History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s1: Section A
History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s1
- Language
- English
Contents
- c15.s1.t1 Effects of Harṣa’s death — 15 parts
- c15.s1.t2 Blank in History — 3 parts
Section A
c15.s1.1
KANAUJ AFTER HARṢA’S DEATH TO THE PRATĪHĀRA CONQUEST
Effects of Harṣa’s death
c15.s1.t1.1
After a momentous reign lasting for well-nigh half a century, Harṣa passed away in the year 647 or 648 A. D.¹ The withdrawal of his strong arm let loose all the pent-up forces of anarchy, and the result was that the mighty fabric of the empire reared by the genius of Harṣa soon collapsed like a house of cards. The outlying provinces fell off one by one, and Kanauj itself became the scene of a violent upheaval. Although all our indigenous sources of information are cut off at this period, it is fortunate that the Chinese writer Ma-twan-lin (13th century) affords us some ray of light on this tale of confusion.
c15.s1.t1.2
¹ According to the *Life* (p. 156) Śīlādityarāja died “towards the end of the Yung Hwei period” (i.e., about 654-55 A. D.). Watters, on the other hand, states that “the date 648, or rather 647, is perhaps the correct one.” It was in the early part of the year 648 A. D. that the Emperor of China sent an ambassador to Harṣa, who was, however, dead before his arrival (*J. A. S. B.*, VI (1837), pp. 69-70).
c15.s1.t1.3
We are told that in 648 A. D. the Emperor of China with whom, as already noted, Harṣa had cultivated diplomatic friendship, sent a superior officer named Wangheuen-tse as head of a new mission “in order that the principles of humanity and justice which had been diffused in that country should have a protector and representative there.”¹ But before he arrived, She-lo-ye-to or king Śīlāditya had died, and the country was in the throes of a revolution.² One of the ministers named Na-fo-ti-a-la-na-shun, or O-la-na-shun (i.e., Aruṇāśva or Arjuna) usurped the deceased monarch’s throne and sent soldiers to oppose the entry of Wang-heuen-tse, who, however, took with him some tens of cavalry and directed a counter attack against the forces of the usurper. The small armed escort of the mission was massacred in cold blood, and the tributes received on the way were seized, but Wang-heuen-tse in the dead of night was lucky enough to make his way to the western frontiers of Too-fan or Tibet. This triumph of the usurper stimulated his ambitions, and he further “used violence to make other kingdoms pay him tribute.”³ But the Chinese envoy resolved to avenge his humiliation, and called upon the neighbouring kingdoms to render him assistance. The king of Tibet, the famous Srong-btsan-Gampo, who was married to the Chinese princess Weng Chang, sent him a contingent of one thousand armed men, and Nepal supplied 7,000 cavalry. Having organised this small force, Wang-heuen-tse descended into the plains to give battle, and took the city of Too-po-ho-lo⁴ by assault in three days. Three thousand men were beheaded, and ten thousand more were drowned in the river identified by Smith with the Bagmati. O-lo-na-shun or Arjuna escaped into another kingdom, and rallying his dispersed hosts attempted a fresh encounter. But he again met with a disastrous rout, being taken prisoner along with a large body of men, who were promptly beheaded. In a subsequent action the Chinese general captured 12,000 men and women, besides animals of all kinds amounting to 20,000. He also subdued 580 towns, and his power grew so strong that even She-keaou-mo or Srikumāra, who had been a firm ally of Harṣa, sent a large number of oxen, horses, weapons, and provisions for the victorious army. Wang-heuen-tse brought Arjuna to China to present him to the Emperor as a vanquished foe and received ample recognition of his services by being promoted to the rank of Chao-san-ta-fu (a sort of aulic councillor).¹ The authority of the usurper was thus subverted, and with it the last vestiges of Harṣa's power also disappeared.
c15.s1.t1.4
¹ J. A. S. B., VI (1837), p. 69.
c15.s1.t1.5
² The Life (p. 155) also represents Yuan Chwang as being told in a dream by a golden figure : “You should return soon, for after ten years Śīlādityarāja will be dead, and India be laid waste and in rebellion, wicked men will slaughter one another; remember these words of mine.”
c15.s1.t1.6
³ Ind. Ant., IX, p. 20.
c15.s1.t1.7
⁴ Substituting Ca (cha) for Too (the first character), the name is regarded as equivalent to Camparan or Chapra (J. A. S. B., VI, p. 69, note). But Smith identifies it with Tirhut (*Early. Hist. of India.*, 4th ed., p. 367).
c15.s1.t1.8
¹ This account is mainly based on the translations of Ma-twan-lin (See *J. A. S. B.*, VI, pp. 69-70; *Early Hist. of India*, 4th ed., pp. 366-67; *J. R. A. S.*, 1869-70 (N. S. IV), pp. 85-86; *Ind. Ant.*, IX, p. 20; *Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australia*, 1836, pp. 220-21). C. V. Vaidya, however, disbelieves this story (*H. M. H. I.*, Vol. I, pp. 334-35; See also N. Ray, *Ind. Hist. Quart.*, Dec. 1927, p. 792). The figures cited above must be taken with some reserve as they savour of Chinese vanity.
c15.s1.t1.9
What followed next was only a general scramble to feast on the carcase of the empire. Bhāskaravarman of Kāmarūpa (Assam), after breaking off friendly relations with Kanauj, appears to have annexed Karṇasuvarṇa and the adjacent territories, which were formerly included within his great ally's dominions.¹ This is evident from the Nidhanpur plate issued from his camp there, and the learned editor of the inscription may even be right in asserting that it was in commemoration of his triumphant entry into the capital of Karṇasuvarṇa that the king of Assam made this grant of land to a Brahman of the locality.²
c15.s1.t1.10
¹ See *ante*.
c15.s1.t1.11
² *Ep. Ind.*, XII, p. 66.
c15.s1.t1.12
In Magadha Ādityasena, the son of Mādhavagupta who was a feudatory of Harṣa, gave a good account of himself by reviving to some extent the lost glory of the Guptas. According to the Shahpur inscription he was ruling in the year 66 of the Harṣa era i.e., 672; and in the Mandar inscription he is given the imperial titles of Mahārājādhirāja and Paramabhaṭṭāraka.³ In one inscription he is described as "the ruler of the (whole) earth upto the shores of the oceans; the performer of the Aśvamedha and other great sacrifices."⁴ Another Nepalese record calls him "Great Ādityasena, the illustrious lord of Magadha."⁵ It is thus indubitably clear from these facts that soon after the sceptre dropped from the hand of Harṣa, Ādityasena raised himself to a paramount position and brought under his domination lands formerly subject to Kanauj. In the west and north-west those powers that had lived in dread of Harṣa asserted themselves with greater vigour. Among them were the Gurjaras of Rajputana and the Punjab and the Karkoṭakas of Kashmir, who during the course of the next century became a formidable factor in the politics of Northern India.
c15.s1.t1.13
³ C. I. I., III, p. 212.
c15.s1.t1.14
⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 213, note.
c15.s1.t1.15
⁵ *Ind. Ant.*, IX, p. 181.
Blank in History
c15.s1.t2.1
The period from the fall of the usurper to the rise of Yaśovarman, nearly three-quarters of a century later, is one of the darkest in the whole range of the history of Kanauj, and every event of that time is hidden from view by a thick veil of oblivion. Cunningham partially tried to unravel this mystery. He thought that Ranmul was ruling over Kanauj in A. D. 700, and invaded the distant Sindh.¹ Cunningham also asserted on the testimony of Abul-Fazl that Harcand, the contemporary of Mohammed-ibn-Kasim, ascended the throne of Kanauj in 715 A. D., which, if true, would make him almost the immediate predecessor of Yaśovarman.² But the distinguished archæologist's opinion is not substantiated by any other evidence, and so it is difficult to put any reliance on it. Besides, we do not know to what dynasty they belonged, and how they came to power. We must, therefore, refrain from vague speculations, and travel down the stream of time till we come to an anchorage of historical fact.
c15.s1.t2.2
¹ J. A. S. B., X, Part I, p. 188.
c15.s1.t2.3
² Āyīn-i-Akbarī, II, p. 219; Elliot, Cach-Nāma, I, p. 208.