1. Finding the Heir

Queen Didda was the most powerful and ferocious queen in the history of Kashmir. Though there have been many other queens like Queen Kotarani, Queen Sughanda, Queen Yashovati but Queen Didda was quite different from all of them. After the death of her husband King Khemgupt, as per the royal custom she had to become sati (a now abolished practice where the widow sacrifices her life at the dead husband’s pyre), but on her way to the pyre she had a change of mind and decided not to ablaze herself. She took to the throne as the regent of an infant king and continued to rule for twenty long years. She died in the year 1003 AD.

According to historians she was an astute ruler, adept in statecraft and diplomacy. Despite being physically disabled, Queen Didda deflected the invaders and ruthlessly discouraged any form of revolt against her authority. During her reign, she had built a number of temples, villages and viharas (a separate place for prayer and meditation). She had got a huge building constructed on the ‘Didda Road’, named ‘Didda Muth’.

After many years of rule, Didda wished to retire and wanted somebody to take over. Since she herself was instrumental in killing many of her own sons, nephews, cousins, and grandsons, there was not much hope left to find any suitable heir to the throne. The queen realized this and thought about informing all her remaining great-grandsons of her intentions and wanted to update them about her plans.

One fine day, all the enthusiastic boys gathered in the hall and listened raptly to the queen. “Dear children, as you all know that I have been ruling this kingdom for a very long time. But now I am tired and want somebody who is as smart as me to take over the reins of this kingdom. So, you all will have to assemble in the bigger hall tomorrow morning. I have set up an examination for each one of you and whoever clears the test will be the new heir,” announced the queen.

All the young minds had a smile on their faces, as each one was visualizing himself to be the future king. The next dawn, all the boys assembled outside the hall and waited for the guard to open the door. As the door opened, the boys rushed inside, looking for a place to sit. But when they entered they had a different picture to see. Big red apples were scattered all over the hall and there was hardly any place to stand, leave alone to sit!

No sooner had the young boys entered than the guard at the door alerted them about the arrival of Queen Didda. There was total poise and silence in the hall.

Queen Didda took her seat at the giant throne and spoke, “Welcome, young boys!” Now, looking at the apples on the floor, the queen said, “I had asked my orderlies to scatter big apples in this hall. And the task for you is to collect them all and put them back into the bags. Mind you, you have to manage with those three bags. The one who comes to me with the maximum number of apples will be the next ruler of this country.”

What followed next was a free for all scramble. There was a huge chaos and confusion in the hall. The boys ran after the apples. Since there were only three bags, the boys had to first fight to lay their hands on the bags and then fill it with the apples. It was a tedious task. Those who could not get the bags started collecting the apples in the pockets of their shirts and trousers; some made a loose bag out of their shawls and started collecting the apples in it. But their efforts went in vain because the pushes and pulls from other boys in the hall spilled all the apples onto the floor. This led to a scuffle amongst the boys.

Queen Didda was a mute spectator to this commotion. She just observed the activities of each and every boy. Amongst them there was a prince called Samgrama, who seemed disinterested in anything that was happening around him. He was sitting in one corner of the hall and looking at the other boys fighting and shouting like cats and dogs. He had no bag with him and not a single apple to boast about. It appeared as if he was in some deep thought. After fifteen minutes of observation, he got up from his place and went to the centre of the hall and drew the attention of the other boys with his announcement,

“Greetings to all my fellow competitors. I have been watching you for the last fifteen minutes and take pity on you. You all are from rich and respectful families. How have you got engaged in a game like this? You have a battalion of servants to do such menial jobs for you. I am surprised how the queen expects you to collect these apples and put them in a bag. Look at yourselves. You are all charming, good-looking and prosperous. You should be in the beautiful gardens of our country with your beloved. Go out and listen to lovely music. Watch graceful dances, enjoy the beauty of nature. Don’t waste your youth in this hall.”

With this address all the other boys were stunned. The audience got so motivated by the speech that they withdrew from the hall and came out into the open courtyard. They did not care for what the queen had asked them to do. Soon the crowd of young job seekers was outside the hall. Samgrama was left alone in the hall with the apples. Now he had all the time and space to collect the apples and produce them in front of Queen Didda. Showing no urgency, Samgrama collected all the apples in the bags and produced before the queen.

Queen Didda was spellbound by Sangrama’s wit and leadership qualities and he was coronated as the next King.