Lalidatiya of Kashmir

Lalidatiya belonged to the great Karkota dynasty. His grand-father Durlabhavardhana replaced the old Darda Gonandiya dynasty. Rajtarangini mentions both Gonandiya and Karkota dynasties to be Kshatriya. Gonandiyas being called Kshatriya is in line with the fact Manusmriti calls original Dardas (not to be confused with Dardic languages, a modern linguistic term) Kshatriyas. Over centuries, going through the principles of sound change in Indo-Iranian languages, k(ā)-r-k(o)-ṭ(a) or k-r-k-ṭ turned into g-kh-r. As k turned into g, rk turned into kh, and ṭ into r, all of it through as mentioned earlier, common Indo-Iranian sound changes. Modern Gakhars represent the sole legitimate inheritors of this ancient legacy.

Lalitaditya is the most distinguished ruler of all Karkota rulers, he expanded the empire all the way to Kannauj in the South-East, and parts of former Soviet Turkic republics in the North-West. He was the first king of Jammu and Kashmir to launch a campaign against the hostile t