Harsha (born c. 590 ce—died c. 647) was the ruler of a large empire in northern India from 606 to 647 ce. He was a Buddhist convert in a Hindu era. His reign seemed to mark a transition from the ancient to the medieval period, when decentralized regional empires continually struggled for hegemony.
The second son of Prabhakaravardhana, king of Sthanvishvara (Thanesar, in the eastern Punjab), Harsha was crowned at age 16 after the assassination of his elder brother, Rajyavardhana, and an encouraging “communication” with a statue of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. He soon made an alliance with King Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa and warred against King Shashanka of Gauda, his brother’s assassin. At first he did not assume the title of king but merely acted as a regent; after making his position secure, however, he declared himself sovereign ruler of Kannauj (in Uttar Pradesh state) and formally transferred his capital to that city. Though never defeating Shashanka, his large army waged incessant warfare for six years, conquering the “five Indies”—thought to be Valabhi, Magadha, Kashmir, Gujarat, and Sindh. His influence extended from Gujarat to Assam, but the area directly under his control probably comprised no more than modern Uttar Pradesh state, with parts of Punjab and Rajasthan states. He attempted to conquer the Deccan (c. 620) but was driven back to the Narmada River by the Chalukya emperor Pulakeshin II. Bringing most of the north under his hegemony, Harsha apparently made no attempt at building a centralized empire but ruled according to the traditional pattern, leaving conquered kings on their thrones and contenting himself with tribute and homage.
Harsha is known mainly through the works of Bana, whose Harṣacarita (“Deeds of Harsha”) describes Harsha’s early career, and of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who became a personal friend of the king, though his opinions are questionable because of his strong Buddhist ties with Harsha. Xuanzang depicts the emperor as a convinced Mahayana Buddhist, though in the earlier part of his reign Harsha appears to have supported orthodox Hinduism. He is described as a model ruler—benevolent, energetic, just, and active in the administration and prosperity of his empire. In 641 he sent an envoy to the Chinese emperor and established the first diplomatic relations between India and China. He established benevolent institutions for the benefit of travelers, the poor, and the sick throughout his empire. He held quinquennial assemblies at the confluence of the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna (Jumna) rivers at Allahabad, at which he distributed treasures he had accumulated during the previous four years. A patron of men of learning, Harsha sponsored the chronicler Bana and the lyric poet Mayura. Himself a poet, Harsha composed three Sanskrit works: Nāgānanda, Ratnāvalī, and Priyadarśikā.
A period of anarchy, or at least a splintering of his empire, followed Harsha’s death, with the later Guptas ruling over a portion of it.