Pushyabhuti Dynasty | Indian history [short notes for UPSC]

  • Pushyabhuti Dynasty Was Founded By ‘Pushyabhuti’, At Thaneshwar (District Ambala, Haryana).
  • Pushyabhuti Dynasty Ruled Around The Area Of Thanesar Or Sthaneshvara.
  • Its Capital Was Thanesar.
  • The Early Pushabhuti Ruler Aditya Vardhana Was A Feudatory To The Maukhari King Sharva Varman. And His Successor Prabhakara Vardhana Also A Feudatory To The Maukhari King Avanti Varman Of Kannuj.
  • Prabhakara Vardhana’s Daughter Rajyashri Married With The Maukhri King Avanti Varman’s Son Graha Varman.
  • This Married Alliance Increased His Political Strength And He Assumed The Title Of ‘Parama Bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja’.
  • After The Death Of Prabhakara Vardhana, The King Of Malwa Devgupta Attacked On Kannuj With The Support Of The Gauda ruler Shashanka And Killed Graha Varman And Captured Rajyashri.
  • Later The Malwa Ruler Devgupta Was Defeated By Rajyavardhana (Elder Son Of Prabhkara Vardhana), But Rajyavardhana Was Killed By The Gauda King Shashanka.
  • Harshvardhana (606 Ad- 647 Ad) The Younger Son Of Prabhakara Vardhana Crowned As An Emperor In 606 Ad At The Age Of 16.
  • To Take The Revenge Of His Brother’s Death And Rescue His Sister Rajyashri, He Made An Alliance With Bhaskara Varman The King Of Kamarupa. Both The Rulers Marched Towards Shashanka, Finally, Shashank Fled To Bengal.
  • Now Harshvardhana Merged The Two Kingdoms Of Kannuj And Thanesar.
  • Harshvardhana Shifted Its Capital To Kanyakubja Present Day Kannuj As Their Capital.
  • After The Decline Of the Gupta Dynasty, Their Empire Was Politically Fragmented, And Harsvardhana Succesfully United And Kept His Control On These Areas.
  • After The Death Of Shashanka, The Gauda Ruler Harsvardhana Took Over The Areas Of Bengal, Odisha, And Bihar.
  • Harshavardhana Tried To Conquer The Area Beyond The South Of River Narmada But He Was Defeated By The Chalukya King Pulakeshin-Ii And His Dream To Conquer the South Was Shattered.
  • He Had A Direct Control Over-
  1. Central India
  2. Gujrat
  3. Rajasthan (Rajputana)
  4. Odisha
  5. Bengal
  • The Areas Ruled By His Feudatories-
  1. Sind
  2. Kamarupa
  3. Kashmir
  4. Nepal
  5. Punjab
  • Harshvardhana Was A Writer And Poet.
  • He Composed
  1. Priyadarshika
  2. Ratnavali
  3. Nagananda
  • Banabhatta, His Court Poet Composed-
  1. Harshcharita
  2. Kadambari
  3. Parwati parinay
  • Zhuang Zang A Chinese Traveller Visited India between 630 AD to 640 AD during Harshvardhana Reign. He Praises Harshvardhana For His Generous Deeds And Justice.
  • Land Revenue was fixed to 1/6 of the produce.
  • Salaries to the officials paid in the form of land grants.
  • The War and peace minister of Harshvardhana was Avanti.
  • Sinhanada was the military commander of Harshvardhana.
  • Harshvardhana was also known by Shiladitya.
  • Harshvardhana assumed the title of-
  1. Parambhattaraka
  2. Lord of Uttrapatha
  • Harshvardhana organized religious meetings at prayag and Kannuj.
  • Harshvardhana annually organized a meeting at Prayag was known as ‘Moksha Parishad’.
  • Harshvardhana was a follower of Hinduism and he also supports the Mahayana branch of Buddhism.
  • Cavalary officials were known as brihadeshwara.
  • Harshvardhana Spends His ¼ Of His Collected Taxes To Charitable Works.
  • His Empire Covered The Major Part Of Northern India And Extended Upto The River Narmada.
  • Harshvardhana Ruled For 41 Years Till His Death In 647 Ad. 
  • As He Had No Heir. So Further This Lead To The End Of The Pushyabhuti Dynasty.