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When it was decided that IPL should be conducted out of the country there were many theories that came up saying that it would not be as successful as the first edition which was conducted at home. It was believed that the stadiums would remain empty as people would not turn up to see matches of the player not of their own country, though a few of them are in different teams. The players would not get the support that they could expect back home in India. So technically, there would not be much of the sponsors and it would be a flop in financial terms.

Well all the theories are wrong. This is what this second edition has proved. With Jam packed stadiums, and people from every walk of life turning up to watch the superfast form of the game, it can be easily believed that spectators as well as the players have enjoyed the game to the maximum in South Africa. Games like that of one between the Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab at the Wanderers in Johannesburg is an example where local people have supported both the teams to the maximum. Even those who just have come up to see the game could enjoy the kind of uncertainty it can bring in a game. Nothing was sure as to who is going to win the game. People have enjoyed IPL in South Africa as well. Of course it would have been a great difference had it been played here back in India.

 It is also heard now that with the kind of support this tournament has got in South Africa, it is advised to the IPL management to making it a touring tournament. Everyone is pretty sure about the success of the tournament on the foreign soil as well. In financial terms as well, with the kind of turn up the people have shown it can be easily imagined that no matter on which part of the earth the game of cricket is being played, when it is being played between the teams having superstars from the world, the cricket fans will reach there to enjoy the game and support their favorite stars. When asked to Shaun Pollack the coach of the Mumbai Indians, he said that once every two or three years it can be played outside India, however it should be played primarily in India because it is Indian Premier League. He also said that in South Africa there is no other game of Cricket is going on which has pulled the local fans. Also there are many Indian origin people living in India who turned up to see the games and it was not a mission for the people of India to come to South Africa to watch the games.  The games played in the last week have been that exciting and close that even if you are an impartial spectator you could not help but be interested.

It is in fact a good idea for the promotion of the game of cricket and more importantly for the promotion of IPL itself that it should be played outside the country every alternate year. With more and more international players playing in the IPL it would allow the foreign spectators to see them playing live on their home grounds as well. Nextly, by conducting IPL outside India, the management and the team owners could earn more money by attracting the sponsors from outside India. This may ensure some more foreign currency coming to India. This cricketing tourism would be an added flavor for the cricket fans in India as well. On the other hand by playing it outside India every alternate year, we would also let the Indian fans enjoy the game and the favorite players at the home grounds.

When Rajyavardhana died, Harsha was only sixteen years old. Harsha Vardhana assumed the reigns of Thaneshwar and soon proceeded against the king of Gaur, who had by then occupied Kanauj. In the course of his march, Harsha made a treaty of friendship with Bhaskaravarman, the king of Assam. Soon he met Bhandi, the commander of Assamese, army and learnt from him that sister Rajyashri had escaped from the prison and had fled away to the Vindhya forests. Harsha proceeded to the south to trace his sister. He found her just when she was going to throw herself into fire to burn herself as a Sati. He brought her back to live with him for the rest of her life.

After the recovery of Rajyashri, Harsha thought of uniting the two kingdoms of Thaneshwar and Kanauj because Grahavarman, the late king of Kanauj and the husband of Rajyashri, died without leaving male issue. Accordingly in 606 AD the kingdoms of Kanauj and Thaneshwar were thus united into one Kingdom and the military resources of both were at the disposal of Harsha. He became the ruler and assumed the family title of Vardhana. He made Kanauj as his capital. He decided like all other great rulers to set himself on the task of conquest of small neighboring states and to establish a paramount power in India.

We do not get any definite details about the conquests of Harsha. But we find some vague information from the accounts of Hiuen Tsang. He writes that proceeding eastwards; Harsha invaded the states which had refused to submit allegiance and waged incessant warfare until he had brought the Five Indies under allegiance. But he dint mention when and which kingdoms were conquered. The “Five Indies” probably means the five Janapadas of Punjab and Haryana, Kanya Kubja, Mithila, Gaudha and Utkal. All these territories were perhaps included in Harsha’s Kingdom. The West Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir the kings of the last two states acknowledge him as their suzerain. The southern limit of his dominions was the river Narbada. The king of Vallabhi in the West and the Gupta ruler of Malwa also recognized his supremacy. The ruler of Assam had entered into a political alliance with Harsha. It is not clear what were his relations with the rulers of Kashmir and the North West Punjab. But Bana’s Harshacharita indicates that Harsha’s father had made his power felt in Gandhara, in the Indus land, in the country of the Hunas and probably in Kashmir.

The account of Hiuen Tsang indicate that the western Punjab at the time of his visit was ruled  over by the king of Kapisa or Kabul  in the South of Hindukush, Sindhu which is Sindh sagar Doab and the adjoining area and Kashmira. Hiuen Tsang found Kapisa under a Kashatria king whose power extended more than ten of the neighboring lands. He was a benevolent ruler and a follower of Buddhism. Hiuen Tsang does not mention the names of kingdoms over which the king of Kapisa ruled. He, however, adds that the states of Lampaka, Nagrahara and Gandhara formed the part of territory governed by him. Kashmir and the Salt Range in Punjab formed a single kingdom. The most important kingdom in the Punjab was Chehaka or Takka with its capital near modern Sialkot. It extended from the river Indus below the Salt Range in the west to the river Beas in the east. Malusthana or Multan was another kingdom in Punjab. Parvata was mountainous kingdom lying to the north west of Sialkot. Another state which probably formed a part of the Takka State was Chinabhukti, the Chinot Region on the river Chenab.

Hiuen Tsang also mentions a number of small kingdoms in the east Punjab and the hilly regions to the north east. These were Kultuas or the Kulu region in the Himachal Pradesh, Shatadru or the regions about river Yamuna in Ambala District and Jalandhar. Tsang does not give any information about the status of these Kingdoms. It is presumed that they formed a part of Harsha’s empire.