History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c16.s3.10

c16.s3.10

133. This war may be dated in or about 344-45 A.D. immediately after the death of Pravarasena I, the Vākāṭaka Emperor. This war gave the large tract of the Gangetic valley to Samudra Gupta. From Oudh which already belonged to him and had been his base, his territory extended up to Hardwar and the Siwalik, and to the east, from Allahabad up to Bhagalpur at least, if not up to Bengal which seems to be included by the Purāṇic reference to Pauṇḍra. Leaving probably the valley of the Yamunā for the time being, Samudra Gupta consolidated his power in Magadha and decided upon attacking the south-eastern end of the Vākāṭaka empire. It was far from the centre of the Vākāṭaka seat of power which, up to that time, was in the Kilakilā region. To Samudra Gupta it was nearer from Chota Nagpur. The Vākāṭakas evidently governed their provinces of Kosalā-Mekalā through and from the Central Provinces. Samudra Gupta, therefore, could cause successfully, apart from other military considerations, not only confusion but almost helplessness to the Vākāṭaka Emperor by attacking the Vākāṭakas in Kosalā, Mekalā and Andhra. The Pallavas who occupied an important position in the South at the time were in subordinate alliance with the Vākāṭaka Emperor, being their branch. The four Aśvamedhas of the late Vākāṭaka samrāṭ had given him dominion over all the four quarters of India. In the South Samudra Gupta had a policy more of conciliation than of aggression. He captured rulers and released them, and except for the territories which were integral parts of the Vākāṭaka Empire—Kosalā and Mekalā—he did not annex any southern territory. In Kaliṅga he set up a new feudatory. His progress, consequently, in the South must have been swift. At the same time it was very profitable. The whole of Northern India was soon flooded with gold presumably imported from the South. Samudra Gupta coined only gold money, and at his aśvamedha at a later stage, he struck gold coins to such a volume that he could distribute them to an unprecedented extent.