365bet娱乐

Bhimagupta, too, came to the throne under identical conditions like those of his two predecessors. The only 1. According to Kalhana (I, vi, 329), Bhimagupta, in reality, was not the son of Abhimanyu II, but came of some noble family. Abhimanyu's wife had managed to secure the new child through some manipulations and his noble blood would not with= stand Didda's acts of gross misconduct and utter shamelessness. 2. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, vi, 313. Although the account of Kalhana does not throw sufficient light on the probable ages of the three infant kings following Abhimanyu on the throne one after another in nonage and under the care of the Queen-Regent, Didda, yet it is possible to presume their dates of birth to a reasonable amount of certainty. Kshemagupta, father of Abhimanyu, married Didda some time after 950 A.D. and the marriage, we may reasonably infer, took place some time in 951-52 A.D., Abhimanyu being born either in 952 or 953 A.D. Our suggestion is based on Kalhana's use of the word sisu, which, according to the usage in Sanskrit, is distinguished from balaka, the latter term specifying an infant under five years of age (cf. Monier Williams, Sans.Eng.Dict., p. 728, col. 3 under Bala). As such sisu Abhimanyu must have been more than five years of age, but under eight or sixteen (Ibid., page 1076, col. 2, under sisu) -the latter possibility being hardly applicable here. Thus, it may be inferred that, at the time of his accession, Abhimanyu was more than five years of age, but less than eight = in all probability, of about six years when Kshemagupta died in 958 A.D. Abhimanyu died quite young in 972 A.D. and; according to our calculations, he could hardly have been 20 years of age at the time of his death. He left behind three sons, Nandigupta, Tribhuvana, and Bhimagupta, who succeeded one after the other and died quite young due to the machinations of the ambitious Didda. Since there is no hint in the Chronicle that Abhimanyu had more than one wife, we may further infer that all three were born of the same mother. Admitting the possibility of the marriage of Abhimanyu at the age of fifteen or 967-68 A.D., we may (Contd.)

261 difference was that his tenure on the throne lasted longer. This, very probably, was due to a number of reasons and events of note that took place one after another in quick succession. About this time, the old and crafty minister, Phalguna, whose presence in the court had had a restraining effect upon the Queen-Regent, died and Didda now started indulging in her excesses of misconduct quite openly] Also, though now well advanced in age, she developed intimacy with a certain Khasa named Tunga, formerly a herdsman, who had come to the capital and was surmise that the eldest child, Nandigupta, was born at the earliest in 968-69 A.D. It is interesting to note that Kalhana uses the term balaka (Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, vi, 293) for him at the time of his accession in 972 A.D. which further strengthens our reasoning that the terms sisu and balaka were used by the Chroniclerin the strict gramda tical usage. The other two sons, Tribhuvana and BhImagupta, would thus have been born in 969-70 and 971-72 A.D., respectively. Nandigupta had a butterfly stay at the throne for about a year and died in 973 A.D. (Ibid., I, vi, 311). He was succeeded by Tribhuvana, another stripling of three or four years, who was done to death in 975 A.D. (Ibid., I, vi, 312) in a similar fashion. Bhimagupta, the last surviving son of Abhimanyu, was placed on the throne in 975 A.D. and must have been two or three years of age at the most. It is further stated by Kalhana that sisu Bhimagupta, after 4 or 5 years' stay in the palance, 'had become a little more developed in intellect' and had come to an age when he could realize that his grandmother's (Didda's) ways of life and living did not conform to propriety (Ibid., I, vi, 326-28). According to our modest computations, Bhimagupta was about 8 years of age at that time and here again we find that the use of the appellation sisu (Ibid., I, vi, 326) for him by Kalahana adds further strength to our premises and calculations. 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, I, vi, 315-16.

262 eng¹ged as a courtier. Her infatuation for this commo. er gradually became so intense that the CityPrefect, Bhuyya, was administered poison and killed for yoiring remonstration against her shamelessness². Bhimegupta, the child-king, was now sufficiently gown up to reali. ve the sad state of affairs in his kingdom and the baser traits of his grandmother's character. He wished -for reforms and that was his undoing. The Queen grew suspicious of him, imprisoned and tortured him, and finally put him to death. Thus, T having put all her grandsons out of the way, she herself ascended the throne in 981 A.D.and succeeded in the attainment of her cherished dream of supreme and unfettered overlordship of the Valley for the realization of which she had to wait so long.