Harishena, Samudragupta's court poet described four different kinds of rulers, and the policies followed by him towards them.
(i) The rulers of Aryavarta: Here there were nine rulers who were uprooted and their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta's empire.
(ii) The rulers of Dakshinapatha: There were twelve rulers and they surrendered to Samudragupta after being defeated and he then allowed them to rule again.
(iii) The inner circle of the neighbouring states, including Assam, coastal Bengal, Nepal, and a number of gana sanghas in the North-West, brought tribute, followed his orders, and attended his court.
(iv) The rulers of the outlying areas, the descendants of the Kushanas and Shakas, and the ruler of Sri Lanka, who submitted to him and offered daughters in marriage.

(i)  Some of the kings maintained a well-organised army with elephants, chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers.
(ii) There were military leaders who provided the king with troops whenever he needed them.
(iii) They were not paid regular salaries. Instead, some of them received grants of land.
(iv) They collected revenue from land and used this to maintain soldiers and horses and provide equipments for warfare. These men were known as samantas.
(iv) Whenever the ruler was weak, samantas tried to become independent.

(i) The Chalukyas were the most important ruling dynasties in South India. Aihole, the capital of the Chalukyas was an important trading centre.
(ii) The best known Chalukya ruler was Pulekshin II. We know about him from a Prashasti composed by his court poet, Ravikirti.
(iii) According to Ravikirti, he led expeditions along both the west and east coasts.
(iv) Pulekshin also attacked the Pallava king. But the Chalukya victory was short-lived.
(v) Ultimately, both the Pallavas and Chalukyas gave way to new rulers belonging to the Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties.

(i) The poet praised the king in Glowing terms-as a warrior and as a king who won victories in battle.
(ii) He is stated as a learned man and the best of poets.
(iii) He is also described as equal to God.
(iv) The Prashasti was composed in very long sentences.

(i) Establishment of Harsha-vardhan Empire: The breakup of the Gupta empire was followed by a period of disorder. Small kingdoms fought against one another. Finally, Harshavardhana conquered these kingdoms and established a powerful empire.
(ii) Military Campaigns: The capital of Harsha's empire was Kannauj. He conquered Punjab, Eastern Rajasthan and the whole of the Ganga valley up to Assam. He attacked the Chalukyan King but was defeated. Harsha did not annex all the territories that he conquered. He allowed some kings whom he defeated, to continue ruling. They accepted Harsha as their overlord and paid him an annual tribute.
(iii) Sources of Information: Banabhatta, a learned man who wrote a biography of Harsha called Harshacharita gives us information about this period.
Another source of information is Hieun Tsang, a Chinese Buddhist scholar who came from China via Central Asia to India. He stayed in India for 15 years. He gave an account of life in Harsha's period in a book called Si-Yu-Ki or records of the Western World.
(iv) Religion: Before embracing Buddhism, Harsha worshipped Shiva and Surya. Later on, he became a Buddhist like Ashoka, Manender and Kanishka. Like them, he was tolerant towards other religions. The Indian government practises this attitude of tolerance towards all religious even today.
(iv) Administration: Just like the Mauryas and Guptas, the king was assisted by a council of ministers. Unlike the Mauryas but similar to the Guptas, power was not centralised. Harsha's empire was also divided into provinces. These were headed by Governors.

(i) The best known Chalukya ruler was Pulakeshin II. We known about him from a prashasti. This prashasti (inscription) was composed by Pulakeshin II's court poet Ravikirti. This tells us about his ancestors, who are traced back through four generations from father to son.
(ii) Pulakeshin II evidently got the Kingdom from his uncle. According to Ravikirti
(a) He led expeditions along both the West and the East coast.
(b) Pulakeshin II checked the advance of Harsha. Harsha means happiness.
(c) Pulakeshin II also attacked the Pallava king, who took shelter behind the walls of Kanchipuram. However the successors of Pulakeshin II were not very capable and therefore the Chalukyas victory was short-lived.

The main achievements of the Pallavas and the Chalukyas were:
(i) The Pallavas and Chalukyas were that most important ruling dynasties in South India. The kingdom of the Pallavas spread from the region around their capital, Kanchipuram to the Kaveri delta, while that of the Chalukyas was centred around the Raichur Doab, between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra.
(ii) The Pallavas and Chalukyas frequently attacked one another's areas, particularly they attacked the capital cities, which were prosperous towns.
(iii) Aihole, the capital of the Chalukyas, was an important trading and commercial centre. Initially this town developed as a religious centre, with a number of temple.
(iv) During the days of Pulakeshin II, the Chalukyas defeated Harshavardhana. But this victory was short-lived.
(v)Ultimately, both the Pallavas and the Chalukyas gave way to new rulers belonging to Rashtrakuta and Chola dynasties.

(i) This story is from the famous play Abhigyana Shakuntalam.
(ii) Kalidasa wrote this story.
(iii) King Dushyanta is mentioned in this story.
(iv) The king was very happy to see the ring and sent a reward for the fisherman.