Harsha: A Multidisciplinary Political Study

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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 traditionalâ€™ what and when happened approachâ€™ 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 â€˜what and when happenedâ€™ 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 â€˜Classicismâ€™ of the Gupta age and the beginning of the early â€˜medievalismâ€™. 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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shankar Goyal

Dr. Shankar Goyal (b. 1959), the young and ebullient author of the present monograph, is emerging very rapidly as one of the recognized authorities on the historiography of ancient India. He has already produced three monographs dealing with some aspects of ancient Indian history writing viz. History and Historiography of the Age of Harsha (Jodhpur, 1992), Aspects of Ancient Indian History and Historiography (New Delhi, 1993) and History Writing of Early India (Jodhpur, 1996). He has co-edited a number of works with such eminent scholars as Professors G.C. Pande, B. Ch. Chhabra and Jagannath Agrawal which are directly or indirectly concerned with this discipline, including Political History in a Changing World (Jodhpur, 1992), Reappraising Gupta History (New Delhi, 1992) and S.R. Goyal: His Multidimensional Historiography (New Delhi, 1992). He has also-co-edited several other monographs with Shri M.C. Joshi and Dr. Sobhag Maghur which include King Chandra and the Meharauli Pillar (Meerut, 1989), Spectrum of Nehruâ€™s Thought (New Delhi, 1994) and Rajasthan Bharati, in two volumes (Jodhpur, 1995) and authored more than seventy research articles. His research output in a period of less than six years has been stupendous, and its originality and quality superb, as is evident from the reviews of his works appearing in national and international journals. Dr. Shankar Goyal did his graduation from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, post-graduation from the Deccan College, Pune, and Doctrate on Main Trends in Indian Historiography Since Independence from the University of Jodhpur, Jodhpur, where he is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History.