History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t5: Criticism of this campaign
History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t5
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Criticism of this campaign
c15.s2.t5.1
Commenting on the story of Yaśovarman’s expedition Smith says : "I see no reason to doubt the substantial truth of this contemporary testimony. There is nothing incredible in the assertion that a powerful king, occupying at Kanauj a good central position, should have carried his arms eastwards across Bengal, southwards to the Narmada, and northwards to the foot of the mountains.”¹ It is true that in ancient India such hostile operations with or without provocation were quite common, and each aspiring Kṣatriya king considered it his highest duty to wage successful wars and perform the Aśvamedha sacrifice as a mark of power and widespread suzerainty. But with all deference to the opinion of the late historian, I venture to say that the nature of Vākpati’s poem itself does not allow us to give it any substantial measure of credence. Its non-completion shows that the poet conceived the *digvijaya* as a probable event and not an actual fact, while it may not even be unreasonable to suppose that he took the conquests of the mythical Raghu as a model for singing the alleged achievements of his hero. Moreover, no vanquished king is mentioned by name, and this introduces no small element of doubt into the whole story; which is obnoxiously full of vile flattery and vain exaggerations. Probably the central theme of the poem—the killing of the king of the Gauḍas and Magadha—was an historical reality, for, as we have seen above, this region had been controlled by Kanauj during the time of Harṣa and the Maukharis also. Yaśovarman, who appears to have been an ambitious monarch, perhaps attempted to regain control of the lower course of the Ganges, and it may be that the complete success of his campaign induced his panegyrist to invest him with the halo of a “world-conqueror.”
c15.s2.t5.2
¹ J. R. A. S., 1908, p. 779.