Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/55

 INTRODUCTION. that this may have been that Vikramaditya, who, by his liberality and magnificence, acquired a renown among the Hindus, only second to that obtained by Solomon among the Jews. By his patronage of literature and his encouragement of art, his fame spread over the length and breadth of the land, and to this day his name is quoted as the symbol of all that is great and magnificent in India. What is more to our present purpose, he was an undoubted patron of the Brahmanical religion, and no tradition associates his name directly or indirectly with anything connected with Buddhism. Unfortunately we have no buildings which can be attributed to him. But the main fact of a Brahmanical king reigning and acquiring such influence in Central India at that time may be significant of the declining position of the Buddhist religion at that period. His successor, Pratapa-rila-Siladitya's reign would fall about the end of the 6th century, and he is spoken of by Hiuen Tsiang as a patron of Buddhism. 1 But it was usual with Hindu kings to show favour to the various sects among their subjects indiscriminately, and the Chinese pilgrim's statement that during his long reign of about sixty years he honoured the Buddhists and their doctrines, is no proof of his personal religious creed. In the beginning of the next century, after a short period of anarchy, we find another Siladitya, Harsha-varddhana, seated on the throne of Kanauj, and, during a prosperous reign of about forty years (606-646), exercising supreme sway in that country. It was during his reign that the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang visited India, and gave a much more full and graphic account of what he saw than his predecessor Fah Hian. Nothing can be more characteristic of the state of religious feeling, and the spirit of toleration then prevailing, than the fete given by this king at Prayaga or Allahabad in the year 643, at which the kings of Valabhi and Kamarupa (Asam) were present. The first days of the festival were devoted to the distribution, among the followers of Buddhism, of the treasures accumulated during the previous five years, and then came the turn of the Brahmans, who were treated with equal honour and liberality ; then followed the fete of the other sects, among whom the Jains appear conspicuous. All were feasted and dasor inscriptions of A.D. 532-534, describe Yarodharman as one who ruled from the Brahmaputra to the western ocean, and to whom even Mihirakula paid ^homage. King Bhoja, the patron of Kalidasa and others, may be the same prince under a third name ; and Ballala- mLrra says he reigned for fifty-five or fifty-six years. 1 Conf. 'Journal des Savants,' Oct. 1905, pp. 534-548 ; and Beal, ' Buddhist Records,' vol. ii. pp. 261, 267.