Yudhishthira (Huna king)

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Yudhishthira
Ruler of the
Narendraditya Khinkhila
Yudhishthira (Huna king) is located in South Asia
Yudhishthira (Huna king)
Approximate area of Kashmir

Yudhishthira has been proposed as the last Alchon Hun ruler of Kashmir, according to a reconstruction made by Atreyi Biswas.[1][2] The tentative identification has been made from the lists of Huna kings given in the Puranas and the Rajatarangini.[1]

The name of Yudhishthira I is mentioned twice in the first and third book of Rajatarangini, and Biswas assumes both to be the in reference to the same person. The Rajatarangini describes him as the son of a ruler named Narendraditya Khinkhila, who has been identified with the historically known

Karkota dynasty.[1][2] Yudhishtira is said to have been nicknamed "Andha-Yudhishthira" because he had small eyes.[1]

According to Kalhana, Yudhishthira was the last great Huna ruler, though he still produced a line of successors who were all subordinate rulers in Kashmir.[1] With the final reign of Yudhishthira and the end of Huna independent rule, new politics arose, such as the Turk Shahis in the areas of Kabul and Gandhara circa 666 CE.[1]

Alternatively, Joe Cribb proposes that Yudhishthira was actually the son of an earlier Alchon Hun king named Khingila, which would date him after the end of the 4th century CE.[3]

There does not exist any direct historical evidence of Yudhishthira I.

References

  1. ^ . The opinion given below follows the reconstruction made by Biswas, who has listed a number of Huna kings from the Puranas, and from the Rajatarangini.
  2. ^ a b Biswas, Atreyi (1973). The Political History of Hunas in India. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. pp. 130–149.
  3. ^ Cribb, Joe (2016). "Early Medieval Kashmir Coinage – A New Hoard and An Anomaly". Numismatic Digest. 40: 98.