Right. You needed an article. Don't look so surprised I delivered. Just try to keep up.
For the record, "Harshvardhan" also points here. If you were looking for someone else with a similar, and frankly uninspired, name, see Harsha Vardhan. And for other uses of "Harsha," which you should have been able to figure out on your own, see Harsha (disambiguation).
Harsha
Maharajadhiraja Sakalottarapathanātha Śilāditya Paramabhattāraka Parama-Maheśwara Gaudeśwara [1]
A coin of Harshavardhana, dated to his reign, c. 606–647 CE. A small metal disc to represent a life's work. [2]
Maharajadhiraja of Kannauj Reign: April 606 – 647 Predecessor: Rajyavardhana (as the less ambitious King of Thanesar) Successor: Arunāsva (as King of Kannauj, a title he didn't hold for long)
Born: 4 June 590 [3] Possibly in Sthanvishvara, Kingdom of Thanesar (a place now known as Thanesar, Haryana, India) [4] [5] Died: 647 (aged 56–57) Possibly in Kanyakubja, Empire of Kannauj (modern-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, India), the capital he built and the place that saw his end. [6] Dynasty: Pushyabhuti Father: Prabhakarvardhana Mother: Yasomati Religion: Officially Shaivism, though he flirted with Buddhism (at least according to the visiting monk Xuanzang, who had a vested interest). Signature: An artifact of his authority. Map: The Empire ruled by Harsha in 7th century CE India, a splash of color on a map representing a temporary consolidation of power. [7]
Harshavardhana (Sanskrit: हर्षवर्धन; 4 June 590 – 647) was an emperor who presided over the domain of Kannauj from the spring of 606 until his death in 647. Before ascending to this grander title, he was a king of Thanesar, a position inherited after a series of unfortunate, and violent, events. He is credited with defeating the Alchon Huns, [8] a necessary bit of housekeeping for any aspiring ruler of the time. He was the younger brother of Rajyavardhana and the son of Prabhakaravardhana, the last king to rule from Thanesar before the political center of gravity shifted. Harsha stands as one of the most significant kings of the Kingdom of Kannauj, a realm he expanded from a local power into a sprawling empire across northern India.
At the zenith of his influence, Harsha's empire stretched across a vast swathe of northern and northwestern India. The Narmada River served as a stark, non-negotiable southern border to his ambitions. He eventually designated Kanyakubja (the modern city of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh) as his imperial capital, a central hub from which he would reign until his death in 647 CE. [9] His imperial project, however, was not without its limits. Harsha's attempt to push his dominion into the southern peninsula of India was decisively thwarted. He was defeated by Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty in the Battle of Narmada, a conflict that cemented the Narmada as the boundary between two formidable powers. [10]
The relative stability and prosperity he enforced turned his court into a center of cosmopolitanism, a rare beacon in a fractured subcontinent. It inevitably attracted scholars, artists, and religious figures from distant lands, all drawn to the gravity of his power and patronage. [9] The Chinese traveler Xuanzang made the journey to Harsha's imperial court and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a guest enjoying royal hospitality, wrote a glowing account of him (under the name Shiladitya). He lauded the emperor's justice and generosity, painting a portrait of an ideal monarch. [9] A more local, and perhaps more intimate, perspective comes from his biography, the Harshacharita ("The Life of Harsha"), penned by the Sanskrit poet Banabhatta. This work details his connection to Sthanesvara and describes the practicalities of power: a defensive wall, a moat, and a palace featuring a two-storied Dhavalagriha, or white mansion. [11]
Early years
The ruins of a palace at the "Harsh ka tila" mound, a kilometer-wide archeological site. A testament to the fact that all empires eventually become dirt and rubble.
A significant portion of what is known—or what we're told—about Harsha's formative years is filtered through the literary lens of Bāṇabhaṭṭa. [6] Harsha was the second son of Prabhakarvardhana, the king of Thanesar. His birth came at a time of geopolitical decay. Following the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the mid-6th century, Northern India had shattered into a mosaic of independent kingdoms and squabbling states. The northern and western territories of the Indian subcontinent were controlled by a dozen or more feudatory powers, each carving out its own sphere of influence. Prabhakaravardhana, the ruler of Sthanvesvara and a member of the Vardhana family, managed to extend his authority over his immediate neighbors, a small act of order in a largely chaotic world. He was the first monarch of what would be called the Vardhana dynasty to establish his capital at Sthanvesvara.
When Prabhakaravardhana died in 605, his eldest son, Rajyavardhana, ascended the throne. Harshavardhana was his younger brother, waiting in the wings of history. This lineage of rulers is commonly referred to as the Vardhana dynasty in most historical publications. [12] [ dead link ] [13] [14] [15] [ page needed ]
By the time of Hiuen Tsang's visit, the political landscape had shifted. Kanyakubja was no longer just another city; it was the imperial capital of Harshavardhana, by then the most powerful sovereign in Northern India.
Adding a layer of social complexity, K.P. Jaiswal, in his Imperial History of India, points to a 7th–8th century Buddhist text, the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa, which alleges that Harsha was born to a King Vishnu (Vardhana) and that his family belonged to the Vaishya varna. [16] [ page needed ] This assertion, which would place his origins outside the traditional ruling caste, is supported by several other writers, though it remains a subject of academic debate. [17] [18] [19] [20]
Ascension
A clay seal of Harshavardhana, discovered at Nalanda. An emperor's authority, stamped in mud. [21]
Harsha's path to the throne was paved with familial tragedy and political assassination. His sister, Rajyashri, was married to the Maukhari king, Grahavarman. This political alliance was shattered when King Devagupta of Malwa defeated and killed Grahavarman. In the aftermath, Rajyashri was captured and imprisoned, a profound insult to her family's honor. Harsha's older brother, Rajyavardhana, the reigning king at Sthanesvara, could not let this stand. He marched against Devagupta and successfully defeated him.
However, victory was short-lived. Shashanka, the King of Gauda in Eastern Bengal, entered the scene, feigning friendship with Rajyavardhana while maintaining a secret alliance with the defeated Malwa king. [ citation needed ] In an act of profound treachery, Shashanka murdered Rajyavardhana. \22] While this political chaos unfolded, Rajyashri managed to escape her captors and fled into the forests. Upon learning of his brother's murder, a sixteen-year-old Harsha resolved to march against the duplicitous King of Gauda. This campaign, born of grief and vengeance, proved inconclusive, and he eventually turned back. With the throne now empty, Harsha ascended at the tender age of 16. His immediate duties were grim: rescue his sister and avenge the murders of his brother and brother-in-law. He found and rescued Rajyashri just as she was preparing to commit self-immolation. A throne built on grief is a cold seat.
Reign
With the fall of the Gupta Empire, Northern India had reverted to a patchwork of minor republics and small monarchical states, many still led by local Gupta rulers. Harsha's primary challenge was to impose order on this chaos. He united these disparate republics, from the Punjab to central India. Their representatives, likely seeing the wisdom in unity under a strong leader, crowned him emperor in an assembly in April 606, bestowing upon him the title of Maharajadhiraja. Through a combination of diplomacy and force, Harsha forged an empire that brought the entirety of northern India under his command. [9]
The resulting peace, however fragile, allowed for a cultural flourishing. His court became a nexus of cosmopolitanism, drawing in scholars, artists, and religious pilgrims from across the continent. The Chinese traveler Xuanzang visited this imperial court and wrote a highly complimentary account of Harsha, praising his justice and generosity—a review any ruler would be pleased to receive from a foreign dignitary. [9]
Harsha's ambitions were checked at the Narmada. In the winter of 618–619, Pulakeshin II decisively repelled an invasion led by Harsha. Following this military stalemate, Pulakeshin entered into a treaty with Harsha, formally designating the Narmada River as the border between the Chalukya Empire and the empire of Harshavardhana. [23] [24]
Xuanzang described the event with a certain finality:
"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."
The end of Harsha's reign plunged the region back into uncertainty. In 648, the Tang Chinese emperor Tang Taizong dispatched Wang Xuance as an envoy to India, a response to an earlier ambassador sent by Harsha. Wang arrived to find Harsha dead and a usurper, a new king named Aluonashun (believed to be Arunāsva), on the throne. This new king foolishly attacked Wang and his small retinue of 30 mounted subordinates. [25] Wang Xuance escaped to Tibet and, in a remarkable feat of improvised geopolitics, assembled a joint force of over 7,000 Nepalese mounted infantry and 1,200 Tibetan infantry. He led this army back into India, attacking the state on June 16. The stunning success of this punitive expedition earned Xuance the prestigious title of "Grand Master for the Closing Court." [26] He also managed to secure a reported Buddhist relic for China. [27] [ full citation needed ] The Nepali and Tibetan forces under Wang took 2,000 prisoners from Magadha. [28] Both Tibetan and Chinese records document this raid on India with Tibetan soldiers. [29] At the time, Nepal had been subdued by the Tibetan King Songtsen. [30] The Indian usurper was captured and taken as a prisoner. [31] [32] This brief but violent war occurred in 649. [ citation needed ] A statue of the captured Indian king was even placed at the tomb of Emperor Taizong. [33] The usurper's name was phonetically recorded in Chinese records as "Na-fu-ti O-lo-na-shuen," with "Dinafudi" likely being a reference to Tirabhukti). [34] [35] [36]
Xuanzang claims Harsha waged wars to bring "the Five Indias under allegiance" within six years. [37] The term "Five Indias" (or "Five Indies") is used inconsistently by Xuanzang, sometimes referring specifically to Harsha's territories in northern India, and other times to the entire subcontinent, conceptually divided into four cardinal directions around a central region. [38] [39] Based on this rather grand statement, historians like R.K. Mookerji and C.V. Vaidya dated Harsha's main conquests to the period of 606–612 CE. We now know, however, that Harsha's military campaigns and conquests continued for many more years. [37] Furthermore, Xuanzang's statement is obvious hyperbole. Whether he meant the term in its narrower or broader sense, it cannot be taken as a literal description of Harsha's territorial control. While Harsha was undeniably the paramount emperor of northern India, he did not rule all of it. [40]
Religion and Religious Policy
"King Harsha pays homage to Buddha." A 20th-century artist's idealized imagining. Reality was likely more complicated.
Like any pragmatic ruler of a diverse populace, Harsha was eclectic in his religious observances. His own seals describe his ancestors as worshippers of the Hindu sun god, Surya, his elder brother as a Buddhist, and Harsha himself as a Shaivite Hindu. His land grant inscriptions consistently refer to him as Parama-maheshvara, the supreme devotee of Shiva. His court poet, Bana, also identifies him as a Shaivite. [41]
Harsha's own literary work, the play Nāgānanda, complicates this picture. It narrates the story of the Bodhisattva Jīmūtavāhavana, and its opening invocatory verse is dedicated to the Buddha, specifically in his aspect as the vanquisher of Māra. These verses were considered significant enough to be preserved separately in Tibetan translation as the Mārajit-stotra. [42] Yet, within the same play, Shiva's consort Gauri plays a pivotal role, [43] ultimately resurrecting the hero with her divine power. [44] A ruler hedging his bets, perhaps.
According to the Chinese Buddhist traveler Xuanzang, Harsha was a devout Buddhist. Xuanzang reports that Harsha banned the slaughter of animals for food and constructed monasteries at sites associated with Gautama Buddha. He claims Harsha erected thousands of 100-foot-high stupas along the banks of the Ganges river and established well-maintained hospices for travelers and the poor on highways across India. He also describes an annual assembly of international scholars and a great quinquennial assembly known as Moksha, where the emperor would bestow charitable alms. Xuanzang provides a vivid account of a 21-day religious festival in Kanyakubja, during which Harsha and his subordinate kings performed daily rituals before a life-sized golden statue of the Buddha. [41]
Given that Harsha's own records identify him as a Shaivite, if a conversion to Buddhism occurred, it must have been late in his life. Even Xuanzang concedes that Harsha patronized scholars of all faiths, not just Buddhist monks. [41] A more cynical interpretation, advanced by historians such as S. R. Goyal and S. V. Sohoni, is that Harsha remained personally a Shaivite Hindu. His conspicuous patronage of Buddhists was a calculated political move, which successfully misled the visiting monk Xuanzang into portraying him as a fellow believer. [45]
Literary prowess
Further information: List of Sanskrit plays in English translation
Harsha is generally credited as the author of three Sanskrit plays: Ratnavali, Nagananda, and Priyadarsika. [46] There is, naturally, some debate. The critic Mammata, in his Kavyaprakasha, suggested that the plays were actually written by a poet named Dhāvaka, one of Harsha's court poets, as a paid commission. It's an old story: the powerful man taking credit for the artist's work. However, the scholar Wendy Doniger states she is "persuaded, however, that king Harsha really wrote the plays ... himself." [46] Believe whom you will.
In popular culture
A 1926 Indian silent film, titled Samrat Shiladitya, was directed by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. It seems even a 7th-century emperor isn't safe from the ambitions of 20th-century filmmakers. [47]