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The Milavas were defeated and Rajyasri was recover- ed, and Sil&ditya made an alliance with Bhiskaravar- man, the king of KlmarQpa, who was also known as Kum&rarija. A copper-seal of Harshavardhana or Sil&ditya II has been discovered, and gives us his genealogy. The inscription is short, and informs us that Adityavardhana was the son of Rljyavardhana and Mahddevi ; Pra- bh&karavardhana was the son of Aityavardhana and Mah&senagupt& ; R&jyavardhana was the son of Pra- bh&karavardhana and Yasomati ; and Prabhakara's younger brother Harshavardhana was also begotten on Yasomati.* We know from Houen Tsang that Sil&ditya had his capital at K&nyakubja or Kanouj, that he held every five years a great assemblage of princes and people to celebrate a religious festival, and that Houen Tsang saw him when he was holding his sixth quinquennial assembly, i. e. y in the 30th year of his reign. This was at about 640 A. D. We also know that Siladitya was a staunch Buddhist, though he respected and honored Br&hmans. * Corp. Ins. InJ., Vol III, Texts, &c. % p. 232. Digitized by Google CHAP. I.] V1KRAMADITYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 225 Siladitya Harshavardhana was a renowned patron of letters, and is said to be the author of Ratnavali and the Buddhist drama Nagananda. But probably he was the real author of neither, though both the works were composed in his court. The Ratnavali was probably composed by Banabhatta, the author of K&damvari and of Harshacharita, a life of the king. Dandin, the author of Dasakumara Charita, lived before BAnbahatta and after Kaliddsa, and alludes to Kalidasa. It is pro- bable that Dandin was still living, when Banabhatta followed in his footsteps in the more ambitious fiction of the Kadamvari. The other well-known prose fiction in Sanscrit is the Vasavadatta of Subandhu, and he too was a contem- porary of Banabhatta, though he may have written a little earlier, as Banabhatta often quotes him. We thus approximately know the dates of the three best prose fictions in Sanscrit. The name of MayOra is often mentioned in connexion with the name of Banabhatta, and a legend has it that Bana married Mayftra's daughter, a Chandi, or scold. Mayura is the author of Maytira Sataka. A more renowned name is that of Bhartrihari. In a most interesting note, • Professor Max Muller shews, on the authority of the Chinese traveller I-tsing, that Bhartrihari died about 650 A. D., or in other words * India, p. 347, &C. R. C. D., A. I.— III. I S Digitized by Google 226 PAURANIK PERIOD [book V, that the author of the three Satakas on Love, Discipline, and Tranquility, was a contemporary of Siladitya II. The Bhattik&vya, being an easy and entertaining method of learning grammar, is better known to Hindu students than the Satakas of Bhartrihari. Commenta- tors of the Bhattik&vya like Kandarpa, Vidyavinoda and Sridhara Svimin call Bhartrihari, the author of Bhatti. The name Bhartri has frequently been called Bhatti by other commentators, and, on the whole, there is the strongest presumption that the author of the Satakas and of the Bhattik&vya is the same person Bhartri or Bhatti. Professor Max Miiller adduces the testimony of the Chinese traveller named above to confirm this pre- sumption. Such was the literary activity of the time of Sil£- ditya, the great emperor of Kanouj, who assembled the kings and nations of Northern India at his quinquen- nial festivals, and swayed the destinies of all Northern India. We have seen before that the astronomer Brahmagupta also lived in the time of this potentate. Sil&ditya died about 648 or 650 A. D. Fifty years later a weak prince reigned on the throne of the great Sildditya. The prowess and glory of Kanouj were gone, and Yasovarman the king of Kanouj was defeated in war by the proud Lalit&ditya king of Kashmir. The lamp literature, lighted in Ujjayini two centuries be- fore, still shone however in the court of Yasovarman, and one of the greatest poets that India has produced, Digitized by Google CHAP. I.] VI KRAM ADITYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 227 Bhavabhuti lived in that prince's court. He is almost the last of that bright galaxy of poets who appeared in India between the sixth and the eighth centuries A.D. The R&jatarangini from which we get this information further tells us that two other writers, Vlkpati and Rajyasri, also lived under Yasovarman's patronage. They all lived in the first half of the eighth century.* If these two and a half centuries, 500 to 750 A. D., are reckoned as the brightest period in the annals of later Sanscrit literature, those centuries also mark the period of toleration and friendly rivalry between the Hindus and the Buddhists. Buddhism was dyinsj a natural death, but from the ninth century violence and persecution were adopted to stamp out the decaying religion. The great and redoubted enemy of the Bud- dhist religion, Sankar&chirya was born, according to K. B. Pathak, in the year 788 A. D., and began his labours early in the ninth century. The age of discussions, commentaries and glosses on laws and philosophical systems was now come, and original genius seemed to be extinct. We seek in vain for worthy successors of Kalidisa and B&nabhatta and Bhavabhuti after the eighth century A. D. During a period of over four centuries after the date of Bhavabhuti, the Hindus still remained an independent nation ; but scarcely gave any indication of literary genius. The ancient epics were no doubt retouched and considerably enlarged, and * See preface to R. G. Uhandarkar's edition of Malati Madhava. Digitized by Google 228 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. voluminous Pur&nas in easy graceful verse were com- posed, but we see no mark of great ideas, no indication of genius. Even in science Aryabhatta and Varaha- mihira and Brahmagupta had no worthy successors for four hundred years, until we come to Bhaskaracharya in the twelfth century. We note down below the approximate dates of the kings of whom we have spoken in this chapter. Yikramaditya the Great Siladitya I (PratApasila) Prabhakara vardhana Rajya vardhana Siladitya II (Harsha vardhana) A. D. 515-550 550—600 600—605 605—610 610—650 Yasovarman 700-730 Digitized by Google CHAPTER II THE VALABHIS AND THE RAJPUTS. GujRAT was subject to the Gupta emperors during the palmy days of that dynasty ; and when in the latter half of the fifth century the Valabhis of Gujrat rose to independence and power, they naturally adopted the Gupta Era, reckoned from 319 A. D. When the power of the Guptas, then emperors of India, was slowly decaying, an enterprising military commander, Sen&pati Bhatarka by name, asserted his independence in Guj- rat, and was the founder of the Valabhi dynasty of Saurishtra. The genealogy and history of the Valabhi family are elucidated by numerous inscriptions which have been discovered. Among the earliest of them are two copper- plates which were found over fifty years ago in making excavations in Gujrat* They were published by W. H. Wathen in 1835, and are of considerable import- ance. Senapati Bhatarka, the originator of the family, is stated to have " earned glory in hundreds of battles fought in the countries of his foes," and must have ♦ See Prinsep's Essays. Ed. Thomas. Vol. I, p. 2$z t et seq. Digitized by 230 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. been, like all beginners of dynasties, a great warrior and able administrator. He had four sons Dharasena, Dronasinha, Dhruvasena, and Dharapatta. The first of these brothers is styled Senapati, and had apparently not- yet assumed the title of king ; but his younger brother " received his inauguration to the throne from the great sovereign himself" (probably of Kanouj). and, is styled Sri Maharaja Dronasinha. His two brothers are similarly styled Sri Maharaja Dhruva Sena and Sri Maharaja Dharapatta. Dharapatta's son was Guha Sena, " the destroyer of multitudes of foes," and his son Dhara Sena II made the gift. In the second plate published by Wathen, the successors of Dhara Sena II are called Siladitya Khara Graha, Dhara Sena III, Dhruva Sena II, Dhara Sena IV, Siladitya II, (two or three names illegible here), Khara Graha II, Siladitya III, and Siladitya IV. An inscription* discovered by Mr. Hariballabha Assistant Deputy Educational Inspector of Kaira and Broach in 1878 brings down the list of kings to Sila- ditya VII, who reigned at the close of the 8th century; We have thus in this single inscription a complete list of the kings of this dynasty for three centuries from Bhatarka who commenced the line in the latter half of the 5th century to Siladitya VII who reigned in • Corp. Ins. Ind. % Vol. III. Texts, &c, p. 171. Digitized by Google CHAP. II.] VALABHIS AND RAJPUTS. 23 1 the latter half of the 8th century. The genealogical table and dates given below will shew the names at a glance. P.HATAKKA (about 460 A. D.) Dhara Sena I. DronaSinha. Dhruva Sena I. Dharapatta. (5* A. D.) I (>uha Sena (559; 565*567 A. D.) Dhara Sena II. (571 ; 588 & 589 A. D.) I I Snidltya I. Kharagraha I. (605 ; 609 A. D.) I Dcrabhata Dhara Sena III. Dhruva Sena 1 1 . ^ !_ . (6*9 A. D.) litya II. Kharagraha II. Dhruva Sena III. Dhara Sena IV. I (657 A. D.) 645 ; 649 A. D.) Siladityalll. (A. D. 678.) SilSditya IV. ( A. D. 691.) I SilAditya V. (.\. D. 722.) I SU5dhya VI. (A. D 760.) SUiditya VII.) (A. D. 766.) We have only to add that when Houcn Tsang visited Valabhi, he found the people a rich, powerful and flourishing nation, holding Saurashtra under sub- jection. Rich and valuable products of distant regions- were stored within their capital in great quantities, and shewed the brisk maritime trade which the Valabhis carried on.