Logo

Synopsis The present research work on Harsha by Dr. Shankar Goyal will blaze, we believe, a new trail in the historiography of ancient Indian political history, for it looks upon the history of the age of Harsha not form the traditional’ what and when happened approach’ but from multidisciplinary integral standpoint in which main political developments and events are put in their proper context by an analysis of their determining influences- social, economic, religious, geographical, etc. with the help of other branches of knowledge, of course without overlooking the need of reconsidering the ‘what and when happened’ problems afresh, wherever necessary. For example, on such problems as the motivations and reliability of Bana and Yuan Chwang, social origins and early history of the Pushyabhutis, reign of Rajyavardhana II, formative influences on the character and personality of Harsha, validity of his claim tot her Maukhri throne, chronology of his campaigns, his political relations with Iran, China etc., the nature of the organization of his empire, impact of his religious policies on his political activities, causes of his failure in establishing a permanent imperial structure, etc. the author has either thrown new light or has offered new cogent solutions for them. He has also given, probably for the first time, a psycho-sociological and religious analysis of the personality of Harsha. Further, the author seeks to look upon the culture of the age of Harsha not only as an aggregate of the age data found in the works of Bana and Other contemporary writers, but as the cultural situation which marked the end of the ‘Classicism’ of the Gupta age and the beginning of the early ‘medievalism’. When looked with the help of these two peepholes- the Classical culture of the Gupta period and the medieval culture of the Rajput age- the works of Bana and his contemporaries appear to yield a new meaning and light. We are sure, therefore, that this research work will attract the attention of the scholarly world which it so eminently deserves.