Harshavardhana and the Post-Gupta Age

1.1 When did he live, and what did he rule?

Harsha, or Harshavardhana, lived from 590 to 647 CE. He ruled from 606 to 647. He was the last ruler of the Vardhana empire.

1.2 Which dynasty was his?

His family is called the Vardhana or Pushyabhuti dynasty. The two names mean the same family. Harsha unified most of northern India and ruled from Kanyakubja, also spelt Kannauj.

1.3 Where did the family come from?

His father, Prabhakaravardhana, ruled Thaneshwar, in modern Haryana. Sources become clear from about 580 CE. The Pushyabhutis held lands north of Kannauj, with their capital at Thaneswar.

1.4 Who lived next door?

The Maukhari family ruled around Kannauj. Harsha’s sister Rajyashri married Grahavarman, the Maukhari king. This marriage tied the two houses together.

1.5 What was the world like before him?

The Huns kept raiding North India from the middle of the fifth century. Their raids hastened the fall of the Gupta empire. By the middle of the sixth century the Guptas were gone, and the north broke into small kingdoms.

2.1 What happened to his father?

In 604, says Encyclopedia.com, Prabhakaravardhana sent his elder son Rajyavardhana against the Huns. During that campaign the old king died.

2.2 What news came next?

The young princes heard that Grahavarman had been killed. His wife, their sister, had been jailed.

2.3 What did Rajyavardhana do?

He marched south and beat the king of Malwa. Then he was killed. Shashanka, king of Gauda in modern Bengal, invited him to a meeting and killed him by treachery.

2.4 Who was Shashanka?

Shashanka was the king of Gauda. EBSCO says he cut down the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya. Harsha never beat him in battle.

2.5 How old was Harsha?

He was 16. With his brother dead, he became the ruler of Thaneshwar. Then he vowed to punish Shashanka and began a long march of conquest.

3.1 Why did Kannauj become the capital?

Harsha took over the Maukhari land as regent. A regent rules on behalf of someone else. He soon made Kannauj his major city. Sources also call it Kanyakubja.

3.2 Did he beat Shashanka?

There is no record of a battle between their armies. Harsha gained Magadha, Bengal and Kalinga only after Shashanka’s death. EBSCO places that death around 637.

3.3 Who stood with him?

Bhaskaravarman, king of Kamarupa, joined him. Kamarupa is modern Assam. Shashanka was an enemy of both kings. The Harshacharita mentions gifts that Bhaskara sent to Harsha.

3.4 Which title did he take?

He took the title sakal uttara patha natha. It means lord of northern India.

3.5 Who were his feudatories?

Feudatories were rulers who kept their own lands but obeyed a stronger king. His feudatories included Jalandhar, Kashmir, Nepal, Sind and Kamarupa.

Sources: World History Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com and EBSCO Research Starters. Exams use the name Arunashva. Two sources call the same minister Arjuna.

4.1 Who ran the provinces?

Only Thaneswar and Kanauj were under his direct control. Feudatories ran the other lands. Many were the old rulers, re-appointed as viceroys.

4.2 Was the empire centralised?

No. EBSCO says it was not centralised under his direct control. Encyclopedia.com adds that it was less secure than the Mauryan or Gupta systems.

4.3 How did he keep control?

• Tours: he spent most of his time travelling from district to district.
• Courts: he held court and gave audience on the road.
• Light taxes: EBSCO says taxes were light.
• Religion and arts: half the budget went to them.

4.4 Why does this matter for exams?

A king who rules by touring and by feudatories has a loose empire. This helps explain why World History Encyclopedia says the empire dissolved after his death.

5.1 Who was Xuanzang?

Xuanzang was a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim. He studied at Nalanda. His account is the main record of the later part of Harsha’s reign. He met Harsha around 643 and left India in 644.

5.2 What was the Kannauj assembly?

Harsha arranged a great assembly at Kanyakubja to spread Mahayana Buddhism. World History Encyclopedia says Xuanzang presided over it.

5.3 What happened at Prayag?

Every five years a giving ceremony was held at Prayag, now Allahabad. The ceremony of Dana lasted for three months. Most of the wealth saved in five years was given away. At the sixth assembly, in 643, he favoured Buddhism.

5.4 Was Harsha a Buddhist?

Sources disagree. World History Encyclopedia says he began as a worshipper of Shiva and later became a Mahayana Buddhist. Encyclopedia.com says there is no evidence he became a Buddhist, and that he stayed a devotee of Shiva.

5.5 What about China and Nalanda?

Harsha opened diplomatic relations with China in 641. In his reign Nalanda had around 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers.

6.1 What did he write?

Harsha wrote three Sanskrit plays. They are Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarshika. Encyclopedia.com calls Nagananda the most important.

6.2 Who was Banabhatta?

Banabhatta was a great writer at his court. He wrote the Harshacharita, a life of Harsha. Its rich detail breaks off when Harsha is reunited with his sister.

6.3 Who else was at his court?

Mayura was another great writer at his court.

6.4 What did he give to learning?

One-fourth of his revenue went to scholars. World History Encyclopedia says so. EBSCO puts half of the budget on religion and the arts. The sources give different figures, so treat both as approximate.

7.1 Who stopped Harsha?

Pulakeshin II, the Chalukya king of the Deccan, beat Harsha near the Narmada river. Harsha lost the fight, and the Narmada became the southern edge of his realm.

7.2 When did the battle happen?

Sources differ. Encyclopedia.com says some historians date the clash to 612 and others to 620. EBSCO says Harsha was fighting Pulakeshin by about 620.

7.3 Did a treaty fix the border?

World History Encyclopedia says a peace treaty made the Narmada the southern boundary. EBSCO says the defeat may or may not have fixed the border there.

7.4 What is the Aihole inscription?

It is a stone record at the Meguti Jain temple in Aihole. It was composed in Sanskrit in 634 CE. Ravikirti, the Jain court poet of Pulakeshin II, wrote it.

7.5 What does it say about Harsha?

It praises Pulakeshin II. It says the mighty Harsha lost his harsha, which means joy, when he was beaten.

8.1 How did the reign end?

Harsha died in 647 CE, and his empire died with him. He left no heir. That is why the Vardhana line ended.

8.2 Who grabbed power?

A usurper is someone who seizes a throne without the right to it. A chief minister took the throne. World History Encyclopedia and EBSCO call him Arjuna. Exams call him Arunashva, a governor of Tirabhukti.

8.3 What did the Chinese mission do?

A Chinese mission arrived after Harsha’s death. The usurper attacked it. EBSCO says the envoy, with Nepalese, Tibetan and Kamarupa help, captured him and took him to China.

8.4 When was he captured?

World History Encyclopedia says 648 CE. The envoy is named Wang Xuance in exam material. EBSCO writes his name as Wang Huienze.

8.5 What happened to the north afterwards?

With no strong central king, North India split into regional kingdoms. The next lesson, on the Post-Gupta regional dynasties, picks up here.

9.1 Which question types come up?

Five questions show the pattern. Newest first.

9.2 What traps repeat?

• Court poet and king: Harsha wrote the plays. Banabhatta wrote the Harshacharita and Kadambari.
• Right scholar, wrong king: Amarasimha belongs to Chandragupta II, not Harsha.
• Biography or chronicle: the Dipavamsa is a chronicle.
• Allies and rivals: Bhaskaravarman was an ally. Shashanka and Pulakeshin II were opponents.