Season Finale: Harsha's Laughter

What happened in India after the fall of the Gupta Empire? Some of the most incredible states and people in the subcontinent's history emerged. This is their story: from the coalitions that defeated the Hunas to Harsha-Vardhana Pushyabhuti, from the collapse of the Vakatakas to the rise of the Chalukyas.

Notes and Sources below.

Voice Credits (In Order of Appearance)

Narrator - Anirudh

Other Voices - Abbas Momin

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Notes

1. On the defeat of the Hunas, see Bakker, Hans. "Monuments of Hope, Gloom, and Glory: In the Age of the Hunnic Wars: 50 Years that Changed India (484-534)." Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2017.

2. For a detailed reconstruction of Harsha's career, see Bakker, Hans. The World of the Skandapurāṇa. Brill, 2014.

3. The description of Harsha's camp comes from Cowell, Edward (trans). The Harsa-Carita of Bana. 1897.

4. On the Chalukyas, two very good reads (which should be taken with a pinch of salt) are Dikshit, D.P., 1980. Political history of the Chālukyas of Badami. Abhinav Publications, and Yazdani, Ghulam. The Early History of the Deccan. Vol. 1. London; New York: Published under the authority of the Government of Andhra Pradesh by the Oxford University Press, 1960 [ie 1961], 1961.