Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.472

c6.472

In the time of Hiuen Tsang Thaneswar was the capital of a Vaiśya (Bais) dynasty which ruled parts of the southern Punjab, Hindusthan and eastern Rajputana. In A.D. 648 a Chinese ambassador was sent to Harṣavardhana of Thāneswara. He found that the Senāpati Arjuna had usurped his kingdom and the dynasty then became extinct. Thaneswar continued to be a place of great sanctity but in 1014 A.D. it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, and although recovered by a Hindu rājā of Delhi in 1043 A.D., it remained desolate for centuries.