हर्षवर्धनस्य रूपकानि - Plays of the King Harsha Vardhana

         

Harshavardhana referred to as Harshadeva, was the King of Sthanvisvara between 606 and 648 A.D. He was himself a man of letters and patronised Bana, Mayura, Matangadivakara and others. He is the author of a Nataka Nagananda and two Natikas Ratnavali and Priyadarshika. Bana’s reference to his patron as a writer and Hieun Tsang’s mentioning the Nagananda as Harsha’s work set aside their alleged authorship of Bana or any other poet in the court of Harsha.

Facts about Harshavardhan (Reign: 606 A.D. to 647 A.D.)

King Harshavardhan was born in 590 A.D. to Prabhakar Vardhana, the founder of the Vardhana Dynasty.

He was born Hindu but started embracing the Mahayana Buddhism religion later in his life.

He got married to Durgavati.

King Harshavardhan was a father of two sons and a girl.

Both his sons were killed by his own ministers.

His daughter got married to the King of Vallabhi.

Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist traveller, enormously praised the deeds of King Harshavardhan in his writings.

Harshavardhan was a very generous man and an accomplished writer who was credited with a few Sanskrit works like the Nagananda, Ratnavali, and Priyadarshika.

He was a wise and capable administrator and a military conqueror.

He truly supported Nalanda University.

King Harshavardhan was officially the last king to rule such a vast empire before the Muslims invaded parts of the country.

Ascension

The Ascension of King Harsha

After the death of Harsha's father, Prabhakar Vardhana, the throne of Thanesar was ascended by his elder son Rajyavardhana.

Prabhakar's daughter Rajyashri was married to the Makuhari king, Grahavarman. The Gauda King Sasanka incapacitated and killed King Grahavarman and took Rajyashri as a prisoner.

The capture of Rajyashri prompted King Rajyavardhana to fight against Sasanka. Unfortunately, Rajyavardhana was defeated and was killed by Sasanka.

This led to the ascension of Harshavardhan over the throne of Thanesar, (present-day Haryana) at the age of 16 years old in 606 A.D.

King Harshavardhan could not tolerate such an affront on his family and vowed to avenge the murder of Rajyavardhana and rescue his sister Rajyashri.

He forged an alliance with the King of Kamarupa called Bhaskaravarman to defeat the Gauda King Sasanka.

King Harshavardhan and Bhaskaravarman marched against the treacherous King, which led Sasanka to leave for Bengal. Harsha then finally became the king of Kannauj as well.

 

King Harshavardhan's Empire

After obtaining control over Kannauj, Harshavardhan united the two kingdoms of Thanesar and Kannauj.

 

 

Harsha then moved the capital of his kingdom from Thanesar to Kannauj.

North India later got divided into several small kingdoms after the fall of the Guptas.

King Harshavardhan managed to unite most of the kingdoms under his command.

He also annexed the kingdoms of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha after the death of Sasanka.

Harshavardhan defeated the Vallabhi King of Gujrat and both signed a truce by accepting the marriage proposal between Harsha's daughter and King Dhruva Bhatta.

Harsha's dream of capturing the South territories, however, remained unsuccessful as he was defeated by Pulakesin II, the Chalukya King in 618-619A.D. And his defeat marked the limit of his territories in the South up to the Narmada River.

Feudalism in India

It was during the reign of King Harshavardhan (606-647 A.D.) when feudalism was introduced in India. Harshavardhan ruled over two different types of territories. The first category holds those territories that were directly under the control of Harsha's command. The second type of territory includes the ones that were feudatories.

The Naagananda in five acts depicts Jeemutavahana as a self-sacrificer. He lays down his life to save a snake Sankachuda from Garuda. He is restored to life through the grace of Gauri. This play is considered the best of Harsha’s three plays.

 

The direct territories of Harsha include the territory of Rajputana, Bengal, Gujrat, Kalinga, and the Central Provinces.

The feudatory territories include Kashmir, Sind, Nepal, and Jalandhar.

The Death of King Harshavardhan

King Harshavardhan died in 647 A.D. after ruling for 41 long years. Since both his sons were killed by the ministers, Harsha died without any true heir to the throne. This made Arjuna, one of the chief ministers, ascend the throne of Harsha's kingdom. But soon in 648 A.D., the kingdom was attacked by the Tibetians and Arjuna was incapacitated and was captured as a prisoner. This led to the fall of King Harsha's empire.

The Ratnavali in four acts deals with the love of Sagarika, the princess of Simhaladwipa and Udayana of Kausambi. The play is modelled upon the Malavikagnimitram of Kalidasa. The vision conjured by the magician and the change of costume taken up by Sagarika to escape being detected vy Vasavadatta are invented by the author. Sagarika’s identity got established by her gem-necklace (Ratnavali) which gives the title to the play.

The Priyadarshika also deals with Udayana’s love. Here Aranyika is the beloved to enjoy the King’s love. In the presence of the queen Vasavadatta, her marriage with Udayana is enacted. Aranyika plays the role of the queen and Udayana plays his own part undetected by the queen.