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Sugandha ( 883 – 914) was the fifth ruler of Kashmir in the northern Indian subcontinent during the 10th century.
She was the Queen Consort of Kashmir from 885 to 902 by marriage to Sankaravarman, the King of Kashmir. She served as Queen Regent of Kashmir during the minority of her son king Gopalavarman between 902 and 904. She was declared monarch in her own right in 904 as Sri Sugandha Deva, Queen of Kashmir, when all successors to the throne has died. She was dethroned by the Tantrins in 906 and they installed Partha as monarch. Sugandha continued to claim the throne of Kashmir and retreated to live in Haskapura (present-day Ushkur, Baramulla). In 914 she went to war against Partha and the Tantrins, but was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called Nispalaka Vihara.
Sankaravarman died in 902 of a stray-arrow at Urusha (present-day Hazara region), whilst returning from a not-so-successful conquest, where Sugandha had also accompanied him. Following his death, he was succeeded by his son, Gopalavarman. While some of Sankaravarman's queens and servants died by Sati, the Dowager Queen Sugandha refused it in order to act as Queen Mother and regent for Gopalavarman. After Sankaravarman's last rites had finished, Gopalavarman was crowned the King of Kashmir.
After Gopalavarman's death, his brother Sankata became King, but he died mysteriously after ten days. After Sankaravarman's lineage died out, Kashmir fell into a political turmoil. Courtiers started plotting a coup and public figures called a Maha-Panchayat to choose the kingdom's ruler. As Sugandha was quite popular among the people, she was proclaimed the sovereign of Kashmir.
She hoped that she would be succeeded by her unborn grandson, the son of Gopalavarman, but her daughter-in-law Jayalakshmi's pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth. Sugandha, now in despair, wished that she be succeeded by one of her blood-relatives, Nirjitavarman, a grandson of Suravarman and a half-brother of Avantivarman, nicknamed "Pangu" (lame).
She nominated Pangu as the successor to the throne and in doing this, she had to seek the advice and permission of her ministers. Sugandha's choice was met with considerable resistance from the ministers as well as the Tantrins, on grounds of Nirjitavarman's lameness. Sugandha was dethroned by the Tantrins and they installed Nirjitavarman's ten-year-old son Partha as monarch instead.
In 914, after eight years of exile in Haskapura, Sugandha was persuaded by the Ekangas, Royal bodyguards and other factions loyal to her, to wage a war against Partha and the Tantrins.Thapar, Romila. A History of India, vol. 1. London: Penguin Books, 1987. pp. 225–226. The fierce battle occurred in the suburbs of Srinagar in April 914 CE.
She was defeated and captured by the Tantrins. Sugandha was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called Nispalaka Vihara. Kalhana observes: "Strange are the ways of fate, ever falling and rising". (1999). 9788122411980, New Age International. ISBN 9788122411980
Finally, feudal landowners, known as damaras, were called put an end to the power struggle. They successfully destroyed the power of the Tantrins, after which the rulers of Kashmir were faced with the new problems of curbing the power of the landowners, as is evident from political events during the rule of Didda.
Sugandha's reign constitutes the first concrete and historically verifiable reign of a female sovereign in Kashmir's history and ruled at the behest of her subjects. (2025). 9788185026732, Marg Publications. ISBN 9788185026732
During her reign, Sugandha built the towns of Sugandhapura and Gopalapura, the Vishnu temple Gopalakesava, and the monastery of Gopalamatha. She also built the Sugandesha Temple, located at Pattan, which has a square sanctum with a portico in front and a peristyle around.
Sankaravarman, along with Sugandha, dedicated two temples to Mahadeva, namely Sankara Gauresa and Sugandhesvara at the new capital of Sankarapura. These two stately temples are still standing today at modern-day Pattan. (2025). 9788120616301, Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120616301
Sugandha's coinage is an important corroborative evidence of her power and refers to her by the masculine epithet, Sri Sugandha Deva. Ardoksho (Goddess Lakshmi) is seen seated in Lalitasana in most of the coins and Sharda script is distinctly visible.
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