INTRODUCTION #
The period of Harsha during the 7th century AD, marked the formation of the last, an all north Indian empire. Although, with an early turbulent personal life, Harsha Successfully embarked towards becoming an empire builder followed by a generous peace loving tolerant ruler.
The period assigned to Harsha’s reign is 606AD until 648 AD. For Harsha’s period, though the histo- rians have the ordinary numismatics and epigraphic sources, there are two most important sources (liter- ary Works), which shed light on this era’s political and social conditions.
The first is a book of travels compiled by Chinese Pilgrim Huen Tsang, who visited almost all parts of India from 630 AD till 643-644 AD. Apart from the narrative, the work is supplemented by biographies of the pilgrim, which is written by his friend Hwui-li, and this provides some additional information.
The second is Harshacharita authored by Banab- hatta. Banabhatta was a Brahmin who stayed in the court of Harsha and enjoyed his patronage.
Apart from the above, the official Chinese his- tory documents also provide some details about the reign of Harsha.
Fact Box: Huen Tsang — Huen Tsang or Xuanzang was a Chinese Buddhist Traveler who belongs to early Tang period of China. He was born in Henan province. He was basically interested in the improving the incomplete & misinterpreted information provided by the earlier Chinese monks, particularly Fa Hien.The title his work is “Journey
to the West” (Si-Yu-Ki). Huen Tsang followed the Central Asian Route and visited from Kashmir in North to Saurastra and Vallabhi in west, Kamarupa in East and Malakotta in South. He stayed in various monasteries and came in touch with the scholars of that time. His association with Harshavardhana and Bhaskarvarmana of Kamarupa adds special value to his work.His observations are related to not only the life of the Kings and nobles but also the ordi- nary people. He writes about the way of life, doing agriculture, food habits, dress senses, jewellery, and types of taxes. Degraded position of the Chandals, elaborate description of the Nalanda monastery etc. He was attacked by robbers on the way,something which we don’t find in the narrations of Fa Hien who travelled in the Gupta Period. It shows that the administrative machinery had deteriorated.
POLITICAL EVENTS DURING HARSHA’S REIGN #
The family of Harsha is linked to Pushyabhuti of Thenshwar. In the later part of the 6th century, the Raja of Thaneshwar, Prabhakarvardhana raised himself against the neighbours including the Hunas settled in the North Western Punjab and also the clans of the Gurjars. He assumed the title of Mahara- jadhiraj and Parama Bhattaraka. This was the begin- ning of the Vardhana Dynasty in the north India. The Mother of Prabhakarvardhana was a princess of the Gupta lineage and this probably stimulated the royal ambitions of Prabhakaravardhana.
There were two sons of Prabhakarvardhana, the elder Rajyavardhana and younger Harshavardhana. In 604 AD, Prabhakarvardhana had sent a large army led by Rajyavardhana to attack the Huns at the North
Western frontiers and sent his younger son Harsha with a cavalry. While Rajyavardhana advanced into the Hills, Harsha lingered in the forests of the foothills of the mountains.While he was employed in the forests, he got the news of the near death illness of his father. He needed to return and as he returned, assuming that Rajyavardhana might have been killed, the court men favored Harsha to be the next King. Prabhakarvardhana had died. Meanwhile Rajya Vardhana returned. Without any struggle, he took place of his father at this point of time.
The sister of these two brothers named Rajyashri was married to the Maukhari King Grahavarmana of Kannauj. Since, at the time of the death of Prab- hakarvardhana, Rajya Vardhana was engaged in the battle against the Hunas, a king of Gupta lineage Devagupta of Malwa attacked the Maukharis and killed Grahavarmana. The windowed Rajyashri was confined in jail by the attacker.
The young King Rajyavardhana vowed to seek avenge and he led a ten thousand cavalry to attack the Malwa King. The King of Malwa was defeated without much effort, but the victory became sad soon after as a Gaur King Shashanka who had come to help Devagupta killed Rajyavardhana. Rajyavardhana was invited to a peace conference by fair promises by Sashanka and was killed there.
Coronation of Harsha and Annexation of Kannauj #
The son of Rajyavardhana was too young to assume care of the government and the court men did not hesitate to offer the crown to Harsha. When Harsha became the king, the tasks before him were to:
Conquests of Harsha #
Harsha was a brave king who had the desired ability and energy to bring all India “under an umbrella”. He overran the northern India, went from east to west and subdued all who were not obedient. In around five years, he had conquered the north- western regions as well as a large part of Bengal. This was enough to raise his army strength from five thousand war elephants to fifty thousand war elephants and twenty thousand cavalry to one lakh cavalry. His great career of victory continued until 643 AD and the last attack was on the inhabitants of Ganjam on the Coast of Bay of Bengal.
Conflict with Pulkesin II #
However, his long career of victory was eclipsed by one great failure against Pulkesin II. Pulkesin II, the greatest of the Chalukya dynasty vied with Harsha and was able to stop the ambitions of Harsha towards south.
If Harsha was Uttarpathapati, Pulkesin II, the Chalukya King of Vatapi was able to raise himself to the rank of lord paramount of the South and called himself Dakshinapathapati. Harsha, unable to endure the existence of such a powerful rival in south, planned to overthrow Pulkesin II and advanced towards south with troops from all parts of his reign. However, his effort failed. The passes on the Narmada River were guarded so efficiently that Harsha accepted that river as his southern frontier. This was sometime in 620 AD (some sources say 635AD).
Conquest of Ganjam #
- Take avenge of his brother’s killing.
- Free Rajyashri from prison.
The assassins were able to escape and Rajyashri was about to burn herself alive with her attendants. However, Harsha chased them, guided by the tribals and was able to trace her in the Vindhya Jungles. Shashanka escaped, though his kingdom was later annexed to that of Harsha’s. However, Shashanka remained a headache for Harsha for a longer period. Son of Rajyashri was also an infant and this was the reason that Kannauj was also annexed with the kingdom of Harshavardhana.
The last conquest of Harsha was the Ganjam in modern Odisha. Harsha was not able to annexe initially because of his enmity with Shashanka. However, Ganjam was conquered in 642-643 AD and after that, Harsha ended his imperial conquest. The later part of Harsha’s life is almost an imitation to the Great Ashoka Maurya, but it took 37 years and numerous conquests to Harsha to adopt the Asoka route.
Territories of Harsha #
The reign of Harsha was from whole of basin of Ganga including Nepal, to the Narmada in South.
Harsha ruled on the pattern of the Gupta Kings and the local administration remained in the hands of the local Kings. From King of Kamarupa in Assam to King of Vallabhi in Gujarat, several local kings attended the courts of Harsha. Harsha was the last true Hindu King of Northern India.
ADMINISTRATION & LEGACY OF HARSHA #
We know about the administration of Harsha mostly from the accounts of Huen Tsang, who was most impressed by the Civil Administration. The principal source of revenue was the rent of the crown lands, which was 1/6th of the produce. The officials were remunerated by land grants and the tax administration was not so rigid. The crime was rare though unlike the narrations of Fa Hien, the routes were less safe. This evident from the fact that Huen Tsang was stopped and looted by the robbers. The punishments were severe than the Gupta rulers. The nose, ears, hands, feet of the criminals were mutilated and death sentence prevailed.
Interest in Literature #
Harsha was a great patron of the literature and was an accomplished calligraphist and author of reputation. He has written three extant Sanskrit Plays viz. Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarsika and one grammatical work. His plays are as follows:
Nagananda: Nagananda has an enlightening Buddhist legend for its subject and is one of the best works of the Indian Drama. It describes the story of the Jimutavahana’s self-sacrifice to save the Nagas.
Ratnavali: Ratnavali is a great drama, which narrates the story of a princess called Ratnavali and a king called Udayana. Ratnavali is probably the earliest textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of colors.
Priyadarsika: Priyadarsika is another great play by Harsha.
Banabhatta #
Banabhatta is considered the greatest ornament in the literary circle of Harsha. Bana’s Kadambari is not only the most celebrated prose romance in San- skrit, but also the best work with universal appeal. Similarly, Harshacharita is probably first work of
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its kind is the biography of his great hero Harsha. The work is not only the first attempt of Biography Indian literature but also an authentic work. There are two more works attributed to Banabhatta viz. Chandakasthtaka and Parvatiparinaya. Please note that Banabhatta did not complete Kadambari. His work was later finished by his son Bhushanbhatta (or maybe Pulindabhatta) and thus Kadambari is divided into two parts viz. Purvabhaga and Uttarb- haga, ascribed to the father and son respectively.
The religion of Harsha #
In Harsha, we find a learned king who was well versed in the doctrine of Sammitiya School, an off- shoot of the Vatsiputriya school of Early Buddhism. After the Ganjam conquest, Harsha started showing the favor for the quietest teachings of Buddhism. He favored the Hinyana initially and Mahayana later. We find in him a great devotee of Buddhism, who enforced the Buddhist traditions with utmost strictness. He forbade the slaughter of any living thing. Use of animal flesh was a punishable offense in his reign. The benevolent institutions based upon Asoka’s model were established through his empire. Numerous monasteries were erected in the closing years of his empire. Huen Tsang describes about the numbers of the monks occupying the monasteries to be around two Lakh!
Father of Harsha was a Sun Devotee, his remote ancestor Pushyabhuti was a Shiva follower, his brother Rajyavardhana and sister Rajyashri were Buddhism devotees, but Harsha was benevolent of all the three and erected temples also. However, in the closing part of his reign, his favorite was the faith of Buddhism. We find King Harsha’s autograph in Banskhera inscription of Haryana.
Prayag Assembly #
Every five years, Harsha called for an assembly at Prayag. This ceremony began with the worship of Surya, Shiva and Buddha (a testimony to his toler- ance to all faiths), and after that he use do charitable distribution. It is told that every Buddhist monk was given 100 pieces of gold, a pearl and cotton clothe. He also used to donate the cloths and ornaments he wore and then asked his sister Gayatri for cloths and ornaments.
Bhandi #
Bhandi was a leading noble of Kannauj and on advice of the political leaders of Kannauj; he offered the crown of Kannauj to Harsha after death of Grahavarmana. Bhandi was later described as one of the chief officers of Harsha. When Harsha chased Shashanka for release of his sister, through Bhandi only Harsha could know that his sister has been released and Shashanka has escaped.
Simhanada #
Simhanada was the General of the Harsha’s army and his Prime Minister. When Harsha was
preparing to conquest the South, Simhanada warned him about the dreadful consequences. This was for the first time that Harsha did not pay attention to his seasoned councillor and paid the price for the same when Pulkesin II defeated him.
Out of all the powers of the Deccan, the most dominant power up to some 250 AD was Andhra, the Satavahana Dynasty. After some 3 centuries of the decline of the Satavahana, no specific information is available. During those times, the Maharashtra region was ruled by the Rastrakuta dynasty which up till mid of the 8th century became a powerhouse of Deccan.
