Legends, Names and the First Kings

The name "Kashmir"

• The name Kashmira appears in early Sanskrit works, such as the Mahabharata and the grammar of Panini.
• The old name for the Valley in Sanskrit texts is Kashmira-mandala.

The Satisar legend

According to the Nilamata Purana, the Valley was once a huge lake called Satisar (the lake of Sati). The demon Jalodbhava lived in its waters and troubled the nearby lands.

• The sage Kashyapa performed penance and the gods came to help.
• Vishnu, as a boar (Varaha), cut the mountains at Varahamula (Baramulla), and the water drained out.
• The Valley appeared, and Kashyapa settled people there. The Vitasta (Jhelum) became the great river.

The Gonanda dynasty (legendary)

• Kalhana begins with a list of 52 earlier kings (lost), then the Gonanda dynasty.
• Gonanda I is described as an ally of Jarasandha, killed by Balarama (Mahabharata age).
• Kalhana places the first Gonanda kings in the Mahabharata period, but no firm dates can be given. Historians treat these kings as legendary.
• The Gonanda line appears again and again in the list. Gonanda II and Gonanda III are mentioned later. The last Gonanda king was Baladitya.

The name Kashmir: more points

• Tradition says Kashmir took its name from the saint Kashyapa, who lived by the mountain lake Satisar. People called the valley Kashyap-mar or Kashyap-pura.
• In Sanskrit, "Ka" means water and "shameera" means to dry up. So Kashmir = land from which water was drained.
• Greeks called Kashmir Kasperia, Hiuen Tsang (Chinese) wrote Ki-Pin, and Kashmiris call their land Kasheer.

The Nagas, the earliest people

• According to the Nilamata Purana, the Nagas (serpent-worshipping tribe) were the earliest inhabitants. They lived on the mountains around Satisar.
• When the Aryans came, the Nagas kept their power for some time, and the Aryans slowly took over.

Rulers from the Mahabharata age to 627 CE

The Mahabharata period (Kalhana's account)

• Kalhana begins the story just before the great war. Gonanda, the first king in his list, fought for Jarasandha against Krishna at Mathura and was killed (Kalhana names Balarama as the one who killed him).
• His son Damodara was also defeated by Krishna at Gandhara. Krishna put Damodara's pregnant widow Yashovati on the throne. Her son became Gonanda II.
• Gonanda II was followed by 35 kings. Some historians link these kings with the Pandavas, or with the ancestors of Maharaja Gulab Singh.

The Achaemenians in Kashmir

• Some historians think Kashmir came under the Achaemenians of Persia for a time. The key rulers were Cyrus (558 to 530 BCE), founder of the Persian Empire, and Darius.

Alexander's invasion (326 BCE)

• By the time Alexander invaded in 326 BCE, the Persians had lost control of Kashmir.
• When Alexander attacked King Porus, Kashmir was ruled by king Abhisara, who surrendered to him.
• Several villages in J&K have Greek-origin names. Mendhar in Poonch is linked to the town of Menander.
• A local story names Buffliaz (Poonch, on the Mughal Road) as the place where Alexander lost his horse Bucephalus. Treat this as local tradition.