How Queen Suryamati Saved Kashmir from Bankruptcy
When King Anantdev’s betel-chewing addiction around 1028 AD emptied Kashmir’s treasury and forced him to pawn the royal crown for lavish entertainment debts, Queen Suryamati emerged like Lakshmi manifesting during cosmic poverty. While her husband squandered wealth “like water,” she embodied divine fiscal wisdom, taking kingdom reins to prevent imminent disaster.
Like Saraswati wielding knowledge as weapon, Suryamati pioneered revolutionary tax reforms, abolishing burdensome levies imposed for royal luxuries while implementing strategic revenue systems. From her personal funds, she redeemed Kashmir’s mortgaged crown—restoring not just treasury but royal dignity itself. Her innovations extended beyond economics: she became history’s first queen to create Mountain Division forces for external defence and uniquely appointed her own husband as Army Commander, inverting traditional power dynamics.
Her administrative brilliance expanded Kashmir’s borders while liberating citizens from unnecessary taxation. Yet personal tragedy shadowed professional triumph. When she crowned her son Kalash despite ministerial opposition, he proved unworthy—exiling his parents to Vrijeshwara and continuing harassment until Anantdev committed suicide. In heartbreaking finale, Suryamati waited in vain for her son’s presence at the cremation before lighting the pyre and performing sati.
During Navratra’s celebration of sacrifice and resurrection, Queen Suryamati stands eternal—the financial goddess who redeemed Kashmir’s material and spiritual crown through wisdom, yet surrendered her life to maternal devotion’s sacred flames
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