didda, a daughter of the king of lohara called simharāja, had married the king of kashmir, ksemgupta, thus uniting the two areas. compared to other societies of the period, women in kashmir were held in high regard and when ksemgupta died in 958, didda assumed power as regent for her young son, abhimanyu ii. upon the death of abhimanyu in 972 she performed the same office for his sons, nandigupta, tribhuvanagupta, and bhimagupta, respectively. she killed each of these grandchildren in turn. as regent she effectively had sole power over the kingdom, and with the killing by torture of bhimagupta in 980 she became ruler in her own right.