The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c17.63

c17.63

The titles of the suzerain were the same in the seventh century as in the Gupta age. In the inscriptions, Harṣavardhana is, like his brother and father, called Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja.² Bāṇa calls the Vardhana suzerain Parameśvara, Cakravartin, lord of the fields bounded by the five oceans, sovereign of all continents.³ In the inscriptions Harṣavardhana’s mother Yaśomatī is called Mahādevī. According to Yuan Chwang, Harṣavardhana was warned by Avalokiteśvara not to assume the title Mahārāja. Thereupon, he “became king of Kanauj with the title Rājaputra and the style Śīlāditya.”⁴ The former assertion is contradicted by the inscriptions but it is probable that Harṣa was during his lifetime known by the titles Rājaputra and Śīlāditya. A passage in Harṣacarita indicates that besides the umbrella, there were three other royal emblems—the Siṃhāsana or Lion-throne, a peculiar Śayana or couch and Āsandī or chair.⁵