Pushyabhuti Dynasty
(Vardhan Dynasty)
- After the demise of Guptas, a vacuum was created in North India which was filled by Pushyabhuti dynasty based in Thaneshwar, Haryana by 600 AD.
- Prabhakar Vardhan was the founder of this dynasty.
- He married his daughter Rajya Shree to the Maukhari ruler of Kannauj, Grahavarman.
- After the death of Prabhakar Vardhan, his elder son Rajya Vardhan became the ruler.
- At this time one of his adversary Shashank Gauda (ruler of Bengal) killed Grahavarman and captured Rajya Shree. Shashank Gauda also assassinated Rajya Vardhan treacherously.
- After which young Harshvardhan became the next ruler.
Note - Shashank Gauda was the one who cut down the original Bodhi tree of Bodh Gaya.
- Harsh Vardhan first freed her sister Rajya Shree from the captivity of Shashank.
- He also established his hold over Kannauj and made Kannauj his capital.
- Shashank was a formidable enemy and it took almost 13 years for Harshvardhan to finally defeat Shashank and annexed the eastern territory.
- Harsh Vardhan was an ambitious ruler. He wanted to expand his territory further South of Narmada river. As such he fought with Chalukya ruler Pulkeshin II (Chalukya ruler)in which Pulkeshin defeated Harshvardhan.
- After the battle, a peace treaty was signed between the two rulers as mentioned in Aihole inscription.
- As per the treaty, it was agreed that in future they will not enter into each other's territory and recognised Narmada river as the boundary.
- During the tenure of Harshvardhan, the famous Buddhist traveler Hiuen Tsang (Xhuang Xiang) came to India.
- He wrote his experience of Harshvardhan's court in his book 'Si-yu-ki'.
- He wrote that there were very strict provision of the3 punishment even for the pettiest of the crime in Kannauj. He further added that even in this situation, the streets of Kannauj were not free from robbers.
- Harshvardhan was the devotee of Lord Shiva and The Sun God.
- Under the influence of Hiuen Tsang, he also accepted Mahayan Buddhism.
- To show his support towards Mahayan Buddhism, he convened two councils at Prayag and Kannauj.
- In both the councils, Hiuen Tsang gave elaborate lectures on Mahayan Buddhism.
- After the councils, Harshvardhan donated all his personal wealth (not royal treasury) and started to live like a monk, i.e. a ruler who lived like a monk with no luxury.
- The Chinese Tsong ruler sent an envoy led by I-Tsing to meet Harshvardhan in Kannauj but before the arrival of I-Tsing in Kannauj, Harshvardhan died (647 AD), so he decided to return back to China to disseminate this news and when he reached China, the emperor of Tsong ruler died.
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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