HARSHA

harsha, or harshavardhana (fl. a.d. 606-648), an indian king who ruled northern india as paramount monarch for over forty years. the events of his reign are related by hsuan tsang, the chinese pilgrim, and by bana, a brahman author. he was the son of a raja of thanesar, who gained prominence by successful wars against the huns, and came to the throne in a.d. 606, though he was only crowned in 612. he devoted himself to a scheme of conquering the whole of india, and carried on wars for thirty years with success, until (a.d. 620) he came in contact with pulakesin