Q1.
Does the above ceremony remind you of a similar event discussed in Part 1 of this textbook?
Answer
Yes — it recalls the great royal sacrifices and public gift-giving of earlier kings, especially the aśhvamedha and the ceremonies of the Mauryas and Guptas that you met in Part 1 (‘The Rise of Empires’ and ‘The Gupta Era’). The pattern is the same, even though the details differ.
What Harṣha did. Every five years he held an assembly at Prayāga, at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna, “where, after performing sacred rites, he gave away much wealth, offering it to Buddhists, Brahmins, and the poor.”
What the older ceremonies did. A great king performed a public rite at a sacred place, invited rulers and holy men from far away, and then made enormous gifts — a display that everyone present would carry home and talk about.
| Shared feature | What it achieved |
|---|---|
| A sacred place | Prayāga, the confluence — the rite borrows the authority of the site |
| Guests from many kingdoms and sects | Harṣha’s Kannauj assembly for Xuanzang was “attended by kings and leaders of many religious sects”; witnesses spread the king’s fame |
| Giving away wealth | Generosity was the proof of greatness. A king who could give it all away was showing he could get it all again |
| Giving to everyone | Buddhists, Brahmins and the poor — the king presents himself as the protector of all his subjects, not of one group |
Why kings did this: in a kingdom without newspapers, a ceremony is the announcement. Hoarded treasure impresses nobody. Treasure given away in public, in front of rival kings and holy men, converts money into something a king needs more — reputation, loyalty and the willing obedience of his subjects.