Harshacharita

E578853

Harshacharita is a 7th-century Sanskrit prose biography of the Indian emperor Harsha, composed by the poet Bāṇabhaṭṭa and valued as both a literary classic and a key historical source on early medieval North India.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Sanskrit prose work
biographical work
classical Sanskrit literature
associatedPlace Harsha’s court
linked to: Harsha
associatedWithDynasty Vardhana dynasty
author Bāṇabhaṭṭa
linked to: Banabhatta
commissionedBy Harsha
contains descriptions of religious establishments
descriptions of royal ceremonies
descriptions of urban life
eulogies of Harsha
countryOfOrigin India
culturalContext classical Sanskrit court culture
dateWritten 7th century
depicts court of Harsha
life of Harsha
fieldOfStudy Indology
Sanskrit literature
South Asian history
genre biography
courtly literature
historicalValue key source for early medieval North Indian history
influenced later Sanskrit biographical writing
language Sanskrit
literaryDevices elaborate similes
ornate descriptions (alaṅkāra)
literaryForm prose
literaryReputation considered a classic of Sanskrit prose
literaryStyle campu (mixed prose and verse)
literaryTradition court biography tradition
mainSubject Emperor Harsha
linked to: Harshavardhana
mentions Ganges plain
linked to: Indo-Gangetic Plain

Nalanda
narrator Bāṇabhaṭṭa
linked to: Banabhatta
openingSection autobiographical account of Bāṇabhaṭṭa
originalScript Devanagari (in modern printed editions)
portrays political structure of Harsha’s empire
religious pluralism in Harsha’s reign
social life in 7th-century North India
preservation transmitted through manuscript tradition
relatedWork Kādambarī
religiousContext Hinduism
scholarlyEditions edited and translated by modern Indologists
settingLocation Kannauj
Thanesar
structure divided into eight ucchvāsas (chapters)
timePeriodDescribed 7th-century North India
usedBy modern historians of early medieval India

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (14)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Shunga Empire historicalSource Harshacharita
Vardhana (Pushyabhuti) dynasty sourceOfInformation Harshacharita by Banabhatta
linked to: Harshacharita
Harsha mentionedIn Harshacharita
Shunga dynasty historicalSource Harshacharita
Banabhatta notableWork Harshacharita
Banabhatta knownFor Harshacharita
Banabhatta wrote Harshacharita
Pushyamitra Shunga mentionedIn Harshacharita
Pushyabhuti dynasty sourceMention Harshacharita
Harshavardhana associatedWork Harshacharita
Harshavardhana subjectOf Harshacharita by Bana
linked to: Harshacharita
Kanyakubja mentionedIn Harshacharita
Pushyabhuti mentionedIn Harshacharita
Prabhakaravardhana mentionedIn Harshacharita