Harshavardhana was the king of Thanesar who ruled nearly 1400 years ago. We came to know about him through his court poet, Banabhattaa who wrote his biography, the Harshacharita in Sanskrit.

The 'Prashasti' word comes from Sanskrit and it means 'in praise of'. Court poets often wrote accounts in which they listed the achievements of the king and praised him. they engraved such accounts on pillars so that the people could read them.

As Harshavardhan's army will enter our village, they will be accompanied by musicians beating drums and other playing horns and trumpets. Our parents give them gifts, gur and flower and fodder for their animals. Later on they will meet the king and place their complaints and petitions before him. These complaints, are on the behalf of villagers.

At that time, village remained basic unit of administration and land revenue remained important for these rulers. Some important administrative posts were hereditary and important men had their influence in local administration.

In Samudragupta's prashasti, the poet praised the king in glowing terms-as a warrior, as a king who won victories in battle, who was learned and the best of poets. He is also described as equal to the Gods.

wars affect the lives o/the ordinary people today in the following ways:
(i) It disturbs the economic position of the country.
(ii) It increases the rate of poverty.
(iii) It causes tremendous loss of life and property.
(iv) It hampers the developmental work of the country.
(v) It gives birth to number of new diseases due to use of chemical weapons.

The changes made in the army at this time are:
Kings of this time had a large and well maintained army. Except this regular army, there were some military leaders who provided kings with troops whenever they required. These military leaders were not paid salaries. They collected revenue from the land granted by the king and used collected revenue for maintaining good army. Thus, during wars, the military leaders who provided army to kings were known as samantas. This system became an important part of the army at that period.

Lord Buddha taught in Prakrit language and King Ashoka issued his inscriptions in Prakrit language.

The titles in order of their importance are:
Raja, maha-raja, maharaj-adhiraja.

The description about Samudragupta tells us that Samudragupta was a brave warrior, who had fought successful wars. His body was covered with hundreds wound marks.
The kings in those days fought with arrows, spikes, spears, battle axes, swords, iron clubs, barbed arrows, javelins, long arrows and many other weapons.

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) Kings adopted a number of steps to win the support of men who were powerful either economically or socially or because of their political and military strength.
(ii)  Some important administrative posts were now hereditary.
(iii) Sometimes, one person held many offices. For instance, besides being a Maha-Danda-Nayaka, Harisena was a Kumar-Amartya, Meaning an important minister.
(iv)Besides, some important men had a say in local administration. These included chief bankers or merchants of the city, the leaders of the merchant caravans, the chief craftsmen, and the head of the tribes.

(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) 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.