Emperor Harsha of Kanauj briefly reunited northern India after the post-Gupta fragmentation, patronizing both Buddhism and Hindu scholarship; the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang's account is a primary source for his reign.
Harsha's empire dissolved immediately upon his death in 647 CE without a designated heir; his minister Arunasva briefly seized power but was deposed, and the empire fragmented into regional kingdoms with no unified successor.
The atlas holds 2 border frames for Harsha's Empire (Vardhana / Pushyabhuti Dynasty) — the shape you scrub through changes in 606 · 618.
The standard political biography of Harsha drawing on epigraphy and the account of Xuanzang.
The primary source the blurb itself cites: the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang's firsthand account of India during Harsha's reign, translated by Beal.
Banabhatta was Emperor Harsha's own court poet and wrote this romance during his reign; often called one of the world's earliest novels, it is a direct, undisputed era/place match.