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Harsha

Type Figure Region India Time c. 590–647 Also known as Harsa Vardhana

Harsha (r. c. 606–647) was the last ruler of the Vardhana dynasty of North India, unifying much of the Gangetic Plain with Kanauj as his capital and …

Timeline

  1. c. 590–606Shravasti (Srashtika) · Uttar PradeshOf the royal family of Shravasti; after his brother Rajyavardhana and sister Rajyashri successively ruled, he acceded in 606, taking the title 'Harsha'.
  2. 606–620Kanauj · Uttar PradeshWith Kanauj as his capital, he campaigned for years, annexing Malava, Gurjara, Kashmir and other regions, becoming the most powerful ruler of North India in the first half of the 7th century, and greatly patronizing Buddhist monasteries and Sanskrit drama.
  3. c. 620–647Kanauj · Uttar PradeshOn campaigning into the Deccan he was defeated by the Chalukya Pulakeshin II at the Narmada River, and North Indian hegemony stopped at the southern frontier; in his later years he continued to promote Buddhism, received the Tang monk Xuanzang, died c. 647, and the empire soon fragmented.

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