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In the galaxy of heroes, empire-builders and monarchs of the 8 th century A.D. all the world over, the name of Lalitaditya Muktapida, has a lustre of its own. While the West could be proud of a Charlemagne, the Middle East of a just Harun-Al-Rashid and China of the might Hu-Suan of the T'ang dynasty, India can justly be proud of Lalitaditya, the most illustrious figure of the country in the eighth century, who not only held sway on a large area in the northernmost regions of India but also extended his suzerainty over a considerable portion of the subcontinent and large tracts of the Central Asian regions probably for the second time in the annals of Indian history, a millenium after the Imperial over

87 Mauryas. This mighty conqueror is not only remembered in our annals for his wars and conquests but also for his qualities as a champion of justice, promoter of literary and creative activities and for promotion of art and architecture. Under his benevolent rule the Valley rose to heights of unprecedented glory and prosperity which it could never achieve ever after. A crowning monument of his glory -the Martanda Temple - stands to this day as a fitting memorial of his greatness. A sovereign's greatness in ancient and mediaeval periods has mostly been estimated by his conquests. Domination over extensive territories had been the ardent aspiration of great kings in the past and is true even in modern times. "What Caesar and Augustus desired, what Charlemagne fought for, what Charles V and Louis XIV attempted, what Napoleon aspired to and what the last German emperor Kaiser William III had sacrificed millions of lives for, is the same goal of universal dominion. It has attracted in all times great sovereigns in the east and in India like Asoka and Samudragupta, Akbar and Aurangzeb -" Recently, in the Second World War, Hitler, the Fuhrer, caused the death of millions of people just to fulfil the 1. Vaidya, C.V., History of Medieval Hindu India, I, p. 207.

88 same desire of universal conquest - an attempt in which many previous sovereigns had already failed. Though encircled by lofty mountains and lack of resources, the Valley, too, produced a personality om in which there was the same fire of the ambition as that of Samudragupta, courage of Pushyamitra Sunga and Kharavela, military genius of Babur, administrative qualities of Chandragupta Maurya and Akbar, and love for art and architecture like Shahjehan. This personality was that of Lalitaditya Muktapida, who subsequently became a patron of great Sanskrit scholars like Vakpatiraja, the author of Gaudevaho, and Bhavabhuti.