SUMBAL IN HISTORY

Our college GDC Sumbal is located at Inderkote Sumbal. This place marks the ancient town
of Jayapura founded and made his capital by King Jayapida of karkota dynasty.
Jayapura was identified with Inderkote by General Cunninghum in his review of the
geography of kashmir. This identification was verified by Professor Georg Buhler who
visited this site in 1875. Jayapida, says Kalhana, sent his envoy to srilanka to bring
five rakshasas from there to fill the sambal lake.The rakshasas along with local workers filled
the lake and in it was built the town of jayapura. Why rakshasa from a foreign country were
needed to fill up the lake we do not know . They might have been experts in the field.
Adjacent to the town on the lake shore jayapida founded another town named
Dvaravati in honour of god vishnu.
At jayapura the king constructed a large buddhist monastery with three buddha images a
shrine of jayadevi and a temple of vishnu. His minister jayadatta built a matha at the place
and another minister aca had the shrine of shiva constructed.
By kalhana's time, Dvaravati was popularly known as 'bahya kotta', the outer castle and
Jayapura as the 'abhyantara kotta', the inner castle. The name abhyantara kotta is
preserved in tbe modern inderkote which in kashmiri has the same meaning.
With time dvaravati got amalgamated into jayapura and the name abhyantara kotta was
extended to the whole area.
Jayapura was a castle in the real sense of the word surrounded as it was by water on all
sides.
The present course of the river jehlum, away from the alluvial plateau of inderkote , might
make us wonder whether the town was founded at an apt place- the waterways being an
indispensable adjuncts to big towns in ancient times.Here Professor Stein reminds us that
before the change in the course of the jehlum brought about by King Avantivarman, the
jehlum flowed close to jayapura to the west of it along the nur canal.
Jayapura Continued to be an important town for a long time to come.
In 1320 Zulju, a mongol,invaded kashmir and spread mayhem everywhere.Suhadeva the
ruler of kashmir at the time , fled to kishtawar. The only semblance of authority was
maintained by his commander in chief Ramachandra from the fort of lar.When Zulju left
kashmir Ramachandra set up his base at inderkote and from here drove out the Gaddis who
had come down from kishtawar to kashmiron a raid .
Kota Rani ,the last hindu ruler of kashmir, ascended the throne in 1338. To keep herself
safe from the machinations of Shah Mir who was becoming powerful by the day, kota rani
shifted her capital to inderkote. On her refusal to marry Shahmir, the latter marched out
against her. A battle was fought and Shahmir besieged Inderkote.Koti Rani succumbed.
Towards the end of his reign Shahmir left the administration in the hands of his two
sons and probably repaired to inderkote.He was buried at inderkote where a shrine was built
on his grave.
Sultan Alauddin (1343-54) made inderkote his capital and erected many beautiful
buildings there. In 1462 inderkote was destroyed by severe floods which enveloped
the whole of kashmir.Sultan Zainul abidin restored the town and rechristened it as
zainatilak.However the old name survived and zainatilak lost out in the popular memory.
The sultan also built a causeway linking inderkote with sopore.The income of a village was
set apart for its maintenance.
Today inderkote is a pale shadow of its past glory with people living at the basic subsistence
level.Hope the newly established degree college would contribute in the revival of its
eminence.