Lohara

The Lohara dynasty took its name from Loharkot in the Pir Panjal range. Didda, daughter of the Lohara Khasa chief Simharja, married King Kshemgupta and ruled Kashmir as regent and queen from 980 to 1003. On her death her nephew Samgramaraja took the throne and founded the line, whose early history is told in Kalhana's Rajatarangini; he repelled Mahmud of Ghazni and backed the Hindu Shahis of Gandhara.

Court corruption and revolts of the damara landowners marked the following centuries. Jayasimha (1128-1155), called the last great Hindu ruler of Kashmir, restored peace and rebuilt destroyed temples.

The throne passed to Simhadeva in 1286 and then to his brother Suhadeva, whose heavy taxation made him hated. The Ladakhi prince Rinchan overthrew him in 1320, converted to Islam as Sadr-ud-Din and founded the Kashmir Sultanate. The remnants of Lohara power ended when Shah Mir seized the throne in 1339.