gives a good account of his
administration but also makes it plain that brigandage prevailed and
that travelling was dangerous.

After 643 Harsha, who was growing elderly, devoted much attention to
religion and may be said to have become a Buddhist, while allowing
himself a certain eclectic freedom. Several creeds were represented
among his immediate relatives. Devotion to Siva was traditional in the
family: his father had been a zealous worshipper of the Sun and his
brother and sister were Buddhists of the Sammitiya sect. Harsha by no
means disowned Brahmanic worship, but in his latter years his
proclivity to Buddhism became more marked and he endeavoured to
emulate the piety of Asoka. He founded rest houses and hospitals, as
well as monasteries and thousands of stupas. He prohibited the taking
of life and the use of animal food, and of the three periods into
which his day was divided two were devoted to religion and one to
business. He also exercised a surveillance over the whole Buddhist
order and advanced meritorious members.

Hsuean Chuang has left an interesting account of the religious fetes
and spectacles organized by Harsha. At Kanauj he attended a great
assembly during which a solemn procession took place every day. A
golden image of Buddha was borne on an elephant and Harsha, dressed as
Indra, held a canopy over it, while his ally Raja Kumara,[248] dressed
as Brahma, waved a fly-whisk. It was subsequently washed by the king's
own hands and in the evening his Majesty, who like Akbar had a taste
for religious discussion, listened to the arguments of his Chinese
guest. But the royal instructions that no one was to speak against the
Master of the Law were so peremptory that even his biographer admits
there was no real discussion. These edifying pageants were interrupted
by disagreeable incidents which show that Harsha's tolerance had not
produced complete harmony. A temporary monastery erected for the fetes
caught fire and a fanatic attempted to stab the king. He confessed
under examination that he had been instigated to the crime by Brahmans
who were jealous of the favours which the Buddhists received. It was
also established that the incendiaries were Brahmans and, after the
ringleaders had been punished, five hundred were exiled. Harsha then
proceeded to Allahabad to superintend a quinquennial distribution of
alms. It was his custom to let treasure accumulate for five years and
then to divide it among holy m