73-621: Samudragupta ( Gupta script : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] 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 India. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty's political and military power. The Allahabad Pillar inscription ,
146-473: A prashasti (eulogy) composed by his courtier Harisena , 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
219-444: A brother of Chandragupta II , and thus a son of Samudragupta.. The proponents of this theory argued that Kacha's coins are similar to the coins that were issued by Samudragupta during the later part of his reign, such as his Ashvamedha and tiger-slayer coins. However, there is no concrete evidence that Kacha's coins are of a later date than those of Samudragupta. A. S. Altekar also once supported this identification, theorizing that
292-428: A definitive classification is lacking, because even in a single inscription, there may be variation in how a particular symbol is written. In this sense, the term Gupta script should be taken to mean any form of writing derived from the Gupta period, even though there may be a lack of uniformity in the scripts. The surviving inscriptions of the Gupta script are mostly found on iron or stone pillars, and on gold coins from
365-544: A hundred battles, acquired a hundred wounds that looked like marks of glory, and earned the title Prakrama (valourous). 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". Modern scholars offer various opinions regarding Samudragupta's possible motivations behind his extensive military campaigns. The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that Samudragupta's aim
438-702: A number of monarchical and tribal tributary states. 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 . In
511-534: A part of Maharashtra , based on the identification of Devarashtra with Maharashtra, and Erandapalla with Erandol , where some Gupta-era remains have been found. However, this theory is no longer considered correct. 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
584-503: A prince. An alternative interpretation is that Samudragupta dispatched his army on these campaigns, while he himself stayed at the capital. 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. According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta captured (and later released) the following kings of Dakshinapatha ,
657-469: 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, 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. These kings are identified as the rulers of present-day western Uttar Pradesh ( see below ). According to
730-629: 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). 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. Historian Ashvini Agrwal theorizes that Kidara, who initially ruled as
803-645: A strategic move aimed at countering the threats posed by Shapur II of the Sassanian Empire . As the more powerful partner in this alliance, Samudragupta provided significant support to Kidara . This collaboration proved to be highly effective; Kidara achieved victories over the Sassanians in 367-368 AD. However, these victories did not necessarily result in Shapur II becoming a vassal of either Kidara or Samudragupta. Some scholars believe that
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#1732775987124876-460: 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. 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:
949-545: A symbol of Shiva and his bull , have been discovered. The inscription states that the Gupta army captured the Kota ruler, while Samudragupta himself "played" (or pleased himself) in a city called Pushpa (the name Pushpa-pura referred to Pataliputra at Samudragupta's time, although it came to be used for Kanyakubja in the later period). Modern scholars have interpreted the word "played" in various ways: According to one theory, this portion describes Samudragupta's achievements as
1022-686: 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. According to Abraham Eraly and others, the expression Devaputra Shāhi Shāhānu Shāhi evidently designates
1095-426: A war of succession following the death of Chandragupta I. According to Sharma's theory, the coins that depict Kacha were issued by Samudragupta as a mark of respect towards Kacha: one side of these coins mentions Kacha, the other side describes Samudragupta. The Gupta emperor appointed Kacha as his governor of Airikina (modern Eran). Criticism of this theory includes: Historian R. D. Banerji speculated that Kacha
1168-433: Is also uncertain. 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. Various estimates of Samudragupta's regnal period include: Samudragupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and Queen Kumaradevi, who came from
1241-468: 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. 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
1314-484: 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. Modern scholars variously assign the start of Samudragupta's reign from c. 319 CE to c. 350 CE. The inscriptions of
1387-450: The Licchavi clan. 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
1460-588: The Western Kshatrapa rulers of Ujjain . 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". The exact location of
1533-582: The 4th century CE or first quarter of the 5th century. For example, Kacha's coins weigh between 111 and 118 grains . The coins of the early Gupta kings are closer in weight to Kacha's coins: for example, over 80% of the coins issued by Samudragupta and Chandragupta II , who ruled in the 4th century, weigh 121 grains . On the other hand, the coins issued by the 5th century Gupta kings weigh more: 75% of Kumaragupta I 's coins weight 127 grains, while Skandagupta 's coins weigh as much as 144 grains. Moreover, most of Kacha's coins have been found in hoards containing
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#17327759871241606-484: 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". The "other islands" may be the Indianized kingdoms of South-East Asia, but there is no evidence that their rulers were subordinate to Samudragupta. They probably sent embassies to
1679-484: The Ashokan Brāhmī script , and is a crucial link between Brahmi and most other Brahmic scripts , a family of alphasyllabaries or abugidas . This means that while only consonantal phonemes have distinct symbols, vowels are marked by diacritics, with /a/ being the implied pronunciation when the diacritic is not present. In fact, the Gupta script works in exactly the same manner as its predecessor and successors, and only
1752-617: The Gupta Dynasty. One of the most important was the Prayagraj (Allahabad) Prasasti . Composed by Harisena , the court poet and minister of Samudragupta , it describes Samudragupta's reign, beginning from his accession to the throne as the second king of the Gupta Dynasty and including his conquest of other kings. It is inscribed on the Allahabad pillar of Ashoka . The Gupta alphabet is composed of 37 letters: 32 consonants with
1825-483: The Gupta Kings. Many of the Gupta Empire's coins bear inscriptions of legends or mark historic events. In fact, it was one of the first Indian Empires to do so, probably as a result of its unprecedented prosperity. Almost every Gupta king issued coins, beginning with its first king, Chandragupta I . The scripts on the coin are also of a different nature compared to scripts on pillars, due to conservatism regarding
1898-421: The Gupta empire, and maintained friendly relations. 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. Samudragupta's empire included a core territory, located in northern India, which was directly controlled by the emperor. Besides, it comprised
1971-542: 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. 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,
2044-584: The Gupta script is considered a stylistic variation of Brahmi, though use of the Brahmi encoding is one approach. The study of Gupta coins began with the discovery of a hoard of gold coins in 1783. Many other such hoards have since been discovered, the most important being the Bayana (situated in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan ) hoard, discovered in 1946, which contained more than 2000 gold coins issued by
2117-562: The Guptas rose to power. Moreover, there is no concrete proof that Samudragupta had a brother named Kacha, who died fighting against the Kushan forces. Finally, no ancient Indian kings are known to have stuck such commemorative medals. Some scholars, such as K. P. Jayaswal and D. R. Bhandarkar , identified Kacha with Ramagupta , who according to the Sanskrit play Devichandraguptam , was
2190-502: The Kushan pointed hat), the Garuda standard instead of the trident, and Samudragupta's jewelry, which is Indian. The following types of Samudragupta's coins, inscribed with Sanskrit language legends, have been discovered: 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, while others have attributed
2263-659: The Kushan princes, being a deformation of the Kushan regnal titles Devaputra, Shao and Shaonanoshao : "Son of God, King, King of Kings". This suggests that by the time of the Allahabad inscription the Kushans still ruled in Punjab , but under the suzerainty of the Gupta Emperor. According to Hans T. Bakker, candidates for the Daivaputrasāhi are the late Kushan kings of Gandhāra : Vasudeva II or Kipunadha , and regarding
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2336-598: 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 . Eran then came under
2409-415: The ancestry of the current king, not the succession of the previous kings. Also, whenever Kacha's coins have been discovered in a hoard , they have always been found among coins issued by other Gupta kings. For example, the Bayana hoard contains 1621 gold coins including 16 Kacha coins: all other coins in this hoard were issued by persons known to be Gupta kings. This suggests that Kacha was affiliated with
2482-579: The areas controlled by the tribes were also probably located at the frontier of Samudrgupta's kingdom. "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." Historian Upinder Singh theorizes that
2555-411: The authority of Samudragupta's son Ramagupta was confined to Malwa . Arguments cited in favour of this theory include: Criticism of this theory includes: The Ajanta Cave XVII inscription mentions a ruler named Kacha, who was the son and successor of Upendragupta. Historian M. J. Sharma speculated that this Kacha was related to Samudragupta through his wife Dattadevi , and helped Samudragupta in
2628-445: The coins of Chandragupta I , Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II. There are two popular theories about Kacha's identity: Several other theories have also been put forward, including that Kacha may have been a foreign invader. According to one theory, Kacha was another name of Samudragupta: it is possible that he was earlier known as Kacha, and acquired the regnal name "Samudra" (literally "ocean") after extending his territory up to
2701-479: The coins that were to be accepted as currency, which would have prevented regional variations in the script from manifesting on the coinage. Moreover, space was more limited especially on their silver coins, and thus many of the symbols are truncated or stunted. An example is the symbol for /ta/ and /na/, which were often simplified to vertical strokes. Kacha (king) Kacha ( Gupta script : [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Kā-cha , IAST : Kāca, c. 4th century)
2774-537: 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. The later Allahabad Pillar inscription, a panegyric written by Samudragupta's minister and military officer Harishena , credits him with extensive conquests. It gives the most detailed account of Samudragupta's military conquests, listing them in mainly geographical and partly chronological order. It states that Samudragupta fought
2847-571: The direct control of Samudragupta, as attested by his Eran inscription. 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. Similarly,
2920-949: The earth, Kacha wins the heaven by excellent deeds"). The reverse side depicts a goddess (possibly Lakshmi ) with a halo . She is seen wearing a sari , a bodice, an upper garment, ear-rings, a necklace and armlets. She stands on a carpet, and holds a cornucopia in her left hand. In most coins of this style, she holds a flower in her right hand; in a few coins, she holds a noose in her right hand. The legend on this side reads Sarva-rajochchhetta ("exterminator of all kings"). Kacha's coins have been unearthed at Tanda , Kasarva (or Kaserwa) in Ballia district , Kumarkhan in Ahmedabad district , Sakour (or Sakori) in Damoh district , Bayana , and Jaunpur . Comparison of Kacha's coins with those issued by other Gupta kings suggests that he ruled sometime in
2993-581: The emperor later adopted the regnal name Samudra ("Ocean"), after extending his empire's dominion as far as the ocean. An alternative theory is that Kacha was a distinct king (possibly a rival claimant to the throne) who flourished before or after Samudragupta. 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. The inscription does not name any of
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3066-460: The exact period of his reign is uncertain. For these reasons, the beginning of Samudragupta's reign is also uncertain. If Samudragupta is regarded as the founder of the Gupta era, his ascension can be dated to c. 319–320 CE. 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
3139-548: The height of his power, his empire under his direct control 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
3212-417: The inherent ending "a" and 5 independent vowels. In addition diacritics are attached to the consonants in order to change the sound of the final vowel (from the inherent "a" to other sounds such as i, u, e, o, au ...). Consonants can also be combined into compounds, also called conjunct consonants (for example sa+ya are combined vertically to give "sya"). The Unicode Standard does not explicitly state that
3285-495: The inscription, Samudragupta reinstated these rulers after they sought his forgiveness. 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. Another possibility
3358-484: The inscriptions of the Parivrajaka dynasty , which ruled in this area, state that their ancestral kingdom was located within the 18 forest kingdoms. 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. The inscription explicitly describes the five kingdoms as frontier territories:
3431-502: The issue of these coins to Chandragupta himself. Two inscriptions from Samudragupta's reign have been discovered: Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script ) was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcontinent , which was a period of material prosperity and great religious and scientific developments. The Gupta script
3504-490: The king dressed in a way similar to the standard type coins of Samudragupta . The king is seen holding a chakra-dhvaja (wheel-standard) in his left hand, and offering incense on an altar with his right hand. One variety of Kacha's coins also depict a Garuda-dhvaja ( Garuda flag) in front of him. The circular legend (in Upagati metre ) on this side reads Kacho gamavajitya divam karmabhir-uttamair-jayati ("Having conquered
3577-474: The name "Kacha" (Kāca) was converted to "Rāma" because of scribal mistakes. However, he later withdrew his opinion after the discovery of coins attributed to Ramagupta, in Malwa. The discovery of three stone inscriptions referring to Ramagupta also nullified this theory. James Prinsep identified Kacha with Ghatotkacha , the grandfather of Samudragupta, based on the similarity of two names. However, Ghatotkacha
3650-409: The next emperor. 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". One interpretation suggests that these other people were neighbouring kings, and Samudagupta's ascension to the throne was uncontested. Another theory is that these other people were Gupta princes with a rival claim to
3723-491: The northwest of the subcontinent. The Guptas even adopted from the Kushans the name of Dinara for their coinage, which ultimately came from the Roman name Denarius aureus . 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
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#17327759871243796-477: The ocean (" samudra "). According to the second theory, Kacha probably contested Samudragupta's claim to the throne, and ruled for a brief period. Alternative theories identify him with other Gupta rulers, or as a non-Gupta usurper. Kacha is known from some gold coins dated to the early Gupta period: these coins bear the legend "Kacha" under the king's image. However, he is not mentioned in the Gupta genealogies or any other source. The obverse of these coins depicts
3869-419: The ocean. Arguments cited in favour of this theory include: Critics of this theory argue that: According to another theory, Kacha was a rival claimant to the throne, possibly a brother of Samudragupta. He probably occupied the throne for a brief period, before being dethroned by Samudragupta. A variation of this theory is that Kacha outlived Samudragupta, and took control of Magadha after his death, while
3942-502: 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. The end of Samudragupta's reign
4015-632: The relationship of these frontier rulers to the Gupta emperor had "certain elements of a feudatory relationship". 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. The frontier kingdoms included: The tribal oligarchies included: 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); and seeking
4088-595: 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. 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
4161-490: 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. According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta "forcibly uprooted" the following kings of Aryavarta , the northern region: Unlike the southern kings, the inscription does not mention
4234-460: The shapes and forms of the graphemes and diacritics are different. Through the 4th century, letters began to take more cursive and symmetric forms, as a result of the desire to write more quickly and aesthetically. This also meant that the script became more differentiated throughout the Empire, with regional variations which have been broadly classified into three, four or five categories; however,
4307-515: The south, Samudragupta's empire definitely included Eran in present-day Madhya Pradesh, where his inscription has been found. The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that he advanced up to Kanchipuram in the south. 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. According to historian Kunal Chakrabarti, Samudragupta's military campaigns weakened
4380-607: The southern region: The exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars, but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India. 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 . 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
4453-434: 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). Other scholars, such as K. P. Jayaswal , believe that Shakas and Murundas are two different groups of people. According to this theory, Shakas here most probably refers to
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#17327759871244526-461: The territories ruled by these kings, which suggests that their kingdoms were annexed to the Gupta empire. The inscription also mentions that Samudragupta defeated some other kings, but does not mention their names, presumably because the poet saw them as unimportant. According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta reduced all the kings of the forest region ( atavika ) to subservience. This forest region may have been located in central India:
4599-438: The throne. 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. The coins of a Gupta ruler named Kacha , whose identity is debated by modern scholars, describe him as "the exterminator of all kings". These coins closely resemble the coins issued by Samudragupta. According to one theory, Kacha was an earlier name of Samudragupta and
4672-663: 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. 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. Some earlier scholars, such as J. F. Fleet believed that Samudragupta had also conquered
4745-519: The use of the Garuda -depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories. These kings included "Daivaputra-Shahi-Shahanushahi, Shaka-Murundas, and the rulers of the island countries such as Simhala". 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
4818-526: 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. 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
4891-473: The śaka-murunda I follow Konow and Lüders, who argue that this 'passage in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta leaves no doubt that murunda (i.e. 'commander'), originally was a title used by Saka princes'. The șāhānuṣāhi refers to the 'king of kings' Shapur II According to S.R. Goyal , Samudragupta was determined to ensure the safety of the empire's frontiers and secure the western trade routes. To address these concerns, he formed an alliance with Kidara,
4964-477: Was a brother of Samudragupta, and died fighting "a war of liberation" against the Kushan Empire during the reign of their father Chandragupta I. According to this theory, the coins attributed to Kacha were actually commemorative medals issued by Samudragupta to commemorate his brother. However, there is no proof that Magadha was a part of the Kushan Empire during the first quarter of the 4th century, when
5037-464: Was a king of India, possibly a member of the Gupta dynasty . He is known only from his gold coins, which are similar to those of the Gupta king Samudragupta . Kacha's identity is a matter of debate among modern historians: two popular theories are that he was either same as Samudragupta, or that he was a brother of Samudragupta. According to the first theory, Kacha may have assumed the regnal name "Samudra-gupta" after extending his empire's borders up to
5110-463: Was a non-Gupta "political adventurer" who usurped the throne, when Samudragupta was busy in his southern campaigns , and was defeated by Samudragupta when the latter returned to the capital. Sitholey argues that the absence of Kacha's name in literary and epigraphic sources proves that he was an outsider. However, there is no concrete evidence for this: it is common for princes of collateral branches to be excluded from royal genealogies, which describe
5183-422: Was a pre-imperial ruler of the dynasty, and it is unlikely that he issued any gold coins. The legend "exterminator of all kings" on Kacha's coins does not befit a non-imperial ruler like him. Moreover, the Sanskrit words "Kacha" (Kāca) and "Ghatotkacha" (Ghaṭotkaca) have completely different meanings: there is little scope for contraction of the name "Ghatotkacha" to "Kacha". B. S. Sitholey theorized that Kacha
5256-631: Was descended from Brāhmī and gave rise to the Śāradā and Siddhaṃ scripts. These scripts in turn gave rise to many of the most important Indic scripts, including Devanāgarī (the most common script used for writing Sanskrit since the 19th century), the Gurmukhī script for Punjabi , the Odia script , the Bengali-Assamese script and the Tibetan script . The Gupta script was descended from
5329-546: Was the unification of the earth ( dharani-bandha ), which suggests that he may have aspired to become a Chakravartin (a universal ruler). 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. The early portion of the Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that Samudragupta "uprooted" Achyuta , Nagasena , and
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