History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c14.2

c14.2

Harṣa’s claim to the remembrance of history rests not merely on the fact that he considerably enlarged the boundaries of the Kanauj kingdom, but still more on the enlightened character of his government and his liberal patronage of learning. According to Yuan Chwang, Harṣa used to earmark a fourth of the revenue from the crown lands for rewarding high intellectual eminence, and another fourth for gifts to various sects.¹ This official honour and attention paid to men of genius or literary distinction doubtless stimulated and encouraged them to devote “themselves to a thorough acquisition of knowledge,” as the pilgrim himself testifies elsewhere.² The *Life* further records Harṣa’s generous assignment of “the revenue of eighty large towns of Orissa” to a noted Buddhist scholar named Jayasena, who had become the admiration of the age on account of his piety and encyclopaedic learning. But inspired as the latter was by a lofty spirit of sacrifice and self-abnegation, he declined even this tempting offer.³