kingdom · South Asia

Gonanda dynasty

1100 BCE – 625 CE (approx.) · capital Srinagar

The founding royal line of Kashmir in Kalhana's Rajatarangini, a largely legendary dynasty said to have ruled the valley for centuries before the Karkotas.

Origins

Almost everything known about the Gonandas comes from the Rajatarangini, the chronicle of Kashmir written by Kalhana in the 12th century. He made the first king, Gonanda I, a contemporary of the Mahabharata war and listed dozens of successors in a chronology that modern historians consider largely unreliable. The early kings cannot be confirmed by inscriptions or coins.

Rule and society

Kalhana presents Kashmir as a Hindu kingdom in the Jhelum valley whose kings founded towns, temples and Buddhist monasteries. He counts among them an Ashoka credited with founding Srinagari, the older capital, and Meghavahana, praised for banning the slaughter of animals. His sequence is interrupted by Turushka kings, apparently the Kushans, and by the Hun ruler Mihirakula, so some names may preserve real memories, but history and legend are thoroughly mixed.

Decline and legacy

According to Kalhana, the last Gonanda king, Baladitya, died without a son, and his son-in-law Durlabhavardhana founded the Karkota dynasty around 625. From the Karkotas onwards the history of Kashmir rests on a much firmer chronology.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Gonanda dynastyKarkota dynasty 625 CE – 855 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gonanda dynasty. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gonanda-dynasty
MLA
“Gonanda dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gonanda-dynasty. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gonanda dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gonanda-dynasty.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gonanda dynasty’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gonanda-dynasty (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻