Kalhana's chronicle says Queen Didda of Kashmir killed three grandsons on the throne and chose her heir with a heap of apples

Didda, a princess of Lohara, married King Kshemagupta of Kashmir. He died in 958, and she ruled as regent for their son Abhimanyu. When rebels besieged her palace, she executed the captured rebels and exterminated their families. Abhimanyu died in 972 and his young son Nandigupta succeeded. Kalhana's Rajatarangini, written in the 12th century, says that one year later she destroyed Nandigupta "by witchcraft." In 975 she disposed of the next grandson, Tribhuvanagupta, the same way. The last, the child Bhimagupta, began to see that the kingdom and his grandmother's ways needed reform. She imprisoned him openly, which ended the people's doubts about the earlier deaths, and in 980/1 had him put to death by tortures. She then took the throne herself. Her lover Tunga, a former buffalo herdsman and letter-carrier, became prime minister. To choose an heir she threw a heap of apples before her brother's young sons. Samgramaraja came away with the most fruit and no bruises: he had made the others fight each other. She made him yuvaraja. She died in 1003, and the throne passed to him without a contest. His line, the Lohara dynasty, ruled Kashmir after her. Her coins survive.