1. Sugandha was the Queen Consort of Kashmir from 885 to 902 by marriage to Sankaravarman, the King of Kashmir.
20 Facts About Sugandha
1. 2.
Sugandha served as Queen Regent of Kashmir during the minority of her son king Gopalavarman between 902 and 904.
3.
Sugandha was declared monarch in her own right in 904 as Sri Sugandha Deva, Queen of Kashmir, when all successors to the throne has died.
4.
Sugandha was dethroned by the Tantrins in 906 and they installed Partha as monarch.
5.
Sugandha continued to claim the throne of Kashmir and retreated to live in Haskapura.
6.
Sugandha was the daughter of Svamiraja, the king of a kingdom near Kashmir.
7.
Sugandha was married to Sankaravarman, who reigned as King of Kashmir from 885 CE until 902 CE.
8.
Sugandha had at-least three other wives, including one Surendravati, but Sugangha acted as his queen consort.
9.
Sankaravarman died in 902 of a stray-arrow at Urusha, whilst returning from a not-so-successful conquest, where Sugandha had accompanied him.
10.
Sugandha engaged in prolonged theft of state-treasures and was finally probed by Gopalavarman.
11.
In 904 CE, Sugandha assumed royal power and ruled Kashmir in her own right.
12.
Sugandha hoped that she would be succeeded by her unborn grandson, the son of Gopalavarman, but her daughter-in-law Jayalakshmi's pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth.
13.
Sugandha nominated Pangu as the successor to the throne and in doing this, she had to seek the advice and permission of her ministers.
14.
Sugandha's choice was met with considerable resistance from the ministers as well as the Tantrins, on grounds of Nirjitavarman's lameness.
15.
Sugandha was dethroned by the Tantrins and they installed Nirjitavarman's ten-year-old son Partha as monarch instead.
16.
In 914, after eight years of exile in Haskapura, Sugandha was persuaded by the Ekangas, Royal bodyguards and other factions loyal to her, to wage a war against Partha and the Tantrins.
17.
Sugandha was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called Nispalaka Vihara.
18.
Sugandha built the Sugandesha Temple, located at Pattan, which has a square sanctum with a portico in front and a peristyle around.
19.
Sankaravarman, along with Sugandha, dedicated two temples to Mahadeva, namely Sankara Gauresa and Sugandhesvara at the new capital of Sankarapura.
20.
Sugandha's coinage is an important corroborative evidence of her power and refers to her by the masculine epithet, Sri Sugandha Deva.