SSC CGL 2022 PYQ — Question 31

The correct answer is Option 3. i.e. Harshavardhana’s court poet was Harishena.

Banabhatta was a 7th-century Sanskrit prose writer and poet of India. He was the Asthana Kavi in the court of the emperor Harsha, who reigned c. 606–647 CE in north India, first from Sthanvishvara (Thanesar), and later Kannauj.

Bana's principal works include a biography of Harsha, the Harshacharita (Deeds of Harsha) and one of the world's earliest novels, Kadambari. 

Additional Information-

1. Harshavardhana was born in 590 AD to King Prabhakaravardhana of Sthaneshvara (Thanesar, Haryana). He belonged to the Pushyabhuti also called the Vardhana dynasty.
2.  Himself wrote three Sanskrit plays-Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarshika. 
3. Hiuen-Tsang a Chinese pilgrim visited Harsha’s court, wrote a book ‘Shi-Yu-Ki’ (the world of the west) after going back to China.
4. He organized  religious festival called Mahamoksha Harishad at Prayaga (Allahabad), at the end of every five years.Here he performed the ceremony of Dana.
5. Harsha was defeated by Pulakesin II in 637 A.D.
6. Grand assembly held at Kannauj for Hiuen-Tsang in 643 A.D.
7. Harshvardhana divides his income in four equal parts namely- for royal family, for army and administration, for religious endowments and for poor’s and destitute.
8.  Died in the year 647 A.D