History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.24

c11.24

Lastly, we may note the imperial titles given to Harṣa, which may indicate his widespread power and suzerainty. Bāṇa calls him: "king of kings, sovereign of all continents,"[⁵] and "Śrī-Harṣa, the king of kings, the lord of the four oceans, whose toe-nails are burnished by the crest gems of all other monarchs, the leader of all emperors."[1] Far from urging that these pompous expressions argue Harṣa's paramount status, we might say that these high-sounding titles were sometimes conventional among the courtly panegyrists, and were used in a very loose way.