Question

The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, called the Prince of Pilgrims visited India during the reign of _____.

Answer 1

Hint:
-He belonged to the Vardhana Dynasty and ruled from 606 to 647.
-His capital was Kannauj, which is located in present day Uttar Pradesh.
-He was the son of King Prabhakara Vardhana.

Complete answer:
Hiuen Tsang (also known as Xuanzang) was a Buddhist Monk and traveler who visited India in the 7th Century during the reign of King Harshavardhana, or Harsha I.

He was born in Chen Yi in 602 and was the youngest of four children. She showed interest in being a Buddhist Monk at a very young age. After his father died in 611, he started living with his elder brother Chen Su, who also became a monk in future. They lived at the Jingtu Monastery which was supported by the Sui Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty soon collapsed in 618 and Hiuen Tsang fled to the capital of the Tang Dynasty with his brother. He continued his studies further at the Monastery of Kong Hui and was fully ordained as a monk in 622, when he was 20 years old. He then took up his monastic name Xuanzang.

He reported that it was a dream that actually pursued him to travel to India. He entered India and visited the grand capital (Kannauj) of the Vardhana Dynasty, which was headed by King Harsha or Harshavardhana. He also visited the city of Govishan which is present day Kashipur. In this empire he encountered hundreds of monasteries and thousands of monks. He was immensely impressed by the King’s patronage of Buddhism. He then went on to travel to other parts of the Indian subcontinent which included Lumbini i.e. the birthplace of Gautama Buddha and Kushinagar i.e. the place of death of Buddha.

Note:
Later Harshavardhana escorted Xuanzang back to Kannauj, to attend a great Buddhist Assembly which was also attended by King Bhaskar Varman.
Harshvardhana also invited Xuanzang to witness the Kumbh Mela in Prayag.
He returned to China 645, i.e. after 16 years and was welcomed with much greetings and honor.