The Age of the Imperial Guptas c4.14

c4.14

Candragupta I left Magadha independent but a minor power in the political arena of Northern India in the 4th century A.D. Either in his life-time or shortly afterwards a king of the Indian Desert, Candravarman of Puṣkaraṇā, overran the whole of Northern India from Eastern Bengal to the seven mouths of Indus. The statements of the inscription on the iron pillar now standing in the Masjid Qūwwat-ul-Islām at Meherauli¹ have been partly corroborated by the discovery of another inscription on the Susunia rock in the western part of the Bankura district.² In this inscription Candravarman calls himself a king of Puṣkaraṇā, and informs us that his father's name was Mahārāja Siṃhavarman. Hariṣeṇa in his Allahabad pillar inscription tells us that Candravarman was one of the kings of Northern India vanquished by Samudragupta. Candravarman’s younger brother Naravarman was ruling over Mandasor, the ancient Daśapura, as an independent ruler in V.S. 461=404 A.D.,¹ i.e., even after the conquest of Mālava by Candragupta II. Naravarman’s son and successor Viśvavarman did not acknowledge the suzerainty of the emperor Kumāragupta in V.S. 480=424 A.D.,² but Naravarman’s grandson Bandhuvarman openly acknowledged the suzerainty of Kumāragupta I in his Mandasor inscription of V.S. 493=436-37 A.D.³ The campaign of Candravarman in Northern India appears to have taken place before Samudragupta’s conquest of the same region. We do not know what happened in the newly founded kingdom of Magadha during this campaign. It is also possible that Candravarman’s campaign took place before the accession of Candragupta I and at the same time it is quite probable that Candragupta I was defeated by Candravarman because in order to reach Susunia in Western Bengal the latter must have passed through Magadha.