<P> According to the Chinese Buddhist traveler Xuanzang, Harsha became a devout Buddhist at some point in his life . Xuanzang states that Harsha banned animal slaughter for food, and built monasteries at the places visited by Gautama Buddha . He erected several thousand 100 - feet high stupas on the banks of the Ganges river, and built well - maintained hospices for travelers and poor people on highways across India . He organized an annual assembly of global scholars, and bestowed charitable alms on them . Every five years, he held a great assembly called Moksha . Xuanzang also describes a 21 - day religious festival organized by Harsha in Kannauj; during this festival, Harsha and his subordinate kings performed daily rituals before a life - sized golden statue of the Buddha . </P> <P> Since Harsha's own records describe him as Shaivite, his conversion to Buddhism would have happened, if at all, in the later part of his life . Even Xuanzang states that Harsha patronized scholars of all religions, not just Buddhist monks . </P> <P> Harsha is widely believed to be the author of three Sanskrit plays Ratnavali, Nagananda and Priyadarsika . While some believe (e.g., Mammata in Kavyaprakasha) that it was Bana, Harsha's court poet who wrote the plays as a paid commission, Wendy Doniger is "persuaded, however, that king Harsha really wrote the plays...himself ." </P>

Who is generally considered to be the greatest ruler in the history of india