History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c2.2

c2.2

*Magna parens frugum, magna virum*, the realm of Kānyakubja is a land of old and high renown, and from the spacious days of the great Harṣavardhana onwards for many centuries it held a dominant position in Northern India. Nature favoured it, and indeed made its success almost inevitable as soon as strong and wise rulers ascended its throne. Lying in the centre of the Gangetic Valley, it held vital control over the trade-routes on all sides, and especially those reaching eastward into Bengal and westward into the Panjab; and to this fact, no less than to the personal feuds and ambitions of their kings, may be ascribed the fierce antagonism which prevailed between Kanauj and Bengal from the time of Śaśāṅka until almost to the end of Hindu rule in Northern India. Thus in its splendours and tragedies alike the history of Kanauj is intensely Indian and profoundly fascinating; and the tale is well told in the pages which follow.