Simhadeva assumed the throne of Kashmir in 1286 CE. He was not a best ruler and was he was dominated by his advisors advices and policies. Suhadeva, the brother of Simhadeva, succeeded him in 1301 CE. He did many activities that marked his downfall. He imposed heavy taxes and fines during his rule and left his defense in the mercy of God, leaving the entry points without security checks, due to which many invaders became successful in entering the valley without much struggle.
Mongols Invasion
Zulju (Dulucha) was a Mongol who came from Turkistan and had entered Kashmir by the Jhelum valley. Suhadeva fled to Kishtwar because he realized he could not resist the Zulju. The reason he flew to the Kashtiwar district of Lar because it was the only place that remained safe from the rage of the Mongols, where Ramachandra, Suhadeva’s commander in chief, confined himself to a fort and protected the inhabitants of the town and the neighborhood.
After the return of the Mongols, the inhabitants who had fled to the mountains returned to the valley. As there was no organized government, the local chiefs made themselves independent. Among those who took advantage of prevailing anarchy, the most prominent person was Lha Chen Gyalbu Rinchina.
Lha Chen Gyalbu RINCHINA (1320–1323 CE)
Rinchina was the son of a Ladakhi chief, who ruled Ladakh from 1290–1320. During the Zulju invasion, Rinchina was employed by Ramachandra to help the district of Lar in establishing law and order. But after the withdrawal of the Mongols, his aspirations for the throne of Kashmir soon began.
He, along with his Ladakhi followers in the disguise of merchants, made a surprising attack on Ramachandra at Lar. Ramachandra was defeated and killed, and Rinchina occupied the throne of Kashmir in 1320 CE. To gain the support of the local people, Rinchina married Ramchandra’s daughter Kota Rani.
Later in life, Rinchina came into contact with Sayyid Sharafuddin, commonly known as Bulbulshah, the founder of the Sufi order of Suharwardia in Kashmir. Under his influence, Rinchina came under the spell of Sufis and got converted to Islam and adopted the name Sadruddi,n and became a disciple of Bulbulshah.
Rinchina established Rinchingpora, a quarter, and constructed a mosque (Bud Mosque) on the grounds of a former Buddhist temple in Kashmir. He also built a public charity kitchen (Langar Khana) in the memory of Bulbulshah and was known as Bulbul Langer.
Rinchina died in 1323 CE. He left behind a son named Haida, who was under the guardianship of Shah Mir, Rinchina’s trusted counselor. As Haidar was a minor so his mother, Kota Rani, was appointed as regent. But this arrangement was not considered good, for it was assumed that without a sovereign, the country might again lapse into disorder due to the absence of acutal ruler. Kota Rani, accordingly, on the advice of Shah Mir and other nobles of the land, recalled Udyanadeva, the brother of Suhadeva, from Swat, where he had been living since Zulju’s invasion, and made him king of Kashmir in 1323 CE.
Udyanadeva, however, was incompetent, and it was really Kota Rani who was the virtual ruler. Udyanadeva died in the year 1338. Although the last Hindu ruler of Kashmir was Udyanadeva but his Chief Queen Kota Rani was the de facto ruler of the kingdom.
KOTA RANI
On Udyanadeva’s death, Kota Rani ascended the throne, but she was alarmed at the ambition and growing power of Shah Mir. She decided to make Bhatta Bhiksana as her Prime Minister, who was the most truthful and powerful man in her dynasty; she hoped would act as a counterpoise to Shah Mir. In 1339, Shah Mir imprisoned brave queen Kota Rani, and Shah Mir himself ascended the throne under the title of Sultan Shams-ud-Din. Shah Mir thus laid the foundation of sultanate in Kashmir, and his dynasty ruled Kashmir for about 222 years, which lasted till 1561.
