The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang once visited the court of Harsha following which, he wrote an account. In it, he praised Harsha’s justice and generosity. The peace and prosperity that prevailed in Harsha’s empire made it a centre of cosmopolitanism, attracting scholars, artists and religious visitors from far and wide.
Though Harshavardhana had many officials to help him with administration, he was a king who liked to personally supervise his kingdom. Harsha’s empire was divided into provinces and he travelled around all of them, spending nights in different places, listening to people’s troubles.
King Harsha is said to have had a large army comprising 100,000 horses and 60,000 elephants. At the zenith of Harsha’s power, his empire covered much of north and north-western India and extended up to Kamarupa in the east, and river Narmada in the south. Harsha also tried to expand his empire into the southern peninsula of India, but was halted by the south Indian Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty.
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