the reign of samgrāmarāja between 1003 and june or july 1028 was largely characterised by the actions of those in his court, who preyed on his subjects to satisfy their own greed, and by the role of the prime minister, tunga. the latter was a former herdsman who had become the lover of didda and was her prime minister. he had wielded much power in working with didda to assert her dominance over the kingdom and he continued to use that power after her death. samgrāmarāja was afraid of him and for many years allowed him to have his way. indeed, it was tunga who appointed many of the corrupt officials who proceeded to extract significant amounts of wealth from the kingdom's subjects. these appointees, and their actions, made tunga unpopular, and his age may well have contributed to his increasing inability to deal with challenges from opponents within and without the court. samgrāmarāja quietly supported the plots to remove the minister, and eventually tunga was murdered; however, this did little to improve matters either in the court or the country as his death caused an influx of royal favourites who were no less corrupt than those who had been appointed by him.