Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c20.s2: Section II. Chandra Gupta I

Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c20.s2

Language: English

Section II. Chandra Gupta I

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The first independent sovereign (*Mahārājādhirāja*)¹ of the line was Chandra Gupta I, son of Ghaṭotkacha, who *may have* ascended the throne in 320 A.D., the initial date of the Gupta Era.² Like his great fore-runner Bimbisāra he strengthened his position at some stage of his career, by a matrimonial alliance with the Lichchhavis of Vaiśālī or of Nepāl,³ and laid the foundations of the Second Magadhan Empire. The union of Chandra Gupta I with the Lichchhavi family is commemorated by a series of coins⁴ having on the obverse standing figures of Chandra Gupta and his queen, the Lichchhavi princess Kumāradevī, and on the reverse a figure of Lakshmī, the goddess of luck with the legend "*Lichchhavayaḥ*" probably signifying that the prosperity of Chandra Gupta was due to his Lichchhavi alliance. Smith suggests that the Lichchhavis were ruling in Pāṭaliputra as tributaries or feudatories of the Kushāns and that through his marriage Chandra Gupta succeeded to the power of his wife's relatives. But Allan suggests that Pāṭaliputra was in the possession of the Guptas even in Śrī Gupta's time.¹

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¹ In the Ṛiddhapur plates (JASB, 1924, 58), however, Chandra Gupta I and even Samudra Gupta are called (carelessly) simply *Mahārājas*.

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² JRAS, 1893, 80; Cunningham, Arch. Sur. Rep., Vol. IX, p. 21. The identity of the Gupta king with whom the era (*Gupta prakāla*, *Guptānaṁ kāla*) of 320 A.D. originated, is by no means clear. The claims of Mahārāja Gupta (IHQ, 1942, 273 n) or even (less plausibly) of Samudra Gupta, cannot be altogether disregarded.

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³ It is *not* suggested that the marriage took place after 320 A.D. The chronology of the Guptas before A.D. 380 is still in a stage of uncertainty. Nothing definite can be stated about the relative date of the marriage till we know more about the length of Chandragupta I's reign, and the exact date of his accession, and that of his son and successor, Samudra Gupta. Some scholars think that Chandragupta I's alliance was with the ruling family of Nepāl (JRAS, 1889, p. 55) or of Pāṭaliputra (JRAS, 1893, p. 81).

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⁴ There is difference of opinion among scholars regarding the attribution of these coins, see Altekar in *Num. Suppl.* No. XLVII, *JRASB*, III (1937), No. 2, 346. It is difficult to come to any final conclusion till the discovery of coins whose attribution to Chandragupta I is beyond doubt.

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¹ Kielhorn's North Indian Inscription, No. 541, however, suggests some connection between the Lichchhavis and Pushpapura (Pāṭaliputra).

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From the record of Samudra Gupta's conquests it has been deduced that his father's rule was confined to Magadha and the adjoining territories. In the opinion of Allan the Purāṇic verses defining the Gupta dominions refer to his reign :

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*Anu-Gaṅgā-Prayāgaṁcha Sāketam Magadhāṁstathā*
*Etān janapadān sarvān bhokshyante Guptavaṁśajāḥ.*

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"Kings born of the Gupta family will enjoy all these territories *viz.*, Prayāga (Allahabad) on the Ganges,² Sāketa (Oudh), and Magadha (South Bihār)."

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² *Cf. Anu-Gaṅgaṁ Hāstinapuram, Anu-Gaṅgam Vārāṇasī, Anu-Śoṇam Pāṭaliputram*—Patañjali, II. 1. 2.

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It will be seen that Vaiśālī (North Bihār) is not included in this list of Gupta possessions. Therefore, it is difficult to concur in Allan's view that Vaiśālī was one of Chandra Gupta's earliest conquests. Nor does Vaiśālī occur in the list of Samudra Gupta's acquisitions, though the reference to Nepāl as a border state in the famous Allahabad inscription may suggest that North Bihār was included within his dominions. It first appears definitely as a Gupta possession in the time of Chandra Gupta II, and constituted a viceroyalty under an imperial Prince. Prayāga (Allahabad) may have been conquered from a line of kings whose existence is disclosed in certain inscriptions discovered at Bhīṭā.³ Two of these kings, Mahārāja Gautamīputra Śrī Śivamagha and Rājan Vāsiśṭhīputra Bhīmasena are assigned by Marshall to the second or third century A.D. The name Śivamegha (or Śivamagha) reminds us of the ‘Meghas’ (Maghas) who ruled in Kosalā in the third century A.D.¹ Another king, Mahārāja Gautamīputra Vṛishadhvaja, is assigned to the third or fourth century A.D.

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭādhyāyī — Pāṇini, Sanskrit