The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c7.s1.58

c7.s1.58

The best-known composition of this class is that entitled 'The Deeds of Harsha' (*Harsha-Charita*), written by Bāna, about a.d. 620, in praise of his master and patron, King Harsha of Thānēsar and Kanauj, which is of high value, both as a depository of ancient tradition, and a record of contemporary history, in spite of obvious faults.² A similar work called 'The Deeds of Vikramānka', by Bilhana, a poet of the twelfth century, is devoted to the eulogy of a powerful king who ruled a large territory in the south and west between a.d. 1076 and 1126.³ A valuable poem entitled *Rāmacharita*, dealing with the Pāla kings of Bengal, discovered in 1897, was published in 1910;⁴ and several compositions, mostly by Jain authors, besides that of Bilhana, treat of the history of the Chalukya dynasties of the west.⁵ The earliest of the Tamil poems alluded to is believed to date from the first or second century of the Christian era. These compositions, which include epics and panegyrics on famous kings of the south, appear to contain a good deal of historical matter.⁶