Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/360

316 THE REIGN OF HARSHA the second in command of the earlier embassy, was sent by his sovereign as head of a new Indian mission, with an escort of thirty horsemen. Before the envoys reached Magadha in 648 A. D., King Harsha had died, and the withdrawal of his strong arm had plunged the country into disorder, which was aggravated by famine. Arjuna, a minister of the late king, usurped the throne, and gave a hostile reception to the Chinese mission. The members of the escort were massacred, and the property of the mission plundered, but the envoys, Wang-hiuen-tse and his colleague, were fortu- nate enough to escape into Nepal by night. The reigning King of Tibet, the famous Srong-tsan Gampo, who was married to a Chinese princess, suc- coured the fugitives, and supplied them with a force of a thousand horsemen, which co-operated with a Nepa- lese contingent of seven thousand men. With this small army Wang-hiuen-tse descended into the plains, and, after a three days' siege, succeeded in storming the chief city of Tirhut. Three thousand of the garrison were beheaded, and ten thousand persons were drowned in the neighbouring river. Arjuna fled, and, having collected a fresh force, offered battle. He was again disastrously defeated and taken prisoner. The victor promptly beheaded a thousand prisoners, and in a later action captured the entire royal family, took twelve thousand prisoners, and obtained thirty thou- sand head of cattle. Five hundred and eighty walled towns made their submission, and Kumara, the King of Eastern India, who had attended Harsha 's assem-