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The Pushyabhuti dynasty (IAST: Puṣyabhūti), also known as the Vardhana dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Thanesar in northern India during the 6th and 7th centuries. The dynasty reached its zenith under its last ruler Harshavardhana (), whose empire covered much of north and north-western India, extending till Kamarupa in the east and Narmada River in the south. The dynasty initially ruled from Thanesar (modern-day Thanesar, Haryana), but Harsha eventually made Kanyakubja (modern-day Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh) his capital, from where he ruled until 647 CE.
Harshacharita by the 7th century poet Bana gives a legendary account of their origin, naming Pushyabhuti as the dynasty's founder. According to this legend, Pushyabhuti lived in the Srikantha janapada (modern Kurukshetra district), whose capital was Sthanvishvara (modern Thanesar). A devotee of Shiva, Pushyabhuti became involved in a tantra ritual at a cremation ground, under the influence of Bhairavacharya, a teacher from "the South". At the end of this ritual, a goddess (identified with Lakshmi) anointed him the king and blessed him as the founder of a great dynasty. The Pushyabhuti mentioned in Bana's account appears to be a fictional character, as he is not mentioned in the dynasty's inscriptions or any other source. The writings of Xuanzang and an 8th century Buddhist text, the Arya-manjushri-mula-kalpa suggest that the dynasty belonged to the Vaishya caste.
The zenith of the Vardhana dynasty is disputed by scholars however contemporary sources such as Xuanzang note that Harsha was the 'master of the five indies' and marched from west to east to conquer insubordinate kings during the early years of his reign. R. C. Majumdar places his core territory as containing the regions of Saurashtra, Kannauj and Orrissa with the regions of western Punjab and Kashmir giving nominal suzerainty according to C. V. Vaidya. Recent copperplate finds in Nabha contain land grants given by Harsha to a Brahmin dated to 614-615 CE.
Some modern books describe the dynasty as "Vardhana", because the names of its kings end with the suffix "-vardhana". However, this may be misleading as the names of kings of other dynasties also end with this suffix.
The Vardhana dynasty was founded by Pushyabhuti c. 500 CE, Bāṇabhaṭṭa recalls him as a legendary figure and implies a conquest between him and the Nagas of Mathura in the land of the Surasena during the Gupta Empire. This war led to his victory and the establishment of the Srikantha janapada centred in Thanesar, Bana also narrates that the janapada received its name from the name of the naga king who Pushyabhuti defeated.
All of the kings that succeeded Pushyabhuti until the reign Prabhakaravardhana bore the title of Maharaja and it has been hypothesised that they were feudatories of the Gupta Empire. It has however been noted that Adityavardhana, ruling between c. 565-585 CE, married the sister of Mahasenagupta of the Later Gupta dynasty and partook in an invasion on the banks of Lauhitya River alongside the Gauḍa king. His predecessor Naravardhana was thought to have been a feudatory under Mihirakula of the Alchon Huns, being his contemporary. Ram Shankar Tripathi in his own account states that the regions of Kullu district and Kangra district were under the control of the Vardhanas during the reign of Aditya and writes that they may have been feudatories under the Maukhari dynasty for assistance against the Alchon Huns.
According to the Harshacharita, after Prabhakara's death, the king of Malwa attacked Kannauj, supported by the ruler of Gauda. The Malava king killed Graha-Varman, and captured Rajyashri. Bana does not mention this king, but historians speculate him to be a ruler of the Later Gupta dynasty. Prabhakara's elder son Rajyavardhana defeated the Malava ruler, but was killed by the Gauda king.
The Harshacharita further states that Prabhakara's younger son Harshavardhana then vowed to destroy the Gauda king and their allies. Again, Bana does not mention the name of the Gauda king, but historians identify him with Shashanka, the ruler of Bengal (Gauda Kingdom). Harsha formed an alliance with Bhaskar Varman, the king of Kamarupa, and forced Shashanka to retreat. Subsequently, in 606 CE, Harsha was formally crowned as an emperor. He captured a large part of northern India. There are different assessments of the exact extent of Harsha's empire, but he controlled major parts of northern India; his overlordship was accepted by the Maitraka dynasty in the west and the Kamarupa king Bhaskaravarman in the east; in the south, his empire extended up to the Narmada River.
Harsha eventually made Kanyakubja (modern Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh) his capital, and ruled till c. 647 CE. He died without an heir, leading to the end of the Pushyabhuti dynasty.
Xuanzang states that the majority of the people pursued trade as their source of income with only few being agriculturalists. Rich families vied with each other, collecting rarities from other lands. He also notes that Buddhism was not numerous in the region with the kingdom being dominated by Shaivism, Thanesar had three buddhist monasteries compared to over one hundred Hindu temples. According to Devahuti rice was grown on the lower slopes of the Himalayas whilst sugar cane was cultivated on the eastern parts of the kingdom, milk and fruits were also plentily available.
| +List of Pushyabhuti dynasty rulers !Ruler !Reign (CE) !Notes | ||
| Pushyabhuti | ~500 | |
| Nāravardhana | 500–525 | |
| Rājyavardhana I | 525–555 | |
| Adityavardhana | 555–580 | |
| Prabhākaravardhana | 580–605 | |
| Rajya-vardhana | 605–606 | |
| Harsha-vardhana | 606–647 | |
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