Harsha

File:Palace ruins 2.JPG

Much of the information about Harsha's youth comes from the account of Bāṇabhaṭṭa. Harsha was the second son of Prabhakarvardhana, king of Thanesar. After the downfall of the Gupta Empire in the middle of the 6th century, Northern India was split into several independent kingdoms. The northern and western regions of the Indian Subcontinent passed into the hands of a dozen or more feudatory states. Prabhakaravardhana, the monarch of Sthanvesvara, who belonged to the Vardhana family, extended his control over neighbouring states. Prabhakaravardhana was the first monarch of the Vardhana dynasty with his capital at Sthanvesvara. After Prabhakaravardhana's died in 605, his eldest son, Rajyavardhana, ascended the throne. Harshavardhana was Rajyavardhana's younger brother. This period of kings from the same line has been referred to as the Vardhana dynasty in many publications.[https://books.google.com/boo…/about/The_Harshacharita.html… Harsha Charitra by Banabhatt]{{Dead|date=July 2024}}Legislative Elite in India: A Study in Political Socialization by Prabhu Datta Sharma, Publ. Legislators 1984, p32Revival of Buddhism in Modern India by Deodas Liluji Ramteke, Publ Deep & Deep, 1983, p19Some Aspects of Ancient Indian History and Culture by Upendra Thakur, Publ. Abhinav Publications, 1974,{{Pn|date=July 2024}}

At the time of Hiuen Tsang's visit, Kanyakubja was the imperial capital of Harshavardhana, the most powerful sovereign in Northern India.

K.P. Jaiswal in Imperial History of India, says that according to a 7-8th century Buddhist text, Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa, Harsha was born of King Vishnu (Vardhana) and his family was of Vaishya varna.{{Cite book |last=K. P. Jayaswal |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279518 |title=An Imperial History Of India |date=1934}}{{Pn|date=July 2024}} This is supported by some more writers.{{citation |last= Sen |first= Sailendra Nath |title= Ancient Indian History and Civilization |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&dq=harsha+vaishya&pg=PA546 |year= 1999 |publisher= New Age International |isbn= 9788122411980 |pages= 546 |access-date= 19 March 2023 |archive-date= 17 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230417082302/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&dq=harsha+vaishya&pg=PA546 |url-status= live }}{{citation |last= Chattopadhyay |first= Amal |title= Bhupendranath Datta and His Study of Indian Society |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka_kAAAAMAAJ&q=harshavardhan++vaishya |year= 1994 |publisher= K.P. Bagchi & Company |isbn= 9788170741473 |pages= 103 |access-date= 19 March 2023 |archive-date= 17 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230417082306/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ka_kAAAAMAAJ&q=harshavardhan++vaishya |url-status= live }}{{citation |last= Arya |first= Raj Narain |title= Brahmin and Brahminism A Historical Survey |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RKDXAAAAMAAJ&q=harshavardhan++vaishya |year= 2001 |publisher= Blumoon Books |isbn= 9788187190523 |pages= 82 |access-date= 19 March 2023 |archive-date= 7 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230407015859/https://books.google.com/books?id=RKDXAAAAMAAJ&q=harshavardhan++vaishya |url-status= live }}{{citation|last= V|first= Ramanathan|title= Hindu Civilisation and the Twenty-first Century|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bbooAAAAYAAJ&q=harsha+vaishya|year= 2004|publisher= Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|isbn= 9788172763329|pages= 350|access-date= 19 March 2023|archive-date= 6 April 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230406191723/https://books.google.com/books?id=bbooAAAAYAAJ&q=harsha+vaishya|url-status= live}}

File:Seal of Harshavardhana found in Nalanda.jpg.{{cite book |last1=Sastri |first1=Hirananda |title=Epigraphia Indica Vol.21 |date=1931 |pages=74–80 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56981/page/n104/mode/1up}}]]

Harsha's sister Rajyashri had been married to the Maukhari monarch, Grahavarman. This king, some years later, had been defeated and killed by King Devagupta of Malwa and after his death Rajyashri had been captured and imprisoned by the victor. Harsha's brother, Rajyavardhana, then the king at Sthanesvara, could not accept this affront to his sister and his family. So he marched against Devagupta and defeated him. However, Shashanka, the King of Gauda in Eastern Bengal, then entered Magadha as a friend of Rajyavardhana, but was in a secret alliance with the Malwa king.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Accordingly, Shashanka treacherously murdered Rajyavardhana.{{cite book |author=Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha |title=Dynastic History of Magadha, Cir. 450-1200 A.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3KDaZY85wYC&pg=PA151 |year=1977 |publisher=Abhinav |page=151}} In the meantime, Rajyashri escaped into the forests. On hearing about the murder of his brother, Harsha resolved at once to march against the treacherous King of Gauda, but this campaign remained inconclusive and beyond a point he turned back. Harsha ascended the throne at the age of 16. His first responsibility was to rescue his sister and to avenge the killings of his brother and brother-in-law. He rescued his sister when she was about to immolate herself.

As Northern India reverted to small republics and small monarchical states ruled by Gupta rulers after the fall of the prior Gupta Empire, Harsha united the small republics from Punjab to central India, and their representatives crowned him emperor at an assembly in April 606 giving him the title of Maharajadhiraja. Harsha established an empire that brought all of northern India under his rule. The peace and prosperity that prevailed made his court a centre of cosmopolitanism, attracting scholars, artists and religious visitors from far and wide. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the imperial court of Harsha, and wrote a favourable account of him, praising his justice and generosity.

Pulakeshin II repelled an invasion led by Harsha on the banks of Narmada in the winter of 618–619. Pulakeshin then entered into a treaty with Harsha, with the Narmada River designated as the border between the Chalukya Empire and that of Harshavardhana.{{cite news |title=Pulakeshin's victory over Harsha was in 618 AD |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pulakeshins-victory-over-harsha-was-in-618-ad/article8516979.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |date=25 April 2016 |page=9}}{{cite news |title=Study unravels nuances of classical Indian history |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Study-unravels-nuances-of-classical-Indian-history/articleshow/51949530.cms |newspaper=The Times of India" |location=Pune |date=23 April 2016 |page=3 |access-date=3 May 2016 |archive-date=2 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102073058/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Study-unravels-nuances-of-classical-Indian-history/articleshow/51949530.cms |url-status=live}}

Xuanzang describes the event thus:

: "Shiladityaraja (i.e., Harsha), filled with confidence, marched at the head of his troops to contend with this prince (i.e., Pulakeshin); but he was unable to prevail upon or subjugate him".

In 648, Tang Chinese emperor Tang Taizong sent Wang Xuance to India in response to emperor Harsha having sent an ambassador to China. However once in India, he discovered that Harsha had died and the new king Aluonashun (supposedly Arunāsva) attacked Wang and his 30 mounted subordinates.{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Bennett (historian) |date=1998 |title=The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare |location=Chicago |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |page=[https://archive.org/details/hutchinsondictio0000benn/page/336 336] |isbn=978-1-57958-116-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hutchinsondictio0000benn/page/336 }} This led to Wang Xuance escaping to Tibet and then mounting a joint expedition of over 7,000 Nepalese mounted infantry and 1,200 Tibetan infantry and attacking Indian state on June 16. The success of this attack won Xuance the prestigious title of the "Grand Master for the Closing Court."{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blBTHAY_A4wC&dq=%22wang+xuance&pg=PA23 |title=Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations ... By Tansen Sen, pg 23 |isbn=978-0-8248-2593-5 |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-date=17 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417082308/https://books.google.com/books?id=blBTHAY_A4wC&dq=%22wang+xuance&pg=PA23 |url-status=live |last1=Sen |first1=Tansen |date=January 2003 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press }} He also secured a reported Buddhist relic for China.{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frIEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22wang+xuance |title=The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies By International Association of Buddhist Studies |date=4 April 2024 |access-date=18 March 2022 |archive-date=17 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417082304/https://books.google.com/books?id=frIEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22wang+xuance |url-status=live }}{{full citation needed|date=July 2022}} 2,000 prisoners were taken from Magadha by the Nepali and Tibetan forces under Wang.{{cite book|author=Charles D. Benn|title=Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeintradi00benn|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30955-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeintradi00benn/page/38 38]–}} Tibetan and Chinese writings document describe Wang Xuance's raid on India with Tibetan soldiers.{{cite book|author=Tansen Sen|title=Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600-1400|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blBTHAY_A4wC&pg=PA253|date=January 2003|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2593-5|pages=253–}} Nepal had been subdued by the Tibetan King Songtsen.{{cite book|author=Tansen Sen|title=Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600-1400|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blBTHAY_A4wC&q=tibetan+nepal+648&pg=PA22|date=January 2003|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2593-5|pages=22–}} The Indian pretender was among the captives.{{cite book|author=Henry Yule|title=Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqgAb41ifIC&q=tibetan+nepal+648&pg=PA69|year=1915|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1966-1|pages=69–}}{{cite book|author1=Odorico (da Pordenone)|author2=Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb|author3=Francesco Balducci Pegolotti |author4=Joannes de Marignolis |author5=Ibn Batuta |title=Cathay and the Way Thither: Preliminary essay on the intercourse between China and the western nations previous to the discovery of the Cape route|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=69UMAQAAMAAJ&q=648|year=1998|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.|page=69|isbn=9788121508391}} The war happened in 649.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Taizong's grave had a statue of the Indian pretender.{{cite book|author=Prabodh Chandra Bagchi|title=India and China : interactions through Buddhism and diplomacy ; a collection of essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MB4CHPi7dycC&q=tibetan+nepal+648&pg=PA158|year=2011|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-93-80601-17-5|pages=158–}} The pretender's name was recorded in Chinese records as "Na-fu-ti O-lo-na-shuen" (Dinafudi is probably a reference to Tirabhukti).See{{cite book|author=D.C. Sircar|title=Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqKw1Mn8WcwC&q=tibetan+nepal+648&pg=PA326|year=1990|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0690-0|pages=326–}}{{cite book|author=Sam Van Schaik|title=Tibet: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RpLAKGG1ZX4C&q=tibetan+nepal+648&pg=PT48|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-17217-1|pages=48–}}

Xuanzang mentions that Harsha waged wars to bring "the Five Indias under allegiance" in six years. Xuanzang uses the term "Five Indias" (or "Five Indies" in some translations) inconsistently, variously applying it to refer to Harsha's territories in northern India or to the entire subcontinent, grouped around Central India in the four directions.{{cite book |author=Sally Wriggins |title=Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim On The Silk Road |year=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781000011098 |page=241 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=803rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT266 }}{{cite book |author=O. W. Wolters |editor=Craig J. Reynolds |title=Early Southeast Asia: Selected Essays |year=2018 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9781501731150 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJJlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 }} Based on this statement, historians such as R.K. Mookerji and C.V. Vaidya have dated Harsha conquests to 606-612 CE. However, it is now known that Harsha engaged in wars and conquests for several more years.{{cite journal |author=Bireshwar Nath Srivastava |title=The Chronology of the Campaigns of Harsha |year=1952 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=15 |pages=98–101 |publisher=Indian History Congress |jstor=45436464 }} Moreover, whether Xuanzang used the term "Five Indias" to describe Harsha's territory in a narrower or wider sense, his statement is hyperbole it cannot be used to make conclusions about Harsha's actual territory. While Harsha was the most powerful emperor of northern India, he did not rule the entire northern India.{{cite book |author=Shankar Goyal |title=History and Historiography of the Age of Harsha |year=1992 |publisher=Kusumanjali |pages=217–218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TB4gAAAAIAAJ }}

File:King Harsha pays homage to Buddha.jpg

Like many other ancient Indian rulers, Harsha was eclectic in his religious views and practices. His seals describe his ancestors as worshippers of the Hindu sun god, Surya, his elder brother as a Buddhist, and himself as a Shaivite Hindu. His land grant inscriptions describe him as Parama-maheshvara (supreme devotee of Shiva). His court poet Bana also describes him as a Shaivite Hindu.{{cite book |author=Abraham Eraly |title=The First Spring: The Golden Age of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA86 |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-670-08478-4 |page=86}}

Harsha's play Nāgānanda tells the story of the Bodhisattva Jīmūtavāhavana, and the invocatory verse at the beginning is dedicated to the Buddha, described in the act of vanquishing Māra (so much so that the two verses, together with a third, are also preserved separately in Tibetan translation as the *Mārajit-stotra).{{cite news |author = Michael Hahn |title="The *Mārajitstotra by Harṣadeva, a third version of the Nāndī of the Nāgānanda?", Festschrift Dieter Schlingloff |publisher=Reinbek |year=1996 |pages= 109–126}} Shiva's consort Gauri plays an important role in the play,{{cite book |author=S. R. Goyal |title=Indian Buddhism After the Buddha |year=2003 |publisher=Kusumanjali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXsEAAAAYAAJ |oclc=907017497 |page=294 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407015859/https://books.google.com/books?id=YXsEAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}} and raises the hero to life using her divine power.{{cite book |editor=B.H. Wortham |title=The Buddhist Legend of Jimutavahana |year=2003 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120617339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVqwwoEt47AC |page=xi |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407015900/https://books.google.com/books?id=JVqwwoEt47AC |url-status=live}}

According to the Chinese Buddhist traveler Xuanzang, Harsha was a devout Buddhist. Xuanzang states that Harsha banned animal slaughter for food, and built monasteries at the places visited by Gautama Buddha. He erected several thousand 100-feet high stupas on the banks of the Ganges river, and built well-maintained hospices for travellers and poor people on highways across India. He organized an annual assembly of global scholars, and bestowed charitable alms on them. Every five years, he held a great assembly called Moksha. Xuanzang also describes a 21-day religious festival organized by Harsha in Kanyakubja; during this festival, Harsha and his subordinate kings performed daily rituals before a life-sized golden statue of the Buddha.

Since Harsha's records describe him as a Shaivite Hindu, his conversion to Buddhism would have happened, if at all, in the later part of his life. Even Xuanzang states that Harsha patronised scholars of all religions, not just Buddhist monks. According to historians such as S. R. Goyal and S. V. Sohoni, Harsha was personally a Shaivite Hindu and his patronage of Buddhists misled Xuanzang to portray him as a Buddhist.{{cite journal |author=S. V. Sohoni |title=Review: Harsha and Buddhism |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=70 |issue=1/4 |year=1989 |pages=333–336 |publisher=Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |jstor=41693493}}

{{further|List of Sanskrit plays in English translation}}

Harsha is widely believed to be the author of three Sanskrit plays Ratnavali, Nagananda and Priyadarsika.{{cite book |author=Harsha |translator=Wendy Doniger |title="The Lady of the Jewel Necklace" and "The Lady who Shows Her Love" |year=2006 |publisher=New York University Press |page=18}} While some believe (e.g., Mammata in Kavyaprakasha) that it was Dhāvaka, one of Harsha's court poets, who wrote the plays as a paid commission, Wendy Doniger is "persuaded, however, that king Harsha really wrote the plays ... himself."

A 1926 Indian silent film, Samrat Shiladitya, about the emperor was directed by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani.{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rF8ABAAAQBAJ&pg=RA43-PA1993|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-135-94325-7|page=43}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• Surasena Kingdom
• History of India

{{reflist}}

{{EB1911 poster|Harsha}}

• Reddy, Krishna (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=X4j7Nf_MU24C Indian History], Tata McGraw-Hill Education Private Limited, New Delhi
• Price, Pamela (2007), Early Medieval India, [http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS2172/h07/ HIS2172 - Periodic Evaluation], University of Oslo
• [http://www.srikanta-sastri.org/conquests-siladitya-in-south/4584992949 "Conquests of Siladitya in the south"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027134555/http://www.srikanta-sastri.org/conquests-siladitya-in-south/4584992949 |date=27 October 2014 }} by S. Srikanta Sastri

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Category:Ancient Indian dramatists and playwrights

Category:People from Kurukshetra district

Category:7th-century Indian monarchs

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Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights

Category:Indian Buddhist monarchs

Category:Emperors in India

Category:7th-century maharajadhirajas

Category:Kings of Kannauj