Table of Contents

HARSHAVARDHAN PART 1

HARSHAVARDHAN

Harsha (c. 590–647 CE), also known as Harshavardhana, was an Indian emperor who ruled North India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakarvardhana who defeated the Huna invaders,and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana.
At the height of Harsha’s power, his Empire covered much of North and Northwestern India, extended East till Kamarupa, and South until Narmada River; and eventually made Kannauj his capital, and ruled till 647 CE.
Harsha was defeated by the south Indian Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty, when Harsha tried to expand his Empire into the southern peninsula of India.

SOURCES

The detail accounts of the Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang throw a good deal of light on the political, social and religious conditions of the time.
The Harshacharita written by Banabhatta who lived at the court of Harsha is generally recognized as a historical document to throw a flood of light on the political, social and religious condition of India during his time. Harsha himself was a writer of high standard
His three valuable works named ‘Ratnavali’, ‘Priyadarsika’ and ‘Nagananda’ written in Sanskrit reveal his literary flare. These books also throw sufficient light on the history of Harsha’s period. There are three inscriptions— Madhuban Plate, Sonepat plate and the Bankkhera inscription which are immensely valuable.

EARLY LIFE

Prabhakar Vardhan of the Pushyabhuti dynasty became powerful by the close of 6th century. Bana in his Harsha Charita describes Prabhakar Vardhan as a ‘lion to the Huna doer, the lord of Gandhara etc.
Prabhakar Vardhan had two sons namely Rajya Vardhan and Harsha Vardhan and a daughter Rajyasri. The two young princes were well trained in soldierly profession of horsemanship, archery and swords play and princess Rajyasri was trained in music and other accomplishment.

STRUGGLE

Rajyasri while young was given in marriage to the Maukhari prince Grahavarman of Kanauj. Soon after the marriage of his daughter Prabhakar Vardhan faced the attack of the Hunas in the North.
He immediately sent his eldest son Rajya Vardhan who was then only 18 years in age to face the Hunas. Harsha Vardhan who was only 15 years old followed his brother with a cavalry force. Before Harsha had joined his brother news reached him that the old king was seriously ill.
Harsha getting the news returned back to the capital to see his father breathing his last. In profound sorrow he sent swift messengers to the front requesting his elder brother to return immediately.
Rajya Vardhan defeating the Hunas returned back though himself wounded to the capital. He was so much depressed at the death of his father that he asked Harsha to take the throne expressing his desire to renounce the world.
On the pressure and request of Harsha, Rajya Vardhan changed his mind and became the king. Hardly he had come to the throne when the tragic news reached him that the king of Kanauj Grahavarman his brother-in-law had been defeated and killed by Devagupta the king of Malwa and that Rajyasri had been captured and thrown into a prison in Kanauj.
King Rajya Vardhan immediately hurried with cavalry force to recover Kanauj from the hands of the enemy and to save his sister from danger. Harsha was left in charge of the capital. Rajya Vardhan defeated the army of Malwa but king of Gauda Sasanka who was a friend of the king of Malwa killed him treacherously.

KING

Thus Harsha ascended the throne of Thaneswar in the year 606 AD at the age of sixteen only. In due course of time Harsha made Kanauj the capital of the United Kingdom Thaneswar and Kanauj. He started the Harsha era in 606 AD.
It is known that Harsha carried his campaigns with an army of 5000 elephants, 20,000 horses, and 50,000 infantry. It is further revealed from his accounts that in six years of his incessant warfare Harsha brought the “Five Indies under his allegiance” and became the Lord Paramount of the north. • Some historians believe that Five Indies refer to Saurashtra, Kanauj, Gauda, Mithila and perhaps a part of Orissa.
Harsha organised a vast army and established friendship with Bhaskar Varman the ruler of Kamrup. It appears that Sashanka escaped with little loss and ruled Bengal up to 619 AD. It is after Sasanka’s death Harsha annexed Bengal and South Bihar including Magadha to his empire.
Harsha and Bhaskarvarman shared the conquered territories among themselves.

HARSHAVARDHAN PART 2

RESTORATION

Conquest—coming to the throne at a critical time when enemies were active, Harsha immediately decided upon a course of adventure and aggression. He embarked upon a new political career through war and conquest. Accordingly he prepared his plan for his ‘digvijaya’ to punish the king of Gauda and other enemy kings.
While preparing for his ‘digvijaya’, Harsha thought it to be his first duty to rescue his sister Rajyasri. Chief Minister Bhandi brought the socking news that Rajyasri soon after she was thrown into prison in Kanauj managed to escape from her confinement and had gone away towards the Vindhya forests.
Harsha getting the news immediately proceeded towards the Vindhya region and rescued his sister when she was about to throw herself into fire and die. With that noble work done Harsha became free to conduct his military campaigns.

EXPANSION

Harsha attacked Dhrubasena II Baladitya, the Maitraka ruler of Valabhi. Dhrubasena sought the protection of the Gujara prince an ally of king Pulakesin II.
However he subsequently made peace with Harsha and Harsha gave his daughter in marriage to him and allowed him to continue to rule Valabhi. He attacked then in 643 AD Kongoda (Ganjam).
After consolidating his position in the north Harsha had an expedition to the south in 620 AD.
He was checked by king Pulakesin II of Chalukya dynasty. In the battle on the bank of Narmada Harsha was defeated with a heavy loss. This single defeat checked Harsha to extend his empire beyond Narmada. The failure to conquer Deccan is also described in the Aihole inscription of the poet Ravikirti of 643 AD.
Harsha’s empire included the kingdom of Thaneswara, or eastern Punjab, and Kanauj in the Gangetic Doab, the regions of Ahichchatra or Rohilkhand Sravasti, or areas of Oudh and Prayag or Allahabad and as well as a portion of Orissa and Magadha.
In the north, west it included major portions of the Punjab and the whole of Sind. In the west the kingdom of Valabhi came under the imperial authority.
Harsha’s empire touched the Arabian Sea. In the east the empire included Bengal and touched the Bay of Bengal. In the north-east it extended as far as the Brahmaputra Valley. The empire also included Kashmir and Nepal and thus touched the Himalayas in north
He then also transferred his capital to Kannauj which, thereafter, became the centre of gravity of politics in Northern India.
There occurred certain border disputes between Harsha and the rulers of Sindh, Kashmir and Nepal but these kingdoms remained independent of the influence of Harsha.
Thus, the attempts of Harsha to create an extensive empire in India succeeded only partially.

ADMINISTRATION

Harsha maintained the administrative set-up of his empire on the model of previous great Hindu rulers. He himself was the head of the state, and all administrative, legislative and judicial powers were concentrated in his hands.
He was also the first Commander-in-Chief of his army. Harsha assumed the titles of Maharajadhiraja and Param Bhattaraka. He was a benevolent ruler and supervised the administration personally.
The king was assisted by a council of ministers which was quite effective.
Avanti was the officer who looked after the affairs of war and peace; the Commander-in-Chief of the army was called the Singhanada; Kuntala was the head of the cavalry; Skanda Gupta was the head of war-elephants; and the head of the civil administration was called the Samanta-Maharaja.
The empire was divided into bhuktis (provinces) and then further into vishayas (districts) for the sake of administrative convenience. The village was the smallest unit of administration.
The high officers of the state were not paid in cash. They were assigned jagirs in return of their services. Thus, jagirdari system (feudalism) was given further impetus during the reign of Harsha.

PRAYAG ASSEMBLY

Harsha did not put much burden of taxation on his subjects and also reduced the administrative expenditure of the state.
The primary source of income of the state was land revenue called bhaga which was 1/6th of the produce and was paid in kind. Hirnya, Bali, sales-tax, toll tax etc. were other sources of income besides presentation by feudatory chiefs to the emperor.
Harsha organised religious assemblies every fifth year of his reign at Prayag (Allahabad). He held six such assemblies during his reign. Whatever was left in the state treasury after five years, Harsha used to give it all in charity at that time. It is said that he used to distribute in charity even his personal belongings

ARMY

Harsha kept a strong standing army at the Centre. The cavalry, the infantry, chariots and war-elephants were the chief constituents of his army.
According to Hiuen Tsang the army of Harsha constituted 60,000 war-elephants, 50,000 strong cavalry and 1,00,000 strong infantry. Hiuen Tsang described that the war elephants were given swords in their trunks. The Commander-in-Chief fought while on the back of an elephant. The chariots were drawn by four horses. High officers sat in them while fighting.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

The four-fold division of the Hindu society in castes continued to be effective though, of course, sub-castes were also emerging. The caste-system was getting more rigid though interdining and intercaste marriages were possible. The downward trend in the position of women persisted during this age.
The practice of Sati was getting encouragement, though restricted only to higher castes. There was no Purdah system but there were several restrictions on the movements of women in society. However, public morality was high. People pursued a simple and moral life and avoided consumption of meat, onion and liquor.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

In general, there was prosperity within the empire. Agriculture, industries and trade, both internal and external, were in a flourishing condition.
Prayag (Allahabad), Banaras and Kannauj were prosperous cities within the empire.The capital city, Kannauj was an extensive, prosperous and well protected city. It had large buildings, beautiful gardens and swimming-pools. It was inhabited by the rich, cultured and highly learned people. The people, in general, were interested in literary activities and fine arts.

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS

Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism were still the popular religions in India. Prayag and Banaras were the main centres of Hinduism. The popular sect of Buddhism was Mahayanism.
Harsha was attracted towards Buddhism. He is said to have erected many Buddhist Stupas and monasteries. He summoned a convocation of the Buddhist monks annually for discussion of religious problems.
He prohibited the slaughter of animals and, like Asoka, made arrangements for free supply of food and medicines to the poor and the destitute. But, Harsha was never a convert to Buddhism and continued to worship Siva and Surya even during the later period of his life.
Harsha also called an assembly at Kannauj in honour of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang.

LEARNING

Harsha himself was a scholar and wrote three plays, entitled the Nagananda, the Ratnavali and the Priyadarsika. Harsha was a patron of learning and scholars. It has been said that he spent onefourth of his income on education and learning.
The universities of Nalanda, Valabhi and the one run by Divakara in Vindhya forest were centres of learning at that time. There, facilities were available not only for the study of philosophy but that of law and physical sciences as well. Hiuen
Among universities, the University of Nalanda was the most celebrated where students and scholars from all parts of the country as well as from foreign countries gathered for education and learning.