Give an account of the achievements of Harsha Vardhana?

 Home page of Indian History notes

Question: Give an account of the achievements of Harsha Vardhana?

Answer: North Indian historians consider Harshavardhana as the last great Hindu ruler of ancient period. Harsha ruled between 590 C.E.– 647 A.D.

            Titles of Harshavardhana:

1. Parama Maheshwara       2. Rajaputhra        3. Uttharapadha Swami 4. Shilaadhithya                  5. 3rd Ashoka

Sources to know the history of Harshavardhana:

A. Sonepat Inscription: According to this inscription, Harsha was born in 590C.E.Harsha’s mother was Rani Yashomathi.

B. Bansikhera Inscription: It mentioned about beautiful handwriting of Harshavardhana.

C. Madhuban Inscription gave details about Harsha’s family.

D. Harsha Charithra, book authored by a poet named ‘Baana’ is a good source to know the history of Harsha.

E. Si Yu Ki written by Huantsang  also giving information about Harshavardhana and socio, economic, religious, and cultural conditions of his period.

F. Aihole inscription by Ravi Keerthi, military general of Badami Chalukyan king Pulakesi II, also giving information about Harshavardhana.

Harshavardhana ascended the throne of Thaneshwar around 606 C.E.and immediately sent a great army against Sasanka of Gauda to avenge his elder brother’s death and to rescue his sister Rajyashri who had been taken prisoner by the Malwa king.

 

He succeeded in both. Now the two important kingdoms Kannauj and Thaneshwar were united with Harsha now ruling from Kannauj. Between 606 and 612 C.E.he brought most of northern India (Punjab, Kannauj, parts of Gauda, Orissa and Mithila) under his control, and assumed the title of Siladitya.

Harsha’s Military Conquests:

In his first expedition Harsha drove away Sasanka from Kannauj who had occupied it after murder­ing Harsha’s brother. Harsha’s early relations with the rulers of Valabhi were cordial but soon Malwa became the bone of contention between the two and so he had to turn his attention to western India. It resulted in the defeat of the Valabhi ruler, Dhruvasena II and his acceptance of the position of a feudatory vassal. His hostilities with Valabhis ended through a matrimonial alliance. The above suc­cess however proved to be the immediate cause of conflict between Harsha and Pulakesin II, the Chalukya ruler of Badami.

 

Further, the question of over lordship over the Latas, Malwa and Gurjaras seems to have been the long-standing cause of conflict between the two. An eulogy or Prasastioi Pulakesin II by Ravi Kirti (the court poet of Pulakesin II) placed on a temple wall at Aihole, also mentions Pulakesin’s military success against Harsha. Hiuen Tsang’s account mentions that inspite of his victories over many kingdoms Harsha was not able to defeat Pulakesin II.

 

Harsha was success­ful in his eastern campaign. A Chinese account mentions him as the king of Magadha in 641 C.E.The king of Kamarupa, Bhaskaravarman, was his ally in his campaign of Bengal and other parts of eastern India.

 

In the course of the forty-one years that Harsha ruled, he included among his feudatories, kings as distant as those of Jalandhar, Kashmir, Nepal, Valabhi, Gujarat, Malwa, Sind, Frontier provinces and Assam. United Provinces, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Central India and Rajputana were under direct ad­ministration of Harsha.

 

From the Harsha’s time started the formation of regional cultural units such as Bengal, Gujarat Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, etc Harsha was a man of considerable literary interests and talents and despite his administrative duties, he managed to write plays i.e. Ratnavali, Priyadarshika and Nagananda.

 

Patron of Arts and Letter: He maintained a magnificent court where philosophers, poets, dramatists and painters flourished.

Nalanda University: Harsha was the chief patron of the University of Nalanda where about 10,000 students from all parts of India and abroad studied. Principal of Nalanda University during the reign of Harsha was Sheelabhadhra. ‘Dharma Ganj’ was the name of Nalanda University library.

Harsha’s own works: Harsha himself was a poet. He authored Naganandam, Priyadarshika and Ratnavali.

Bana, the author of Harshacharita, and Kadambari, was the court poet of Harsha. ‘Harsha Charithra’ is the first book in India written exclusively about a king.

Mayura the authored Surya Shathaka and Mayurashataka.

Bhartrihari, the author of Subhashith Shathakam.

Kanauj Parishad 643: A.D.Harsha was in the beginning, a devotee of Siva. Probably owing to the influence of his sister Rajyashri and the Buddhist saint Divakara Mitra, he accepted Buddhism. Later on, he changed over to Mahayana Buddhism under the influence of Hiuen Tsang. But he respected all religions and patronised them equally. With a view to popularise and propagate the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism, Harsha arranged at Kannauj, a great assembly, which was presided over by Hiuen Tsang.

Mahamoksha Parishad / Assembly of Salvation: Another great ceremony was held for 75 days at Prayag (Allahabad). The images of Buddha, Sun and Siva were worshipped and gifts of valuable articles and clothing were distributed in charity. Harsha used to return empty handed to the palace after the assembly.  Harsha held 6 such assemblies in his life time one for every five years. Last Mahamoksha Parishad was attended by Hiuen Tsang. Harsha had diplomatic relations with the Chinese, for his contemporary T’ang emperor sent three embassies to his court. The last of these, under Wang-hiuen-tse arrived in India in 647 C.E.when Harsha was no longer alive. Harsha himself had sent a Brahman envoy to China in 641 C.E.Harsha ruled for a period of 41 years and is said to have died about 647 A.D.