Pushyabhuti dynasty (Vardhana dynasty) | |||||||||||||||||||
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c. 500–c. 647 CE | |||||||||||||||||||
Coin of Harshavardhana, c. 606–647 CE. Obverse: portrait of Harshavardhana with a crescent over the head. Reverse: Fan-tailed Garuda standing facing.[1]
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Map of the Pushyabhutis at their zenith, c. 600-650 CE, forming the Kannauj Empire, and neighbouring polities.[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Sthanvishvara (modern Thanesar) Kanyakubja (modern Kannauj) | ||||||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||
• Established | c. 500 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 647 CE | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Pushyabhuti dynasty (IAST: Puṣyabhūti), also known as the Vardhana dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Thanesar and later the Kingdom of Kannauj in northern India during the 6th and 7th centuries. The dynasty reached its zenith under its last ruler Harsha Vardhana (c. 590 – c. 647 CE), whose empire covered much of north and north-western India, extending till Kamarupa in the east and Narmada River in the south. The dynasty initially ruled from Sthanveshvara (modern-day Thanesar, Haryana), but Harsha eventually made Kanyakubja (modern-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh) his capital, from where he ruled until 647 CE.