The Age of the Imperial Guptas c4.13

c4.13

According to the latest interpretation of the numismatic evidence Samudragupta struck a number of commemorative medals during his reign and the coins which were hitherto regarded as the regular issues of Candragupta I are now regarded as medals struck in memory of his parents by Samudragupta. Numismatists have not been able to account for gold coins issued by a king or prince named Kāca. In execution these coins are allied to the group of memorial medals issued by Samudragupta and therefore Mr. J. Allan of the British Museum is inclined to regard them as issues of Samudragupta. But up to this time coins of the same Gupta king bearing two different names in addition to the *birudas* or the *Āditya*-name have not been discovered. The established practice of Gupta coins is to put the real name of the king on the margin of the obverse or at the foot of the royal figure in a vertical line and his *birudas* on the reverse or elsewhere. All different types of the coins of Samudragupta, Candragupta II, Kumāragupta I and Skandagupta show the actual name of the king on the obverse either in the margin or at the foot of the royal figure on gold coins. Regarded in this light the group of extremely rare gold coins bearing the name Kāca are either issues of some other prince of that name or memorial medals struck by Samudragupta for a relative of that name. Who this prince was we do not know. Was he another son of Candragupta I whose reign had intervened between those of Candragupta I and Samudragupta? If the coins bearing the name of Kāca are real coins and not medals then Kāca was most probably the elder brother of Samudragupta whose rule was very short. But if they are medals struck in the memory of a relative by Samudragupta then Kāca was most probably another son of Candragupta I, who had lost his life in the war of independence. Gupta inscriptions generally omit the name of a prince who is not in the direct line of succession. The Bhitari seal of Kumāragupta II omits the name of the emperor Skandagupta, the elder brother of Puragupta. For this reason it is easier to account for the omission of the name of Kāca in the genealogical tables of Gupta inscriptions. It is more probable that coins bearing the name of Kāca are memorial medals because Hariṣeṇa, the official historiographer of the reign of Samudragupta, states in the Allahabad pillar inscription that he (Samudragupta) was elected the heir-apparent (yuvarāja) during the life time of his father. Kāca, therefore, appears to be a son of Candragupta I who had lost his life during the life time of his father very probably in the war of independence.