Q. ‘Harsha owes his greatness largely not to any real achievements but to the accounts of two famous men’. Explain. [20 Marks]

‘हर्ष की महानता का श्रेय किसी वास्तविक उपलब्धि को नहीं बल्कि दो प्रसिद्ध व्यक्तियों को जाता है।‘ व्याख्या करें। [20 अंक]

Ans:

Harshavardhana ascended the throne in AD 606. He was only sixteen years of age at that time. Still he proved himself to be a great warrior and an able administrator. He brought Punjab, Uttara Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa under his control. He shifted his capital from Thanesar to Kanauj and is described as the lord of the north (sakalauttarapathanatha).

Sources of Harsha period:

• Harshacarita written by his court poet Banabhatta.
  • Banabhatta also wrote Kadambari. But he could not complete it, Bhusanabhatta, his son , completed it.
• Si-Yu-Ki, the travel account of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Yuan Chiang, who visited India during AD 629–644.
• Inscriptions belonging to his regime:
  • Banskhera inscription.
  • Madhuban plate inscription.
  • Nalanda inscriptions and
  • Sonepat inscriptions
• Three romantic comedy works by Harsha himself:
  • Ratnavali,
  • Priyadarshika,
  • Nagananda.

Among the above sources, The works Banabhatta and Yuan Chiang is considered as most important one.

The achievements of Harsha Which made him a great ruler:

• Territorial expansion:
  • In his first expedition Harsha drove away Shashanka from Kannauj who had occupied it after murder­ing Harsha’s brother.
    • Though it is not clear if he could avenge the murder of his brother.
    • He rescued his sister, who was on the verge of committing sati. Kanauj subsequently passed into the hands of the Pushyabhutis.
  • Between 606 and 612 A.D. he brought most of northern India ( Punjab, Uttara Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) under his control, and assumed the title of Siladitya.
  • 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.
  • Harsha was success­ful in his eastern campaign.
    • A Chinese account mentions him as the king of Magadha in 641 A.D.
    • The king of Kamarupa, Bhaskaravarman, was his ally in his campaign of Bengal and other parts of eastern India.
  • He was victorious against the ruler of Sindh in the north-west as well.
  • He impressed his might on Kashmir too.
  • Opinions differ about Harsha conquest of Nepal.
    • An era mentioned in the Nepalese inscription can be taken as era of Harsha. So, we may say that He probably subdued Nepal.
  • Thus, after decline of Gupta empire there was vacuum created which was filled by Harsha but putting all the regional power under one central control.
  • In about 6 years (606 -612 AD) he became the Lord paramount of the north i.e sakalauttarapathanatha.
  • He not only extended his empire by conquest or force but by alliance and friendship also. e.g:
    • Allegiance with the king of Kamarupa, Bhaskaravarman, during his campaign against Bengal ruler.
    • Matrimonial alliance with Valabhis.
  • However, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Western Chalukya ruler Pulakeshin II.
• Administration:
  • Harsha governed his empire on the same lines as the Guptas did, except that his administration had become more feudal and decentralised. i.e the Nature of Polity was a confederate type of monarchy. direct administration was less extensive than the sphere of influence.
    • The accepted title of a great king in Harsha’s days was Parma-Bhattaraka Mahesvara and Maharajadhiraja which implied the existence of lesser kings with considerable authority within the empire.
    • The major part of the territory conquered by Harsha was ruled by such feudatories. Independent in the internal administration of their territories, they generally owed allegiance to a suzerain.
    • The leading feudatories of Harsha were Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa, Dhruvabhatta of Valabhi, Purnavarman of Magadha and Udita of Jalandhara.
    • Bana speaks of samanta, mahasamanta, pradhana samanta etc.
  • The King was the centre of administration, helped by the crown prince.
    • Other princes were ap­pointed as Viceroys of provinces.
    • Ministers of various types and advisers assisted the king in the administration.
    • During Harsha’s time high officers i.e., Daussadha Sadhnika, Pramatara, Rajasthaniya, Uparika and Vishayapati, etc., were not paid in cash for their services to the state, but were compen­sated by way of offering one-fourth of the royal revenues.
  • The Local administration was, for all practical purpose. independent of the center. The officer in charge of the district (ayukta) and the provincial official (kumaramatya) were the link between local administration and the center.
    • Village came under the control of rural bodies consisting of the headman and the village elders.
  • Harsha maintained contact with public opinion both through his officers and by his own tours, which gave him the opportunity of supervising the administration.
• He maintained relation with china also and their exchange of envoy between the two countries.
• Religious:
  • Earlier he was probably a Saiva by faith. Later he converted to Buddhism after completion of his conquests. Later on, he changed over to Mahayana Buddhism under the influence of Hiuen Tsang.
    • His land grant inscriptions describe him as Parama-maheshvara (supreme devotee of Shiva), and his play Nagananda is dedicated to Shiva’s consort Gauri. His court poet Bana also describes him as a Shaivite.
    • According to the Chinese Buddhist traveler Yuan Chiang, Harsha was a devout Buddhist. It shows, his conversion to Buddhism would have happened, if at all, in the later part of his life.
  • He was always tolerant to other religion. He built charitable institutions did charity with generosity.
    • Even Yuan Chiang states that Harsha patronised scholars of all religions, not just Buddhist monks.
  • Harsha used to organised great religious festivals.
    • Yuan Chiang mentions 2 great assemblies at Prayagraj and Kannauj.
    • At these assemblies global scholars were invited and bestowed charitable alms on them.
• Patron to art and learning:
  • He is said to have written a number of books but three of them the Dramas Ratanavali, Priyadarshika, and Nagarnanda, all in Sanskrit, occupy a high place in the world of Sanskrit literature.
    • He also wrote a work on grammar as well.
  • He was also a skilled Calligraphist.
    • His signature is found in Banskhera copper plate inscription.
  • He had interest in poetry as well. The inscription of Banskhera and Madhuban plates of which former is attested by his own composition are evidently his own composition.
    • Jayadeva,12th-century poet and author of the Gita Govinda, names Harsha along with Bhasa and Kalidasa.
  • He patronized brilliant philosophers, poets, dramatists and artists.
    • He allotted one fourth of the revenue from the crown lands for rewarding the learned.
    • He gave liberally to the great seat of education, namely, the University of Nalanda.
    • Harsha had a large number of Scholars in his court:
      • Bana was the chief among them and he wrote Harshacharita and Kadambari.
      • Haridatta was also patronised by Harsha.
      • Jayasena was famous for his learning in various subjects and Harsha offered him the revenues of eight villages in Orissa. However, the offer was declined by Jayasena.
      • Mayura the author of Mayurashataka, and
      • Bhartrihari, the author of Vakapadiya, a grammarian, also lived at the court of Harsha.
  • Banabhatta tells that Harsha was a lute player and had wide learning.
  • From the Harsha’s time started the formation of regional cultural units such as Bengal, Gujarat Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, etc
• Yuan Chiang states that Harsha banned animal slaughter for food, and built monasteries at the places visited by Gautama Buddha. He erected several thousand stupas on the banks of the Ganges river, and built well-maintained hospices for travellers and poor people on highways across India.
• The death of Harsha in AD 647 was followed by a political confusion that continued up to the eighth century when the Gurjara Pratiharas, the Rajput rulers, emerged as a big force in northern India.

However, greatness of Harsha has been questioned by many. His greatness is due to Banabhatta and Yuan Chiang work to a great extent:

• Harsha could become great because of availability of sources in the form of accounts of Banbhatta and Yuan Chiang which was not for other rulers of the time. Apart from mere availability of account, Harsha also became great because both of them have also exaggerated the account about Harsha.
• Banabhatta:
  • Being court poet of Harsha and a childhood friend, so he was mainly focused to emphasis achievements of Harsha and was silent about his failure.
    • For example, he didn’t mention about the check that Harsha met with while his campaign towards Deccan by Chalukya ruler Pulakesin II, the Chalukya ruler, on the banks of river Narmada.
    • His Harshacharita is only source in matter related to Shanshanka, While Harsha attacked Gauda but it is not clear that whether he could avenge murder of his brother.
  • Though it mentioned that police system was very efficient and There was fine system of spies who turned throughout the state and secretly detected the crimes. There was serious problem with law and order.
    • Even Yuan Chiang himself was robbed more than once.
  • Many scholars accused him that he is biased in his writing and portray a dubious account of life of his patron in Harshacharita. Bana has exaggerated many the facts and displayed lavished Harsha’s Political skills and praised him too generously.
    • Bana’s focus on his poetic skill also led to exaggeration.
• Yuan Chiang:
  • His writing gives us information about social, political, economic, religious and administrative aspect of life of India.
  • Though his writing is more trustworthy as it was written after he went back to china and thus was too secure to be affected by the reactions his account might produce in India, still, it is affected at some places:
    • by author’s preconceived ideas on the government and administration,
    • his early scholastic training,
    • the code of behavior of his country and
    • His favour for Buddhism.
  • Given that Harsha turned out to be a great patron of Buddhism it was normal that Yuan Chiang mainly highlight positive aspects Harsha period.
  • Many of his account looks exaggerated:
    • he says that people are not subjected to forced labour, taxes are light, there is no infliction of corporal punishment.
      • However, forced labour (vishti), Various kind of taxes etc were typical features of post-Gupta period society.
    • He also exaggerates by saying that Harsha was indefatigable in the discharge of his administrative routine, forgot sleep and food in his devotion to good work and spent most of the years in making tours of inspection throughout his dominions.
    • He said that during Prayagraj assembly, Harsha gave everything in devotion even his clothes.
  • He tells us that Harsha maintained a huge army. The number of foot soldiers was 5 lakh. The cavalry consisted of one lakh of horsemen. The elephant was roughly 60,000.
    • This was clearly an exaggerated account which is clearer from the fact that Harsha was defeated by Pulakesin II.
    • Further, in quasi-feudal political system of this period, the existence of such a huge standing army is questioned.
  • Harsha tolerance to other religion is also questioned:
    • At 1st assembly at Kannauj, he published doctrine of Mahayana. There was attempt on his life probably by his theological rival. In reaction, Harsha killed manny Brahmanas.
    • This event shows the existence of religious conflict.
  • Yuan Chiang claim of Harsha building many stupas is not substantiated archaeologically.
• Other limitations:
  • Society was divided on the line of varna system.
    • This period witnessed the ascendancy of varnasramadharma.
  • Status of Shudras and Vaishyas was depressed.
  • The position of women seems to have suffered a further decline during this period. Remarriage of widows was not permitted particularly among the higher varnas. Sati and dowry was prevalent during this period.
  • Economically, there was decline in trade and urban life. The guilds of artisans and merchants also began to lose their earlier importance.
    • No evidence shows that Harsha took any step to revive the trade and commerce.

No doubt, Harsha was great and a competent ruler. in fact, after Harsha’s rule whole north India was disintegrated into regional kingdoms and a power vacuum was created which was to be filled only after invasion of Turks in India. It was Harsha who could maintain a central authority in almost entire north India. Banabhatta’s and Yuan Chiang’s account though filled with praises and even exaggeration, are most valuable sources of that period.

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