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Samudragupta

May 04, 2023

"Samudra Gupta" redirects here. For the Bangladeshi poet and journalist, see Samudra Gupta (poet).

Samudragupta (Gupta script: Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta, (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty's political and military power.

Samudragupta
Maharajadhiraja
Coin of Samudragupta, with Garuda pillar, emblem of Gupta Empire. The name Sa-mu-dra in an early version of the Gupta Brahmi script, appears vertically under the left arm of the king.[1]
Gupta Emperor
Reignc.335–375 CE
PredecessorChandragupta I, possibly Kacha
SuccessorChandragupta II, or possibly Ramagupta
Bornc. 318 CE[citation needed]
Diedc. 380 CE
SpouseDattadevi
IssueChandragupta II, and possibly Ramagupta
HouseGupta Dynasty
FatherChandragupta I
MotherKumaradevi
ReligionHinduism (Vaishnavism)
Inscription:

Mahārājadhirāja Shrī Samudragupta
"Great King of Kings, Lord Samudragupta"
in the Gupta script, on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.[2]

The Allahabad Pillar inscription, a prashasti (eulogy) composed by his courtier Harishena, credits him with extensive military conquests. It suggests that he defeated several kings of northern India, and annexed their territories into his empire. He also marched along the south-eastern coast of India, advancing as far south as Kanchipuram in the Pallava kingdom. In addition, he subjugated several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies. At the height of his power, his empire extended from Ravi River in the west (present-day Punjab) to the Brahmaputra River in the east (present-day Assam), and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to central India in the south-west; several rulers along the south-eastern coast were also his tributaries. The inscription also states that many neighbouring rulers tried to please him, which probably refers to his friendly relations with them.

He performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to prove his imperial sovereignty and remained undefeated in battle. His gold coins and inscriptions suggest that he was an accomplished poet, and also played musical instruments such as the veena. His expansionist policy was continued by his son and successor Chandragupta II.

Period

Modern scholars variously assign the start of Samudragupta's reign from c. 319 CE to c. 350 CE.[3]

The inscriptions of the Gupta kings are dated in the Gupta calendar era, whose epoch is generally dated to c. 319 CE. However, the identity of the era's founder is a matter of debate, and scholars variously attribute its establishment to Chandragupta I or Samudragupta.[4][5] Chandragupta I probably had a long reign, as the Prayag Pillar inscription suggests that he appointed his son as his successor, presumably after reaching an old age. However, the exact period of his reign is uncertain. For these reasons, the beginning of Samudragupta's reign is also uncertain.[3]

If Samudragupta is regarded as the founder of the Gupta era, his ascension can be dated to c. 319–320 CE.[6] On the other hand, if his father Chandragupta I is regarded as the founder of the Gupta era, Samudragupta's ascension must be dated to a later date. Samudragupta was a contemporary of King Meghavarna of Anuradhapura Kingdom, but the regnal period of this king is also uncertain. According to the traditional reckoning adopted in Sri Lanka for Buddha's death, he ruled during 304–332 CE; but the modified chronology adopted by modern scholars such as Wilhelm Geiger assigns his reign to 352–379 CE. Accepting the former date would place Samudragupta's ascension to c. 320 CE; accepting the latter date would place it around c. 350 CE.[5]

The end of Samudragupta's reign is also uncertain.[5] Samudragupta's granddaughter Prabhavatigupta is known to have married during the reign of his son Chandragupta II, in c. 380 CE (assuming c. 319 CE as the epoch of the Gupta era). Therefore, the end of Samudragupta's reign can be placed before this year.[7]

Various estimates of Samudragupta's regnal period include:

Ascension

Samudragupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and Queen Kumaradevi, who came from the Licchavi clan.[9] His fragmentary Eran stone inscription states that his father selected him as the successor because of his "devotion, righteous conduct, and valour". His Allahabad Pillar inscription similarly describes how Chandragupta I called him a noble person in front of the courtiers, and appointed him to "protect the earth". These descriptions suggest that Chandragupta I renounced the throne in his old age, and appointed his son as the next emperor.[10]

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, when Chandragupta I appointed him as the next emperor, the faces of other people of "equal birth" bore a "melancholy look".[11] One interpretation suggests that these other people were neighbouring kings, and Samudagupta's ascension to the throne was uncontested.[12] Another theory is that these other people were Gupta princes with a rival claim to the throne.[11] If Emperor Chandragputa I indeed had multiple sons, it is likely that Samudragupta's background as the son of a Lichchhavi princess worked in his favour.[13]

The coins of a Gupta ruler named Kacha, whose identity is debated by modern scholars, describe him as "the exterminator of all kings".[14] These coins closely resemble the coins issued by Samudragupta.[15] According to one theory, Kacha was an earlier name of Samudragupta and the emperor later adopted the regnal name Samudra ("Ocean"), after extending his empire's dominion as far as the ocean.[16] An alternative theory is that Kacha was a distinct king (possibly a rival claimant to the throne[14][16]) who flourished before or after Samudragupta.[15]

Military career

 
Possible extent of the Gupta Empire, near the end of Samudragupta's reign, c. 375 CE

The Gupta inscriptions suggest that Samudragupta had a remarkable military career. The Eran stone inscription of Samudragupta states that he had brought "the whole tribe of kings" under his suzerainty, and that his enemies were terrified when they thought of him in their dreams.[17] The inscription does not name any of the defeated kings (presumably because its primary objective was to record the installation of a Vishnu idol in a temple), but it suggests that Samudragupta had subdued several kings by this time.[18] The later Allahabad Pillar inscription, a panegyric written by Samudragupta's minister and military officer Harishena, credits him with extensive conquests.[19] It gives the most detailed account of Samudragupta's military conquests, listing them in mainly geographical and partly chronological order.[20] It states that Samudragupta fought a hundred battles, acquired a hundred wounds that looked like marks of glory, and earned the title Prakrama (valourous).[21] The Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II describes Samudragupta as an "exterminator of all kings", as someone who had no equally powerful enemy, and as a person whose "fame was tasted by the waters of the four oceans".[18]

Modern scholars offer various opinions regarding Samudragupta's possible motivations behind his extensive military campaigns. The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that Samudragupta's aim was the unification of the earth (dharani-bandha), which suggests that he may have aspired to become a Chakravartin (a universal ruler).[21] The Ashvamedha performances by the Nagas, whom he defeated, may have influenced him as well. His southern expedition may have been motivated by economic considerations of controlling the trade between India and South-East Asia.[22]

Early victories

The early portion of the Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that Samudragupta "uprooted" Achyuta, Nagasena, and a ruler whose name is lost in the damaged portion of the inscription. The third name ends in "-ga", and is generally restored as Ganapati-naga,[13] because Achyuta-nandin (presumably same as Achyuta), Nagasena, and Ganapati-naga are once again mentioned in the later part of the inscription, among the kings of Aryavarta (northern India) defeated by Samudragupta.[23][24] These kings are identified as the rulers of present-day western Uttar Pradesh (see below).[22] According to the inscription, Samudragupta reinstated these rulers after they sought his forgiveness.[25]

It is not clear why the names of these three kings is repeated later in the inscription. According to one theory, these three kings were vassal rulers who rebelled against Samudragupta after the death of his father. Samudragupta crushed the rebellion, and reinstated them after they sought his forgiveness. Later, these rulers rebelled once more, and Samudragupta defeated them again.[25] Another possibility is that the author of the inscription thought it necessary to repeat these names while describing Samudragupta's later conquests in Aryavarta, simply because these kings belonged to that region.[26]

Samudragupta dispatched an army to capture the scion of the Kota family, whose identity is uncertain. The Kotas may have been the rulers of present-day Punjab, where coins bearing the legend "Kota", and featuring a symbol of Shiva and his bull, have been discovered.[25]

The inscription states that the Gupta army captured the Kota ruler, while Samudragupta himself "played" (or pleased himself) in a city called Pushpa[27] (the name Pushpa-pura referred to Pataliputra at Samudragupta's time, although it came to be used for Kanyakubja in the later period).[28] Modern scholars have interpreted the word "played" in various ways: According to one theory, this portion describes Samudragupta's achievements as a prince.[13] An alternative interpretation is that Samudragupta dispatched his army on these campaigns, while he himself stayed at the capital.[25] It is also possible that the poet intended to convey that these campaigns were minor affairs that did not require the king's direct involvement at the battlefront.[27]

Southern conquests

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta captured (and later released) the following kings of Dakshinapatha, the southern region:[19]

  1. Mahendra of Kosala
  2. Vyaghra-raja of Mahakantara
  3. Mantaraja of Kurala
  4. Mahendragiri of Pishtapura
  5. Svamidatta of Kottura
  6. Damana of Erandapalla
  7. Vishnugopa of Kanchi
  8. Nilaraja of Avamukta
  9. Hastivarman of Vengi
  10. Ugrasena of Palakka
  11. Kubera of Devarashtra
  12. Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura

The exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars,[29] but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India.[30] Samudragupta most probably passed through the forest tract of central India, reached the eastern coast in present-day Odisha, and then marched south along the coast of Bay of Bengal.[31]

 
Text of the Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta, in the Brahmi script.
 
Translation of the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta

The inscription states that Samudragupta later released these kings, and favoured (anugraha) them. Most modern scholars theorize that Samudragupta reinstated these rulers as his tributaries. M. G. S. Narayanan interprets the word anugraha differently based on its occurrence in the Arthashastra; he theorizes that Samudragupta gave "protection and aid" to these kingdoms in order to secure their alliances.[32]

Some scholars, such as J. Dubreuil and B. V. Krishnarao, theorized that Samudragupta only advanced up to the Krishna river, and was forced to retreat without fighting a battle, when the southern kings formed a strong confederacy to oppose him. According to these scholars, the claim that Samudragupta released these kings is an attempt by Samudragupta's courtier to cover up the emperor's failure.[33] However, there is no evidence of the southern kings forming a confederacy against Samudragupta. Historian Ashvini Agrawal notes that setting free a captured king is inline with the ancient Indian political ideals. For example, Kautilya defines three types of conquerors: the righteous conqueror (dharma-vijayi), who restores the defeated king in exchange for his acknowledgment of the conqueror's suzerainty; the covetous conqueror (lobha-vijayi), who takes away the possessions of the defeated king but spares his life; and the demoniac conqueror (asura-vijayi), who annexes the territory of the defeated king and kills him.[33] Such political ideals existed in the Gupta period too, as evident from Kalidasa's statement in Raghuvamsha that "the righteous victorious monarch (Raghu) only took away the royal glory of the lord of Mahendra who had been captured and released, but not his kingdom." Therefore, it is likely that Samudragupta acted like a righteous conqueror, and restored the defeated kings as his vassals.[34][32]

Mahendra of Kosala
Kosala here refers to Dakshina Kosala, which includes parts of present-day Chhattisgarh and Odisha.[29] One theory identifies Mahendra of Kosala with a Nala king named Mahendraditya.[35]
Vyaghra-raja of Mahakantara
Historian K. P. Jayaswal identifies Mahakantara (literally "great wilderness") as the Bastar-Kanker area in present-day Chhattisgarh.[29] According to another theory, Mahakantara is same as Mahavana, a synonym used as the name for the forest region around present-day Jeypore of Odisha.[36]
Earlier historians identified Mahakantara as a region in central India, and identified Vyaghra-raja with the Vakataka feudatory Vyaghra-deva, whose inscriptions have been found at Nachna. However, this identification is now considered incorrect, as Samudragupta is not known to have fought against the Vakatakas.[29]
Mantaraja of Kurala
The Rawan inscription of the Sharabhapuriya king Narendra, who ruled in the Dakshina Kosala region, mentions an area called Mantaraja-bhukti ("the province of Mantaraja"). Therefore, some historians such as K. D. Bajpai theorize that Mantaraja was a king who ruled in the Dakshina Kosala region.[37] Historian A. M. Shastri disputes this theory, arguing that the ruler of Kosala (that is, Dakshina Kosala) has been mentioned separately in the Allahabad Pillar inscription.[38]
Lorenz Franz Kielhorn speculated that Kurala was same as Kaurala (or Kunala) mentioned in the Aihole inscription of the 7th century king Pulakeshin II, and identified it as the area around the Kolleru Lake in present-day Andhra Pradesh. H. C. Raychaudhuri disputes this identification, pointing out that this region was a part of Hastivarman's Vengi kingdom, which has been mentioned separately in the Allahabad Pillar inscription.[37]
Other proposed identifications of Kurala include Kolada near Bhanjanagar (former Russelkonda) in Odisha;[39] and Kulula, a region mentioned in the Mahendragiri inscription of the 11th century king Rajendra Chola, and identified with Cherla in present-day Telangana.[37]
Mahendragiri of Pishtapura
Pishtapura is modern Pithapuram in Andhra Pradesh. The word giri mentions hill in Sanskrit, and therefore, J. F. Fleet speculated that "Mahendragiri" could not have been a person's name: he suggested that the verse (Mahendragiri-Kautturaka-Svamidatta) referred to a king called "Mahendra", and a place called "Kottura on the hill" which was ruled by Svamidatta. However, Fleet's translation is incorrect: the verse clearly mentions Mahendragiri of Pishtapura and Svamidatta of Kottura as two distinct persons.[40] G. Ramdas interpreted the verse to mean Svamidatta was the ruler of Pishtapura and "Kottura near Mahendragiri", while Bhau Daji translated it as "Svamidatta of Pishtapura, Mahendragiri and Kottura". However, these translations are also incorrect.[41] The concern about the king's name is invalid: several historical records mention names ending in the word giri or its synonym adri.[40][42]
Svamidatta of Kottura
Svamidatta was probably one of the chiefs who resisted Samudragupta's passage through the Kalinga region.[43] Kottura has been identified with modern Kotturu (or Kothur) in Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh (near Paralakhemundi, Odisha).[44] Alternative proposals identify it with other similarly named places in present-day Andhra Pradesh.[36]
Damana of Erandapalla
Proposed identifications of Erandapalla include Errandapali near Srikakulam, a town near Mukhalingam, Yendipalli in Visakhapatnam district, and Endipalli in West Godavari district.[45]
Vishnugopa of Kanchi
Vishnugopa is identified as the Pallava ruler of Kanchipuram: Samudragupta's invasion probably occurred when he acted as a regent for his nephew Skandavarman III.[46]
Nilaraja of Avamukta
The identity of Avamukta is uncertain.[47] The Brahmanda Purana mentions an area called "Avimukta-kshetra", located on the banks of the Gautami river (that is, Godavari), which may be identified with Avamukta of Samudragupta's inscription.[48] Some historical texts use the name Avamukta-kshetra for the region around Varanasi,[46] but Varanasi is not located in Dakshinapatha, and therefore, was certainly not the Avamukta mentioned in the inscription.[47]
Hastivarman of Vengi
Hastivarman was the Shalankayana king of Vengi (modern Pedavegi) in Andhra Pradesh.[49]
Ugrasena of Palakka
J. Dubreuil identified Palakka with the place referred to as Palakkada in several Pallava inscriptions; this location was probably the headquarters of a Pallava viceroyalty. For example, the Uruvapalli grant inscription of Yuva-maharaja (Prince) Vishnugopa-varman was issued from Palakkada.[50]
G. Ramdas identified it with Pakkai located between Udayagiri and Venkatagiri in the Nellore district, and theorized that it was same as the place referred to as Paka-nadu, Panka-nadu, or Pakai-nadu in the inscriptions of the 10th century Chola king Rajaraja I.[50]
Kubera of Devarashtra
According to one theory, Deva-rashtra was located in the historical Kalinga region of present-day northern Andhra Pradesh. The Srungavarapukota inscription of the Vasishtha king Anantavarman, issued from Pishtapura in this area, describes his grandfather Gunavarman as Deva-rashtradhipati ("Lord of Deva-rashtra"). The Kasimkota inscription of the 10th century Vengi Chalukya king Bhima I mentions a vishaya (district) called Deva-rashtra in Kalinga. Based on this, J. Dubreuil identified Devarashtra as a location in the present-day Yelamanchili taluka of Andhra Pradesh.[50] During Samudragupta's period, the Kalinga region appears to have been divided among several small kingdoms, which may have included Kottura, Pishtapura, and Devarashtra.[51]
Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura
B. V. Krishnarao speculated that Dhananjaya of Samudragupta's inscription may be same as the Dhananjaya from whom the chieftains of Dhanyakataka (modern Dharanikota in Andhra Pradesh) claimed descent. He identified Kusthalapura with modern Kolanupaka (or Kollipak) located on the banks of the Aleru River in present-day Telangana.[30] Another theory identifies Kusthalapura with a tract around the Kushasthali river near Dakshina Kosala.[48]

Northern conquests

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta "forcibly uprooted" the following kings of Aryavarta, the northern region:[34]

  1. Rudradeva
  2. Matila
  3. Nagadatta
  4. Chandravarman
  5. Ganapatinaga
  6. Nagasena
  7. Achyuta-nandin
  8. Balavarman

Unlike the southern kings, the inscription does not mention the territories ruled by these kings, which suggests that their kingdoms were annexed to the Gupta empire.[52] The inscription also mentions that Samudragupta defeated some other kings, but does not mention their names, presumably because the poet saw them as unimportant.[34]

Rudradeva
Rudradeva may be same as a king named Rudra, whose coin has been found at Kaushambi.[53] Another theory identifies Rudradeva with a Western Kshatrapa (Shaka) king of Ujjain, either Rudradaman II or Rudrasena III.[54]
Some earlier scholars, such as K. N. Dikshit and K. P. Jayaswal, identified Rudradeva with the Vakataka king Rudrasena I. However, this identification seems to be inaccurate, because Samudragupta's inscription explicitly mentions Rudradeva as a king of the northern region (Aryavarta), while the Vakatakas ruled in the southern region (Dakshinapatha). An argument cited in support of this identification is that Rudrasena bore the title Maharaja ("great king") as opposed to samrat ("emperor"), signifying his subordinate status to Samudragupta. However, multiple sovereign Vakataka kings bore the title Maharaja: only Pravarasena I assumed the title samrat after performing a vajapeya ritual sacrifice. An inscription of Rudrasena's descendant Prithvishena II mentions that the Vakataka kingdom had been prospering for a hundred years, suggesting that the Vakataka rule remained uninterrupted during Rudrasena's reign.[54]
Matila
The identity of Matila is not certain.[55][53] Earlier, Matila was identified with Mattila, who is known from a terracotta seal discovered at Bulandshahr.[54] However, there is no evidence that this Mattila was a ruler, and epigraphist Jagannath Agrawal has dated the seal to the 6th century on palaeographic basis.[56]
Nagadatta
Nagadatta is not known from any other inscriptions or coins, but his name has led to suggestions that he may have been the ruler of a Naga branch.[55] D. C. Sircar theorized that he was an ancestor of a family of Gupta viceroys, whose names ended in -datta. Tej Ram Sharma speculates that he may have been a Naga ruler, whose successors were sent as Gupta viceroys in Bengal after the family accepted the Gupta suzerainty.[57]
Chandravarman
Chandravarman of Samudragupta's inscription has been identified with Chandravarman, the ruler of Pushkarana (modern Pakhanna) in present-day West Bengal.[55] P. L. Gupta and some earlier scholars have identified this ruler with another Chandravarman, who has been mentioned in an inscription discovered at Mandsaur in present-day Madhya Pradesh.[58][53] Tej Ram Sharma disputes this identification, arguing that Samudragupta "exterminated" all kings of Aryavarta and annexed their territories, as suggested by the Allahabad Pillar inscription; however, Naravarman – a brother of Chandravarman of Mandsaur – is known to have been ruling as a feudatory in 404 CE.[57]
Ganapatinaga
Ganapati-naga is identified as a Naga king. Several coins bearing the legend Ganapati have been discovered at Padmavati, Vidisha, and Mathura. Although these coins do not bear the suffix "naga", they are similar to the ones issued by the other Naga kings such as Skanda-naga, Brihaspati-naga, and Deva-naga. Since hundreds of Ganapati's coins have been found at Mathura, it appears that he was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Mathura.[55]
Nagasena
The 7th century text Harshacharita refers to the Naga king Nagasena, who "met with his doom in Padmavati, as his secret plan was divulged by a sarika bird". Assuming this describes a historical person, it appears that Nagasena was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Padmavati in present-day Madhya Pradesh.[55]
Achyuta-nandin
Achyuta-nandin seems to be same as Achyuta, who is mentioned earlier in the inscription; his name may have been shortened in the earlier verses for metrical purposes.[53] An alternatively theory identifies Achyuta and Nandin as two distinct kings.[59]
Achyuta was the ruler of Ahichchhatra in present-day Uttar Pradesh, where coins attributed to him have been discovered.[25] These coins bear the legend "Achyu", and are similar to the coins issued by the Naga rulers. This has led to suggestions that the Achyuta-nandin defeated by Samudragupta was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Ahichhatra.[55]
Balavarman
V. V. Mirashi identified Bala-varman (or Balavarma) as a ruler of the Magha dynasty of Kosambi.[60] U. N. Roy suggested that Bala-varman may have been an ancestor of the Maukhari kings, who initially served as Gupta vassals, and whose names ended in -varman.[61] Another theory identifies him with the successor of Shridhara-varman, the Shaka ruler of Eran. Samudragupta may have ended the dynasty of Eran, as suggested by the discovery of his inscription at Eran.[60]
K. N. Dikshit identified Balavarman with Balavarman, a ruler of the Varman dynasty of Kamarupa; however, Balavarman was not a contemporary of Samudragupta.[62] Moreover, Kamarupa has been mentioned as a distinct frontier kingdom later on in the Allahabad Pillar inscription.[61]

Conquests in the forest region

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta reduced all the kings of the forest region (atavika) to subservience.[63] This forest region may have been located in central India: the inscriptions of the Parivrajaka dynasty, which ruled in this area, state that their ancestral kingdom was located within the 18 forest kingdoms.[60]

Frontier kings and tribes

 
Coin minted in the Punjab area with the name "Samudra" (    Sa-mu-dra), derived from the style of late Kushan Empire coinage, and tamgha  . These atypical coins follow the fall of the last Kushan ruler Kipunada, and just precede the coinage of the first Kidarite Huns in northwestern India. Circa CE 350–375.[64][65]

The Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies paid Samudragupta tributes, obeyed his orders, and performed obeisance before him.[63][66] The inscription explicitly describes the five kingdoms as frontier territories: the areas controlled by the tribes were also probably located at the frontier of Samudrgupta's kingdom.[52]

"Samudragupta, whose formidable rule was propitiated with the payment of all tributes, execution of orders and visits (to his court) for obeisance by such frontier rulers as those of Samataṭa, Ḍavāka, Kāmarūpa, Nēpāla, and Kartṛipura, and, by the Mālavas, Ārjunāyanas, Yaudhēyas, Mādrakas, Ābhīras, Prārjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas, Kharaparikas and other nations."

— Lines 22–23 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (r.c.350–375 CE).[67]

Historian Upinder Singh theorizes that the relationship of these frontier rulers to the Gupta emperor had "certain elements of a feudatory relationship".[66] According to historian R. C. Majumdar, it is likely that Samudragupta's conquests in Aryavarta and Dakshinapatha increased his reputation to such an extent that the frontier rulers and tribes submitted him without a fight.[68]

The frontier kingdoms included:[66]

 
"Davaka" (Brahmi script:    ) in the Allahabad Pillar inscription
  1. Samatata, located in the present-day Bengal.[69]
  2. Davaka, located in present-day Assam.[69]
  3. Kamarupa, located in present-day Assam.[69]
  4. Nepala, located in present-day Nepal.[69] According to one theory, Nepala here refers to the Licchavi kingdom, whose rulers may have been the maternal relatives of Samudragupta.[70]
  5. Karttripura, probably located in the present-day Uttarakhand: the inscription appears to name frontier kingdoms in geographical order proceeding from Bengal to Assam to Nepal; Uttarakhand would be next in the sequence.[69] A now-obsolete theory identified Karttripura with Kartarpur in present-day Punjab, but Kartarpur was established much later, in the 16th century, by Guru Arjan.[69]

The tribal oligarchies included:[66]

 
 
Map of the Gupta Empire circa 400–450 CE, according to Joseph E. Schwartzberg, with contemporary polities.[71]
  1. Malavas: During Samudragupta's period, they were probably headquartered at Karkota-nagara (present-day Nagar Fort in Rajasthan), where several thousands of their coins have been discovered.[72]
  2. Arjunayanas: Their coins have been found in the Mathura region.[73] According to numismatist John Allan, the Arjunayanas resided in the triangle connecting the present-day Delhi, Jaipur and Agra.[72]
  3. Yaudheyas: They ruled the area between the Sutlej and the Yamuna rivers after the Kushans. They seem to have become Samudragupta's tributaries.[74]
  4. Madrakas: They are generally placed between the Ravi and the Chenab rivers.[74]
  5. Abhiras: Epigraphic and literary evidence suggests that they ruled in western India during Samudragupta's period.[75]
  6. Sanakanikas: They appear to have ruled the region around Udayagiri in present-day Madhya Pradesh. An inscription found at Udayagiri refers to a Sanakanika chief as a feudatory of Chandragupta II: this chief and his two predecessors are described as "Maharajas", which suggests that Samudragupta allowed the Sanakanika chiefs to rule as his governors after conquering their territory.[76]
  7. Kakas: They may have been the rulers of the area around the Sanchi hill, which has been mentioned as Kakanada in ancient inscriptions.[76]
  8. Prarjunas They may be identified as the Prarjunakas mentioned in the Arthashastra, but their location is uncertain. Various theories place them in central India, including around the present-day Narsinghpur or Narsinghgarh in Madhya Pradesh.[77][78]
  9. Kharaparikas: They may be same as the "Kharaparas" (literally "thief" or "rogue"[79]) mentioned in a 14th-century stone inscription found at Batiyagarh (or Battisgarh) in Damoh district. These Kharaparas are variously identified as an indigenous tribe or freebooters of this region.[77]
    • Some later sources suggest that the Kharaparas were a foreign tribe (possibly Mongols), and the Dingal-language texts use the word "Kharapara" as a synonym for "Muslim", but such an identification is not applicable to Samudragupta's period.[77]
    • There is also some speculation about the Kharaparikas being same as the Gardabhilas mentioned in the Puranas, as the words "Khara" and "Gardabha" both mean "donkey" in Sanskrit. However, very little is known about the Gardabhilas from historical sources.[80]

Relations with other rulers

Samudragupta's inscription mentions that several kings tried to please him by attending on him personally; offering him their daughters in marriage (or, according to another interpretation, gifting him maidens[81]); and seeking the use of the Garuda-depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories.[82] These kings included "Daivaputra-Shahi-Shahanushahi, Shaka-Murundas, and the rulers of the island countries such as Simhala".[66][83]

Daivaputra-Shahi-Shahanushahi
 
           
The expression Devaputra Shāhi Shāhānu Shāhi in Middle Brahmi in the Allahabad pillar (Line 23).[84]
Numismatist John Allan theorized that Daivaputra, Shahi, and Shahanushahi were three different states; or alternatively, Shahi-Shahanushahi was a single state. Historian D. R. Bhandarkar argued that Daivaputra ("a descendant of Devaputra") cannot be a stand-alone name, and identified Daivaputra-Shahi-Shahanushahi as a single ruler, possibly Kidara I, who had established a new kingdom Gandhara (present-day Afghanistan).[85]
According to historian Tej Ram Sharma, Daivaputra refers to a Kushan king (Devaputra being a Kushan title); Shahi refers to a sub-branch of the Kushans; and Shahanushahi refers to the Sasanians. These kings controlled parts of present-day Punjab and Afghanistan.[86]
Historian Ashvini Agrwal theorizes that Kidara, who initially ruled as a vassal of the Sasanian king Shapur II, may have formed an alliance with Samudragupta to overthrow his Sasanian overlord. In Raghuvamsha, the Gupta court poet Kalidasa states his hero Raghu defeated the Parasikas (Persians): Agrwal speculates that this description may be inspired from the Kidraite-Gupta victory over the Sasanians.[85]
According to Abraham Eraly and others, the expression Devaputra Shāhi Shāhānu Shāhi evidently designates the Kushan princes, being a deformation of the Kushan regnal titles Devaputra, Shao and Shaonanoshao: "Son of God, King, King of Kings".[84][87][88] This suggests that by the time of the Allahabad inscription the Kushans still ruled in Punjab, but under the suzerainty of the Gupta Emperor.[89]
Shaka-Murundas
 
The vanquished "Śaka" (  ) mentioned by Samudragupta in the Allahabad pillar (Line 23) probably refer to the Saka ruler Sridharavarman in Central India.[90]
Some scholars believe that the term "Shaka-Murundas" refers to a single entity. For example, scholars such as Sten Konow assert that "Murunda" is a Shaka title meaning "lord"; the Kushans also used similar titles (for example, Kanishka is titled a "muroda" in his Zeda inscription).[91]
Other scholars, such as K. P. Jayaswal, believe that Shakas and Murundas are two different groups of people.[91] According to this theory, Shakas here most probably refers to the Western Kshatrapa rulers of Ujjain.[86] Jayaswal notes that the Puranas mention the rule of 13 Murunda kings, and Hemachandra's Abhidhana-Chintamani describes Murunda as people of Lampaka (in present-day Afghanistan). However, Agrwal points out that these sources are of relatively late origin, and it is possible that a branch of the Shakas had come to be known as "Murundas".[91]
The exact location of the Shakas mentioned in Samudragupta's inscription is not certain. V. A. Smith identified them with the Western Kshatrapas, who controlled the western Malwa and Saurashtra regions. D. R. Bhandarkar alternatively identified the Shaka-Murunda ruler with Shridhara-varman, a Shaka ruler whose inscriptions have been discovered at Sanchi (Kanakerha inscription) and Eran.[90] Eran then came under the direct control of Samudragupta, as attested by his Eran inscription.[91][90]
Simhala and other islands
According to the Chinese sources, Meghavarna, the king of Simhala (present-day Sri Lanka), sought to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya, for the convenience of the pilgrims from his kingdom. He sent rich presents for this purpose, and Samudragupta sanctioned his request to build the monastery. Using poetic exaggeration, Samudragupta's courtier Harishena appears to have described this act of diplomacy as an act of subservience.[92] Similarly, the 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang, who visited this monastery, appears to have regarded the rich presents sent by Meghavarna as tribute: he states that Meghavarna "gave in tribute to the king of India all the jewels of his country".[93]
The "other islands" may be the Indianized kingdoms of South-East Asia, but there is no evidence that their rulers were subordinate to Samudragupta.[92] They probably sent embassies to the Gupta empire, and maintained friendly relations.[93] The sea ports of the Gupta Empire, such as Tamralipti, were probably connected to these kingdoms through the marine routes. The widespread use of Sanskrit in these kingdoms may have happened as a result of Gupta influence.[94]

Imperial extent

Samudragupta's empire included a core territory, located in northern India, which was directly controlled by the emperor. Besides, it comprised a number of monarchical and tribal tributary states.[52] Historian R. C. Majumdar theorizes that Samudragupta directly controlled an area extending from the Ravi River (Punjab) in the west to the Brahmaputra River (Bengal and Assam) in the east, and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the Vindhya hills in the south. The south-western boundary of his territory roughly followed an imaginary line drawn from present-day Karnal to Bhilsa.[95]

In the south, Samudragupta's empire definitely included Eran in present-day Madhya Pradesh, where his inscription has been found.[96] The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that he advanced up to Kanchipuram in the south.[30] However, since the claims in the Allahabad Pillar inscription are from a royal eulogy, they must be treated with caution. The southern kings were not under his direct suzerainty: they only paid him tribute.[97]

According to historian Kunal Chakrabarti, Samudragupta's military campaigns weakened the tribal republics of present-day Punjab and Rajasthan, but even these kingdoms were not under his direct suzerainty: they only paid him tribute. Samudragupta's claim of control over other kings is questionable.[97] Historian Ashvini Agrawal notes that a gold coin of the Gadahara tribe bears the legend Samudra, which suggests that Samudragupta's control extended up to the Chenab river in the Punjab region.[98]

Some earlier scholars, such as J. F. Fleet believed that Samudragupta had also conquered a part of Maharashtra, based on the identification of Devarashtra with Maharashtra, and Erandapalla with Erandol, where some Gupta-era remains have been found.[99] However, this theory is no longer considered correct.[30][100]

Coinage

Imitation of Kushan coinage
 
Kushan coin of Vasudeva II, 275–300 CE.
 
Standard type of Samudragupta, 335/350-375 CE
Samudragupta was the first Gupta ruler to mint coins. These were in imitation of the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest.[101][102] The two types of coins are similar, except for the headdress of the ruler (a close-fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat), the Garuda standard instead of the trident, and Samudragupta's jewelry, which is Indian.[101][103]

The coinage of the Gupta Empire was initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest of the subcontinent.[104][102] The Guptas even adopted from the Kushans the name of Dinara for their coinage, which ultimately came from the Roman name Denarius aureus.[105][106][107] The standard coin type of Samudragupta is highly similar to the coinage of the later Kushan rulers, including the sacrificial scene over an altar, the depiction of a halo, while differences include the headdress of the ruler (a close-fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat), the Garuda standard instead of the trident, and Samudragupta's jewelry, which is Indian.[101]

The following types of Samudragupta's coins, inscribed with Sanskrit language legends, have been discovered:[108]

Standard type
  • Obverse legend: Samara-shata-vitata-vijayo-jita-ripurajito-divam-jayati. Translation: "The unconquered one who has conquered his enemies [and] has continuously attained victories in a hundred battles, wins heaven";[109] Alternative translation: "The conqueror of the unconquered fortresses of his enemies, whose victory was spread in hundreds of battles, conquers heaven".[110]
  • Reverse legend: Prakramah[110]
Archer type
  • Depicts Samudragupta standing fully dressed with a bow on his left hand and an arrow on his right hand.[110]
  • Obverse legend: Apratiratha vijitya kshitim sucharitair (or avnipatir) divam Jayati. Translation: "Unopposed by hostile chariots, conquering the earth, he conquers heaven by his good deeds".[110]
  • Reverse legend: Apratirathah[110]
Battle-axe type
  • Obverse legend: Kritanta-parshur-jayatyajitarajajetaji-tah. Translation: "Wielding the axe of Kritanta (the god of death), the unconquered conqueror of unconquered kings is victorious"[110]
  • Reverse legend: Kritanta-parashuh[110]
Tiger-slayer type
  • Depicts the king wearing turban and waist-cloth, and trampling a tiger[110]
  • Legend: Vaghra-prakramah. Translation: "Having the prowess of a tiger".[110]
Lyrist type
  • Depicts Samudragupta wearing waist-cloth and seated cross-legged on a couch, playing a veena that lies on his knees.[110]
  • Legend: the king's name[110]
Ashvamedha type
  • Obverse legend: Rajadhirajah prithvim avitva divam jayatyahritavaji-medhah ("the overlord of kings, who has performed the horse-sacrifice, having protected the earth, conquers the heaven") on the reverse.[111]
    • Some coins have an alternative legend: Rajadhirajah prithvim avitva divam jayatya-prativarya-viryah ("the overlord of kings, of irresistible valour, having protected the earth, wins heaven").[111]
  • Reverse legend: Ashvamedha-prakramah ("possessing the valour to perform the horse-sacrifice")

Various scholars, including numismatist John Allan, consider that the gold coins bearing the portraits of Chandragupta and Kumaradevi were issued by Samudragupta to commemorate his parents,[112][102] while others have attributed the issue of these coins to Chandragupta himself.[9][113]

  • Coins of Samudragupta
  •  

    A gold coin of Samudragupta

  •  

    Commemorative type of Chandragupta I: this coin is in the name of Chandragupta I, but since no other coin types of Chandragupta are known, this is thought to be a commemorative issue minted by his son Samudragupta.[112][102][103]

  •  

    Ashvamedha type coin

  •  

    Lyrist type coin

Inscriptions

 
Samudragupta inscriptions on Allahabad pillar.

Two inscriptions from Samudragupta's reign have been discovered:[8]

Fleet theorized that the Allahabad Pillar inscription was posthumous, and was issued during the reign of Chandragupta II, but modern scholars disagree with this theory.[114]

Two other records are attributed to Samudragupta's reign, but the genuineness of these records is disputed:[115]

  • Nalanda inscription, dated to the regnal year 5
  • Gaya inscription, dated to the regnal year 9

Both these inscriptions state that they were written at the order of the Gupta officer Gopaswamin. Like the Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II, these records describe Samudragupta as the "restorer of the Ashvamedha sacrifice". It seems suspicious that records issued so early in Samudragupta's reign mention this claim, which does not appear in the later Allahabad Pillar inscription. One possibility is that these records were issued during Samudragupta's reign, and were damaged after some time, because of which they were restored during the reign of Chandragupta II.[115]

Eran inscription

 
Eran inscription of Samudragupta.

At Eran, an inscription by Samudragupta seems to succeed that of a local Saka ruler named Sridharavarman, already known from the Kanakerha inscription at Sanchi and another inscription in Eran. Samudragupta may therefore have ousted Sridharavarman in his campaigns to the West.[116] The Eran Inscription of Samudragupta is presently stored in Kolkata Indian Museum. The inscription, in red sandstone, was found not far to the west of the ruined temple of the boar. It reads:

(Lines 1 to 6, containing the whole of the first verse and the first half of the second, are entirely broken away and lost.)
(Line 7.)— ....................................in giving gold ...................................... [by whom] Prithu and Râghava and other kings [were outshone.]
(L. 9.)— . . . . . . . . . there was Samudragupta, equal to (the gods) Dhanada and Antaka in (respectively) pleasure and anger; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by policy; (and) [by whom] the whole tribe of kings upon the earth was [overthrown] and reduced to the loss of the wealth of their sovereignty;—
(L. 13.)— [Who], by . . . . . . . . . satisfied by devotion and policy and valour,—by the glories, consisting of the consecration by besprinkling, &c., that belong to the title of 'king,'— (and) by . . . . . . . . . . . combined with supreme satisfaction, — .................. (was) a king whose vigour could not be resisted;—
(L. 17.)— [By whom] there was married a virtuous and faithful wife, whose dower was provided by (his) manliness and prowess; who was possessed of an abundance of [elephants] and horses and money and grain; who delighted in the houses of .............; (and) who went about in the company of many sons and sons' sons;—
(L. 21.)— Whose deeds in battle (are) kindled with prowess; (whose) . . . . . . very mighty fame is always circling round about; and whose enemies are terrified, when they think, even in the intervals of dreaming, of (his). . . . . . . that are vigorous in war; —
(L. 25.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in a place in Airikina (Eran), the city of his own enjoyment. . . . . . . . . . . . . has been set up, for the sake of augmenting his own fame.
(L. 27.) — . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . when the king said . . . . . . .

(The rest of the inscription is entirely broken away and lost.)

— Eran inscription of Samudragupta[117]

Religion

Samudragputa's Eran inscription records the installation of a Vishnu idol in a temple.[18] The Nalanda and Gaya inscriptions attributed to Samudragupta explicitly call him a devotee of Vishnu (parama-Bhagavata)[118] He was also tolerant towards Buddhism, and permitted the construction of a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the Anuradhapura king Meghavarna at Bodh Gaya in his territory.[119]

The Allahabad Pillar inscription states that Samudragupta was engaged in the performance of the Brahmanical ceremonies of Sattra (Soma sacrifices) and Diksha. It describes him as "the giver of many hundreds of thousands of cows".[120] The Mathura stone inscription of his son Chandragupta II also describes him as the giver of "millions of cows and gold".[18] It appears that Samudragupta donated these cows to the Brahmins who officiated his Sattra and Diksha ceremonies.[120] The Eran inscription states that Samudragupta surpassed Prithu, Raghava and other legendary kings in giving gold.[8]

The Allahabad Pillar inscription alludes to his divine kingship, comparing him to the Parama Purusha (supreme being), and also with deities such as Dhanada (Kubera), Varuna, Indra, and Antaka (Yama).[120] The Eran inscription states that he was equal to Kubera and Yama in pleasure and anger respectively.[8] The Mathura stone inscription similarly describes him as equal to the deities Kubera, Varuna, Indra, and Yama.[18]

Ashvamedha

Samudragupta performed the Ashvamedha ritual, which was used by the ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty, and issued gold coins (see Coinage section) to mark this performance.[121] The copper-plate inscriptions of Samudragupta's granddaughter Prabhavati-Gupta, who was a Vakataka queen, describe him as the performer of multiple horse sacrifices. According to one theory, Samudragupta indeed performed more than one horse sacrifices, as attested by the presence of two different legends on his Ashvamedha coins. Another theory dismisses the claim on Prabhavati-Gupta's inscriptions as an exaggeration or a scribal error since this claim does not appear on the inscriptions of Samudragupta or his successors.[111]

The Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II describes Samudragupta as "the restorer of the Ashvamedha sacrifice that had been long in abeyance" (Smith's translation). This claim also appears in the inscriptions of the subsequent Gupta kings,[18] as well as the spurious Gaya and Nalanda inscriptions attributed to Samudragupta.[118] However, several kings including those from Bharashiva, Vakataka, Shalankayana, and Pallava dynasties had had performed Ashvamedha in the preceding years.[111][122] Different scholars have attempted to explain this anomaly in different ways: H. C. Raychaudhuri suggests that the Gupta court poet did not know about these kings.[123] According to R. C. Majumdar, Samudragupta was the first king several centuries to perform the sacrifice in the Magadha region.[118] Majumdar also theorizes that the Ashvamedha ceremony performed by Bharashiva, Vakataka, and other near-contemporary kings was "more of a religious nature", while Samudragupta's ceremony actually involved proving his imperial sovereignty.[124] Similarly, scholars such as S. K. Aiyangar and D. R. Bhandarkar, theorize that unlike the other kings, Samudragupta performed a "full-fledged" Ashvamedha ceremony. Others, such as V. S. Pathak and Jagannath Agrawal, interpret the verse to mean that Samudragupta performed the horse-sacrifice that lasted for a long-time.[123]

The surviving verses of Samudragupta's own Allahabad Pillar inscription do not mention the Ashvamedha ceremony. According to one theory, this inscription was put up to mark the beginning of the ceremony, as the panegyrics of the sacrificer were an essential part of the Ashvamedha ceremony.[123] It is possible that its first four lines, which are now lost, contained a reference to the ceremony. [118]

Personality

Samudragupta's coins depict him as a man of tall stature and muscular physique.[125] The Allahabad Pillar inscription presents him as a compassionate ruler, stating that his "mind was engaged in providing relief to the low, the poor, the helpless, and the afflicted".[126] It also mentions that he reinstated many royal families which had lost their kingdoms, including the kings defeated by him.[127] At the same time, it states that he maintained strict administration ("Prachanda shasana").[110]

The inscription states that Samudragupta became famous among the learned people because of his poetical works, and earned the epithet "king of poets".[127] This suggests that he composed some poetical works, but none of these works now survive.[127]

The inscription also boasts that Samudragupta put to shame the celestial musician Tumburu and Narada by his lovely performances of music. [110] Samudragupta's musical talents are also corroborated by his gold coins which depict him playing a veena. [127]

The inscription praises Samudragupta's wisdom and intellect,[127] stating that he put to shame the preceptor of the Lord of the Gods (that is, Brihaspati) by his sharp intellect.[110]

Succession

The official records of the Gupta dynasty state that Samudragupta was succeeded by Chandragupta II, who was his son from Dattadevi.[128] Based on a reconstruction of the partially-lost Sanskrit play Devichandraguptam, a section of modern historians believe that Samudragupta was initially succeeded by Ramagupta (presumably the eldest son), who was then dethroned by Chandragupta II.[129][130]

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  111. ^ a b c d Ashvini Agrawal 1989, p. 126.
  112. ^ a b Mookerji, Radhakumud (1997). The Gupta Empire. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 30. ISBN 9788120804401.
  113. ^ Ashvini Agrawal 1989, pp. 91–92.
  114. ^ Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 69.
  115. ^ a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 70.
  116. ^ "During the course of this expedition, he is believed to have attacked and defeated the Saka Chief Shridhar Varman, ruling over Eran-Vidisha region. He then annexed the area and erected a monument at Eran (modern Sagar District) "for the sake cf augmenting his fame"." in Pradesh (India), Madhya; Krishnan, V. S. (1982). Madhya Pradesh: District Gazetteers. Government Central Press. p. 28.
  117. ^ Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, pp20-21
  118. ^ a b c d R. C. Majumdar 1981, p. 32.
  119. ^ Lallanji Gopal 1969, pp. 56–57, 74.
  120. ^ a b c Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 91.
  121. ^ Ashvini Agrawal 1989, pp. 125–126.
  122. ^ Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 93.
  123. ^ a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989, p. 127.
  124. ^ R. C. Majumdar 1981, p. 33.
  125. ^ Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 95.
  126. ^ Tej Ram Sharma 1989, p. 91, 94.
  127. ^ a b c d e R. C. Majumdar 1981, p. 31.
  128. ^ R. C. Majumdar 1981, p. 46.
  129. ^ R. C. Majumdar 1981, p. 48.
  130. ^ Tej Ram Sharma 1989, pp. 95–96.

Bibliography

  • Ajay Mitra Shastri (1995). Inscriptions of the Śarabhapurīyas, Pāṇḍuvaṁśins and Somavaṁśins. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0637-5.
  • Ashvini Agrawal (1989). Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0592-7.
  • Dilip Kumar Ganguly (1987). The Imperial Guptas and Their Times. Abhinav. ISBN 978-81-7017-222-2.
  • K. Chakrabarti (1996). "Origin and political history of the Guptas". In Ahmad Hasan Dani; B. A. Litvinsky (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
  • Lallanji Gopal (1969). Samudragupta. National Book Trust. OCLC 583078075.
  • R. C. Majumdar (1981). A Comprehensive History of India. Vol. 3, Part I: A.D. 300–985. Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House. OCLC 34008529.
  • Shankar Goyal (2001). Problems of Ancient Indian History: New Perspectives and Perceptions. Book Enclave. ISBN 978-81-87036-66-1.
  • Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
  • Tej Ram Sharma (1978). Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions. Concept. p. 258. OCLC 249004782.
  • Tej Ram Sharma (1989). A Political History of the Imperial Guptas: From Gupta to Skandagupta. Concept. ISBN 978-81-7022-251-4.
  • Upinder Singh (2017). Political Violence in Ancient India. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-98128-7.

External links

  • Catalogue of Coins of Samudragupta

May 04, 2023
samudragupta, samudra, gupta, redirects, here, bangladeshi, poet, journalist, samudra, gupta, poet, gupta, script, second, emperor, gupta, empire, ancient, india, regarded, among, greatest, rulers, dynasty, gupta, emperor, chandragupta, licchavi, princess, kum. Samudra Gupta redirects here For the Bangladeshi poet and journalist see Samudra Gupta poet Samudragupta Gupta script Sa mu dra gu pta c 335 375 CE was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi he greatly expanded his dynasty s political and military power SamudraguptaMaharajadhirajaCoin of Samudragupta with Garuda pillar emblem of Gupta Empire The name Sa mu dra in an early version of the Gupta Brahmi script appears vertically under the left arm of the king 1 Gupta EmperorReignc 335 375 CEPredecessorChandragupta I possibly KachaSuccessorChandragupta II or possibly RamaguptaBornc 318 CE citation needed Diedc 380 CESpouseDattadeviIssueChandragupta II and possibly RamaguptaHouseGupta DynastyFatherChandragupta IMotherKumaradeviReligionHinduism Vaishnavism Inscription Maharajadhiraja Shri Samudragupta Great King of Kings Lord Samudragupta in the Gupta script on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription 2 The Allahabad Pillar inscription a prashasti eulogy composed by his courtier Harishena credits him with extensive military conquests It suggests that he defeated several kings of northern India and annexed their territories into his empire He also marched along the south eastern coast of India advancing as far south as Kanchipuram in the Pallava kingdom In addition he subjugated several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies At the height of his power his empire extended from Ravi River in the west present day Punjab to the Brahmaputra River in the east present day Assam and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to central India in the south west several rulers along the south eastern coast were also his tributaries The inscription also states that many neighbouring rulers tried to please him which probably refers to his friendly relations with them He performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to prove his imperial sovereignty and remained undefeated in battle His gold coins and inscriptions suggest that he was an accomplished poet and also played musical instruments such as the veena His expansionist policy was continued by his son and successor Chandragupta II Contents 1 Period 2 Ascension 3 Military career 3 1 Early victories 3 2 Southern conquests 3 3 Northern conquests 3 4 Conquests in the forest region 3 5 Frontier kings and tribes 3 6 Relations with other rulers 4 Imperial extent 5 Coinage 6 Inscriptions 6 1 Eran inscription 7 Religion 7 1 Ashvamedha 8 Personality 9 Succession 10 References 10 1 Bibliography 11 External linksPeriod EditModern scholars variously assign the start of Samudragupta s reign from c 319 CE to c 350 CE 3 The inscriptions of the Gupta kings are dated in the Gupta calendar era whose epoch is generally dated to c 319 CE However the identity of the era s founder is a matter of debate and scholars variously attribute its establishment to Chandragupta I or Samudragupta 4 5 Chandragupta I probably had a long reign as the Prayag Pillar inscription suggests that he appointed his son as his successor presumably after reaching an old age However the exact period of his reign is uncertain For these reasons the beginning of Samudragupta s reign is also uncertain 3 If Samudragupta is regarded as the founder of the Gupta era his ascension can be dated to c 319 320 CE 6 On the other hand if his father Chandragupta I is regarded as the founder of the Gupta era Samudragupta s ascension must be dated to a later date Samudragupta was a contemporary of King Meghavarna of Anuradhapura Kingdom but the regnal period of this king is also uncertain According to the traditional reckoning adopted in Sri Lanka for Buddha s death he ruled during 304 332 CE but the modified chronology adopted by modern scholars such as Wilhelm Geiger assigns his reign to 352 379 CE Accepting the former date would place Samudragupta s ascension to c 320 CE accepting the latter date would place it around c 350 CE 5 The end of Samudragupta s reign is also uncertain 5 Samudragupta s granddaughter Prabhavatigupta is known to have married during the reign of his son Chandragupta II in c 380 CE assuming c 319 CE as the epoch of the Gupta era Therefore the end of Samudragupta s reign can be placed before this year 7 Various estimates of Samudragupta s regnal period include A S Altekar c 330 370 CE 4 A L Basham c 335 376 CE 4 S R Goyal c 350 375 CE 4 Tej Ram Sharma c 353 373 CE 8 Ascension EditSamudragupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and Queen Kumaradevi who came from the Licchavi clan 9 His fragmentary Eran stone inscription states that his father selected him as the successor because of his devotion righteous conduct and valour His Allahabad Pillar inscription similarly describes how Chandragupta I called him a noble person in front of the courtiers and appointed him to protect the earth These descriptions suggest that Chandragupta I renounced the throne in his old age and appointed his son as the next emperor 10 According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription when Chandragupta I appointed him as the next emperor the faces of other people of equal birth bore a melancholy look 11 One interpretation suggests that these other people were neighbouring kings and Samudagupta s ascension to the throne was uncontested 12 Another theory is that these other people were Gupta princes with a rival claim to the throne 11 If Emperor Chandragputa I indeed had multiple sons it is likely that Samudragupta s background as the son of a Lichchhavi princess worked in his favour 13 The coins of a Gupta ruler named Kacha whose identity is debated by modern scholars describe him as the exterminator of all kings 14 These coins closely resemble the coins issued by Samudragupta 15 According to one theory Kacha was an earlier name of Samudragupta and the emperor later adopted the regnal name Samudra Ocean after extending his empire s dominion as far as the ocean 16 An alternative theory is that Kacha was a distinct king possibly a rival claimant to the throne 14 16 who flourished before or after Samudragupta 15 Military career Edit Possible extent of the Gupta Empire near the end of Samudragupta s reign c 375 CE The Gupta inscriptions suggest that Samudragupta had a remarkable military career The Eran stone inscription of Samudragupta states that he had brought the whole tribe of kings under his suzerainty and that his enemies were terrified when they thought of him in their dreams 17 The inscription does not name any of the defeated kings presumably because its primary objective was to record the installation of a Vishnu idol in a temple but it suggests that Samudragupta had subdued several kings by this time 18 The later Allahabad Pillar inscription a panegyric written by Samudragupta s minister and military officer Harishena credits him with extensive conquests 19 It gives the most detailed account of Samudragupta s military conquests listing them in mainly geographical and partly chronological order 20 It states that Samudragupta fought a hundred battles acquired a hundred wounds that looked like marks of glory and earned the title Prakrama valourous 21 The Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II describes Samudragupta as an exterminator of all kings as someone who had no equally powerful enemy and as a person whose fame was tasted by the waters of the four oceans 18 Modern scholars offer various opinions regarding Samudragupta s possible motivations behind his extensive military campaigns The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that Samudragupta s aim was the unification of the earth dharani bandha which suggests that he may have aspired to become a Chakravartin a universal ruler 21 The Ashvamedha performances by the Nagas whom he defeated may have influenced him as well His southern expedition may have been motivated by economic considerations of controlling the trade between India and South East Asia 22 Early victories Edit The early portion of the Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that Samudragupta uprooted Achyuta Nagasena and a ruler whose name is lost in the damaged portion of the inscription The third name ends in ga and is generally restored as Ganapati naga 13 because Achyuta nandin presumably same as Achyuta Nagasena and Ganapati naga are once again mentioned in the later part of the inscription among the kings of Aryavarta northern India defeated by Samudragupta 23 24 These kings are identified as the rulers of present day western Uttar Pradesh see below 22 According to the inscription Samudragupta reinstated these rulers after they sought his forgiveness 25 It is not clear why the names of these three kings is repeated later in the inscription According to one theory these three kings were vassal rulers who rebelled against Samudragupta after the death of his father Samudragupta crushed the rebellion and reinstated them after they sought his forgiveness Later these rulers rebelled once more and Samudragupta defeated them again 25 Another possibility is that the author of the inscription thought it necessary to repeat these names while describing Samudragupta s later conquests in Aryavarta simply because these kings belonged to that region 26 Samudragupta dispatched an army to capture the scion of the Kota family whose identity is uncertain The Kotas may have been the rulers of present day Punjab where coins bearing the legend Kota and featuring a symbol of Shiva and his bull have been discovered 25 The inscription states that the Gupta army captured the Kota ruler while Samudragupta himself played or pleased himself in a city called Pushpa 27 the name Pushpa pura referred to Pataliputra at Samudragupta s time although it came to be used for Kanyakubja in the later period 28 Modern scholars have interpreted the word played in various ways According to one theory this portion describes Samudragupta s achievements as a prince 13 An alternative interpretation is that Samudragupta dispatched his army on these campaigns while he himself stayed at the capital 25 It is also possible that the poet intended to convey that these campaigns were minor affairs that did not require the king s direct involvement at the battlefront 27 Southern conquests Edit According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription Samudragupta captured and later released the following kings of Dakshinapatha the southern region 19 Mahendra of Kosala Vyaghra raja of Mahakantara Mantaraja of Kurala Mahendragiri of Pishtapura Svamidatta of Kottura Damana of Erandapalla Vishnugopa of Kanchi Nilaraja of Avamukta Hastivarman of Vengi Ugrasena of Palakka Kubera of Devarashtra Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura The exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars 29 but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India 30 Samudragupta most probably passed through the forest tract of central India reached the eastern coast in present day Odisha and then marched south along the coast of Bay of Bengal 31 Text of the Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta in the Brahmi script Translation of the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta The inscription states that Samudragupta later released these kings and favoured anugraha them Most modern scholars theorize that Samudragupta reinstated these rulers as his tributaries M G S Narayanan interprets the word anugraha differently based on its occurrence in the Arthashastra he theorizes that Samudragupta gave protection and aid to these kingdoms in order to secure their alliances 32 Some scholars such as J Dubreuil and B V Krishnarao theorized that Samudragupta only advanced up to the Krishna river and was forced to retreat without fighting a battle when the southern kings formed a strong confederacy to oppose him According to these scholars the claim that Samudragupta released these kings is an attempt by Samudragupta s courtier to cover up the emperor s failure 33 However there is no evidence of the southern kings forming a confederacy against Samudragupta Historian Ashvini Agrawal notes that setting free a captured king is inline with the ancient Indian political ideals For example Kautilya defines three types of conquerors the righteous conqueror dharma vijayi who restores the defeated king in exchange for his acknowledgment of the conqueror s suzerainty the covetous conqueror lobha vijayi who takes away the possessions of the defeated king but spares his life and the demoniac conqueror asura vijayi who annexes the territory of the defeated king and kills him 33 Such political ideals existed in the Gupta period too as evident from Kalidasa s statement in Raghuvamsha that the righteous victorious monarch Raghu only took away the royal glory of the lord of Mahendra who had been captured and released but not his kingdom Therefore it is likely that Samudragupta acted like a righteous conqueror and restored the defeated kings as his vassals 34 32 Mahendra of Kosala Kosala here refers to Dakshina Kosala which includes parts of present day Chhattisgarh and Odisha 29 One theory identifies Mahendra of Kosala with a Nala king named Mahendraditya 35 Vyaghra raja of Mahakantara Historian K P Jayaswal identifies Mahakantara literally great wilderness as the Bastar Kanker area in present day Chhattisgarh 29 According to another theory Mahakantara is same as Mahavana a synonym used as the name for the forest region around present day Jeypore of Odisha 36 Earlier historians identified Mahakantara as a region in central India and identified Vyaghra raja with the Vakataka feudatory Vyaghra deva whose inscriptions have been found at Nachna However this identification is now considered incorrect as Samudragupta is not known to have fought against the Vakatakas 29 Mantaraja of Kurala The Rawan inscription of the Sharabhapuriya king Narendra who ruled in the Dakshina Kosala region mentions an area called Mantaraja bhukti the province of Mantaraja Therefore some historians such as K D Bajpai theorize that Mantaraja was a king who ruled in the Dakshina Kosala region 37 Historian A M Shastri disputes this theory arguing that the ruler of Kosala that is Dakshina Kosala has been mentioned separately in the Allahabad Pillar inscription 38 Lorenz Franz Kielhorn speculated that Kurala was same as Kaurala or Kunala mentioned in the Aihole inscription of the 7th century king Pulakeshin II and identified it as the area around the Kolleru Lake in present day Andhra Pradesh H C Raychaudhuri disputes this identification pointing out that this region was a part of Hastivarman s Vengi kingdom which has been mentioned separately in the Allahabad Pillar inscription 37 Other proposed identifications of Kurala include Kolada near Bhanjanagar former Russelkonda in Odisha 39 and Kulula a region mentioned in the Mahendragiri inscription of the 11th century king Rajendra Chola and identified with Cherla in present day Telangana 37 Mahendragiri of Pishtapura Pishtapura is modern Pithapuram in Andhra Pradesh The word giri mentions hill in Sanskrit and therefore J F Fleet speculated that Mahendragiri could not have been a person s name he suggested that the verse Mahendragiri Kautturaka Svamidatta referred to a king called Mahendra and a place called Kottura on the hill which was ruled by Svamidatta However Fleet s translation is incorrect the verse clearly mentions Mahendragiri of Pishtapura and Svamidatta of Kottura as two distinct persons 40 G Ramdas interpreted the verse to mean Svamidatta was the ruler of Pishtapura and Kottura near Mahendragiri while Bhau Daji translated it as Svamidatta of Pishtapura Mahendragiri and Kottura However these translations are also incorrect 41 The concern about the king s name is invalid several historical records mention names ending in the word giri or its synonym adri 40 42 Svamidatta of Kottura Svamidatta was probably one of the chiefs who resisted Samudragupta s passage through the Kalinga region 43 Kottura has been identified with modern Kotturu or Kothur in Srikakulam district Andhra Pradesh near Paralakhemundi Odisha 44 Alternative proposals identify it with other similarly named places in present day Andhra Pradesh 36 Damana of Erandapalla Proposed identifications of Erandapalla include Errandapali near Srikakulam a town near Mukhalingam Yendipalli in Visakhapatnam district and Endipalli in West Godavari district 45 Vishnugopa of Kanchi Vishnugopa is identified as the Pallava ruler of Kanchipuram Samudragupta s invasion probably occurred when he acted as a regent for his nephew Skandavarman III 46 Nilaraja of Avamukta The identity of Avamukta is uncertain 47 The Brahmanda Purana mentions an area called Avimukta kshetra located on the banks of the Gautami river that is Godavari which may be identified with Avamukta of Samudragupta s inscription 48 Some historical texts use the name Avamukta kshetra for the region around Varanasi 46 but Varanasi is not located in Dakshinapatha and therefore was certainly not the Avamukta mentioned in the inscription 47 Hastivarman of Vengi Hastivarman was the Shalankayana king of Vengi modern Pedavegi in Andhra Pradesh 49 Ugrasena of Palakka J Dubreuil identified Palakka with the place referred to as Palakkada in several Pallava inscriptions this location was probably the headquarters of a Pallava viceroyalty For example the Uruvapalli grant inscription of Yuva maharaja Prince Vishnugopa varman was issued from Palakkada 50 G Ramdas identified it with Pakkai located between Udayagiri and Venkatagiri in the Nellore district and theorized that it was same as the place referred to as Paka nadu Panka nadu or Pakai nadu in the inscriptions of the 10th century Chola king Rajaraja I 50 Kubera of Devarashtra According to one theory Deva rashtra was located in the historical Kalinga region of present day northern Andhra Pradesh The Srungavarapukota inscription of the Vasishtha king Anantavarman issued from Pishtapura in this area describes his grandfather Gunavarman as Deva rashtradhipati Lord of Deva rashtra The Kasimkota inscription of the 10th century Vengi Chalukya king Bhima I mentions a vishaya district called Deva rashtra in Kalinga Based on this J Dubreuil identified Devarashtra as a location in the present day Yelamanchili taluka of Andhra Pradesh 50 During Samudragupta s period the Kalinga region appears to have been divided among several small kingdoms which may have included Kottura Pishtapura and Devarashtra 51 Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura B V Krishnarao speculated that Dhananjaya of Samudragupta s inscription may be same as the Dhananjaya from whom the chieftains of Dhanyakataka modern Dharanikota in Andhra Pradesh claimed descent He identified Kusthalapura with modern Kolanupaka or Kollipak located on the banks of the Aleru River in present day Telangana 30 Another theory identifies Kusthalapura with a tract around the Kushasthali river near Dakshina Kosala 48 Northern conquests Edit According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription Samudragupta forcibly uprooted the following kings of Aryavarta the northern region 34 Rudradeva Matila Nagadatta Chandravarman Ganapatinaga Nagasena Achyuta nandin Balavarman Unlike the southern kings the inscription does not mention the territories ruled by these kings which suggests that their kingdoms were annexed to the Gupta empire 52 The inscription also mentions that Samudragupta defeated some other kings but does not mention their names presumably because the poet saw them as unimportant 34 Rudradeva Rudradeva may be same as a king named Rudra whose coin has been found at Kaushambi 53 Another theory identifies Rudradeva with a Western Kshatrapa Shaka king of Ujjain either Rudradaman II or Rudrasena III 54 Some earlier scholars such as K N Dikshit and K P Jayaswal identified Rudradeva with the Vakataka king Rudrasena I However this identification seems to be inaccurate because Samudragupta s inscription explicitly mentions Rudradeva as a king of the northern region Aryavarta while the Vakatakas ruled in the southern region Dakshinapatha An argument cited in support of this identification is that Rudrasena bore the title Maharaja great king as opposed to samrat emperor signifying his subordinate status to Samudragupta However multiple sovereign Vakataka kings bore the title Maharaja only Pravarasena I assumed the title samrat after performing a vajapeya ritual sacrifice An inscription of Rudrasena s descendant Prithvishena II mentions that the Vakataka kingdom had been prospering for a hundred years suggesting that the Vakataka rule remained uninterrupted during Rudrasena s reign 54 Matila The identity of Matila is not certain 55 53 Earlier Matila was identified with Mattila who is known from a terracotta seal discovered at Bulandshahr 54 However there is no evidence that this Mattila was a ruler and epigraphist Jagannath Agrawal has dated the seal to the 6th century on palaeographic basis 56 Nagadatta Nagadatta is not known from any other inscriptions or coins but his name has led to suggestions that he may have been the ruler of a Naga branch 55 D C Sircar theorized that he was an ancestor of a family of Gupta viceroys whose names ended in datta Tej Ram Sharma speculates that he may have been a Naga ruler whose successors were sent as Gupta viceroys in Bengal after the family accepted the Gupta suzerainty 57 Chandravarman Chandravarman of Samudragupta s inscription has been identified with Chandravarman the ruler of Pushkarana modern Pakhanna in present day West Bengal 55 P L Gupta and some earlier scholars have identified this ruler with another Chandravarman who has been mentioned in an inscription discovered at Mandsaur in present day Madhya Pradesh 58 53 Tej Ram Sharma disputes this identification arguing that Samudragupta exterminated all kings of Aryavarta and annexed their territories as suggested by the Allahabad Pillar inscription however Naravarman a brother of Chandravarman of Mandsaur is known to have been ruling as a feudatory in 404 CE 57 Ganapatinaga Ganapati naga is identified as a Naga king Several coins bearing the legend Ganapati have been discovered at Padmavati Vidisha and Mathura Although these coins do not bear the suffix naga they are similar to the ones issued by the other Naga kings such as Skanda naga Brihaspati naga and Deva naga Since hundreds of Ganapati s coins have been found at Mathura it appears that he was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Mathura 55 Nagasena The 7th century text Harshacharita refers to the Naga king Nagasena who met with his doom in Padmavati as his secret plan was divulged by a sarika bird Assuming this describes a historical person it appears that Nagasena was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Padmavati in present day Madhya Pradesh 55 Achyuta nandin Achyuta nandin seems to be same as Achyuta who is mentioned earlier in the inscription his name may have been shortened in the earlier verses for metrical purposes 53 An alternatively theory identifies Achyuta and Nandin as two distinct kings 59 Achyuta was the ruler of Ahichchhatra in present day Uttar Pradesh where coins attributed to him have been discovered 25 These coins bear the legend Achyu and are similar to the coins issued by the Naga rulers This has led to suggestions that the Achyuta nandin defeated by Samudragupta was the ruler of a Naga branch headquartered at Ahichhatra 55 Balavarman V V Mirashi identified Bala varman or Balavarma as a ruler of the Magha dynasty of Kosambi 60 U N Roy suggested that Bala varman may have been an ancestor of the Maukhari kings who initially served as Gupta vassals and whose names ended in varman 61 Another theory identifies him with the successor of Shridhara varman the Shaka ruler of Eran Samudragupta may have ended the dynasty of Eran as suggested by the discovery of his inscription at Eran 60 K N Dikshit identified Balavarman with Balavarman a ruler of the Varman dynasty of Kamarupa however Balavarman was not a contemporary of Samudragupta 62 Moreover Kamarupa has been mentioned as a distinct frontier kingdom later on in the Allahabad Pillar inscription 61 Conquests in the forest region Edit According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription Samudragupta reduced all the kings of the forest region atavika to subservience 63 This forest region may have been located in central India the inscriptions of the Parivrajaka dynasty which ruled in this area state that their ancestral kingdom was located within the 18 forest kingdoms 60 Frontier kings and tribes Edit Coin minted in the Punjab area with the name Samudra Sa mu dra derived from the style of late Kushan Empire coinage and tamgha These atypical coins follow the fall of the last Kushan ruler Kipunada and just precede the coinage of the first Kidarite Huns in northwestern India Circa CE 350 375 64 65 The Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies paid Samudragupta tributes obeyed his orders and performed obeisance before him 63 66 The inscription explicitly describes the five kingdoms as frontier territories the areas controlled by the tribes were also probably located at the frontier of Samudrgupta s kingdom 52 Samudragupta whose formidable rule was propitiated with the payment of all tributes execution of orders and visits to his court for obeisance by such frontier rulers as those of Samataṭa Ḍavaka Kamarupa Nepala and Kartṛipura and by the Malavas Arjunayanas Yaudheyas Madrakas Abhiras Prarjunas Sanakanikas Kakas Kharaparikas and other nations Lines 22 23 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta r c 350 375 CE 67 Historian Upinder Singh theorizes that the relationship of these frontier rulers to the Gupta emperor had certain elements of a feudatory relationship 66 According to historian R C Majumdar it is likely that Samudragupta s conquests in Aryavarta and Dakshinapatha increased his reputation to such an extent that the frontier rulers and tribes submitted him without a fight 68 The frontier kingdoms included 66 Davaka Brahmi script in the Allahabad Pillar inscription Samatata located in the present day Bengal 69 Davaka located in present day Assam 69 Kamarupa located in present day Assam 69 Nepala located in present day Nepal 69 According to one theory Nepala here refers to the Licchavi kingdom whose rulers may have been the maternal relatives of Samudragupta 70 Karttripura probably located in the present day Uttarakhand the inscription appears to name frontier kingdoms in geographical order proceeding from Bengal to Assam to Nepal Uttarakhand would be next in the sequence 69 A now obsolete theory identified Karttripura with Kartarpur in present day Punjab but Kartarpur was established much later in the 16th century by Guru Arjan 69 The tribal oligarchies included 66 South Asia400 450 CE YAUDHEYAS ARJUNAYANAS MADRAKAS MALAVAS LICCHAVIS ABHIRAS KALABHRASWESTERNGANGAS SASANIANHIND TRAITAKUTAS VAKATAKAS KADAMBAS SAMATATAS GAUDA KAMARUPAS ALCHON HUNS HEPHTHALITES SASANIANEMPIRE Map of the Gupta Empire circa 400 450 CE according to Joseph E Schwartzberg with contemporary polities 71 Malavas During Samudragupta s period they were probably headquartered at Karkota nagara present day Nagar Fort in Rajasthan where several thousands of their coins have been discovered 72 Arjunayanas Their coins have been found in the Mathura region 73 According to numismatist John Allan the Arjunayanas resided in the triangle connecting the present day Delhi Jaipur and Agra 72 Yaudheyas They ruled the area between the Sutlej and the Yamuna rivers after the Kushans They seem to have become Samudragupta s tributaries 74 Madrakas They are generally placed between the Ravi and the Chenab rivers 74 Abhiras Epigraphic and literary evidence suggests that they ruled in western India during Samudragupta s period 75 Sanakanikas They appear to have ruled the region around Udayagiri in present day Madhya Pradesh An inscription found at Udayagiri refers to a Sanakanika chief as a feudatory of Chandragupta II this chief and his two predecessors are described as Maharajas which suggests that Samudragupta allowed the Sanakanika chiefs to rule as his governors after conquering their territory 76 Kakas They may have been the rulers of the area around the Sanchi hill which has been mentioned as Kakanada in ancient inscriptions 76 Prarjunas They may be identified as the Prarjunakas mentioned in the Arthashastra but their location is uncertain Various theories place them in central India including around the present day Narsinghpur or Narsinghgarh in Madhya Pradesh 77 78 Kharaparikas They may be same as the Kharaparas literally thief or rogue 79 mentioned in a 14th century stone inscription found at Batiyagarh or Battisgarh in Damoh district These Kharaparas are variously identified as an indigenous tribe or freebooters of this region 77 Some later sources suggest that the Kharaparas were a foreign tribe possibly Mongols and the Dingal language texts use the word Kharapara as a synonym for Muslim but such an identification is not applicable to Samudragupta s period 77 There is also some speculation about the Kharaparikas being same as the Gardabhilas mentioned in the Puranas as the words Khara and Gardabha both mean donkey in Sanskrit However very little is known about the Gardabhilas from historical sources 80 Relations with other rulers Edit Samudragupta s inscription mentions that several kings tried to please him by attending on him personally offering him their daughters in marriage or according to another interpretation gifting him maidens 81 and seeking the use of the Garuda depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories 82 These kings included Daivaputra Shahi Shahanushahi Shaka Murundas and the rulers of the island countries such as Simhala 66 83 Daivaputra Shahi Shahanushahi The expression Devaputra Shahi Shahanu Shahi in Middle Brahmi in the Allahabad pillar Line 23 84 Numismatist John Allan theorized that Daivaputra Shahi and Shahanushahi were three different states or alternatively Shahi Shahanushahi was a single state Historian D R Bhandarkar argued that Daivaputra a descendant of Devaputra cannot be a stand alone name and identified Daivaputra Shahi Shahanushahi as a single ruler possibly Kidara I who had established a new kingdom Gandhara present day Afghanistan 85 According to historian Tej Ram Sharma Daivaputra refers to a Kushan king Devaputra being a Kushan title Shahi refers to a sub branch of the Kushans and Shahanushahi refers to the Sasanians These kings controlled parts of present day Punjab and Afghanistan 86 Historian Ashvini Agrwal theorizes that Kidara who initially ruled as a vassal of the Sasanian king Shapur II may have formed an alliance with Samudragupta to overthrow his Sasanian overlord In Raghuvamsha the Gupta court poet Kalidasa states his hero Raghu defeated the Parasikas Persians Agrwal speculates that this description may be inspired from the Kidraite Gupta victory over the Sasanians 85 According to Abraham Eraly and others the expression Devaputra Shahi Shahanu Shahi evidently designates the Kushan princes being a deformation of the Kushan regnal titles Devaputra Shao and Shaonanoshao Son of God King King of Kings 84 87 88 This suggests that by the time of the Allahabad inscription the Kushans still ruled in Punjab but under the suzerainty of the Gupta Emperor 89 Shaka Murundas The vanquished Saka mentioned by Samudragupta in the Allahabad pillar Line 23 probably refer to the Saka ruler Sridharavarman in Central India 90 Some scholars believe that the term Shaka Murundas refers to a single entity For example scholars such as Sten Konow assert that Murunda is a Shaka title meaning lord the Kushans also used similar titles for example Kanishka is titled a muroda in his Zeda inscription 91 Other scholars such as K P Jayaswal believe that Shakas and Murundas are two different groups of people 91 According to this theory Shakas here most probably refers to the Western Kshatrapa rulers of Ujjain 86 Jayaswal notes that the Puranas mention the rule of 13 Murunda kings and Hemachandra s Abhidhana Chintamani describes Murunda as people of Lampaka in present day Afghanistan However Agrwal points out that these sources are of relatively late origin and it is possible that a branch of the Shakas had come to be known as Murundas 91 The exact location of the Shakas mentioned in Samudragupta s inscription is not certain V A Smith identified them with the Western Kshatrapas who controlled the western Malwa and Saurashtra regions D R Bhandarkar alternatively identified the Shaka Murunda ruler with Shridhara varman a Shaka ruler whose inscriptions have been discovered at Sanchi Kanakerha inscription and Eran 90 Eran then came under the direct control of Samudragupta as attested by his Eran inscription 91 90 Simhala and other islands According to the Chinese sources Meghavarna the king of Simhala present day Sri Lanka sought to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya for the convenience of the pilgrims from his kingdom He sent rich presents for this purpose and Samudragupta sanctioned his request to build the monastery Using poetic exaggeration Samudragupta s courtier Harishena appears to have described this act of diplomacy as an act of subservience 92 Similarly the 7th century Chinese traveler Xuanzang who visited this monastery appears to have regarded the rich presents sent by Meghavarna as tribute he states that Meghavarna gave in tribute to the king of India all the jewels of his country 93 The other islands may be the Indianized kingdoms of South East Asia but there is no evidence that their rulers were subordinate to Samudragupta 92 They probably sent embassies to the Gupta empire and maintained friendly relations 93 The sea ports of the Gupta Empire such as Tamralipti were probably connected to these kingdoms through the marine routes The widespread use of Sanskrit in these kingdoms may have happened as a result of Gupta influence 94 Imperial extent EditSamudragupta s empire included a core territory located in northern India which was directly controlled by the emperor Besides it comprised a number of monarchical and tribal tributary states 52 Historian R C Majumdar theorizes that Samudragupta directly controlled an area extending from the Ravi River Punjab in the west to the Brahmaputra River Bengal and Assam in the east and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the Vindhya hills in the south The south western boundary of his territory roughly followed an imaginary line drawn from present day Karnal to Bhilsa 95 In the south Samudragupta s empire definitely included Eran in present day Madhya Pradesh where his inscription has been found 96 The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that he advanced up to Kanchipuram in the south 30 However since the claims in the Allahabad Pillar inscription are from a royal eulogy they must be treated with caution The southern kings were not under his direct suzerainty they only paid him tribute 97 According to historian Kunal Chakrabarti Samudragupta s military campaigns weakened the tribal republics of present day Punjab and Rajasthan but even these kingdoms were not under his direct suzerainty they only paid him tribute Samudragupta s claim of control over other kings is questionable 97 Historian Ashvini Agrawal notes that a gold coin of the Gadahara tribe bears the legend Samudra which suggests that Samudragupta s control extended up to the Chenab river in the Punjab region 98 Some earlier scholars such as J F Fleet believed that Samudragupta had also conquered a part of Maharashtra based on the identification of Devarashtra with Maharashtra and Erandapalla with Erandol where some Gupta era remains have been found 99 However this theory is no longer considered correct 30 100 Coinage EditImitation of Kushan coinage Kushan coin of Vasudeva II 275 300 CE Standard type of Samudragupta 335 350 375 CESamudragupta was the first Gupta ruler to mint coins These were in imitation of the coinage of the Kushan Empire adopting its weight standard techniques and designs following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest 101 102 The two types of coins are similar except for the headdress of the ruler a close fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat the Garuda standard instead of the trident and Samudragupta s jewelry which is Indian 101 103 The coinage of the Gupta Empire was initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire adopting its weight standard techniques and designs following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest of the subcontinent 104 102 The Guptas even adopted from the Kushans the name of Dinara for their coinage which ultimately came from the Roman name Denarius aureus 105 106 107 The standard coin type of Samudragupta is highly similar to the coinage of the later Kushan rulers including the sacrificial scene over an altar the depiction of a halo while differences include the headdress of the ruler a close fitting cap instead of the Kushan pointed hat the Garuda standard instead of the trident and Samudragupta s jewelry which is Indian 101 The following types of Samudragupta s coins inscribed with Sanskrit language legends have been discovered 108 Standard typeObverse legend Samara shata vitata vijayo jita ripurajito divam jayati Translation The unconquered one who has conquered his enemies and has continuously attained victories in a hundred battles wins heaven 109 Alternative translation The conqueror of the unconquered fortresses of his enemies whose victory was spread in hundreds of battles conquers heaven 110 Reverse legend Prakramah 110 Archer typeDepicts Samudragupta standing fully dressed with a bow on his left hand and an arrow on his right hand 110 Obverse legend Apratiratha vijitya kshitim sucharitair or avnipatir divam Jayati Translation Unopposed by hostile chariots conquering the earth he conquers heaven by his good deeds 110 Reverse legend Apratirathah 110 Battle axe typeObverse legend Kritanta parshur jayatyajitarajajetaji tah Translation Wielding the axe of Kritanta the god of death the unconquered conqueror of unconquered kings is victorious 110 Reverse legend Kritanta parashuh 110 Tiger slayer typeDepicts the king wearing turban and waist cloth and trampling a tiger 110 Legend Vaghra prakramah Translation Having the prowess of a tiger 110 Lyrist typeDepicts Samudragupta wearing waist cloth and seated cross legged on a couch playing a veena that lies on his knees 110 Legend the king s name 110 Ashvamedha typeObverse legend Rajadhirajah prithvim avitva divam jayatyahritavaji medhah the overlord of kings who has performed the horse sacrifice having protected the earth conquers the heaven on the reverse 111 Some coins have an alternative legend Rajadhirajah prithvim avitva divam jayatya prativarya viryah the overlord of kings of irresistible valour having protected the earth wins heaven 111 Reverse legend Ashvamedha prakramah possessing the valour to perform the horse sacrifice Various scholars including numismatist John Allan consider that the gold coins bearing the portraits of Chandragupta and Kumaradevi were issued by Samudragupta to commemorate his parents 112 102 while others have attributed the issue of these coins to Chandragupta himself 9 113 Coins of Samudragupta A gold coin of Samudragupta Commemorative type of Chandragupta I this coin is in the name of Chandragupta I but since no other coin types of Chandragupta are known this is thought to be a commemorative issue minted by his son Samudragupta 112 102 103 Ashvamedha type coin Lyrist type coinInscriptions Edit Samudragupta inscriptions on Allahabad pillar Two inscriptions from Samudragupta s reign have been discovered 8 Allahabad Pillar inscription Eran stone inscriptionFleet theorized that the Allahabad Pillar inscription was posthumous and was issued during the reign of Chandragupta II but modern scholars disagree with this theory 114 Two other records are attributed to Samudragupta s reign but the genuineness of these records is disputed 115 Nalanda inscription dated to the regnal year 5 Gaya inscription dated to the regnal year 9Both these inscriptions state that they were written at the order of the Gupta officer Gopaswamin Like the Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II these records describe Samudragupta as the restorer of the Ashvamedha sacrifice It seems suspicious that records issued so early in Samudragupta s reign mention this claim which does not appear in the later Allahabad Pillar inscription One possibility is that these records were issued during Samudragupta s reign and were damaged after some time because of which they were restored during the reign of Chandragupta II 115 Eran inscription Edit Eran inscription of Samudragupta At Eran an inscription by Samudragupta seems to succeed that of a local Saka ruler named Sridharavarman already known from the Kanakerha inscription at Sanchi and another inscription in Eran Samudragupta may therefore have ousted Sridharavarman in his campaigns to the West 116 The Eran Inscription of Samudragupta is presently stored in Kolkata Indian Museum The inscription in red sandstone was found not far to the west of the ruined temple of the boar It reads Lines 1 to 6 containing the whole of the first verse and the first half of the second are entirely broken away and lost Line 7 in giving gold by whom Prithu and Raghava and other kings were outshone L 9 there was Samudragupta equal to the gods Dhanada and Antaka in respectively pleasure and anger by policy and by whom the whole tribe of kings upon the earth was overthrown and reduced to the loss of the wealth of their sovereignty L 13 Who by satisfied by devotion and policy and valour by the glories consisting of the consecration by besprinkling amp c that belong to the title of king and by combined with supreme satisfaction was a king whose vigour could not be resisted L 17 By whom there was married a virtuous and faithful wife whose dower was provided by his manliness and prowess who was possessed of an abundance of elephants and horses and money and grain who delighted in the houses of and who went about in the company of many sons and sons sons L 21 Whose deeds in battle are kindled with prowess whose very mighty fame is always circling round about and whose enemies are terrified when they think even in the intervals of dreaming of his that are vigorous in war L 25 in a place in Airikina Eran the city of his own enjoyment has been set up for the sake of augmenting his own fame L 27 when the king said The rest of the inscription is entirely broken away and lost Eran inscription of Samudragupta 117 Religion EditSamudragputa s Eran inscription records the installation of a Vishnu idol in a temple 18 The Nalanda and Gaya inscriptions attributed to Samudragupta explicitly call him a devotee of Vishnu parama Bhagavata 118 He was also tolerant towards Buddhism and permitted the construction of a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the Anuradhapura king Meghavarna at Bodh Gaya in his territory 119 The Allahabad Pillar inscription states that Samudragupta was engaged in the performance of the Brahmanical ceremonies of Sattra Soma sacrifices and Diksha It describes him as the giver of many hundreds of thousands of cows 120 The Mathura stone inscription of his son Chandragupta II also describes him as the giver of millions of cows and gold 18 It appears that Samudragupta donated these cows to the Brahmins who officiated his Sattra and Diksha ceremonies 120 The Eran inscription states that Samudragupta surpassed Prithu Raghava and other legendary kings in giving gold 8 The Allahabad Pillar inscription alludes to his divine kingship comparing him to the Parama Purusha supreme being and also with deities such as Dhanada Kubera Varuna Indra and Antaka Yama 120 The Eran inscription states that he was equal to Kubera and Yama in pleasure and anger respectively 8 The Mathura stone inscription similarly describes him as equal to the deities Kubera Varuna Indra and Yama 18 Ashvamedha Edit Samudragupta performed the Ashvamedha ritual which was used by the ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty and issued gold coins see Coinage section to mark this performance 121 The copper plate inscriptions of Samudragupta s granddaughter Prabhavati Gupta who was a Vakataka queen describe him as the performer of multiple horse sacrifices According to one theory Samudragupta indeed performed more than one horse sacrifices as attested by the presence of two different legends on his Ashvamedha coins Another theory dismisses the claim on Prabhavati Gupta s inscriptions as an exaggeration or a scribal error since this claim does not appear on the inscriptions of Samudragupta or his successors 111 The Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II describes Samudragupta as the restorer of the Ashvamedha sacrifice that had been long in abeyance Smith s translation This claim also appears in the inscriptions of the subsequent Gupta kings 18 as well as the spurious Gaya and Nalanda inscriptions attributed to Samudragupta 118 However several kings including those from Bharashiva Vakataka Shalankayana and Pallava dynasties had had performed Ashvamedha in the preceding years 111 122 Different scholars have attempted to explain this anomaly in different ways H C Raychaudhuri suggests that the Gupta court poet did not know about these kings 123 According to R C Majumdar Samudragupta was the first king several centuries to perform the sacrifice in the Magadha region 118 Majumdar also theorizes that the Ashvamedha ceremony performed by Bharashiva Vakataka and other near contemporary kings was more of a religious nature while Samudragupta s ceremony actually involved proving his imperial sovereignty 124 Similarly scholars such as S K Aiyangar and D R Bhandarkar theorize that unlike the other kings Samudragupta performed a full fledged Ashvamedha ceremony Others such as V S Pathak and Jagannath Agrawal interpret the verse to mean that Samudragupta performed the horse sacrifice that lasted for a long time 123 The surviving verses of Samudragupta s own Allahabad Pillar inscription do not mention the Ashvamedha ceremony According to one theory this inscription was put up to mark the beginning of the ceremony as the panegyrics of the sacrificer were an essential part of the Ashvamedha ceremony 123 It is possible that its first four lines which are now lost contained a reference to the ceremony 118 Personality EditSamudragupta s coins depict him as a man of tall stature and muscular physique 125 The Allahabad Pillar inscription presents him as a compassionate ruler stating that his mind was engaged in providing relief to the low the poor the helpless and the afflicted 126 It also mentions that he reinstated many royal families which had lost their kingdoms including the kings defeated by him 127 At the same time it states that he maintained strict administration Prachanda shasana 110 The inscription states that Samudragupta became famous among the learned people because of his poetical works and earned the epithet king of poets 127 This suggests that he composed some poetical works but none of these works now survive 127 The inscription also boasts that Samudragupta put to shame the celestial musician Tumburu and Narada by his lovely performances of music 110 Samudragupta s musical talents are also corroborated by his gold coins which depict him playing a veena 127 The inscription praises Samudragupta s wisdom and intellect 127 stating that he put to shame the preceptor of the Lord of the Gods that is Brihaspati by his sharp intellect 110 Succession EditThe official records of the Gupta dynasty state that Samudragupta was succeeded by Chandragupta II who was his son from Dattadevi 128 Based on a reconstruction of the partially lost Sanskrit play Devichandraguptam a section of modern historians believe that Samudragupta was initially succeeded by Ramagupta presumably the eldest son who was then dethroned by Chandragupta II 129 130 References Edit Allen John 1914 Catalogue of the coins of the Gupta dynasties pp 1 2 Full inscription Fleet John Faithfull 1888 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 pp 1 17 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 50 52 a b c d Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 50 a b c R C Majumdar 1981 p 35 R C Majumdar 1981 p 36 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 51 52 a b c d Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 67 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 11 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 103 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 18 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 104 105 a b c Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 73 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 105 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 20 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 71 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 67 68 a b c d e f Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 68 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 106 107 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 76 77 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 75 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 74 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 53 R C Majumdar 1981 pp 20 21 a b c d e Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 106 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 76 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 21 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 136 a b c d Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 107 a b c d Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 112 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 80 81 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 78 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 113 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 114 R C Majumdar 1981 p 38 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 39 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 108 Ajay Mitra Shastri 1995 p 12 13 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 79 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 108 109 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 316 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 pp 316 317 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 258 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 109 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 109 110 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 110 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 253 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 80 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 110 111 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 111 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 111 112 a b c R C Majumdar 1981 p 22 a b c d Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 81 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 115 a b c d e f Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 116 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 115 116 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 82 Upinder Singh 2008 p 477 R C Majumdar 1981 p 42 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 117 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 83 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 116 117 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 84 In the Punjab the stylistic progression of the gold series from Kushan to Kidarite is clear imitation staters were issued first in the name of Samudragupta then by Kirada Peroz and finally Kidara in Errington Elizabeth Curtis Vesta Sarkhosh 2007 From Persepolis to the Punjab Exploring Ancient Iran Afghanistan and Pakistan British Museum Press p 88 ISBN 9780714111650 Cribb Joe January 2010 The Kidarites the numismatic evidence pdf Coins Art and Chronology II Edited by M Alram et Al 101 a b c d e Upinder Singh 2017 p 343 Fleet John Faithfull 1888 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 pp 6 10 R C Majumdar 1981 p 25 a b c d e f Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 118 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 85 Schwartzberg Joseph E 1978 A Historical atlas of South Asia Chicago University of Chicago Press p 145 map XIV 1 j ISBN 0226742210 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 119 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 86 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 120 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 120 121 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 44 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 121 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 87 88 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 88 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 121 122 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 125 Shankar Goyal 2001 p 168 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 77 78 a b Eraly Abraham 2011 The First Spring The Golden Age of India Penguin Books India p 38 ISBN 9780670084784 a b Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 122 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 89 This expression obviously refers to the last rulers of the Kushan Empire in Dani Ahmad Hasan Litvinovskiĭ Boris Abramovich 1999 History of Civilizations of Central Asia The crossroads of civilizations A D 250 to 750 Motilal Banarsidass Publ pp 165 166 ISBN 9788120815407 Cribb Joe January 2017 TWO CURIOUS KIDARITE COIN TYPES FROM 5 TH CENTURY KASHMIR by Joe Cribb and Karan Singh Jons 3 Dani Ahmad Hasan Litvinsky B A 1996 History of Civilizations of Central Asia The crossroads of civilizations A D 250 to 750 UNESCO pp 165 166 ISBN 9789231032110 a b c Mirashi Vasudev Vishnu 1955 Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol 4 pt 2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era Archaeological Society of India pp 605 611 a b c d Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 123 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 90 a b R C Majumdar 1981 p 27 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 124 R C Majumdar 1981 p 23 27 R C Majumdar 1981 p 23 a b K Chakrabarti 1996 p 185 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 128 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 109 112 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 p 245 a b c Mookerji Radhakumud 1997 The Gupta Empire Motilal Banarsidass Publ pp 30 31 ISBN 9788120804401 a b c d Higham Charles 2014 Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations Infobase Publishing p 82 ISBN 9781438109961 a b Brown C J 1987 The Coins of India Asian Educational Services p 41 ISBN 9788120603455 It was his conquests which brought to him the gold utilized in his coinage and also the knowledge of its technique acquired from his acquaintance with Kushan eastern Punjab coins His earliest coins began as imitations of these Kushan coins and of their foreign features which were gradually replaced by Indian features in his later coins in Mookerji Radhakumud 1997 The Gupta Empire Motilal Banarsidass Publ p 30 ISBN 9788120804401 Known by the term Dinars in early Gupta inscriptions their gold coinage was based on the weight standard of the Kushans i e 8 gms 120 grains It was replaced in the time of Skandagupta by a standard of 80 ratis or 144 grains Vanaja R 1983 Indian Coinage National Museum Mookerji Radhakumud 1997 The Gupta Empire Motilal Banarsidass Publ p 31 ISBN 9788120804401 Gupta inscriptions using the term Dinara for money No 5 9 62 64 in Fleet John Faithfull 1960 Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors Allen John 1914 Catalogue of the coins of the Gupta dynasties pp 1 20 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 92 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 94 a b c d Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 126 a b Mookerji Radhakumud 1997 The Gupta Empire Motilal Banarsidass Publ p 30 ISBN 9788120804401 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 91 92 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 69 a b Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 70 During the course of this expedition he is believed to have attacked and defeated the Saka Chief Shridhar Varman ruling over Eran Vidisha region He then annexed the area and erected a monument at Eran modern Sagar District for the sake cf augmenting his fame in Pradesh India Madhya Krishnan V S 1982 Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers Government Central Press p 28 Fleet John F Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Inscriptions of the Early Guptas Vol III Calcutta Government of India Central Publications Branch 1888 pp20 21 a b c d R C Majumdar 1981 p 32 Lallanji Gopal 1969 pp 56 57 74 a b c Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 91 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 pp 125 126 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 93 a b c Ashvini Agrawal 1989 p 127 R C Majumdar 1981 p 33 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 95 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 p 91 94 a b c d e R C Majumdar 1981 p 31 R C Majumdar 1981 p 46 R C Majumdar 1981 p 48 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 pp 95 96 Bibliography Edit Ajay Mitra Shastri 1995 Inscriptions of the Sarabhapuriyas Paṇḍuvaṁsins and Somavaṁsins Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0637 5 Ashvini Agrawal 1989 Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0592 7 Dilip Kumar Ganguly 1987 The Imperial Guptas and Their Times Abhinav ISBN 978 81 7017 222 2 K Chakrabarti 1996 Origin and political history of the Guptas In Ahmad Hasan Dani B A Litvinsky eds History of Civilizations of Central Asia The crossroads of civilizations A D 250 to 750 UNESCO ISBN 978 92 3 103211 0 Lallanji Gopal 1969 Samudragupta National Book Trust OCLC 583078075 R C Majumdar 1981 A Comprehensive History of India Vol 3 Part I A D 300 985 Indian History Congress People s Publishing House OCLC 34008529 Shankar Goyal 2001 Problems of Ancient Indian History New Perspectives and Perceptions Book Enclave ISBN 978 81 87036 66 1 Upinder Singh 2008 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century Pearson Education India ISBN 978 81 317 1120 0 Tej Ram Sharma 1978 Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions Concept p 258 OCLC 249004782 Tej Ram Sharma 1989 A Political History of the Imperial Guptas From Gupta to Skandagupta Concept ISBN 978 81 7022 251 4 Upinder Singh 2017 Political Violence in Ancient India Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 98128 7 External links EditCatalogue of Coins of Samudragupta Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samudragupta amp oldid 1153108504, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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