Harshavardhana

Lesson 5 of 13 • 13 upvotes • 10:29mins

Abhyudaya Kelkar

Harshavardhana was undoubtedly the greatest personality of the Post-Gupta Period. He was the only person who tried to create a unified political entity during these two centuries. And to a large extent, he succeeded. Although his empire disappeared soon after his death, he managed to do the following the political arena : 1. Making Kannyakubja (Kannauj) the seat of power of the northern India for next six centuries, that was to last well into the Medieval Period. 2. Rejuvenating the declining Buddhism. 3. Bringing the northern India under his political influence. Huien Tsang, a Chinese traveller and scholar, came to India during the reign of Harsha and wrote a lot about him. Most of the knowledge about Harshavardhana are derived either from his writings or the biography of Harsha, Harshacharita, written by the court-poet of Harsha, Banabhatta. So, in this lesson we will discuss those facts about Harshavardhana.