The Age of the Imperial Guptas c4.4

c4.4

We can assume that Candragupta, the son of Ghaṭotkacagupta, and the grandson of Śrigupta, assumed the leadership of the citizens of Pāṭaliputra and the people of Magadha in this war of independence. The different steps are not known to us but some of them may be guessed with a certain amount of accuracy. It is certain that neither Śrigupta nor his son Ghaṭotkacagupta were people of much importance in the country. Hariṣeṇa, one of the ministers of Samudragupta, calls them Mahārājas but the title had declined very much in importance. It had ceased to be an Imperial title. The Great Aśoka was content with the title of Rājan. The Greeks introduced the first change when they translated the title “Basileus Basileuon” and the Persian “Shāhanshāh” into Mahārāja-Rājātirāja. Under the Imperial Great Kushans several additions were made to the Imperial title such as Devaputra in imitation of the title “Son of Heaven” of the Emperors of China. Early in the fourth century the Imperial title expanded into Parameśvara-Paramabhaṭṭāraka-Mahārājādhirāja. In the reign of Kumāragupta I we find that the governors of Northern Bengal, though not of royal descent and holding the rank of Uparika, are styled Mahārājas.¹ Therefore we may assume that the ancestors of Candragupta I were people of no very great importance in Magadha. Whether they were subordinate chiefs with the title of *Mahārājas* or mere nonentities to whom Hariṣeṇa gave the rank of *Mahārājas* out of courtsey, need not trouble us. We learn from the coins of Candragupta I or those ascribed to him, but really issued by his son and successor Samudragupta, that Candragupta acquired importance by his marriage with the Licchavī princess Kumāradevī. So much emphasis is given to the Lichchhavī connection by Samudragupta that there cannot be any doubt about its importance. On the coins of Candragupta I, which Allan takes to be memorial medals struck by Samudragupta in honour of his parents, we see Candragupta I and Kumāradevī standing side by side with their names struck separately. On the reverse we find the word “*Licchavayaḥ*,” in the plural number, which cannot be explained unless the Guptas are also taken to be descended from Licchavi oligarchs. The Licchavis were, originally, inhabitants of Northern Bihar or Tirabhukti, with their capital at Vaiśālī. They were ruled by a number of oligarchs selected from certain families only. They were a powerful nation whose depredations in the country to the south of the Ganges compelled the kings of Magadha to build a strong fort at the confluence of that river with the Son, which became the nucleus of the great city of Pāṭaliputra. The independence of the Licchavī oligarchy was subsequently destroyed by Ajātaśatru, king of Magadha. Subsequently the Licchavīs migrated to or conquered Nepal in the early mediæval period.