History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c16.s3.29

c16.s3.29

137. As Samudra Gupta built his monuments at Eran which was in the heart of the Vākāṭaka home-province, it is definite that he had a triumphant march into the Vākāṭaka country. In the reign of the next Vākāṭaka king, Pṛithivīsheṇa I, we find Bundelkhand still under the Vākāṭakas. Immediately to the south of Eran and also to its east there were the Republics (§ 145). Samudra Gupta's founding a Vishnu temple at Eran, which was not in the territory under his direct administration, is suggestive. In the Eran inscription, where the king has not yet assumed the title of Mahārājādhirāja, and where the set genealogy is yet unknown, lines 21 to 26, verses 6 and 7, show that after a military victory, Samudra Gupta raised a war memorial, like the one raised later by his grandson at Bhitari. The inscription is earlier than the Allahabad pillar inscription. The word ‘Antaka’ is emphasised in this inscription; a whole lot of kings (pārthiva-gaṇas sakalaḥ) are noted to have been overthrown and deprived of their sovereignty, and the king is said to have taken a consecration¹ and is described to have become one whose valour had become ‘irresistible’—a title afterwards adopted on his coins. His action in war is given prominence, in line 21, which made his enemies fear him even in sleep. To mark the glory, he established (line 26) a foundation, which is evidently the Vishnu Temple, still existing. On the freeze of the temple a funeral-scene is depicted,² which is unusual, and is to be interpreted as the cremation of the Vākāṭaka king, defeated and slain. The town from that day became a direct, personal possession of the Gupta Emperor—which is the real meaning of the term 'svabhoga-nagara'.