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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

‘Harsha owes his greatness largely not to any real achievements but to formulate descriptions by two famous men.’ Discuss

  • UPSC 1987
  • Guptas, Vakatakas and Vardhanas

The claim is deliberately provocative — it asks whether "Harsha the great" is a historical fact or a literary artefact — and the honest answer requires separating what can be verified independently of Banabhatta's Harshacharita and Xuanzang's Si-Yu-Ki from what rests on their word alone.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The dependency problem
  • What can be verified independently
  • Where the "formulated description" argument is strongest
  • Motive and genre, not fabrication
  • Verdict

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