Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/336

 294 THE REIGN OF HARSHA is the historical romance entitled the " Deeds of Harsha " (Harsha- charita^ composed by Bana, a Brah- man author who lived at the court and enjoyed the patronage of the hero of his tale. Further information of much interest and importance is given by the official Chinese histories, and when all sources are utilized, our knowledge of the events of the reign of Harsha far surpasses in precision that which we possess respecting any other early Indian king, except Chandragupta Maurya and Asoka. From remote ages the country surrounding the city of Thanesar (Sthanvisvara) has been holy ground, known as the " Land of Kuru," and famous as the battle-field of legendary heroes. In the latter part of the sixth century, the Raja of Thanesar, Prabhakara- vardhana'by name, had raised himself to considerable eminence by successful wars against his neighbours, including the Hun settlements in the Northwestern Panjab, and the clans of Gurjara, or the country of Gujarat, between the Chinab and Jihlarn Rivers. 1 The fact that his mother was a princess of Gupta lineage no doubt both stimulated his ambition and aided its realization. In the year 604, this energetic raja had despatched his elder son, Rajya-vardhana, a youth just entering upon manhood, with a large army to attack the Huns on the northwestern frontier, while his younger and favourite son, Harsha, four years junior to the crown prince, followed his brother with a cavalry force at a 1 Not to be confounded with the Western province of Gujarat.