The Age of the Imperial Guptas c4.115

c4.115

At some period between 414 and 455, A.D. the Gupta empire was invaded by horde after horde of barbarians who succeeded in destroying it and its culture after three quarters of a century. The earliest invasion of the barbarians was successfully dispelled by the Crown Prince, Skandagupta, but later on the strain of continual warfare was felt by the Treasury and the emperor was compelled to issue coins of impure gold. Though a number of inscriptions of the reign of Kumāragupta I have been discovered, the chronology of the wars with the barbarians is imperfectly known to us. The undated Gaḍhwā inscription records the gift of ten gold coins (*Dīnāras*) for an alms house.¹ Another from the same place records the erection of a house for the free distribution of food.² The Bilsad pillar inscription records the erection of a gateway, another house for the free distribution of food as well as gifts to a temple of Kārtikeya in the year 96.³ An image of a Jaina Tīrthaṅkara was dedicated at Mathurā in the year 113. In same year a grant or transfer of land was recorded on a copper plate in Bengal. This plate has been recovered in a fragmentary condition and nothing can be recovered beyond the name of the reigning sovereign, the date and the name of the Viṣaya, which is read as Khusā-pāra by me ¹ and Khāḍā-pāra by Prof. Radhagovinda Basak. ² The copper plates discovered in recent years at Damodarpur in the Dinajpur district of Bengal are far more illuminating. Out of five plates discovered at Damodarpur two belong to the reign of Kumāragupta I; plate No. I dated G.E. 124, and plate No. II dated G.E. 128. The first plate records that in G.E. 124 when the *Paramadaivata-Paramabhaṭṭāraka-Mahārājādhirāja* Kumāragupta was the ruling emperor, an *Uparika* named Ciratadatta was the governor of Puṇḍravardhana-*Bhukti* (Division). Under him the *Kumārāmātya* Vetravarman was the deputy governor of the district of Koṭivarṣa. It records further that a Brāhmaṇa of the name of Karppaṭika applied to the local officials for the sale of a piece of waste land to him. The application was sanctioned and the sale confirmed by the inscription on the plate. ³ The second plate from Damodarpur belonging to the reign of Kumāragupta I records that in G.E. 128 the *Uparika* Ciratadatta was still the governor of the *Bhukti* of Puṇḍravardhana and the *Kumārāmātya* Vetravarman, the deputy governor of the district of Koṭivarṣa. In that year another person applied for a transfer of waste land to him at the usual price for the maintenance of the five *Mahāyajñas*. The application was sanctioned and the transfer recorded on the plate.¹ The next record of the reign of Kumāragupta I is Buddhist. An image of Buddha was dedicated in G. E. 129 by a Buddhist monk named Buddhamitra. The image was discovered in the Karchhana Tahsil of the Allahabad district and the only noticeable point in this record is the title of *Mahārāja* given to Kumāragupta I, instead of the current form of *Mahārājādhirāja*.² It should be noticed in this connection that the small Jaina votive inscription from Mathura uses both *Paramabhaṭṭāraka* and *Mahārājādhirāja*.³ We possess no records of the last seven years of this emperor's reign. It was most probably during this period the Hūṇa wars mentioned in the inscriptions of Skandagupta took place. We know from the silver coins that Kumāragupta I reigned till G.E. 136 = 455-6 A.D.,⁴ and that his eldest son Skandagupta was on the throne in the same year.