Pulakeshin II was the powerful king of Chalukya dynasty. Huanseang praises his power and influence. As a result’s of his victories, the western boundary of his Kingdom reached the Narmada river. Meanwhile, Pulakeshin II also wanted to expand kingdom towards the North. In such a situation war between the two became inevitable. As a result, there was a war between Harsh and Pulakeshin II on the banks of the Narmada River, in which Harsh was defeated.
Wars and victories carried out by Harshavardhan.
There are two important evidence related to the war between both Pulakeshin and Harsh Vardhan –
The ehole inscription of Pulakeshin II, according to which, was crowned by the aura of the crown of the feudatories reared by immense opulence. Charan Kamal, which looked terrible due to the killing of the army of elephants in the battle. He (Pulakeshin) blurred the joy of such Harsh.
According to Hsuansang’s travel description Si-yu-ki after his ascension, Harsh waged many wars for 6 consecutive years. He defeated many powers. But Mo-Ho-L-Ch-A means the ruler of Maharashtra was brave and self – respecting. He did not accepted subordination of Harsh. The king whom the Chinese traveler mention here. It shows him that Pulakeshin II is the king.
Sources of information of the Vardhan dynasty (Pushyabhuti dynasty).
There are many Scholars who do not accept the defeat of Harsh, the say that Ravikirti, the author of the Ehole inscription,his description is one-sided. This is the only conclusion from Huensang’s statement, that Harsh could not subdue Pulakeshin and he stopped its spread towards the south.
Sudhakar Chattopadhyay is of the view that this was not the only war between these two great kings of erstwhile India. Their struggles continued even later. Harsh’s invasion of Kongod in 643 AD was a barricade against Pulakeshin. After winning this, Harsh repaid his old defeat and took possession of some of the states of Pulakeshin.
Reference : https://www.indiaolddays.com
