She was declared monarch in her own right in 904 as Sri Sugandha Deva, Queen of Kashmir, when all successors to the throne has died.

Sugandha continued to claim the throne of Kashmir and retreated to live in Haskapura (present-day Ushkur, Baramulla).

In 914 she went to war against Partha and the Tantrins, but was imprisoned and later killed in a Buddhist monastery called Nispalaka Vihara.

[1] Sankaravarman died in 902 of a stray-arrow at Urusha (present-day Hazara, Pakistan), whilst returning from a not-so-successful conquest, where Sugandha had also accompanied him.

Courtiers started plotting a coup and public figures called a Maha-Panchayat to choose the kingdom's ruler.

She hoped that she would be succeeded by her unborn grandson, the son of Gopalavarman, but her daughter-in-law Jayalakshmi's pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth.

Sugandha, now in despair, wished that she be succeeded by one of her blood-relatives, Nirjitavarman, a grandson of Suravarman and a half-brother of Avantivarman, nicknamed "Pangu" (lame).

[4] Sugandha's choice was met with considerable resistance from the ministers as well as the Tantrins, on grounds of Nirjitavarman's lameness.

[1][5] Following her dethronement in 906 CE, Sugandha retreated to live in Haskapura (present-day Ushkur, Baramulla), and continued to claim the throne of Kashmir.

[3] In 914, after eight years of exile in Haskapura, Sugandha was persuaded by the Ekangas, Royal bodyguards and other factions loyal to her, to wage a war against Partha and the Tantrins.

[9][10] During her reign, Sugandha built the towns of Sugandhapura and Gopalapura, the Vishnu temple Gopalakesava, and the monastery of Gopalamatha.