The Coinage of the Gupta Empire and its Imitations c9.s5.8

c9.s5.8

The reverse legend on the variety A, *Rājā Samudraguptaḥ*, which gives no imperial title to the issuer, has given rise to various speculations. Smith once thought that it was issued by Samudragupta during the life time of his father;¹ Jayaswal believed that the coin was issued during the short period when the Guptas were once more reduced to the feudatory position by the Vākāṭaka emperor Pravarasena I.² There can, however, be no doubt that the coin was issued late in Samudragupta’s reign. The reverse legend gives the simple title *rājā* to the king, because the numismatic convention prescribed only a short legend on that side. The reverse legends on the couch type of Samudragupta and the Swordsman type of Kumāragupta I are shorter still; they omit all titles and describe the issuers by their simple names, *Samudraguptaḥ* and *Śrī Kumāraguptaḥ*. No regal title occurs either on the obverse or on the reverse legend of the swordsman type of Kumāragupta I. Are we therefore to conclude that he was not even a feudatory when the type was issued?