Harsha, << HUHR shuh >> (A.D. 590?-647), an Indian emperor, ruled most of northern India from A.D. 606 to 647. Harsha, also called Harsha-vardhana, inherited a small kingdom in the Ganges River Valley at age 16 and then conquered most neighboring kingdoms. He reestablished a unified empire in India after the decline of the Gupta dynasty, invasions of the Huns from central Asia, and decades of regional political revolts. He supported Hindu and Buddhist religious institutions, philosophy, and literature. He is credited with writing three well-known plays—Nagananda, Ratnavali, and Priyadarsika. After Harsha died, his empire soon broke up.
