Kota Rani


Kota Rani (d. 1339), was the last ruler of the Hindu Lohara dynasty in Kashmir.[1] She was regent during the minority of her son, and ruled as monarch until 1339. She was deposed by Shah Mir, who became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir.[2]

Kota Rani
last ruler belonging to the Hindu Lohara dynasty in Kashmir
Reign1323 − 1339
PredecessorRinchan (1320- 1323)
SuccessorShah Mir( 1339-1342)
Died1344
SpouseSūhadeva
Rinchan
Udayanadeva
HouseLohara dynasty
FatherRamachandra
ReligionHinduism

Life

Kota Rani was the daughter of Ramachandra, the commander-in-chief of Suhadeva, the king of Lohara dynasty in Kashmir.[3] Ramachandra had appointed an administrator Rinchan, a Ladakhi. Rinchan became ambitious. He sent a force in the fort in the guise of merchants, who took Ramachandra's men by surprise.[4] Ramachandra was killed and his family was taken prisoner.

To earn local support, Rinchan appointed Rawanchandra, the son of Ramachandra, as administrator of Lar and Ladakh, and married his sister Kota Rani.[5] He employed Shah Mir as a trusted courtier, who had entered Kashmir earlier and had been given an appointment in the government. Rinchan converted to Islam and adopted the name of Sultan Sadruddin. He died as a result of an assassination after ruling for three years.

Reign

Kota Rani was first appointed as a regent for Rinchan's young son. Later she was persuaded to marry Udayanadeva by the elders. Udayanadeva died in 1338.

Kota Rani had two sons. Rinchan's son was under the charge of Shah Mir and Udayanadeva's son was taught by Bhatta Bhikshana. Kota Rani became the ruler in her own right, and appointed Bhatta Bhikshana as her prime minister.

Shah Mir pretended to be sick, and when Bhatta Bhikshana visited him, Shah Mir jumped out of his bed and killed him.[6] According to the historian Jonaraja, she committed suicide and offered her intestines to him as a wedding gift. It is not known what happened to her sons.

Legacy

She was very intelligent and a great thinker. She saved the city of Srinagar from frequent floods by getting a canal constructed, named after her and called "Kute Kol".[7] This canal gets water from Jhelum River at the entry point of city and again merges with Jhelum river beyond the city limits.

  • Rakesh Kaul's historical novel The Last Queen of Kashmir is based on Kota Rani's life and legend.[8]
  • In August 2019, Reliance Entertainment and Phantom Films announced that they would be making a movie on Kota Rani.[9][10]
gollark: Weird, *now* a mail.ru crawler is accessing osmarks.tk!
gollark: What?
gollark: That's not really an advantage. It doesn't *need* to perfectly emulate a real doctor and it makes it worse if you try and force it to be.
gollark: Just hook up a really advanced medical AI to a hologram projector thing and let it... I don't know, maybe have a human projection available when it needs to look human to be comforting or whatever, but it can also just arbitrarily generate medical stuff as necessary.
gollark: So why have an emergency medical *humanoid* thing, I mean?

See also

References
  1. "Explained: Who was Kota Rani, likened to Mehbooba Mufti".
  2. "Who's that girl? The story behind the book 'The Last Queen of Kashmir'".
  3. Hasan, Kashmir under the Sultans 1959, p. 8.
  4. Hasan, Kashmir under the Sultans 1959.
  5. "PSA dossier calls Mehbooba Mufti Kota Rani, Kashmir's Hindu queen who 'poisoned' rivals".
  6. Culture and political history of Kashmir, Prithivi Nath Kaul Bamzai, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1994.
  7. "Queens, poets, academics, mystics: A calendar celebrates 12 inspirational women of Kashmir".
  8. Mihir Balantrapu, Kota, the fortress (Book review of The Last Queen of Kashmir), The Hindu, 5 August 2016.
  9. "Kota Rani: Phantom Films to produce film on last Hindu queen of Kashmir. Details inside".
  10. "Madhu Mantena To Make Biopic On Kota Rani, Last Hindu Queen Of Kashmir".

Bibliography
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