365bet娱乐

As noted above, with the end of the Lohara dynasty, the crown of the Valley passed on to Vopyadeva or Vuppadeva whose name has been variously spent as Bopadevs and Vuppedeva also? Relying on the reading of Rodgers on the coin mentioned above, Kaul has preferred the emendation Vuppedeva against Bopadeva of Jonaraja while Ganguly is in favour of Vuppadeva. Several possibilities may be pointed out for the selection of Bopadeva as Vantideva's successor; in the first place, it is 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, (J.), 49 2. Majumdar, R.C., Struggle for Empire, p. 101; R.I. (J.), 50; Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1879, pp. 278, 281. 3. Rajatarangini by Jonaraja, Edited by S.N. Kaul, p. 53, fn. 6; Majumdar, R.C., Struggle for Empire, p. 101.

467 admissible that Vantideva died without leaving a son and successor and the officials as well as respectable citizens of the State and the capital chose Bopadeva for the throne from amongst many contenders belonging to the royal family. Secondly, it is also permissible to infer that Vantideva had many sons out of whom Bopadeva was selected. Thirdly, it is also likely that Bopadeva came of some co-lateral branch and had managed to win over the officials of the State and influential persons amongst the people to his side with the result that he was able to brush aside the legal and lawful claims of any son or sons of Vantideva. Lastly, it is also quite possible that he may not have been related in any way to the preceding royal family and may have been one of the officials who was selected by the courtiers. Unfortunately for us, there is an utter lack of pertinent information on this important point and the problem may remain unsolved till some fresh material is available. Though Jonaraja devotes six verses in his work to him, yet there is hardly any information of political significance pertaining to his reign The 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, (J.), 50-55.

468 King-elect, according to him, was mentally deficient, his chief hobby being a study of stones and pebbles, precious or otherwise! This is also corroborated by Hasan and it appears that his childish experi ments soon passed into legends with which both Jonareja and Hasan show their acquaintance. Since Jonaraja has used the connotations mudha (a dunce) and murkha ( a fool) for him, we may readily surmise that there was no improvement in the conditions prevailing in the country and these further deteriorated during his reign. It is obvious that the selection of Vopyadeva as a ruler was not based on his qualities of head or heart. What then could have been the reasons. behind his selection? The very fact that he was selected for the throne proves that there were many candidates for the crown. To us, it appears that a powerful junts comprised of highly placed officials and ministers with the backing of influential persons in the country wanted to keep the real power or authority in its own hands so as to safeguard its own selfish interests and selected 1. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, (J.), 50-55. 2. Tarikh-1-Hasan, II, p. 154. 3. Rajatarangini by Kalhana, (J.), 56.

469 Vopyadeva - a mentally deficient puppet for the throne. Our surmise is strengthened by the fact that immediately after him, the powerful Damaras were able to instal Jassaka, a brother of Vopyadeva, on the throne of Kashmir as their nominee.1