Harsha Charitha
Encyclopedia
The Harshacharita (The Deeds of ), is the biography
of Indian Emperor Harsha
by Banabhatta
, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of 7th century in India
. He was the 'Asthana Kavi', meaning 'Court Poet', of King Harsha. The Harsha Charita was the first composition of Bana and can be treated as the beginning of writing of historical poetic works in Sanskrit language.
The Harsha Charita ranks as the first historical biography in Sanskrit although it is written in a florid and fanciful style. Bana's detailed and vivid descriptions of rural India's natural environment as well as the extraordinary industry of the Indian people exudes the vitality of life at that time. However, since he received the patronage of the Emperor Harsha, his descriptions of his patron are not an unbiased appraisal and presents the Emperor's actions in an overly favorable light.
. It seems that Ruyyaka also wrote a commentary known as the Harṣacaritavārtika, which has not yet been found.
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Indian Emperor Harsha
Harsha
Harsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...
by Banabhatta
Banabhatta
Bāṇabhaṭṭa , also known as Bāṇa, was a Sanskrit scholar and poet of India. He was the Asthana Kavi in the court of King Harshavardhana, who reigned in the years c. 606–647 CE in north India...
, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of 7th century in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was the 'Asthana Kavi', meaning 'Court Poet', of King Harsha. The Harsha Charita was the first composition of Bana and can be treated as the beginning of writing of historical poetic works in Sanskrit language.
The Harsha Charita ranks as the first historical biography in Sanskrit although it is written in a florid and fanciful style. Bana's detailed and vivid descriptions of rural India's natural environment as well as the extraordinary industry of the Indian people exudes the vitality of life at that time. However, since he received the patronage of the Emperor Harsha, his descriptions of his patron are not an unbiased appraisal and presents the Emperor's actions in an overly favorable light.
Contents
The Harṣacarita, written in ornate poetic prose, narrates the biography of the Emperor Harsha in eight ucchvāsas (chapters). In the first two ucchvāsas, Bana gives an account of his ancestry and his early life.Commentaries
The only commentary available is the Sanketa written by Shankara, a scholar from KashmirKashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
. It seems that Ruyyaka also wrote a commentary known as the Harṣacaritavārtika, which has not yet been found.