Xuanzang

Besides inscriptions, an important source for this period is the travel diary of another Chinese pilgrim. In Part 1 you met Faxian, who wrote about the Gupta age in the 5th century. Two centuries later, Xuanzang (also spelt Hsuan Tsang or Hiuen Tsang) travelled around India from 630 to 644.

Like Faxian, he came to visit sacred Buddhist sites and learn from Indian teachers. He took back to China more than 600 manuscripts of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit — carried by 20 horses! — and spent years translating them into Chinese.

Think of it: twenty horses loaded with books, carried across the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts and over the Hindu Kush mountains. That shows how much he valued them.

He also wrote a very careful account of his journey, recording politics, diplomacy, culture and religion in each kingdom. His travelogue is a major source for historians of this period.

His route took him through Samarkand, Bamiyan, Kabul, Taxila and Srinagar into India; then Mathura, Kannauj, Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Nalanda and Bodh Gaya; down to Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Amaravati and Kanchipuram; and back by Nashik, Ajanta, Ujjain and Bharuch. He saw more of India than almost any Indian of his time.

Harṣha welcomed Xuanzang to his court (along with two ambassadors from China) and, in his honour, held a great assembly at Kannauj, attended by kings and leaders of many religious groups.

Xuanzang described Kannauj as a beautiful, prosperous city, and Harṣha as a just and energetic ruler with a huge army, often away on military campaigns.

Every five years, Harṣha held an assembly at Prayāga (today's Prayagraj, where the Ganga and Yamuna meet). After religious rites, he gave away much wealth to Buddhists, Brahmins and the poor. Does that remind you of another great gathering at the same place? The Kumbh Mela is still held there.