Establishment Following the death of Cippatajayapida, the last significant king of the Karkota dynasty, around 840, a bitter power struggle erupted between his maternal uncles. The war between Padma, Utpala, Kalyana, Mamma, and Dharma to seize control of the empire grew increasingly bloody and the line of succession unclear. In the meantime, puppet kings were propped up and discarded, hailing from the Karkota lineage but failing to exert sufficient authority or establish stability. Tribhuvanapida's son, Ajitapida was nominated by Utpala immediately after Cippatajayapida's death.
Sankaravarman .
Accession and early rule The death of Avantivarman led to a power struggle. Samkaravarman was married to Sugandha, the daughter of a neighboring king and had at-least three other queens including one Surendravati. New revenue offices were created and an elaborate taxation scheme was devised, which led to the employment of numerous Kayasthas in royal service. He had a short reign of two years (902–904) under the regency of Sugandha. Cakravarman was yet another child-ruler; the Tantrins immediately tried to install back Partha but in vain. Particular criticism is reserved for his' granting an audience to Ranga, a famed singer from the lowly Domba caste; her daughters Hamsi and Nagalata are alleged to have ensnared the king in the process. Hamsi soon became the chief-queen and began to control the affairs of state by installing fellow Dombas (and people who were subservient to them) at important offices: they became the king's closest friends and their oral commands were as powerful as royal decrees. Sacred spaces were regularly "polluted" by the low castes. Cakravarman's Domba counsel allegedly even made him rape a Brahmin wife during her ritualistic fast, on the pretext of
atoning his sins for having engaged in sexual relations with out-caste women. In the summer of 937, a group of Damara guards attacked Cakravarman in a privy at night and chased him into Hamsi's sleeping-chamber; Cakravarman—failing to locate any weapon—met with his end, in her embrace. Kalhana notes this to be a retaliation to his' killing numerous Damaras, in breach of the earlier alliance. Cakravarman's wives had allegedly urged the guards to
stone his knees in his final dying moments.
Unmattavanti Unmattavanti ascended to the throne after Cakravarman, with help from minister Sarvata and others. In a regime marked by wanton violence, ridiculousness, and oppression, he was effectively controlled by a minister named Parvagupta, who desired for the throne. Unmattavanti employed Kayasthas in royal services and appointed Rakka, a Brahmin foot-soldier from the house of Samgrama, as the prime-minister. At Parvagupta's behest, he had his brothers starved to death and his unarmed father (and step-mothers) assassinated. Kalhana mentions of Unmattavanti to have been delighted at seeing Partha's corpse, which was even dagger-ed by Parvagupta's son Devagupta in front of him. Kalhana also accuses Unmattavanti of engaging in a range of dastardly acts including mutilating pregnant women,
amputating limbs of laborers, and hitting naked women at their
cleavage. Unmattavanti has fourteen queens and probably no son. He died of a chronic disease in 939, suffering immense pain; before his death, he had Suravarman II (who was falsely proclaimed by the servants of his seraglio to be his own son) crowned.
Suravarman II and disintegration Suravarman II reigned for hardly a few days, before being ousted by his commander-in-chief Kamalvardhana, who had declared rebellion from his base in Madavarajya against the Damras (and by extension, the Utpalas). He fled the kingdom with his mother, bringing the Utpala Dynasty to an end. Kamalvardhana convened an assembly of Brahmins to appoint the next ruler, who rejected his self-nomination as well as a request from Suravarman II's mother. Yasaskara, the son of Prabhakaradeva was instead chosen. This brought an end to the Utpala dynasty and would set the stage for
Didda's autocracy. == Society ==