gurjaras.[39][38][40] Mahmud of Ghazni initiated the first of numerous invasions of North India. On 28 November 1001, his army fought and defeated the army of Raja Jayapala of the Turk Shahis at the Battle of Peshawar. In 1002 Mahmud invaded Sistan and dethroned Khalaf ibn Ahmad, ending the Saffarid dynasty.[41] From there he decided to focus on Hindustan to the southeast, particularly the highly fertile lands of the Punjab region.

No literature survives from Hindu Shahi courts. Fragmented information is obtained from chronicles of neighboring powers — Kashmir and Ghaznavi. Of the former, Kalhana's Rajatarangini is the only extant source. Of the latter, we have Tārīkh al-Hind by Al-Biruni, Tārīkh-i Bayhaqī by Abu'l-Faḍl Bayhaqi, and Tarikh Yamini by al-Utbi.

Coins of some rulers have been found. These names often do not match with the literature, creating issues.

A. R. Rahman of the Quaid-i-Azam University and Ahmad Hasan Dani did rudimentary field surveys in the late 1960s. Afterwards, the Italian Archaeological. Mission in Pakistan (IAMP) have extensively surveyed the regions in and around Swat. Multiple inscriptions have been located.