What is "rajatarangini"

Rajatarangini (, "The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri Brahman Kalhana in the 12th century CE. The work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided into eight books called Tarangas ("waves").

The Rajataringini provides the earliest source on Kashmir that can be labeled as a "historical" text on this region. Although inaccurate in its chronology, the book still provides an invaluable source of information about early Kashmir and its neighbors in the north western parts of the Indian subcontinent, and has been widely referenced by later historians and ethnographers.