The Age of the Imperial Guptas c4.128

c4.128

Kumāragupta I, the fourth emperor of the Gupta dynasty, cannot be compared to his father and grandfather. He was probably weak in character and fond of a life of easy indolence. In the absence of official inscriptions of his reign, like the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta or the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta, it is extremely difficult to assert anything with certainty. But the general trend of events of his reign and the subsequent disruption of the Gupta empire in the time of his second son, Puragupta, indicates that he was no intrepid leader of men like his grandfather or a notable general like his father. He assumed the title of *Mahendrāditya* in imitation of his father's *biruda* *Vikramāditya*. His coinage is more varied than that of his father. He introduced many new types in the gold coinage, the most notable among which are his very rare *Aśvamedha* coins. These coins alone prove that like his grandfather Samudragupta, Kumāragupta I also had performed the *Aśvamedha* ceremony. He issued two different types of gold coins reminiscent of his hunting exploits. Like his grandfather Samudragupta he issued one type representing him as killing a tiger and like his father Candragupta II he issued another type of coins representing him as killing a lion. His name Kumāra is synonymous with that of the divine general Kārtikeya and according to the laudations of the court-poets he compared himself with that god and issued a new type of gold coins accordingly. On this type we see the king feeding a peacock on the obverse and the god Kārtikeya riding on a peacock on the reverse. He issued a new type of silver coins for use in Central India in which Garuḍa, the family symbol is replaced by the peacock. Later on this type was copied by Śilāditya and Harṣavardhana. He continued the issue of silver coins of the Western Kṣatrapa type initiated by his father but was compelled in times of stress, during the first Hūṇa war to mint this type on silver-plated copper instead of pure silver.