Harshavardhana

Also called: Harsha · Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

Harshavardhana (Harsha) was a king of the Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) dynasty. He came to the throne in 606 CE and ruled large parts of north and east India until his death in 647 CE, first from Thanesar and later from Kannauj.

He matters for three reasons:

• He made Kannauj the political prize of north India.
• His court produced great Sanskrit literature.
• The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited his kingdom and left a detailed record of his times.

Explanation

Background: from Thanesar to the throne

• Harsha's family ruled Sthaneshvara, which is Thanesar in Haryana today.
• Thanesar began as a small principality (a small state ruled by a prince). Before the family rose to power, it was probably under the overlordship of the Guptas [2].
• Harsha was the second son of Prabhakaravardhana, king of Sthanvishvara (Thanesar, in eastern Punjab) [2].
• How Harsha came to rule:
• His elder brother Rajyavardhana was killed, and Harsha was crowned at about age 16 [2].
• At first he ruled only as a regent (a person who rules in place of the real king). Once his position was safe, he declared himself full king [2].

Wars, allies and the move to Kannauj

• Harsha formally moved his capital to Kannauj (Kanyakubja) in Uttar Pradesh [2].
• Kannauj lies near the Ganges, about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of Kanpur. In the early 7th century it became the capital of Harsha's empire [3].
• His enemy in the east: he fought Shashanka, king of Gauda (Bengal). Shashanka was blamed for the murder of his brother Rajyavardhana [2].
• His ally in the east: Bhaskaravarmana, the Varman king of Kamarupa (Assam) [2].
• His limit in the south:
• When Harsha pushed south, the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II stopped him at the river Narmada.

• After this, the Narmada became the practical border between north and south.

• NCERT says the exact size of his empire is uncertain. Scholars do not agree on how much land he ruled directly.

Poet-king, patron and religion

• Harsha is believed to have written three Sanskrit plays [4]:
• Ratnavali and Priyadarshika are harem-type plays, meaning love stories set inside the palace [4].

• Nagananda ("The Joy of the Serpents") is inspired by Buddhism. It shows the self-sacrifice of the snake prince Jimutavahana [4].

• He supported the poet Bana (Banabhatta), one of the greatest writers of Sanskrit prose [4]:

• Harshacharita (c. 640 CE, "The Life of Harsha") is a biography of the king that describes his court and his times [4].
• Kadambari is a prose romance named after its heroine. It is called one of the world's first novels [4].
• Bana left both books unfinished. His son Bhushanabhatta completed Kadambari [4].

• Both are written in the kavya style (ornate poetic writing with very long sentences, rich description and many figures of speech) [4].

• Religion:

• Inscriptions call Harsha a devotee of Shiva.
• He was also deeply attached to Buddhism and respected all schools of thought.
• Xuanzang describes him as a Buddhist, though Harsha seems to have followed Hindu practice earlier in life [5].

Assemblies, charity and results

• Harsha held a grand religious assembly at Kannauj in Xuanzang's honour.
• Every five years at Prayaga (Prayagraj), he held a ceremony where he gave away his wealth to Buddhists, Brahmins and the poor.
• What happened after Harsha:
• Kannauj became the symbol of power in north India.
• In the 8th century, the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Rashtrakutas and Palas fought over it. This is called the tripartite struggle (a three-sided fight) [3][6].
• Around 816 CE, Nagabhata II (Pratihara) took Kannauj. Around 916 CE, Indra III (Rashtrakuta) sacked it [6].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: early 7th century CE. He came to the throne in 606 CE and died in 647 CE.
• Dynasty: Pushyabhuti, also called Vardhana.
• Places:
• Thanesar (Sthaneshvara), Haryana was the earlier capital.
• Kannauj (Kanyakubja), Uttar Pradesh was the later capital.
• Prayaga was where he held his charity ceremony every five years.
• The Narmada marked his southern limit.

• Nalanda was where Xuanzang studied.

• Key people: Prabhakaravardhana, Rajyavardhana, Shashanka, Bhaskaravarmana, Pulakeshin II, Bana and Xuanzang.

• How we know about him:
• Bana's Harshacharita is a court biography.
• Xuanzang's travel account is a major source:
  • He set out from China in 629 and crossed Central Asia on foot [5].
  • He was in India from 630 to 644 and spent much of that time at Nalanda, learning Sanskrit and Buddhist philosophy [5].
  • He became a personal friend of Harsha. Harsha helped arrange his journey home in 643, and he reached China in 645 with over 600 Sanskrit manuscripts [5].
• Inscriptions call Harsha a devotee of Shiva.
• Harsha's own plays add to the picture.

Don't confuse with

• Pulakeshin II: a Chalukya king of the south who defeated Harsha on the Narmada. He was not Harsha's ally.
• Shashanka vs Bhaskaravarmana: Shashanka of Gauda (Bengal) was Harsha's enemy and was blamed for his brother's murder. Bhaskaravarmana of Kamarupa (Assam) was his ally [2].
• Harshacharita vs *Kadambari: Both were written by Bana. Harshacharita is the biography of Harsha, while Kadambari is a prose romance finished by Bhushanabhatta [4]. Harsha's own works are the plays Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda*.
• Xuanzang vs Faxian: Both were Chinese Buddhist pilgrims. Xuanzang came in Harsha's time (630–644), while Faxian came much earlier, in the Gupta period.

Prelims Hooks

• Harsha belonged to the Pushyabhuti / Vardhana dynasty. He came to the throne in 606 CE and died in 647 CE.
• He moved his capital from Thanesar (Haryana) to Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh).
• Pulakeshin II (Chalukya) stopped Harsha at the Narmada.
• Plays credited to Harsha are Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda. Bana wrote Harshacharita (c. 640 CE) and Kadambari [4].
• Xuanzang was in India from 630 to 644, studied at Nalanda and took back 600+ Sanskrit manuscripts [5].
• Harsha gave away his wealth every five years at Prayaga to Buddhists, Brahmins and the poor.

Mains Points

• How large and strong was his empire?
• NCERT says the extent of his empire is uncertain.
• Thanesar started as a small principality, probably under Gupta overlordship [2].
• The Narmada defeat shows his power had a firm southern limit.

• So Harsha is better seen as a powerful overlord of allied and junior kings than as a centralised, Gupta-style emperor.

• Bias in the sources:

• Bana wrote Harshacharita for the king, in praise-filled kavya style [4].
• Xuanzang was a Buddhist monk and Harsha's personal friend [5].
• Both praise Harsha. Inscriptions calling him a Shiva devotee balance Xuanzang's Buddhist picture.

• This is a clear example of checking literary sources against inscriptions.

• Kannauj as the symbol of power, and cultural exchange:

• Harsha made Kannauj the seat of imperial power. This led to the tripartite struggle among the Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas [3][6].
• After Indra III sacked Kannauj (c. 916), its decline opened the way for smaller Rajput kingdoms [6].
• At the same time, Xuanzang's 600+ manuscripts carried Indian thought to East Asia. This shows how a stable court helped culture spread beyond India.

Related concepts

• Pushyabhuti dynasty
• Kannauj
• Banabhatta
• Harshacharita
• Kadambari
• Kamarupa
• Varman dynasty
• Prayaga assembly
• Xuanzang

Read more

• Harshavardhana and the age of Kannauj