History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c16.s4.69

c16.s4.69

151A. Samudra Gupta in every respect carried out the Hindu ideal of imperialism.⁵ According to the Mahā-Bhārata, Siṃhala [Ceylon] and the Hindu Dvīpas or colonies were integral parts of the Indian Empire of the Hindu Samrāṭ.⁶ According to that ideal the whole of India including Afghanistan¹ must be comprised in that empire. But the empire must not go further west and be at the cost of the liberties of the countries beyond Afghanistan. The traditional international morality of Hindu India was noted by the Greek writers and the Arab Sulaiman.² The Law of Manu, which fixes the western boundary of India, was scrupulously observed by Samudra Gupta. The Sassanian king, who was troubled and weakened by the Roman emperor at the time, could have been invaded and probably easily conquered by Samudra Gupta, who in the art of war had no equal in his time. But Samudra Gupta had a law laid down to him by his dharmaśāstra—the code, ‘the rule (śāstra) of civilisation’ (dharma). And that dharma was followed: that dharma limited a Hindu monarch's actions, both international and imperial. The history of Samudra Gupta's conquests shows that his actions were well-regulated by that law, and that he did not become a militarist.