The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c21.2

c21.2

The Kailâsa temple at Ellora, magnificently conceived and superbly wrought though it was, must always rank lower as an artistic achievement than the great temple of Elephanta. The eighth century in the north of India was artistically and politically the beginning of the Hindu decadence which continued its downward course until, after several centuries of ineffectual struggles against the Muhammadan invader, India at last, under the great Akbar, once more enjoyed the blessings of a lasting peace, and a renaissance began of which Hinduism, purified and strengthened by the ordeal of fire and sword, was again the moving spirit. Politically, the decadence began with the death of Harsha in A.D. 647, soon after the return of Hiuen Tsang to China, when one of his ministers, Arjuna or Arunâsra, seized the throne. Shortly afterwards, owing to his ill-treatment of an envoy sent by the Emperor of China, a Tibetan army invaded Magadha and the usurper's career was cut short by a disastrous campaign in which he was taken prisoner and sent off to China in the train of the imperial envoy he had insulted. Harsha's empire was then broken up.