The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c7.s1.2

c7.s1.2

Mahārājas Gupta and Ghaṭotkacha, the grand-father and father of Chandragupta I, were not rulers of importance, and so they did not issue any coins. The coinage was started by Chandragupta I, perhaps at the time when he assumed the imperial title of Mahārājādhirāja probably towards the end of his reign. The Gupta dominion was at this time a kind of dual kingdom, the share of the Guptas and Lichchhavis being more or less equal. This political circumstance was reflected in the coinage of Chandragupta I, which was confined to a single type, showing the Gupta emperor and his queen on the obverse and mentioning on the reverse the name of the powerful Lichchhavi clan from which his bride hailed.¹ None of the coins of Chandragupta II can be assigned to Chandragupta I, as they all show the biruda (epithet) Vikrama either alone or in combination. There is so far no evidence to show that Chandragupta I also bore this epithet.