Rajyavardhana, also known as Rajya Vardhan, was the eldest son of

Prabhakarvardhana Prabhakaravardhana (also known as Prabhakara Vardhana) was a king of Thanesar in northern India around the time of the decline of the Gupta Empire. According to the historian R. C. Majumdar, he was the first notable king of the Vardhana dynasty ...

and member of the

Pushyabhuti dynasty The Pushyabhuti dynasty (IAST: Puṣyabhūti), also known as the Vardhana dynasty ruled in northern India during 6th and 7th centuries. The dynasty reached its zenith under its last ruler Harshavardhana, Harsha Vardhana (c. 590–647 CE), and th ...

. He ascended the throne after his father's death and was succeeded by his younger brother,

Harsha Harshavardhana ( IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyav ...

. Contemporary information regarding the life of Rajyavardhana is limited in scope and utility. He is mentioned by

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, the Chinese traveller, and in ''

Harshacharita The ''Harshacharita'' ( sa, हर्षचरित, ) (''The deeds of Harsha''), is the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'', ...

'', a seventh-century CE work by the poet and bard

Bāṇabhaṭṭa Bāṇabhaṭṭa ( sa, बाणभट्ट) was a 7th-century Sanskrit prose writer and poet of India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'' in the court of the emperor Harsha, who reigned c. 606–647 CE in north India, first from Sthanvishvara (T ...

. Neither offer impartial accounts and they differ in substantive details. The military historian Kaushik Roy describes ''Harshacharita'' as "historical fiction" but with a factually correct foundation. Rajyavardhana was the elder of two sons of Prabhakarvardhana and his queen,

Yasomati Yasomati (died 604 or 605 or 606 CE) was an ancient Indian queen as the chief wife of King Prabhakaravardhana of Thanesar. Name Yasomati is also known as Yasovati, and as Yasomati Devi ("devi" meaning 'goddess'). Since the "s" in the common Eng ...

. The couple also had a daughter, Rajyashri, who married

Grahavarman Grahavarman was a king of Kannauj around the early seventh-century CE. He came from the Maukhari dynasty and succeeded his father, Avantivarman. Grahavarman married Rajyashri, the daughter of the ruler of Thanesar, Prabhakar Vardhana. The marria ...

, a member of the

Maukhari The Maukhari dynasty (Gupta script: , ''Mau-kha-ri'') was a post-Gupta dynasty who controlled the vast plains of Ganga-Yamuna for over six generations from their capital at Kannauj. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later of Harsha ...

ruling family at

Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...

. Prabhakarvardana was the powerful ruler of the

Thanesar Thanesar city or old Kurukshetra city is a historic town and an important Hindu pilgrimage sites, Hindu pilgrimage centre in Kurukshetra district of the States and territories of India, state of Haryana in North India, northern India. It is loca ...

region around 585-606 CE, although exact dates are uncertain. The historian

Ramesh Chandra Majumdar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was a historian and professor of Indian history. Majumdar is a noted historian of modern India. He was a former Sheriff of Kolkata. Early life and educatio ...

says he died and was succeeded by Rajyavardhana in 604 CE but Kaushik Roy gives 606 CE as the year, and some sources say 605. Prabhakarvardhana had expanded his territory by defeating rulers in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

and

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, and he had also resisted the invasion of the

Huna people Hunas or Huna (Middle Brahmi script: ''Hūṇā'') was the name given by the ancient Indians to a group of Central Asian tribes who, via the Khyber Pass, entered the Indian subcontinent at the end of the 5th or early 6th century. The Huna King ...

. He died while his sons were fighting the Hunas. The marriage alliance of Grahavarman and Rajyashri had strengthened ties between the families to a point that

Shashanka Shashanka (IAST: Śaśāṃka) was the first independent king of a unified polity in the Bengal region, called the Gauda Kingdom and is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in the 7th century, some historians place his rule between circ ...

, the ruler of the

Gauda kingdom The Gauḍa Kingdom (Gāuṛ Rājya) or Shashankas, was a classic kingdom during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal (modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh) in 4th century CE or possibly ea ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, found unacceptable. He retaliated by allying with the

Malava kingdom The Malavas (Brahmi script: 𑀫𑁆𑀫𑀸𑀭𑀯 ''Mmālava'') or Malwas were an ancient Indian tribe. Modern scholars identify them with the Mallian people (Malloi) who were settled in the Punjab region at the time of Alexander's invasion ...

and the forces appear to have launched a successful surprise attack on the Maukhari capital at Kannauj. Grahavarman was killed and Rajyashri captured at this time, which caused Rajyavardhana to retaliate in turn. He commanded a 10,000-strong

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

force that was successful in defeating the Malava ruler, with the main army of

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

and

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elephant ...

s supporting it under the charge of his younger brother, Harsha. Rajyavardhana's success was against an advance guard of his enemy. He died later in 606 as he made his way onwards to press an action at Kannauj itself. He was perhaps murdered by Shashanka, who may have invited him to a meeting with treachery in mind, although the only sources for this claim are Bāṇabhaṭṭa and Xuanzang, who both had reasons to write unfavourably of Shashanka. Harsha succeeded Rajyavardhana as ruler of Thanesar and vowed to avenge his brother's death.

References

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