Pushyabhuti dynasty: A Visual History

The Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) dynasty of Thanesar rose in the sixth century as Gupta power faded, and under Harsha (606-647) briefly reunited northern India from Punjab to Bengal with its capital at Kanauj. Harsha, only 16 at his accession, avenged his brother's murder, was checked in the Deccan by the Chalukya Pulakeshin II, patronised Buddhism and hosted the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who described his court and the great assembly at Prayag. He wrote Sanskrit plays and was praised in Bana's Harshacharita. He died without heirs in 647 and the empire dissolved.

When it existed: the era ribbon

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Harsha's territory

Timeline of the Pushyabhuti dynasty (Harsha's empire)

1. 500
   Pushyabhutis established at Thanesar
2. 605
   Prabhakaravardhana dies
3. 606
   Harsha becomes king
4. 618
   Checked by Pulakeshin II on the Narmada
5. 630
   Xuanzang arrives in India
6. 643
   Kanauj assembly and Prayag distribution
7. 647
   Harsha diesThe empire dissolves.

Rise of Thanesar

Prabhakaravardhana of Thanesar built up a kingdom on the Punjab frontier fighting the Hunas. When he died in 605, his elder son Rajyavardhana was murdered by the Gauda king Shashanka of Bengal after defeating the Malwa king; the younger son Harsha, aged about 16, took the throne, allied with the Maukharis of Kanauj (his widowed sister's realm) and set out to punish Shashanka.

Harsha's empire

Harsha made Kanauj his capital and over 40 years brought the Ganges plain, Bengal, Orissa and parts of Rajasthan under his rule or overlordship; his push south across the Narmada was stopped by Pulakeshin II around 618. Xuanzang, who arrived in 630, described a devout, generous king who toured constantly, gave away his wealth every five years at Prayag, and held a great Buddhist assembly at Kanauj. Harsha wrote three plays including Ratnavali and Nagananda.

Collapse

Harsha exchanged embassies with Tang China. He died in 647 without a son; a minister usurped the throne and attacked the Tang envoy Wang Xuance, who returned with Tibetan and Nepali troops and carried the usurper off to Chang'an. Kanauj passed through several hands and became the prize of the tripartite struggle between Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Gupta Empire (320 to 550)
• Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty (730 to 1036)
• Tang dynasty (618 to 907)
• Tibetan Empire (618 to 842)
• Hephthalite Empire (440 to 560)
• Sasanian Empire (224 to 651)

8 surprising things about the Pushyabhuti dynasty (Harsha's empire)

1. Harsha gave away everything he owned, down to his own clothes, at the Prayag assembly every five years, then borrowed a garment from his sister.
2. He is one of the very few Indian kings to have written surviving literary works: three Sanskrit plays.
3. Bana's Harshacharita is the first historical biography in Sanskrit.
4. Xuanzang says Harsha's escort of elephants and cavalry made a noise like thunder wherever he travelled.
5. The Chinese envoy Wang Xuance, attacked after Harsha's death, borrowed 7,000 Nepali and 1,200 Tibetan soldiers and defeated the usurper.
6. Harsha's era, beginning in 606, was used in inscriptions for centuries.
7. The Kanauj assembly of 643 reportedly gathered 20 kings and 3,000 monks, and a rival faction tried to burn Harsha's pavilion.
8. Harsha's defeat by Pulakeshin II earned the Chalukya the title 'Lord of the North as well as the South'.

Sources

• Harsha Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Pushyabhuti dynasty Wikipedia
• Harshavardhana World History Encyclopedia
• Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (2008) Pearson

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