Bhima Shahi

Hindu Shahi king · mid-late 10th century CE

Bhima Shahi rules in the middle to late tenth century CE — the high point of the Hindu Shahi dynasty before the Ghaznavid wars. He is the patron of the great Salt Range temple group, including the temples on the Tilla Jogian and Malot, and he rebuilds the seat of the dynasty at Udabhandapura. His sister Didda becomes queen of Kashmir as the wife of Ksemagupta, and rules Kashmir as regent and queen for five decades — the bridge by which the Hindu Shahi cadet line passes into the Lohara dynasty (see Genealogy).

The throne of Bhim

Mahmud of Ghazna takes Bhima’s throne to Ghazni after the sack of Kangra Fort in 1009 CE. The episode is recorded by the Persian chroniclers (Al-Utbi, Firishta) and stands as the symbolic moment of the dynasty’s defeat — though Bhima himself was already long dead by then.

Sources

• Kalhana, Rajatarangini, Books V–VI
• Al-Utbi, Tarikh-i Yamini
• Firishta, Tarikh-i Firishta
• Abdur Rehman, The Last Two Dynasties of the Shahis (1988)
• Singh, N. K., Coronation of Shiva — Rediscovering Masrur Temple (2009)