Written by: Sirat Gohar Daudpoto
Posted on: August 29, 2023 | 
| 中文
Odi Shahi Watch Tower at Amlukdara, Swat
Earlier this month I came to know through social media about a new monograph on the Odi Shahi dynasty, popularly known as the Hindu Shahi dynasty, which has been a topic of my interest since my undergraduate days. With great expectation I visited the Saeed Book Bank in Islamabad, and purchased a copy of the book. Since the Shahi era is an extremely important chapter of the ancient history of Pakistan, I decided to write a review of the book by analyzing it in the light of archaeological, epigraphical and historical sources. There is a long list of problems that I identified in the book, and I have discussed some of these.
Forgotten Kings is organized into nine main parts:
(1) A History of the Land of the Sahi Kingdom;
(2) Kallar and the Advent of the Hindu Sahis;
(3) Kamaluka, Samantadeva and the Emergence of the Afghans;
(4) Bhimadeva;
(5) Jayapala and Sabuktigin;
(6) Jayapala and Mahmud;
(7) Anandapala;
(8) Trilochanapala;
(9) Bhimapala and those that came after him.
Two appendices are also given in the book: Appendix 1. Glossary of Area Names, and Appendix 2. Dynastic Lineages.
Title: Forgotten Kings: The Story of the Hindu Sahi Dynasty
Author: Changez Saleem Jan
Publisher: Folio Books, Lahore, Pakistan
Year of publication: 2023
Pages: 176
Price: 995 PKR
Changez Saleem Jan, the author
Odi Shahi was the last of the two pre-Muslim dynasties, the other being Turk Shahi, which ruled over an area extended to present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan (including Kashmir) between the 7th and 11th centuries CE. In the historical accounts these two dynasties of Shahis, which occupied the territories between Zabulistan and the upper Ganges valley before the Ghaznavid invasion, are mentioned as the Turk Shahi and the Hindu Shahi (correct Odi Shahi). In Alberuni’s India, the Turk Shahi dynasty is mentioned as “ash -Shāhiyya of Kabul” and Odi Shahi as “ash -Shāhiyyat al-Hindiyya”, i.e., Hindu Shahi. After Alberuni the Odi Shahi dynasty is called Hindu Shahi, which is a very popular name of the last pre-Ghaznavid dynasty of ancient Pakistan. According to Professor Abdur Rahman, who is an authority on the Shahi dynasties, the term Hindu Shahi is inaccurate and based on religious discrimination, and should be discarded and forgotten. He argues that the correct name of the dynasty is Udi or Odi Shahi, based on archaeo-toponymical and ethnological sources. However, Odi Shahi is written as “Hindu Sahi” in the book under review, and the author of the book writes that “there is a good chance that they were Rajputs…. It would be possible that the Sahis were either Ghakkars themselves or closely related to them” (p. 31). Whereas, in his paper titled “New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Śāhis”, Prof. Rahman two decades ago brought to light that the Hindus Shahis were “neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans.” They were Udis/Odis.
Kallar laid the foundation of the Odi Shahi dynasty in c. 822 CE by dethroning Lagaturman, who was the last ruler of the Turk Shahi dynasty, which was founded by Barhatigin in c. 666 CE. Kallar was a minister of Lagaturman. The historical accounts also mention that he was a Brahmin who came into power by throwing Lagaturman in prison. With Kallar becoming the shah of Kabul and Hund (ancient Udabhandapura) started a new era, the Odi Shahi era, which started in the year 822 CE, according to the Zalamkot bilingual Persian-Sharada inscription of the year 401 Hijri. Kallar was followed by, according to Prof. Rahman’s magnum opus The Last Two Dynasties of the Śāhis, Samantadeva (850-870), Khudarayaka (870-880), Lalliya (880-902), Toramana/Kamalu (903-921), Bhimadeva (921-964), Jayapaladeva (964-1002), Anandapala (1002-1010), Trilocanapala (1010-1021), and Bhimapala (1021-1026). The Odi Shahi era ended with the Ghaznavid occupation of Odi Shahi territories in c. 1026 CE. In Forgotten Kings, Changez Saleem Jan followed Yogendra Mishra’s timeline of the Odi Shahi kings, and according to Mishra, there were eight Odi rulers who reigned between c. 865-1026 CE. To Mishra, Kallar, and Lalliya are the names of the same person who became the ruler in c. 865 CE, and also the name of Khudarayaka is mentioned in the list of Odi Shahi kings given in his book. The research was undertaken years after Mishra brought out new facts that changed the understating of the political history of the Odi Shahis. And it seems that the author has not taken into account the works published after Mishra’s work came out.
The back cover of the book
Despite its shortcomings, what makes Forgotten Kings an invaluable account is its subject. Very few works have been written on the political history of Odi Shahis so far, and most of these were written nearly 50 years ago in the 1970s. No doubt, writing about the political history and rulers of a dynasty the information about which is scarce and scattered, is a painstaking task. Changez Saleem Jan’s contribution to Odi Shahi studies in the form of Forgotten Kings will certainly reawaken the interest of Pakistani historians and archaeologists in the last two dynasties of the Shahis.
Shahi Brahmanical Temple at Barikot, Swat
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