Which of the following ruler ruled Assam in the time of Harsha ?
Bhaskar Varman
Bhaskaravarman ruled Kamarupa — ancient Assam — as the contemporary and ally of Harshavardhana, so option 2 is correct.
Who he was. Bhaskaravarman (reigned about 600–650 CE) was the last and greatest ruler of the Varman dynasty of Kamarupa, with his capital at Pragjyotishpura, near modern Guwahati. He came to the throne at a time when Sasanka of Gauda dominated eastern India, and his answer to that pressure was diplomatic: he allied himself with Harsha of Kannauj, and between them they broke Sasanka’s power.
The evidence for the alliance. Two independent sources record it. Banabhatta’s Harshacharita describes the embassy Bhaskaravarman sent to Harsha and the gifts that accompanied it. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) travelled to Kamarupa at Bhaskaravarman’s invitation and has left an account of the kingdom; he then accompanied the king to the great assemblies Harsha convened at Kannauj and Prayag. His Nidhanpur copper-plate inscription, which records a grant of land to Brahmanas, is the principal epigraphic record of his reign.
| Option | Who he actually was |
|---|---|
| Aswad Jahan | Not a historical ruler of Assam — a distractor |
| Bhaskar Varman | Varman king of Kamarupa, ally of Harsha, host of Xuanzang |
| King Dahir | Ruler of Sindh, defeated and killed by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 CE — the wrong region and a century later |
| More than one of the above | Wrong, since only one name fits |
Why option 4 fails. “More than one of the above” requires at least two correct names, but Dahir belongs to Sindh in the eighth century and Aswad Jahan is not an Assamese ruler at all, so only a single option survives.
Hence, the answer is Bhaskar Varman.
Important Questions from Post Guptas Age
- With the commencement of the 7th century, who ascended the throne of Thaneshwar and Kannauj?
During the reign of which of the following kings did Chinese traveller Xuanzang visit India?
What was the center of power during the reign of Harshavardhana?
Who built the seven chariot temples of Mahabalipuram?
Gurjara-Prathiharas originally came to the Indian subcontinent from:
