History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c23.12

c23.12

In the 13th year of her first son Divākarasena she gave her grandfather the title of Mahārājādhirāja, but about 40 years later, when her father was gone, she called Samudra Gupta only ‘Mahārāja’ and recognized her father only as the Mahārājādhirāja. All this connotes the historical constitutional position of each Gupta ruler in the eyes of the Vākāṭaka House. The latter (1) did not recognize Gupta to have been a ruler at all, (2) did not recognize Samudra Gupta as a rightful Mahārājādhirāja, as he had begun life as a Vākāṭaka subordinate and as a Mahārāja, and it was only as a rebel that he killed Rudrasena I, while Chandra Gupta II was the first recognized Mahārājādhirāja over the Mahārājas of the Vākāṭaka House. The Vākāṭaka House (3) never recognized Chandra Gupta I as a Mahārājādhirāja; in the time of Pravarasena I such a claim was unthinkable, and Chandra Gupta’s assumption of such dignity would have been then and always considered by the Vākāṭakas as an act of sedition.