Rajatarangini

Evaluation

Literary

Kalhana was an educated Sanskrit scholar, connected in the highest political circles. His writing is full of literary devices and allusions, concealed by his unique and elegant style.

Historical reliability

Despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, there is little evidence of authenticity in the earlier books of Rajatarangini. For example, Ranaditya is given a reign of 300 years. Toramana is clearly the Huna king of that name, but his son Mihirakula is given a date 700 years earlier. Even where the kings mentioned in the first three books are historically attested, Kalhana's account suffers from chronological errors.

Kalhana's account starts to align with other historical evidence only by Book 4, which gives an account of the Karkota dynasty. But even this account is not fully reliable from a historical point of view. For example, Kalhana has highly exaggerated the military conquests of Lalitaditya Muktapida.

Sequels

Dvitiya Rājataraṅgiṇī by Jonarāja

During the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin, Jōnarāja authored a sequel by the same name. Also known as Dvitīyā Rājataraṅgiṇī ("second Rajatarangini"), it gives an account of Kashmir from c. 1148 CE to 1459 CE.

Jaina-Rājataraṅgiṇī by Śrīvara

After Jonarāja's death in 1459, his disciple Śrīvara Paṇḍita continued his work. He titled his work Jaina-Rājataraṅgiṇī, and it is also known as Tṛtīyā Rājataraṅgiṇī ("third Rājataraṅgiṇī"). It gives an account of Kashmir from 1451 CE to 1486 CE.

Rājāvalipatākā by Prājyabhaṭṭa

Prājyabhaṭṭa's Rājāvalipatākā gave an account of Kashmir from 1486 to 1513. His work is lost.

Caturthī Rājataraṅgiṇī by Śuka

Śuka continued Prājyabhaṭṭa's lost work, resulting in the Caturthī Rājataraṅgiṇī ("fourth Rājataraṅgiṇī"). It begins after the end of Bhaṭṭa Prājya’s Rājāvalipatākā in 1513, while Fatḥ Šāh was still exercising his second reign, and ends in 1597 with the construction of the Naganagarī city fort just before Emperor Akbar’s third visit to Śrīnagara.

Translations

A Persian translation of Rajatarangini was commissioned by Zain-ul-Abidin, who ruled Kashmir in the 15th century CE.

Horace Hayman Wilson partially translated the work and wrote an essay based on it, titled The Hindu History of Kashmir (published in Asiatic Researches Volume 15). Subsequent English translations of Kalhana's Rajatarangini include:

• Rajatarangini: The Saga of the Kings of Kashmir by Ranjit Sitaram Pandit (The Indian Press, Allahabad; 1935)
• Kings of Kashmira (1879) by Jogesh Chandra Dutt
• Kalhana's Rajatarangini: a chronicle of the kings of Kaśmir by Marc Aurel Stein
• In the Guise of Poetry — Kalhaṇa Reconsidered. In: Śāstrārambha. Inquiries into the Preamble in Sanskrit. Edited by Walter Slaje. Preface by Edwin Gerow. (AKM 62). Wiesbaden 2008: 207–244.
• Slaje, Walter (2014). Kingship in Kaśmīr (AD 1148–1459). From the Pen of Jonarāja, Court Paṇḍit to Sulṭān Zayn al-'Ābidīn (PDF). Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis. Vol. 7. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Critically Edited by Walter Slaje with an Annotated Translation, Indexes and Maps.
• Slaje, Walter (2022). Kaschmir unter den Šāhmīrīden. Śrīvaras Jaina- und Rājataraṅgiṇī, A.D. 1451–1486. Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis (in German). Vol. 20. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Four contemporary historical lives of rulers of an Indo-Persian sultanate. Newly published with annotated translation.
• Slaje, Walter (2023). Kaschmir im 16. Jahrhundert. Vom unabhängigen Sultanat zur moghulischen Annexion (Śukas Rājataraṅgiṇī, A. D. 1513–1597) (PDF). Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis (in German). Vol. 27. University of Halle-Wittenberg. Republished with an annotated translation.

Translations in other languages include:

• Rajatarangini with Hindi commentary by Ramtej Shastri Pandey (Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan, 1985)
• Rajatarangini of Kalhana, edited by Vishwa Bandhu (1963–65); a later addition includes the texts of Jonaraja, Srivara and Suka (1966–67)
• Rajatarangini, Hindi translation by Pandit Gopi Krishna Shastri Dwivedi
• Histoire Des Rois Du Kachmir: Rajatarangini, French translation by M. Anthony Troyer
• Rajatarangini, Urdu translation by Pandit Thakar Acharchand Shahpuriah
• Rajatarangini, Telugu translation by Renduchintala Lakshmi Narasimha Sastry

Adaptations

Several books containing legendary stories from Rajatarangini have been compiled by various authors. These include:

• S.L. Sadhu's Tales from the Rajatarangini (1967)
• Devika Rangachari's Stories from Rajatarangini: Tales of Kashmir (2001)
• Anant Pai's Amar Chitra Katha series:
  • Chandrapeeda and other Tales of Kashmir (1984)
  • The Legend of Lalitaditya: Retold from Kalhana's Rajatarangini (1999)

A television series based on Rajatarangini named Meeras began in 1986 in Doordarshan, Srinagar.