History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c13.s2.t2.1

c13.s2.t2.1

After the successful termination of the proceedings of the Prayāga convocation Yuan Chwang begged leave to depart, and his request was granted on condition that he would stay yet another ten days as the state guest of the king of Kanauj. Harṣa suggested to the Chinese pilgrim that if he selected the southern sea-route,² i.e., by way of Java or Sumatra, he should be accompanied by official attendants, but Yuan Chwang preferred to return by the northern road. Both the sovereigns of Kanauj and Assam offered the Master of the Law every sort of valuable gift; he, however, declined to accept anything except a cape called *ho-la-li* of coarse skin designed as a protection from rain. Thus he took his departure, and Harṣa saw him off with a large retinue for a long distance. He also provided his honoured guest with a military escort of “a king of North India called Udhita” to carry the books and images on horseback, but the advance being slow king Śīlāditya afterwards “attached to the escort of Udhitarāja a great elephant, with three thousand gold pieces and ten thousand silver pieces”³ to meet the necessary expenses of the pilgrim’s arduous journey overland to China. This separation from his spiritual instructor troubled Harṣa, and three days later he, in company with Kumārarāja, Dhruvabhaṭa, and several hundred horsemen, overtook Yuan Chwang in order to spend a little more time with him before taking final leave. The great sovereign of Kanauj then commanded four *Ta-kwan* (official guides) called *Mo-ho-ta-lo* (Mahattaras), giving them letters on "fine white cotton stuff and sealed with red wax," which they were ordered to present "in all countries through which they conducted the Master, to the end that the princes of these countries might provide carriages or modes of conveyance to escort the Master even to the borders of China."¹ Thus the fame and influence of the Kanauj monarch had extended to far-off lands, and their rulers were ready to comply with his wishes.