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History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c10: Part II. Chapter III. Harṣa

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c10

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Contents

Part II. Chapter III. Harṣa

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*Beginning of the 7th century A. D.*

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When we enter upon the seventh century A. D., we are no longer embarrassed by the paucity of materials, and the history of our kingdom also claims to make a special appeal to the interest of the historian of Ancient India. The period begins with the appearance of a remarkable figure on the political stage, and although Harṣa¹ had neither the lofty idealism and missionary zeal of Aśoka nor the commanding personality and constructive statesmanship of Akbar, yet he has succeeded in arresting the attention of the historian like both those great rulers.

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¹ The form Harṣa occurs, for instance, in the Aihole inscription (*Ep. Ind.*, VI, p. 6, verse 23), the Madhuban (*Ibid.*, I, p. 72, line 8) and the Banskhera copper plates (*Ibid.*, IV, p. 211, line 7; see also the autograph in line 18). He is called Harṣadeva in the Aphsad inscription (*C. I. I.*, III, No. 42, p. 204, line 15) and in the *Harṣacarita* (see p. 112, Calcutta edition). The Sonpat copper seal, however, gives the full name Harṣavardhana (*C. I. I.*, III, No. 52, p. 232).

Ample sources

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Without under-rating or exaggerating Harṣa's importance we may at the outset say that this has partly been due to the abundance of information, which we get for his life and reign.¹ “When all the sources are utilised,” as observed by Dr. Vincent Smith, “our knowledge of the events of the reign of Harṣa far surpasses in precision that which we possess respecting any other early king, except Candragupta Maurya and Aśoka.”²

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¹ We use the expression considering how vague and deficient our sources for Ancient Indian History are.

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² *Early Hist. of India.*, 4th ed., p. 348.

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Besides the usual epigraphic documents,³ we have the “Si-yu-ki,” the well-known narrative of the celebrated Chinese pilgrim, Yuan Chwang, who travelled in India from A. D. 629 to 644. He has left a copious wealth of details in his Records, and the fact that they preserve the impressions of an eye witness adds considerably to the value and merits of their testimony. The “Life of Yuan Chwang,” written by his friend Hwui-li, also throws welcome light as a supplement to the pilgrim’s account. Lastly, Harṣa’s early life and career are the subject-matter of the historical romance entitled “Harṣacarita”, composed by Bāṇa, who wielded his forceful pen to immortalise the deeds of his patron and hero.

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³ We are fortunate in possessing several records of Harṣa :
(a) Banskhera copper plate of the year 22 or 628 A. D. (*Ep. Ind.*, IV, pp. 208-11).
(b) Madhuban copper plate of the year 25 or 631 A. D. (*Ibid.*, I, pp. 67-75).
(c) Sonpat copper seal (*C. I. I.*, III, No. 52, pp. 231-32).
(d) The Nalanda seals (*Ep. Ind.*, XXI, April 1931, pp. 74-76). Some interesting information is also furnished by the southern inscriptions, especially of his rival Pulakeśi II Cālukya.

Difficulties unsolved

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But in spite of the existence of these contemporary works, which supplement and corroborate each other on many topics of general interest, the results of up-to-date researches on Harṣa are far from decisive. The first problem that confronts us is: What was the real political position of Harṣa at the start of his career, and how did he (if Yuan Chwang is to be believed) come to occupy the throne of Kanauj, although we know from Bāṇa’s Harṣacarita that he was a prince of Thanesvar only? Now, in order to arrive at a satisfactory solution of the puzzle let us take full note of the course of events in both Thanesvar and Kanauj, as at this period owing to matrimonial connections and the danger of common enemies the affairs of the two kingdoms had become inextricably intertwined.

Circumstances leading Harṣa to the throne of Kanauj and his position before and after the event

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After the death of Prabhākaravardhana, the king of Thanesvar, the task of governance fell upon the eldest son, Rājyavardhana, who, after having defeated the Hūṇas of the North-West, had returned to the capital with “limbs emaciated” and “long white bandages, bound about arrow-wounds received in battle.”¹ The young prince, however, was so much overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his father that instead of accepting sovereignty and regal glory, he determined to retire from worldly concerns, and seek solace in the sylvan retreats of a hermitage; and he asked his younger brother, Harṣa, to assume the reins of Government.

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¹ Harṣacarita (English Translation by Cowell and Thomas, 1897), p. 165.

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Just at this juncture, when strange feelings of renunciation and aversion from worldly power were passing through the minds of both the brothers, and the tears of their bereavement had hardly had time to dry, they were struck by another bolt from the blue. For suddenly a courier named Saṃvādaka arrived with the tragic news that the king of Malwa had killed their brother-in-law, Grahavarman, and their sister, Rājyaśrī, had been thrown into a dungeon in Kānyakubja.¹ He added: "There is moreover a report that the villain, deeming the army leaderless, purposes to invade and seize this country as well. Such are my tidings: the matter is now in the king's hands."² Hearing of this calamity that had overtaken the house of Kanauj, and the Malwa king's reported designs against Thanesvar, a "deadly frown broke forth" on the "broad brow" of Rājyavardhana, who addressed his younger brother thus: "This task is my royal house, this my kin, my court, my land...this day I go to lay the royal house of Malwa low in ruin. The repression of this beyond-measure unmannerly foe—this, and no other is my assumption of the bark-dress, my austerities, my stratagem for dispelling sorrow."³

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¹ *Ibid.*, p. 173.

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² *Ibid.*

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³ *Ibid.*, pp. 174-75.

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He gave instructions to Harṣa to remain behind with all the "kings and elephants," probably with a view to guarding the rear against any fresh Hūṇa upheaval, and asked only Bhaṇḍi⁴ to follow him "with some ten thousand horse.”¹ But Destiny had decreed trouble for the ill-starred brothers at every step, and now it was young Harṣa’s turn to take a plunge into the stirred waters of the political storm. After sometime Harṣa learned from one of the favourite cavalry officers that Rājyavardhana, “though he had routed the Malwa army with ridiculous ease, had been allured to confidence by false civilities on the part of the king of Gauḍa, and then, weaponless, confiding and alone, despatched in his own quarters.”² Who the miscreant allies of Gauḍa and Malwa were, we have no means of ascertaining from the Harṣacarita, but we can identify them with the help of other authorities. The Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions affirm that “the kings Devagupta and others, who resembled wicked horses, were all subdued with averted faces”³ by Rājyavardhana. If we remember that young Rājyavardhana could get opportunities to fight against two enemies only, viz., the Hūṇas of the North-West (against whom he was despatched by his father), and the king of Malwa⁴ who had taken Grahavarman of Kanauj by

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⁴ Bhaṇḍi was the son of Queen Yaśovatī's brother, who is identified by Dr. Hoernle—without much justification (see C. V. Vaidya, *H. M. H. I.*, Vol. I, p. 38)—with the Emperor Śīlāditya of Malwa (*J. R. A. S.*, 1903, pp. 559-60; see also *Harṣa*, p. 12, note 1). He was sent to the Thanesvar court at the age of eight to serve the princes (*Hc.* C. T., p. 116). Dr. R. K. Mookerji remarks that "the name Bhaṇḍi itself is a Hūṇic rather than a Sanskrit name" (*Harṣa*, p. 61). It is difficult to follow on what grounds the learned Professor makes this assertion. Dr. Hoernle made a similar suggestion (*J. R. A. S.*, 1903, p. 560) arguing that Bhaṇḍi meaning "buffoon was a strange name for a prince." But

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¹ Hc. C. T., p. 175.

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² Hc. C. T., p. 178. Cf. “Tasmāt ca helānirjita Mālavānikam-api Gauḍādhipena mithyopacāropacitaviśvāsaṃ mukta-śastram ekākinam viśrabdhaṃ svabhavana eva bhrātaraṃ vyāpāditam aśrauṣīt” (Hc., Cal. ed., p. 436).

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³ Ep. Ind., I, pp. 72, 74; Ibid., IV, p. 210. Cf. “Rājāno Yudhi duṣṭavājina iva Śrī-Devaguptādayaḥ, Kritvā yena Kaśāprahāra-vimukhāḥ sarve samaṃ samyatāḥ.”

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⁴ Bühler thought that this Malwa was “in the Panjab much nearer to Thanesvar” (Ep. Ind., 1, p. 70). But Dr. Hoernle rightly pointed out that this was “obviously an error” (see J. R. A. S., 1903, p. 561, note). We have adopted the view in the

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such cynical names were not uncommon in ancient India. To give some instances we have: king Gardabhilla (J. B. B. R. A. S., IX, p. 148); or Śūdraka, authenticated from inscriptions (Ind. Ant., XVI, p. 64; Proc. A. S. B., 1879, pp. 220, 221).

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surprise with the tragic consequences described above, we feel no hesitation in identifying the latter with the Devagupta of the Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions.¹ Fanciful as the guess may be, it would seem that Bāṇa did not like to mention this suggestive and auspicious name of Rājya’s adversary—Devagupta literally means “protected by the gods”—owing to his foul deed. For the same reason probably he places the following statement in the mouth of Harṣa with regard to the king of Gauḍa: “My tongue seems soiled with a smirch of sin as I take the miscreant’s very name upon my lips.”² According to the testimony of Yuan Chwang, the king of Gauḍa was Śaśāṅka (She-shang-kia)³ the wicked king of Karṇasuvarṇa in East India⁴ who per-

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¹ See also Bühler, *Ep. Ind.*, I, p. 70; C. V. Vaidya, *H. M. H. I.*, Vol. I, p. 35. Devagupta appears to have been a scion of the later Gupta family, but we do not know with certitude what relationship he bore to Mahāsenagupta (*see supra*). According to Dr. Hoernle it was the Emperor Śīlāditya of Western Malwa, son of Yaśodharman, who was defeated by Rājya (*J. R. A. S.*, 1903, p. 559), and Dr. R. K. Mookerji subscribes to the same view (*Harṣa*, pp. 16, 62). It seems, however, inexplicable how, if Śīlāditya was the principal opponent, his name is omitted in the Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions and left to be implied by the vague term “others.”

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² *Hc. C. T.*, p. 179.

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³ Watters, I, p. 343; Beal, I, p. 210. See also the Commentator on the *Harṣacarita* (Bombay edition, 1892, p. 195). The learned translators of the *Harṣacarita* find an allusion to him in the word Śaśāṅkamaṇḍala (*Hc. C. T.*, Preface, p. x). According to one *MS.* of the *Harṣacarita* he is called Narendragupta (*Ep Ind.*, I, p. 70).

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⁴ The capital of Karṇasuvarṇa has been identified by Beveridge with Rangamati, near Berhampur, in Bengal (*J. A. S. B.*, LXII, p. 315). See also N. L. Dey’s *Geographical Dictionary* (1927), p.

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previous chapter that this Malwa denoted Eastern Malwa as distinguished from Western Malwa, which was Malwa proper.

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secuted the Buddhists¹ and uprooted the sacred Bodhi Tree.² Probably it is with regard to the Gauḍa king’s treachery that the Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions say that he (Rājya) “in consequence of his adherence to his promise (satyānurodhena) gave up his life in the mansion of his foe.”³ And this inveigling of the rescuer of Kanauj into the death-trap is further explained by the commentator on the Harṣacarita, who informs us that “Śaśāṅka threw Rājya off his guard by his offer to marry his daughter to him as a token of submission and friendship.”⁴ Whatever the means that were employed to perpetrate the foul deed, it is certain that after Rājya’s death the outlook for both the allied houses of the Vardhanas and the Maukharis became gloomy in the extreme. Thanesvar was deprived of its young ruler; and Kanauj, having lost its sovereign as well as the timely support of the former kingdom, passed under the occupation of the king of Gauḍa, who, in order to divert the attention of Bhaṇḍi or his adversary’s army, released Rājyaśrī, the widowed queen of Kanauj, from detention in that city.

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¹ Watters, I, p. 343.

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² *Life*, p. 171. Śaśāṅka’s animosity against Buddhism is explained by his Śaivite tendencies (see Allan, *Gupta Coins*, p. 147).

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³ *Ep. Ind.*, I, pp. 72, 74; *Ibid.*, IV, p. 210. Cf. Prāṇānujjitavānārāti bhavane satyānurodhena yaḥ.”

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⁴ Compare the original : Tathā hi tena Śaśāṅkena viśwāsārtham kanyāpradānam uktvā pralobhito Rājyavardhanaḥ svagehe sānucaro bhuñjān eva chadmanā vyāpāditah.

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Bāṇa says that instantly on hearing the tragic news of his brother’s assassination, Harṣa’s “aspect became terrific in the extreme,” and “his wrathful curling lip seemed to drink the lives of all kings”⁵ as he cursed

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⁵ *Hc.* C. T., p. 178.

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94; the Vappaghoṣavaṭa grant of Jayanāga, edited by Dr. Barnett, *Ep. Ind.*, XVIII (April, 1925), p. 62.

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the "vilest of Gauḍas" with his fiery spirit. Thereupon the general Simhanāda exhorted Harṣa to punish the miscreant, and assume the burden of sovereignty, in these words: "Now that the king has assumed his godhead and Rājyavardhana has lost his life by the sting of the vile Gauḍa serpent, you are, in the cataclysm which has come to pass, the only śeṣa left to support the earth. Comfort your unprotected people. Like the autumn sun, set your forehead-burning footsteps upon the heads of kings."¹ Harṣa forthwith replied to the advice of the general: "My heart would force chowries upon even the sun's presumptuously bright hands. Enraged at the title of king, my foot itches to make footstools of even the kings of beasts."² And he registered his determination to wreak vengeance with the following vow: "By the dust of my honoured lord's feet I swear that, unless in a limited number of days I clear the earth of Gauḍas, and make it resound with fetters on the feet of all kings who are excited to insolence by the elasticity of their bows, then will I hurl my sinful self, like a moth, into an oil-fed flame."³

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¹ *Ibid.*, pp. 185-86. ² *Ibid.*, p.

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Thus, according to Bāṇa, Harṣa immediately after the murder of his elder brother ascended the paternal throne of Thanesvar, and began to devise measures to retrieve the disaster that had overtaken the Vardhanas and the Maukhari house of Kanauj. There is absolutely no trace in the Harṣacarita of his displaying any hesitation in assuming the crown. Here we must pause to consider a passage occurring in the Harṣacarita on the strength of which scholars try to detect some scruples or reluctance on the part of Harṣa.⁴ It runs thus:

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¹⁸⁷ Cf. "Rājaśabdaruṣā mṛgarājānāmapi śirāṃsi vāñchati pādaḥ pādapīṭhikartum" (*Hc.* Cal. ed., p. 460). ³ *Ibid.* ⁴ *Ibid.*, preface p. x; Dr. R. K. Mookerji, *Harṣa*, p. 20.

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“He was embraced by the goddess of the Royal prosperity, who took him in her arms and, seizing him by all the royal marks on all his limbs, forced him, *however, reluctant*, to mount the throne,—and this though he had taken a *vow of austerity* and did not swerve from his vow, hard like grasping the edge of a sword.”¹ To me, however, it appears only, a poetic way of describing that the wheel of Destiny was revolving in favour of Harṣa, and although he had not the prior claim to succeed his father—on account of his being younger—circumstances so conspired that he suddenly found himself elevated to the throne. Sanskrit literature is replete with such “poetic mannerisms,” and we may in this connection also recall an almost parallel expression used in the Juna-gaḍh Rock inscription for Skandagupta : “Lakṣmīḥ svayaṁ yaṁ varayāṁ cakāra,” meaning “whom the goddess of Fortune, of her own accord, selected as her husband.”²

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¹ *Hc.* C. T., p. 57. Cf. “Anicchantam balāt āropayitumiva siṁhāsanaṁ sarvāvayaveṣu sarva-lakṣaṇaiḥ gṛhītaṁ gṛhīta brahmacaryaṁ āliṅgitaṁ Rājalakṣmyā pratipannāsidhārā dhāraṇavrataṁ” (Hc., Cal. ed., p. 159).

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² C. I. I., Vol. III, No. 14, line 5, pp. 59, 62.

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As regards Harṣa’s previous reluctance and vow of austerity, the *Harṣacarita* may refer to one of these circumstances:

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(a) Probably it alludes to his reluctance to avail himself of his father’s preference for him, which Prabhākaravardhana seems to have indicated on his death-bed in these words: “Succeed to this world; appropriate my treasury; make prize of the feudatory kings; support the burden of royalty; protect the people; guard well your dependants.”³ There was nothing incongruous in passing over the claims of the elder son, Rājyavardhana, for such selections appear to have been common in the Gupta times as well. Samudragupta was chosen to succeed his father to the distress of "others of equal birth," and with the consent of the state council (sabhyeṣūchvasiteṣu). Similarly Samudragupta also chose his successor (tatparigṛhītena). But Harṣa was too noble-minded to take advantage of his brother's absence, and instead of striking while the iron was hot, he is represented to have thought thus: "Let sovereign glory flee to a hermitage;"¹ and "let valour mortify herself in forest seclusion, let heroism put on rags."²

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³ *Hc.* C. T., p. 156.

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¹ *Ibid.*, p. 158.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 159.

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(b) Secondly, the passage may refer to Harṣa's previous vow not to accept the crown when Rājya, overwhelmed by grief, wanted to abdicate in his favour and retire to the forest. Harṣa had also resolved to follow in his brother's train, if he persisted in renouncing the throne, thinking within himself: "And the sin involved in transgressing my elder's commands austerity in fine shall dispel in a hermitage."³ But his subsequent accession to the throne without any hesitation meant no swerving from his original vow of renunciation, taken under certain conditions, as after his brother's death Harṣa was the only *Seṣa* left to come to the succour of both the Thanesvar and Kanauj kingdoms.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 173.

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And, besides, there was no other reason why Harṣa should refuse to assume the royal duties. Watters' statement that Harṣa "in the early part of his life had joined the Buddhist church and perhaps taken the vows of a Bhikṣu, or at least a lay member of the communion,"⁴ merits no credence. Harṣa began as a Śaivite and continued to be so till late in his life, as the Banskhera inscription of the year 22, and Madhuban plate dated year 25, which call him a “Paramamāheśvara,” definitely show.¹ Moreover, it was probably due to his original Śaiva tendencies that he complimented the king of Assam through the latter’s envoy, saying, “to whom save Śiva need he pay homage? This resolve of his increases my affection.”² Vincent Smith thinks that “the nobles seem to have hesitated before offering the crown to his (Rājyavardhana’s) youthful brother.”³ K. M. Panikkar also conjectures that the inheritance was not “a comfortable one,” as the feudatories had shown themselves “refractory and rebellious;” or perhaps Rājya had “left an heir,”⁴ in which case Harṣa scrupled to disinherit him. But I humbly submit that such assumptions are quite unwarranted. C. V. Vaidya is doubtful if Rājya was married,⁵ and even supposing it was a fact, there is nothing to prove that he left a son. Besides, from Bāṇa’s description we know it for certain that the feudatories were loyal to Harṣa. When Kuntala delivers the tidings of Rājya’s murder in the audience-hall, the feudatories are represented as being in attendance on Harṣa. We are further told that “at the hour of marching the front of the king’s residence became full of chieftains from every side.”⁶ Thus, if they had been turbulent from the beginning, they would have given greater trouble to young Harṣa after his brother’s murder. But instead of revolting or creating disturbance they gave their unstinted help and loyal support to their royal master, who was now confronted with the difficult task of bringing the culprit to book.

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⁴ Watters, I, p. 346.

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¹ See Infra.

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² Hc. C. T., p. 219.

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³ Early Hist. of India, 4th ed., p. 350.

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⁴ Śrī Harṣa of Kanauj, (Bombay, 1922), p. 15.

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⁵ H. M. H. I., I, p. 7.

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⁶ Hc. C. T., p. 202.

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Having fully discussed Harṣa’s political status in Thanesvar after his brother's death, let us now resume the thread of the narrative. With the resources of Thanesvar at his command Harṣa's immediate and pressing duties were to recover his sister, the widowed queen of Kanauj, from distress; relieve Kanauj from foreign occupation; and punish the treacherous murderer of his brother. Without losing any time he advanced with a huge army to realise these objectives, and on the way was met by Haṃsavega, who had come with precious presents as "confidential messenger" of the king of Prāgjyotiśa (Assam) to seek an "undying alliance."¹ Harṣa readily accepted, being in dire need of staunch allies to help him in his "first expedition" undertaken, when he was yet young and inexperienced in the methods of war. Then permitting Haṃsavega to depart with return gifts Harṣa advanced against the enemy. Soon he came across Bhaṇḍi, who was in charge of the "Malwa king's whole force, conquered by the might of Rājyavardhana's arm,"² and learned from him that Rājyaśrī had been released—or as the poet puts it, "she had burst from her confinement, and with her train entered the Vindhya forest,"³ where in spite of numerous searchers her whereabouts remained unknown. This news being extremely alarming, Harṣa, in fondness for his distressed sister, bade his army halt by the Ganges, and for the present postponed his march against the Gauḍa king, who was in occupation of Kanauj. Thenceforth, in conjunction with Mādhavagupta and a few tributary kings, Harṣa undertook in all haste the urgent task of finding his sister. He plunged into the depths of the Vindhya forest, and chanced to meet the Buddhist sage Divākaramitra, the “boy-friend of the deceased Grahavarman.”¹ Through his good offices Harṣa succeeded in tracing Rājyaśrī, who, despairing of help and prostrate with grief, was just at the point of putting an end to her life by “mounting the funeral pile, surrounded by a troop of women.”² After rescuing his sister, Harṣa desired to take leave of Divākaramitra, but Rājyaśrī was so overwhelmed by the heavy burden of successive misfortunes, and so impressed by the tranquil atmosphere of the hermitage, that she expressed a wish to assume the “red garments.” The sage would not, however, approve of the idea and Harṣa added: “My sister, so young and so tried by adversity, must be cherished by me for a while, even if it involves the neglect of all my duties;”³ and “at the end when I have accomplished my design, she and I will assume the red garments together”⁴.

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¹ Ibid., p. 211f. This was perhaps due to the fact that Bhāskaravarman was afraid of the growing strength of the adjacent kingdom of Śaśāṅka.

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² Ibid., p. 223.

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³ Ibid., p. 224. It is difficult to make out which part of the Vindhyas is exactly meant here. Does the *Hc.* refer to its eastern spurs?

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¹ *Ibid.*, p. 233.

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² *Ibid.*, pp. 240-41. It would thus appear that the custom of *Satī* or voluntary self-immolation of widows was then known. Bāṇa also describes Queen Yaśovatī as becoming a *Satī*, despite Harṣa’s dissuasion against her resolve to “die while still unwidowed” (*Ibid.*, pp. 149-155).

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 257.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 258.

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Harṣa then “went back in a few marches to his camp stationed along the bank of the Ganges,” and at this point the *Harṣacarita* comes abruptly to an end. But in the meantime it appears that on the approach of Harṣa’s army Śaśāṅka thought discretion was the better part of valour, and instead of facing an open conflict he withdrew from Kanauj, as after the conclusion of a treaty between Harṣa and Bhāskaravarman he was exposed to serious danger both from the front and the rear.¹ Bhaṇḍi had already cut off the support of the Malwa army after the defeat and death of its leader, and in the face of the new odds arrayed against Śaśāṅka strategy certainly demanded that he should beat a masterly retreat.

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¹ See *Infra*. According to the Ganjam Plate (*Ep. Ind.*, VI, p. 141) Śaśāṅka was flourishing as late as the year 619 A. D. Besides, such an assumption would be quite in keeping with the Gauḍa monarch's cowardly stratagems as shown in his successful schemes against Rājyavardhana.

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Thus Kanauj was left in a hopeless state of confusion deprived as it was of its young Maukhari ruler. The kingdom, however, needed at this time the protection of a strong and guiding hand to inaugurate an era of growth and prosperity, and to ensure immunity from future attack or aggression from any hostile quarter. Grahavarman had left no heir as the following statement by Patralatā on behalf of Rājyaśrī shows: “A husband or a son is a woman's true support; but to those who are deprived of both, it is immodesty even to continue to live.”² Besides, the Harṣacarita also hints at the “disappearance of all her other relatives,”³ which expression probably means that the younger brothers of Grahavarman, for he was Avantivarman's eldest son (Sūnuragrajaḥ), had either been killed, or had fled away during the Gupta-Gauḍa disturbance. Should the crown, therefore, devolve upon the widowed queen Rājyaśrī, or was she to be doomed to obscurity, and her claims altogether ignored? But perhaps Rājyaśrī herself was unwilling to undertake the responsibilities and onerous duties of rulership. She was a young and inexperienced woman, and she was under the shadow of a great bereavement and affliction. Besides, she was by nature inclined to the quietist teachings of Buddhism; hence there was little chance of her governing with vigour and success at this crisis.

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² *Hc.* C. T., p. 254.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 244. Cf. “Bramśena ca śeṣasya bāndhavavargasya” (*Hc.*, Cal. ed., p. 651).

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In the absence of any other Maukhari claimant, should Harṣa then be asked to assume the burden and cares of the state on behalf of Rājyaśrī? Both he and his elder brother had rendered signal service to Kanauj during the political whirlpool that had threatened to engulf the kingdom. He had rescued its queen and between the brother and the sister the greatest fondness and attachment prevailed. Harṣa had further declared his intention of cherishing her "for a while," even though it meant the neglect of royal duties, which expression probably implies that he was prepared to stay in Kanauj for some time in order to settle its affairs, before he could undertake the fulfilment of his vow to punish those who had become inimical by the "elasticity of their bows." Accordingly the statesmen offered the crown to Harṣa, and Poni¹, whose power and reputation were high and of much weight, addressed the assembled ministers thus: "The destiny of the nation is to be fixed today...... I propose that he assume the royal authority; let each one give his opinion on the matter, whatever he thinks."² The Chief Ministers and Magistrates signified their full consent, exhorting Harṣa in these words: "Reign, then, with glory over the land, conquer the enemies of your country; wash out the insult laid on your kingdom"³.

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¹ The name Poni or Bāni is usually identified with Bhaṇḍi (Hoernle, J. R. A. S., 1903, p. 560; Dr. R. K. Mookerji, Harṣa, p. 17, note 1), although beyond the similarity in sound there is hardly any justification for it, as we have already shown that the latter was a leading figure in the Thanesvar court, and not in Kanauj.

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² Beal, I, p. 211; Watters, I, p. 343.

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³ Ibid.

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But tempting though the offer was, Harṣa hesitated to accept it, for it not only implied taking upon himself an additional burden and responsibility, but also permanent residence in Kanauj to the neglect of the affairs of his paternal kingdom. Besides, it may be possible that he was not quite sure of the support that he would receive from the people of Kanauj, if he acceded to the requests of their statesmen. Harṣa, therefore, decided to refer the matter to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, who had “evidenced many spiritual wonders,” in order probably to see if the omens were favourable to him.¹ The Bodhisattva promised him secret power, so that none of his neighbours should be able to triumph over him; but he further gave the warning “Ascend not the Lion-throne, and call not yourself Mahārāja.”² After getting these instructions Harṣa assumed the royal office with the title “Śilāditya,” and calling himself a mere king’s son or “Kumāra.”³ Now, this unostentatious title of Kumāra definitely suggests that although, according to Bāṇa, Harṣa was already king of Thanesvar, in Kanauj he was merely charged with the duty of keeping the machinery of the government running, and his political status there was originally no better than that of a guardian or, as Mr. N. Ray says, “Regent.”⁴ Indeed this fact is even corroborated by a Chinese work, entitled *Fang-chib*, which testifies that Harṣa “administered the kingdom in conjunction with his widowed sister.”⁵ But it would appear that with the lapse of time, when Harṣa had thoroughly made his position secure, and laid opposition, if any, to rest, he formally transferred his capital from Thanesvar to Kanauj, and declared himself sovereign ruler of the latter kingdom also by assuming the Imperial titles, which appear in his inscriptions. Thus beginning with a modest guardianship or regency, Harṣa’s imposition of his authority over Kanauj was a sort of quiet usurpation in which the people acquiesced owing to the chaotic conditions rampant in the kingdom after Grahavarman’s assassination. This dexterous stepping into the shoes of the Maukharis placed the entire resources of Kanauj at the disposal of Harṣa. Moreover, being already king of Thanesvar by succession, the amalgamation of the two powerful northern kingdoms resulted, which helped Harṣa greatly in extending the sphere of his influence and jurisdiction over the numerous warring states that continually disturbed the political equilibrium of the north.

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¹ C. V. Vaidya was the first to suggest that this hesitation of Harṣa, referred to by Yuan Chwang, should not be confused with the passage of the *Harṣacarita* discussed above at length (*H. M. H. I.*, Vol. I, pp. 7-9).

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² Beal, I, p. 213.

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³ Beal, I, p. 213; Watters, I, p. 343.

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⁴ *Ind. Hist. Quart.*, Dec. 1927, p. 773.

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⁵ Watters, I, p. 345; *Early Hist. of India.*, 4th ed., p. 351.

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