History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c7.19

v1.c7.19

This short account of the shifting of the centre of political gravity westward along the Gangetic valley from Pāṭaliputra to Kanauj and from Kanauj to Delhi will be found interesting. In the interval between 600 and 1200 A. D., Kanauj was the accepted capital of India as Arab historians of this time also testify; for when they speak of the capital of Hind they always refer to Kanauj. The halo of the empire of Harsha hovered long over the city and induced each successive aspirant to imperial power to establish his dynasty there during this period as had happened at Pāṭaliputra during the centuries preceding and as happened at Delhi during the centuries following. The city of Kanauj consequently acquired grandeur and accumulated riches commensurate with its dignity. It was at the height of its splendour in the time of Mahmud of Ghazni, who himself observed that it could justly boast to have no equal and that it was full of palaces and temples built of marble. Even when Hiuen Tsang visited it, it was already a great city. It was, says he, five miles long and one mile broad, was very strongly defended and had lofty structures everywhere. "There were beautiful gardens and tanks of clear water and in it were collected rarities from strange lands." Kanauj was so grand in the 8th century that the Chachanāma uses (Trans. p. 52) "You want Kanauj" as a proverb meaning you want the impossible.