Back هارشا Arabic Harşa Azerbaijani हर्षवर्द्धन Bihari হর্ষবর্ধন Bengali/Bangla Harxa Catalan Харша CE Harša Czech Harsha German Χάρσα Greek Jarsha Vardhana Spanish
| Harsha | |
|---|---|
| Maharajadhiraja | |
 Coin of Harshavardhana, c. 606–647 CE.[1] | |
| Emperor of Kannauj | |
| Reign | c. April 606 – c. 647 CE |
| Predecessor | Rajyavardhana (as King of Thanesar) |
| Successor | Arunāsva (as King of Kannauj) |
| Born | 590 CE possibly Sthanvishvara, Thanesar Kingdom (present-day Thanesar, Haryana, India)[2][3] |
| Died | 647 CE (aged 56-57) possibly Kanyakubja, Kannauj Empire (present-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, India)[4] |
| Dynasty | Pushyabhuti |
| Father | Prabhakarvardhana |
| Mother | Yasomati |
| Religion | Shaivism Buddhism (according to Xuanzang) |
| Signature |  |
Harshavardhana (IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was the Emperor of Kannauj of the Pushyabhuti dynasty who ruled northern India from year 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Hun invaders,[6] and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana.
At the height of Harsha's power, his realm covered much of northern and northwestern India, with the Narmada River as its southern boundary. He eventually made Kanyakubja (present-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh state) his imperial capital, and reigned till 647 CE.[7] Harsha was defeated by the Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty in the Battle of Narmada, when he tried to expand his empire into the southern peninsula of India.[8]
The peace and prosperity that prevailed made his court a centre of cosmopolitanism, attracting scholars, artists and religious visitors from far and wide.[7] The Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the imperial court of Harsha and wrote a very favourable account of him (as Shiladitya), praising his justice and generosity.[7] His biography Harshacharita ("The Life of Harsha") written by the Sanskrit poet Banabhatta, describes his association with Sthanesvara, besides mentioning a defensive wall, a moat and the palace with a two-storied Dhavalagriha (white mansion).[9]
- ^ Research Coins: Electronic Auction Archived 2 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine cngcoins.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021
- ^ Bradnock, Robert; Bradnock, Roma (1999). India Handbook 2000. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary. p. 454. ISBN 978-0-8442-4841-7.
Thanesar near Kurukshetra , is the birthplace of the ruler Harsha Vardhana ( 590-647)...
- ^ Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (1998). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. p. 430. ISBN 978-1-57958-041-4.
Born: c. 590; probably Thanesar, India
- ^ Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (1998). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. p. 430. ISBN 978-1-57958-041-4.
- ^ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 146, map XIV.2 (d). ISBN 0226742210. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ India: History, Religion, Vision and Contribution to the World, by Alexander P. Varghese p.26
- ^ a b c International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania by Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda p.507
- ^ Ancient India by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar p.274
- ^ Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala (1969). The deeds of Harsha: being a cultural study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita. Prithivi Prakashan. p. 118.