Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c20.s3.91

c20.s3.91

The attribution of the coins bearing the name Kācha to Samudra Gupta may be accepted. But the emperor's identification with *Dharmāditya* (sun of the true faith) of a Faridpur grant is clearly wrong. The titles used by this monarch were *Apratiratha*, 'unrivalled car-warrior' *Aprativāryavīrya*, 'of irresistible valour,' *Kṛitānta-paraśu*, 'axe of death,' *sarva-rāj-ochchhettā*,¹ 'uprooter of all kings,' *Vyāghra-parākrama*, 'possessed of the strength of a tiger,' *Aśva-medha-parākrama*, 'whose might was demonstrated by the horse-sacrifice,' and *Parākramāṅka*, 'marked with prowess,' but not *Dharmāditya*. Most of these epithets are connected with particular types of coins issued by the emperor. Thus *Parākrama* is found on the reverse of coins of the standard type, *Apratiratha* on coins of the archer type, *Kṛitānta-paraśu* on coins of the battle-axe type,¹ *sarva-rājochchhetta* on coins of the Kācha type, *Vyāghra-parākrama* (*Rājā*) on the tiger type of coins, and *Aśvamedha-parākrama* on the *Aśvamedha* type.² The appearance of a goddess seated on a lion (*siṁha-vāhinī*, *i.e.*, Durgā or Pārvatī, *Vindhya-vāsinī* or *Haimavatī*) may point to the extension of the Gupta dominions to the Vindhya and the Himavat.³ The tiger and river-goddess (*makaravāhinī*) type may indicate that the sway of Samudra Gupta spread from the Ganges valley to the realm of the ‘Tiger king’ in Mahākāntāra. The figures of Gaṅgā and Yamunā occur frequently in door jambs of the Gupta Age. It has been surmised that they symbolise connection with the Gangetic Doāb.