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Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21: Chapter XI. The Gupta Empire (continued): The Age of the Vikramādityas

Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21

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Chapter XI. The Gupta Empire (continued): The Age of the Vikramādityas

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*Kāmaṁ nṛipāḥ santu sahasraśo' nye*
*rājanvatīmāhuranena bhūmim*
*nakshatra-tārā-graha saṅkulāpi*
*jyotishmatī Chandramasaiva rātriḥ.*
—*Raghuvamśam.*

Section I. Chandra Gupta II Vikramāditya

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Epigraphic evidence indicates that Samudra Gupta was succeeded by his son Chandra Gupta II, Vikramāditya, also called Narendra Chandra, Siṁha Chandra, Narendra Siṁha and Siṁha Vikrama,¹ born of queen Dattadevī. Chandra Gupta was chosen out of many sons by his father as the best fitted to succeed him.² Another name of the new monarch disclosed by certain Vākāṭaka inscriptions, several types of coins and the Sāñchī inscription of A. D. 412-3 was Deva Gupta, Deva-śrī or Deva-rāja.¹

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¹ Cf. the name Vikrama Siṁha of Ujjayinī, Penzer, III. 11. The story narrated in Vishamaśīla Lambaka, has for its hero Vikramāditya, son of Mahendrāditya, who is apparently to be identified with Skanda Gupta. But some of the motifs such as strīvesha (*Kathā Sar.* XVIII. 3. 42), visit to the enemy's own place with a Vetāla (5. 40 f) were probably taken from the cycle of legends associated with Chandra Gupta II, father of Mahendra.

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² That Samudra Gupta had many sons and grandsons appears clear from the Eraṇ epigraph The theory of Dr. Altekar (JBORS, XIV, pp. 223-53; XV, pt. i-ii pp. 134 f.), and others that a king named Rāma (Sarma? Sena?) Gupta intervened between Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II is unsupported by any contemporary epigraphic evidence. The tradition that a Gupta king killed his brother and took his wife and crown, dates only from a ninth century epigraph. The literary evidence on the point is discrepant and hardly conclusive. The version given by Bāṇa in the seventh century differs in important respects from the story known to the author of the *Kāvya-Mīmāṁsā*, Cir. 900 A.D. (Cf. *Ind Ant.*, Nov., 1933, 201 ff.; JBORS, XVIII, 1, 1932, 17 ff.). The simple story, narrated in the *Harsha-Charita*, that Chandra Gupta, disguised as a female, destroyed a Saka (not Khasa) king, who coveted the wife of another, in the very city of the enemy, was doubtless embellished by later poets and dramatists, and (as is clear from certain data, to which Mr. V. V. Mirashi draws attention in IHQ, March, 1934, 48 ff.) details, such as fratricide, and association with ghouls, not found in the earlier account, continued to be added in the days of Amoghavarsha I (A. D. 815-78) and Govinda IV (A.D. c. 927-933). The *Devī Chandraguptam* and similar works are as much unsuited to form bases of the chronicles of Chandra Gupta II as the *Mudrārākshasam* and the *Aśokāvadāna* are in regard to the doings of the great Mauryas. The subject has been fully discussed by the present writer in an article entitled "*Vikramāditya in History and legend*" contributed to the Vikrama-volume, Scindhia Oriental Institute (1948), pp. 483-511. The story of Chandra Gupta's adventure in its developed form has absorbed a good deal of folklore, such as tales about ghouls, Piśācha. The motif of the wife leaving a mean-spirited husband is found in Penzer, *Kathā S. S.*, III. 290.

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¹ *Cf.* Bhandarkar, *Ind. Ant.* 1913, p. 160.

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For the reign of Chandra Gupta II, we possess a number of dated inscriptions so that its limits may be defined with more accuracy than those of his predecessors. His accession should be placed before A.D. 381, and his death in or about A.D. 413-14.

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The most important external events of the reign were the emperor's matrimonial alliance with the Vākāṭaka king Rudrasena II, son of Pṛithivīsheṇa I, and the war with the Śaka Satraps which added Western Mālwa and Surāshṭra (Kāṭhiāwār) to the Gupta dominions.

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Matrimonial alliances occupy a prominent place in the foreign policy of the Guptas. The Lichchhavi connection had strengthened their position in Bihār. After the conquest of the upper provinces they sought alliances with other ruling families whose help was needed to consolidate the Gupta power in the newly acquired territory and prepare the ground for fresh conquests. Thus Samudra Gupta received presents of girls (*kanyopāyana*) from Saka-Kushān chiefs and other foreign potentates. Chandra Gupta II married Kuberanāgā, a princess of Nāga lineage,¹ and had by her a daughter named Prabhāvatī, whom he gave in marriage to Rudrasena II, the Vākāṭaka king of Berar and the adjoining districts. According to Dr. Smith² "the Vākāṭaka *Mahārāja* occupied a geographical position in which he could be of much service or disservice to the northern invader of the dominions of the Saka satraps of Gujrāt and Surāshṭra. Chandra Gupta adopted a prudent precaution in giving his daughter to the Vākāṭaka prince and so securing his subordinate alliance."

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¹ *Nāga-kulotpannā, cf. JASB*, 1924, p. 58. It is possible, as urged by many writers, that Chandra Gupta Vikramāditya also entered into marriage alliances with the Kadambas of Vaijayantī or Banavāsi in Kuntala, or the Kanarese, country. The sending of an embassy to Kuntala by Vikramāditya, is vouched for by Bhoja and Kshemendra. (*Proceedings of the Third Oriental Conference*, p. 6.) Kākusthavarman of the Kadamba dynasty gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings in or about the fifth century (Talagunda Inscription, Ep. Ind., VIII, 33 ff. ; IHQ, 1933, 197 ff.).

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² JRAS, 1914, p. 324.

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The campaign againt the Western Satraps is apparently alluded to in the Udayagiri Cave Inscription of Vīrasena-Śāba in the following passage "he (Śāba) came here (to Eastern Mālwa), accompanied by the king (Chandra Gupta) in person, who was seeking to conquer the whole world." Śāba was an inhabitant of Pāṭaliputra. He held the position, acquired by hereditary descent, of a *Sachiva* or minister of Chandra Gupta II, and was placed by his sovereign in charge of the Department of Peace and War. He naturally accompanied his master when the great western expedition was undertaken. Eastern Mālwa, which had already felt the might of Samudra Gupta, became the base of operations against the Sakas. Inscriptions at Udayagiri and Sāñchī suggest that the emperor Chandra Gupta II assembled at or near Vidiśā in East Mālwa many of his ministers, generals and feudatories, some of whom are mentioned in records dating from A.D. 402 to 413. The campaign against the Śakas was eminently successful. The fall of the Śaka Satrap is alluded to by Bāṇa. The annexation of his territory is proved by coins.¹

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¹ Silver coins of the Garuḍa type bearing the legend *Parama-Bhāgavata*, probably struck in Surāshṭra (Allan, p. xciv). Some of the coins bear the date 90 (=A.D. 409, EHI, 4th ed., p. 345). It has been suggested that, like his father, Chandra Gupta, too, performed a horse sacrifice (IHQ. 1927, p. 725) and that a stone horse lying in a village named Nagawa near Benares, and bearing an inscription containing the letters Chamdragu, commemorates the event. But there is no clear reference to such a sacrifice in the inscriptions or coins hitherto published.

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**Chief Cities of the Empire.**—The first important Gupta metropolis seems to have been at Pāṭaliputra—“the city named Pushpa” where Samudra Gupta is said to have “rested on his laurels” after one of his victorious campaigns, and from which a Gupta Minister for Peace and War went to East Mālwa in the company of his sovereign. From A.D. 402 Chandra Gupta seems to have had a residence in Mālwa, at first possibly at Vidiśā and later on, after his western conquests, at Ujjain. Certain chiefs of the Kanarese districts, who claimed descent from Chandra Gupta (Vikramāditya), referred to their great ancestor as *Ujjayinī-puravar-ādhīśvara*, ‘lord of Ujjain, the best of cities,’ as well as *Pāṭalipuravar-ādhīśvara* ‘lord of Pāṭali (putra), the best of cities.’ Sir R. G. Bhandarkar identifies Chandra Gupta II with the traditional Vikramāditya *Śakāri*, “the sun of valour, the destroyer of the Śakas,” of Ujjain.² The titles *Śrī*

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² In literature Vikramāditya is represented as ruling at Pāṭaliputra (*Kathā-sarit-sāgara*, VII, 4. 3:—*Vikramāditya ityāsīdrājā Pāṭaliputrake*) as well as Ujjayinī and other cities. Sāhasāṅka of Ujjain is said to have ordered the exclusive use of Sanskrit in his harem *Kāvya Mīmāṁsā*, 3rd. ed. p. 50). He thus reversed the policy of Āḍhyarāja (p. 197) or Sātavāhana of Kuntala. *C.f.* the verse in *Sarasvatī Kaṇṭhābharaṇa* II. 15. Paramārtha, the biographer of Vasubandhu, refers to Ayodhyā as the capital of a Vikramāditya while Hiuen Tsang represents Srāvastī as the seat of the famous king (EHI, 3rd Ed., pp. 332-33). Subandhu refers to the fame of Vikramāditya, but not to his capital city, "like a lake Vikramāditya hath left the earth, save indeed in fame" (Keith, *Hist. Sans. Lit.*, p. 312). *Cf.* Hāla, v. 64.

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*Ke'bhunn Āḍhyarājasya rājye prākṛita-bhāshiṇaḥ*
*kāle śrī Sāhasāṅkasya ke na Saṁskṛitavādinaḥ.*

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Among the *Kāvya-kāras* tested in Ujjain mention is made of a Chandra Gupta along with Kālidāsa, Amara, Bhāravi and others (*Kāvya M.*, p. 55).

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*Vikramaḥ*, *Siṁha-Vikramaḥ*, *Ajita-Vikramaḥ*, *Vikramāṅka* and *Vikramāditya* actually occur on Chandra Gupta's coins.¹

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¹ | Name, title or epithet. | Type of coin. |

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We have no detailed contemporary notice of Ujjayinī (also called Viśālā, Padmāvatī, Bhogavatī, Hiraṇyavatī)² in the days of Chandra Gupta. But Fa-hien who visited Mid India during the period A.D. 405 to 411, has left an interesting account of Pāṭaliputra. The pilgrim refers to the royal palace of Aśoka and the halls in the midst of the city, "which exist now as of old," and were according to him "all made by spirits which Aśoka employed, and which piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture-work,—in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish." "The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images... The Heads of the *Vaiśya* families

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² *Meghadūta* (I, 31) and *Kathā-sarit-sāgara*, Tawney's translation, Vol. II, p. 275. For an account of Ujjayinī in the seventh century A.D., see Beal, *H. Tsang*, II, p. 270; and Ridding, *Kādambarī*, pp. 210 ff.

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| Śrī Vikrama ... ... | .Archer type (gold). / Couch type (gold). |
| Vikramāditya ... ... | ... Chhattra (Parasol) type (gold). |
| Rūpākṛiti ... ... | ... Couch type (gold). |
| .Siṁha-Vikrama, Narendra Chandra, / Narendra Siṁha, Siṁha Chandra | Lion-Slayer (gold) |
| .Ajita-Vikrama / Paramabhāgavata ... ... | Horseman type (gold). |
| .Paramabhāgavata / Vikramāditya / Vikramāṅka ... ... | Silver coins of the Garuḍa type. |
| Vikramāditya, Mahārāja, Chandra | ... Copper coins (Garuḍa, Chhattra and Vase type). |

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establish houses for dispensing charity and medicines." The principal port of the empire on the east coast was Tāmralipti or Tamluk in West Bengal from which ships set sail for Ceylon, Java (then a centre of Brāhmaṇism), and China.

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Much light is thrown on the character of Chandra Gupta Vikramāditya's administration by the narrative of Fa-hien and the inscriptions that have hitherto been discovered. Speaking of the Middle Kingdom, the dominions of Chandra Gupta in the upper Ganges Valley, the Chinese pilgrim says: "the people are numerous and happy; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the gain from it. If they want to go, they go: if they want to stay on, they stay. The king governs without decapitation or other corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined, lightly or heavily, according to the circumstances of each case. Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion they only have their right hands cut off. The king's bodyguards and attendants all have salaries. Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the *Chāṇḍālas*. In buying and selling commodities they use *cowries*."[¹] The last statement evidently refers to such small transactions as Fa-hien had occasion to make.[²] The pilgrim does not seem to have met with the gold coins which would only be required for large transactions. That they were actually in currency, we know from the references to "*dīnāras*" and "*suvarṇas*" in inscriptions.[³]

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¹ Legge.

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² Allan.

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³ Chandra Gupta II also issued silver and copper coins. The silver coins were mainly intended for the western provinces conquered from the Śaka satraps. but they are also mentioned in the time of his son in inscriptions of Northern Bengal. The Baigram inscription of the year 128 (448 A.D.) for instance refers to *rūpakas* along with *dīnāras* (*cf.* Allan, p. cxxvii). The copper coins issued by Chandra Gupta II are commonly found around Ayodhyā (Allan, p. cxxxi).

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That Chandra Gupta II was a good monarch may be inferred also from the inscriptions. Himself a devout Vaishṇava (*Parama-bhāgavata*), he appointed men of other sects to high offices. His general Āmrakārddava, the hero of a hundred fights, *anēkasamar-āvāpta-vijaya-yaśas-patākaḥ*, appears to have been a Buddhist or at least a pro-Buddhist, while his Minister of Peace and War, Śāba-Vīrasena, and perhaps also his *Mantrin* or High Counsellor, Śikharasvāmin, were *Śaivas*.

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Regarding the machinery of Government we have no detailed information. But the following facts may be gleaned from the inscriptions. As in Maurya times, the head of the state was the *Rājā* who was at times nominated by his predecessor. The king is now regarded as a divinity—*Achintya Purusha*, ‘the Incomprehensible Being’ *Dhanada-Varuṇendrāntaka-sama*, the equal of Kuvera, Varuṇa, Indra and Yama, *loka-dhāma deva*, ‘a god dwelling on earth,’ *Paramadaivata*, ‘the supreme deity.’ He was assisted by a body of High Ministers whose office was very often hereditary as is suggested by the phrase “*anvaya-prāpta sāchivya*” ‘acquirer of the post of minister by hereditary descent’, of the Udayagiri Inscription of Śāba.¹ The most important among the High Ministers were the Mantrin, ‘High Counsellor,’ the *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika*, ‘Minister for Peace and War,’ and the *Akshapaṭal-ādhikṛita*, ‘the Lord Keeper of State Documents.' Like the Kauṭilyan *Mantrin*, the Gupta *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika* accompanied the sovereign to the battle-field. As in the case of most of the *Pradhānas* of Śivājī there was no clear-cut division between civil and military officials. The same person could be *Sāṁdhi-vigrahika*, *Kumārāmātya* (cadet-minister), and *Mahā-daṇḍa-nāyaka*, 'great commandant of the army,' and a *Mantrin* could become a *Mahā-bal-ādhikṛita* 'chief commander of forces.'

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¹ The *Mahā-daṇḍa-nāyaka* Harisheṇa was the son of the *Mahādaṇḍa-nāyaka* Dhruva-bhūti. The *Mantrin* Pṛithivīsheṇa was the son of the *Mantrin* Śikharasvāmin. *Cf.* also the hereditary governors (*goptṛi*), of Mandasor, Surāshṭra, etc. Things were some what different in the Maurya Period. Pushya Gupta, Rāshtrīya of Surāshṭra in the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya, was quite unconnected by blood with Tushāspha, governor or feudatory in the time of Aśoka.

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It is not clear whether the Guptas had a central council of ministers (*Mantri-parishad*).¹ But the existence of local *parishads* (*e.g.*, the *Parishad* of Udānakūpa) is proved by a Basāṛh seal discovered by Bloch.

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¹ The Bilsaḍ Ins. (CII, 44) refers to a [*Pa*]*rshad*. But there is nothing to show that it was a central political assembly. The *Sabhyas* mentioned in connection with the nomination scene in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription may, however, have been members of a Central *Curia Regis* or Council.

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The empire was divided into a number of provinces styled *Deśas*, *Bhuktis*, etc., sub-divided into districts called *Pradeśas* or *Vishayas*.² Among *Deśas* the Gupta inscriptions mention *Sukuli-deśa*. *Surāshṭra* (Kāṭhiāwāḍ), Ḍabhālā (the Jubbalpore region, Ḍāhala or Chedi of later times) and "*Kālindī Narmadayor Madhya*," the territory lying between the Jumna and the Nerbudda, and embracing, no doubt, Eastern Mālwa, are also perhaps to be placed under this category.

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² A territorial unit styled *Vīthī* is also known.

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Among *Bhuktis* (*lit.* allotments) we have reference in inscriptions of the Gupta and early Post-Gupta Age to Puṇḍra-vardhana *bhukti* (North Bengal), Vardhamāna *bhukti* (West Bengal) Tīrabhukti (North Bihār), Nagara *bhukti* (South Bihār), Śrāvastī *bhukti* (Oudh), and Ahichchhatra *bhukti* (Rohilkhand), all situated in the Ganges valley. Among *Pradeśas* or *Vishayas* mention is made of *Lāṭa-vishaya* (in continental Gujarāṭ), Tripurī-*vishaya* (in the Jubbalpure region), Airikiṇa in Eastern Mālwa (called *Pradeśa* in Samudra Gupta's Eraṇ inscription, and *Vishaya* in that of Toramāṇa), Antarvedī (the Gangetic Doāb), Vālavî (?) Gayā, Koṭivarsha (the Dinājpur region in North Bengal), Mahākhushāpāra (?), Khāḍātāpāra (?) and Kuṇḍadhāṇi.¹

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¹ *Cf.* Kuṇḍadhāna, a town mentioned in the *Book of the Gradual Sayings*, I. 18 n.

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The *Deśas* were governed by officers called *Goptṛis*, or Wardens of the Marches, as is suggested by the passage *Sarveshu Deśeshu vidhāya Goptṛin* 'having appointed Goptṛis in all the *Deśas*.' The *Bhuktis* were usually governed by *Uparikas* or *Uparika Mahārājas* who were sometimes apparently princes of the Imperial family, *e.g.*, *Rājaputra-deva-bhaṭṭāraka*, Governor of Puṇḍravardhana *bhukti* mentioned in a Dāmodarpur plate, Govinda Gupta, Governor of Tîrabhukti mentioned in the Basārh seals² and possibly Ghaṭotkacha Gupta of Tumain in Central India. The office of *Vishaya-pati* or District Officer was held by Imperial officials like the *Kumār-āmātyas* and *Āyuktakas*,³ as well as by feudatory *Mahārājas* like Mātṛi-vishṇu of Eraṇ. Some of the *Vishayapatis*, *e.g.*, Śarvanāga of Antarvedī,⁴ were possibly directly under the Emperor, while others, *e.g.*, those of Koṭivarsha, Airikiṇa and Tripurī, were usually under provincial Governors. The Governors and District Officers were no doubt helped by officials and dignitaries like the *Dāṇḍika*, *Chaur-oddharaṇika* and *Daṇḍapāśika*⁵ (apparently judicial and police officials), *Nagara Śreshṭhī* (President or Alderman of a city-guild), *Sārthavāha* (*lit.* caravan-leader or merchant), *Prathama-Kulika* (foreman of artisans) *Prathama-Kāyastha* (the chief scribe), *Pusta-pāla* (record-keeper) and others. Every *Vishaya* consisted of a number of "*grāmas*" or villages which were administered by headmen and other functionaries styled *Grāmikas*, *Mahattaras* and *Bhojakas*.¹

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² Govinda Gupta is known also from the newly discovered Mandasor Ins. of the Mālava-Vikrama year 524 (noticed by Garde, *ASI. Annual Report, 1922-23*, p. 187; *Cal. Rev.*, 1926, July, 155; *Ep. Ind.*, xix, App. No. 7; xxvii, 12 ff.) which mentions his Senādhipa or captain Vāyurakshita, and Vāyu's son Dattabhaṭa, Commander-in-chief of the forces of king Prabhākara (467-68 A.D.).

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³ They are also known as officers apparently in charge of vithis or smaller units.

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⁴ And Kulavṛiddhi of Pañchanagarī (in North Bengal), *Ep. Ind.*, xxi, 81.

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⁵ *Cf.* Dandoāsi, Village Watchman, *JASB*, 1916. 30.

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¹ In the *Mṛichchhakaṭika* (Act IX), which may be a composition of the period between Bāṇa (who knew a king Sūdraka, but no poet of the same name) and Vāmana (8th century) the judge (*adhikaraṇika*) in a court of law is accompanied by a *Sreshṭhin* and a *Kāyastha*. Reference is also made to the *Adhikaraṇa-Bhojakas* and a *Mahattaraka* in connection with the arrangement of benches in the *Vyāvahāra-maṇḍapa* (the hall of justice) and the detection of people "wanted" by the city Police (*nagara-raksh-ādhikṛita*.) The *Mudrārākshasa* of Viśākhadatta which is probably to be assigned to a period anterior to Rājaśekhara, the Daśarūpaka and Bhoja, perhaps also to Vāmana but not to Avantivarma (of the Maukhari or Utpala dynasty) or Dantivarman (Rāshṭrakūṭa or Pallava) whose name or names occur in the *Bharata Vākya*, makes mention of Kāyastha, *Daṇḍapāśika*, etc. Village functionaries were ordinarily placed under officials of the *Vishaya* or district. But in exceptional cases they had direct dealings with the *Uparika* or governor of a *Bhukti* (Ep. Ind., XV, 136).

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Outside the limits of the Imperial provinces lay the vassal kingdoms and republics, mentioned in the Allahabad *praśasti* and other documents.

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The Basārh seals throw some interesting sidelight on the provincial and municipal government as well as the economic organisation of the province of Tīrabhukti (Tirhut) in North Bihār. The province was apparently governed by prince Govinda Gupta, a son of the Emperor by the *Mahādevī* Śrī Dhruva-svāminī, who had his capital at Vaiśālī. The seals mention several officials like the *Uparika* (governor), the *Kumār-āmātya* (cadet-minister),² the *Mahā-pratīhāra* (the great chamberlain), *Talavara* (general or local chief),¹ the *Mahā-daṇḍanāyaka* (the great commandant), the *Vinayasthiti-sthāpaka*,² ³ the censor [?], and the *Bhaṭāśvapati* (lord of the army and cavalry), and the following offices, *e.g.*, *Yuvarāja-pādīya Kumār-āmātya-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the Minister of His Highness the Crown Prince, according to Vogel), *Raṇabhāṇḍāgār-ādhikaraṇa*⁴ (office of the chief treasurer of the war department), *Balādhikaraṇa* (war office), *Daṇḍapāś-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the chief of Police), *Tīra-bhukty-Upārik-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the Governor of Tirhut), *Tīrabhuktau Vinayasthiti-sthāpak-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the censor [?] of Tirhut), *Vaiśāly-ādhishṭhān-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the government of the city of Vaiśālī), *Śrī-parama-bhaṭṭāraka-pādīya Kumār-āmātya-ādhikaraṇa* (office of the cadet-minister waiting on His Majesty).⁵

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² It has been taken to mean (1) minister of a Prince as distinguished from that of the King (*rājāmātya*), (2) minister in charge of Princes, C. V. Vaidya, *Med. Hind. Ind.*, I, 138, (3) a junior minister whose father is alive, or (4) one who has been a minister since the days of his youth. But *cf. Ep. Ind.*, X, 49; XV, 302 f. It will be seen that the Kumārāmātyas were, as stated by a previous writer, divided into two classes, *viz.*, (i) Yuvarājapādīya, those serving the Crown Prince, and (ii) Parama-bhaṭṭārakapādīya, those serving the Emperor himself. This perhaps makes the interpretation 'counsellor of, or in charge of the Prince' untenable. See, however, Penzer. I. 32; III. 136. The most probable view is that the term *Kumāra* in the expression *Kumārāmātya* corresponds to *Pina*, *Chikka*, *Immadi*, *Ilaya*, of the south, and is the opposite of *Peda* (*Prauḍha*), *Piriya*. In the Gupta Age the Kumārāmātyas often served as district officers. The office was also combined with that of a general, counsellor and foreign secretary.

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¹ Cf. *talāra* of the Chirwā Inscription of Samara Siṁha.

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² Dr. Basak takes *Vinaya-sthiti* in the sense of law and order (*The History of North-Eastern India*, p. 312).

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³ In the *Nāṭya-śāstra*, *Sthāpaka* is the designation of the introducer of a play (Keith, *Sanskrit Drama*, p. 340). Here a different functionary may be meant.

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⁴ The mention of *Raṇa-bhāṇḍāgāra* suggests that the finance department had its military as distinguished from the civil side.

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⁵ A distinction is drawn between imperial officials and those connected with viceregal administration and amongst the latter officers of the province of *Tīrabhukti* are clearly distinguished from the public servants in charge of the subordinate administration of the *adhishṭhāna* of Vaiśālī.

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The reference to the *Parishad* (Council or Committee) of Udānakūpa shows that the *Parishad* still formed an important element of the machinery of local government. The mention of the ‘mote-hall of aldermen of guilds, caravan-leaders and foremen of artisans’ (*Śreshṭhī-sārthavāha-kulika-nigama*) is of interest to students of economics.

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Chandra Gupta II had at least two queens, Dhruvadevī and Kubera-nāgā. The first queen was the mother of Govinda Gupta and Kumāra Gupta I.¹ The second queen had a daughter named Prabhāvatī who became queen of the Vākāṭakas. The latter was the mother of the Princes Divākarasena, Dāmodarasena and Pravarasena II (or III). Certain mediaeval chiefs of the Kanarese country claimed descent from Chandra Gupta. The origin of these chiefs is probably to be traced to some unrecorded adventures of Vikramāditya in the Deccan.²

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¹ A son of Chandra Gupta styled *bhūpati* (king) Chandraprakāśa is mentioned in a verse quoted by Vāmana in his *Kāvyālaṅkāra-Sūtravṛitti* (JASB, Vol I, No. 10. [N.S.], 1905, 253 ff.). But the identity of this Chandra Gupta is uncertain. His identification with Vikramāditya (i.e., Chandra Gupta II) rests on the vexed problem of the date of Vasubandhu (or Subandhu?) alleged to be mentioned by Vāmana, and the question as to whether the personage mentioned may be identified with the Buddhist scholar whose biographer was Paramārtha (A.D. 500-69). Paramārtha was a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja family of Ujjayinī who stayed for a time in Magadha and then went to China (A. D. 546-69.) According to his account Vasubandhu was born at Purushapura or Peshāwār, of the Brāhmaṇa family of Kauśika. He went to Ayodhyā at the invitation of Bālāditya, son of Vikramāditya (JRAS. 1905, 33 ff.). For some recent views about the date of Vasubandhu, *see Indian Studies in Honour of C. R. Lanman*, 79 ff.

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² Rājaśekhara in his *Kāvyamīmāṁsā* and Bhoja, in his *Śṛiṅgāra Prakāśikā*, mention that Kālidāsa was sent on an embassy to a Kuntala king by Vikramāditya. "Kṣemendra, in the *Aucitya Vicāra Carcā*, refers to Kālidāsa's *Kunteśvara Dautya*" (*Proceedings of the Third Oriental Conference*, 1924, p. 6). That the Guptas actually established contact with Kuntala appears clear from the Tālagund Inscription which states that a Kadamba ruler of the Kanarese country gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings. An important indication of Gupta influence in the South Western Deccan is possibly afforded by the coins of Kumāra Gupta I found in the Satara District (Allan, p. cxxx.) The rôle assigned to Kālidāsa by Rājaśekhara, Bhoja and Kshemendra is not unworthy of credence as tradition points to a date for him in the early Gupta Age. For traditions about his synchronism with Mahārājādhirāja Vikramāditya (Śakārāti) and Dinnāga and with king Pravarasena who is held to be the author of the poem *Setubandha* written in Mahārāshṭrī Prākṛita and is, therefore, presumably identical with one of the kings bearing the same name in the Vākāṭaka family, (recorded in Abhinanda's *Rāmacharita*, ch. 32, Hāla, *Gāthāsaptaśatī*, Bhūmikā, p. 8 and other works) *see Proceedings of the Seventh Oriental Conference*, 99 ff. ; Mallinātha's comment on *Meghadūta*, I. 14; *Ind. Ant.*, 1912, 267, JRAS, 1918, 118f. It has recently been pointed out by Mr. Mirashi that the Pattan plates of Pravarasena II (year 27) refer to a Kālidāsa as the writer of the charter, *Ep. Ind.*, xxiii (1935), pp. 81 ff. But the identify of the scribe with the great poet remains doubtful.

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GENEALOGY OF THE VĀKĀṬAKAS 565

Genealogy of the Vākāṭakas of Vishṇuvriddha Gotra

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``` Vindhyaśakti I (twice-born)

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Mahārāja Pravarasena I. 1 Bhavanāga, King of the Bhāra-

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| śivas (Padmāvatī?)²
| Gautamīputra————daughter

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² *J. Num. Soc.*, v pt. ii, p. 2. *Coins and Identity of Bhavanāga* (Altekar).

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Sarvasena* |

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| Samudra Gupta Mahārāja Rudrasena I (Deoṭek)

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Vindhyaśakti II | | Dharma-Mahārāja Mahārājādhirāja | (Vatsagulma or Basin Chandra Gupta II Mahārāja Prithivīsheṇa I ³ in S. Berar) | |

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³ A *dharma-vijayī* whose “*kosa-daṇḍa-sādhana*” is said to have been accumulating for a hundred years.

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| Prabhāvatī—Mahārāja Rudrasena II

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Pravarasena II? Agra-Mahishī |

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| | . . . . . | . . . . .
| | | |

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son | | Pravarasena II? (or III) ⁵

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⁵ Ruler of Pravarapura, Charmmāṅka and of following *rājyas* viz., Bhojakaṭa (N. Berar), Ārammi, (east of Berar) and of the Wardhā region. Pravarapura has been identified by some with Pavnār in Wardha District (JASB, 1933, 159).

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| Yuvarāja Divākarasena Dāmodarasena |

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Devasena. Nandivardhana ⁴ Rāmagiri |

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⁴ Identified by some with Nagardhan near Ramtek (Hiralal Ins. No. 4.; Tenth Or. Conf. p. 458) and by others with Nandapur, near Ghughusgarh, north-east of Ramtek (Wellsted, *Notes on the Vākāṭakas*,) JASB, 1933, 160f.

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| Supratishṭhāhāra Ajjhitabhaṭṭārikā—Narendrasena ⁶

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⁶ His commands were honoured by rulers of Kosalā, Mekalā (at the source of the Nerbudda) and Mālava.

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Harisheṇa ⁷ Princess of Kuntala | his minister Hastibhoja Prithivīsheṇa II (Vembāra) “raised his sunken family” from Nalas ```

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⁷ Credited with the conquest of Kuntala, Avanti, Kalinga, Kosala, Andhra, Trikūṭa, Lāṭa.

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pointed out by Mr. Mirashi that the Pattan plates of Pravarasena II (year 27) refer to a Kālidāsa as the writer of the charter, *Ep. Ind.*, xxiii (1935), pp. 81 ff. But the identify of the scribe with the great poet remains doubtful.

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∗ It must not be understood that Sarvasena was necessarily the elder of the two brothers. The matter may be settled when further evidence is available.

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¹ He performed four *Aśvamedhas*, and is styled a *Mahārāja*, and *Samrāj*. His traditional capital Kāñchanakāpura recalls Hiraṇyapura (Hirapur? SSE of Sāgar) of the Dudia plates (*Ep. Ind.* III. 258ff). The splitting up of the name into Purikā and Chanakā seems hardly justifiable.

Section II. Kumāra Gupta I Mahāndrāditya

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Chandra Gupta II's successor was Kumāra Gupta I¹ surnamed Mahendrāditya² whose certain dates range from A.D. 415 to A.D. 455.³ His extensive coinage, and the wide distribution of his inscriptions show that he was able to retain his father's empire including the central and western provinces.⁴ One of his viceroys, Chirātadatta, governed Puṇḍravardhana Bhukti or roughly North Bengal,¹ another viceroy, prince Ghaṭotkacha Gupta, held office in the province of Eraṇ (in Eastern Mālwa) which included Tumbavana;² a third viceroy or feudatory, Bandhuvarman, ruled at Daśapura in western Mālwa.³ The Karamadāṇḍe inscription of A. D. 436 mentions Pṛithivīsheṇa who was a *Mantrin* and *Kumārāmātya*, and afterwards *Mahā-balādhikṛita* or general under Kumāra Gupta, probably stationed in Oudh. The panegyrist of a Mālwa viceroy claims that the suzerainty of Kumāra Gupta extended over "the whole earth which is decked with the rolling seas as with a rocking girdle, which holds in its breast-like mountain altitudes the

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¹ The Mandasor inscription of the Mālava year 524 suggests that Kumāra may have had a rival in his brother prince Govinda Gupta. In the record Indra (*vīrudhā dhipa*, Kumāra?, who is styled Śrī Mahendra and Mahendrakarmā on coins) represented as being suspicious of Govinda's power. *Ep. Ind.*, XIX, App. No. 7 and n. 5; Ep xxvii. 15.

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² Also called *Śrī Mahendra* (on coins of the *Archer* type), *Aśvamedha Mahendra* (on coins of the *Aśvamedha* type), *Mahendrakarmā*, *Ajita Mahendra* (on coins of the horseman type and sometimes on the lion-slayer type), *Siṁha Mahendra* (on coins of the lion-slayer type), *Śrī Mahendra Siṁha* (also on coins of the lion-slayer type), *Mahendra Kumāra* (on coins of the peacock type) *Mahendra-kalpa* (Tumain Ins.), *Siṁha Vikrama* (on coins of the lion-slayer type; Allan, *Gupta Coins*, p. 80), *Vyāghra bala-parākrama* (on coins of the tiger-slayer type) and *Śrī Pratāpa*. On the swordsman type of gold coins and on copper coins of the Garuḍa and possibly siṁha-vāhinī types the emperor is simply called Śrī Kumāra Gupta. The title Mahendrāditya with the epithet *Parama bhāgavata*, 'devoted worshipper of the Bhagavat (Vishṇu-Kṛishṇa),' is found on silver coins, apparently struck in Surāshṭra.

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³ The date 96 (=A.D. 415) is found in the Bilsar Inscription and the date 136 (=A.D. 455) on silver coins (*EHI*, 4th ed., pp 345-46). The Eraṇ inscription of Samudra Gupta refers to his 'virtuous and faithful wife' and many sons and son's sons of the royal pair. From this it seems probable that Kumāra Gupta and his brothers were already born during the reign of their grandfather, and that Kumāra had seen not less than some thirty five summers before his accession. As he reigned for at least forty years, he could not have died before the age of 75 (approximately).

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⁴ The possession of the central disrticts in the Ganges valley is, according to Allan, confirmed by the silver coins of the peacock type (cf. the Ayodhyā coins of Āryamitra, *CHI*, I. 538 and Meghadūta I. 45.) and the inclusion of the western province by those of the Garuḍa type. Silverplaited coins with a copper core were intended for circulation in the Valabhī area, and coins of small thick fabric resembling the Traikūṭaka coinage were apparently struck in South Gujarāt (Allan, pp. xciii ff.)

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¹ *Cf.* the Dāmodarpur plates of the years 124 and 128. (*Ep. xvii.* 193). The Baigram inscription of the year 128 (A. D. 447-48) refers to a *Kumārāmātya* named Kulavṛiddhi who governed a *vishaya* with its headquarters at Pañchanagarī, possibly Pañchabībī or Pañchgaḍ on the Karatoyā, *H. Standard* 14-10-47 in N. Bengal. *Ep. Ind.*, XXI, 78 ff. Year Book, ASB, 1950, 200. The Sultanpur or Kalaikuḍi Inscription (*Bangaśrī* 1350 B. S. *Baisākha*, pp. 415-51 and *Bhādra*; *IHQ* XIX. 12) of the year 120 = A. D. 439 in the Bogra district, makes mention of another officer, the Āyuktaka, Achyutadāsa of Purṇakauśikā in Śṛiṅgaveravīthī. The Natore Inscription of A. D. 432 (JPASB, 1911) is another record of Kumāra's reign found in N. Bengal.

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² Tumain in the Guna district of the Gwaliar state, about 50 miles to the north-west of Eraṇ. M. B. Garde, *Ind. Ant.*, xlix 1920, p. 114, *Ep. Ind.* xxvi (1941), pp. 115 ff; Tumain Inscription of the year 116, *i.e.*, A. D. 435. The identity of the prince mentioned in the record, with Śrī Ghaṭotkacha Gupta of seals and Ghaṭo Kramāditya of coins is uncertain (Allan, xvi, xl, liv) Hema Chandra (in the *Pariśishṭa parvan*, xii. 2-3) places Tumbavana in the Avantideśa, 'the ornament of the western half of Bhārata' in Jambūdvīpa.

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³ Mandasor Inscription of A. D. 437-38. Bhide suggests (*JBORS*, VII, March, 1921, pp. 33 f) that Viśva-varman of Gupta Ins. No. 17 is an independent king, who flourished a century before his namesake of ins. No. 18, who is a governor (*Goptṛi*) of the Guptas. S. Majumdar points out that even Viśvavarman of Ins. No. 17 must be later than Naravarman of V. S 461 (= A. D. 404-05). In the Bihar Kotra (Rājgaḍh state, Mālwa) Ins. (*Ep. Ind.* xxvi. 130 ff) of Mahārāja Naravarman of the year 474 (*i.e.*, A. D., 417—18) the king is styled 'aulikara', thus establishing his connection with Vishṇuvardhana of the Mālava Era 589 (A. D. 532-33).

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*Ihaiva Jambūdvīpe 'pāg Bharatārdhā vibhūshaṇam*
*Avantīriti deśo' sti svargadeśīya ṛiddhibhiḥ*
*tatra Tumbavanamiti vidyate sanniveśanam*

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founts of the vivifying liquid, and smiles with the flowers of its forest glens."

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Like his father, Kumāra was a tolerant king. During his rule the worship of *Svāmī Mahāsena* (*Kārttikeya*), of Buddha, of Śiva in the *liṅga* form and of the sun, as well as that of Vishṇu, flourished peacefully side by side.¹

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¹ *Cf.* the Bilsaḍ, Mankuwar, Karamadaṇḍe and Mandasor inscriptions. Śiva appears to have been the favourite deity of many high ministers, Vishṇu of the most powerful ruling race and the sun of traders and artisans in the early Gupta period. The expression *Jitaṁ Bhagavatā* appears to have been popularised by the king. His example seems to have been followed by Mādhava Gaṅga of Penukonda plates (Ep. Ind. XIV. 334), Vishṇuvarman I Kadamba of Hebbata grant (Mys. A. S., A. R., 1925. 98), Nandivarman Pallava of Udayendiram (Ep. Ind., III. 145) and other kings of the south. The popularity of the cult of Kārttikeya is well illustrated not only by the sanctuaries erected in his honour, but also by the names Kumāra and Skanda assumed by members of the imperial family, and the issue of the peacock type of coins by the emperor Kumāra Gupta I. The Gupta empire reached the zenith of its splendour before its final decline in the time of the originator of the 'peacock' coins, as a later empire did in the days of the builder of the peacock-throne.

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The two notable events of Kumāra's reign are the celebration of the horse sacrifice, evidenced by the rare *Aśvamedha* type of his gold coinage, and the temporary eclipse of the Gupta power by the Pushyamitras. The reading Pushyamitra in the Bhitarī inscription is, however, not accepted by some scholars because the second syllable of this name is damaged.² Mr. H. R. Divekar in his article—"*Pusyamitras in the Gupta Period*"³ makes the plausible emendation *Yudhy* = *amitrāṁś* = *ca* for Dr. Fleet's reading *Pusyamitrāṁs* = *ca* in the Bhitarī Pillar Inscription.⁴ It is admitted on all hands that during the concluding years of Kumāra's reign the Gupta empire "had been made to totter." Whether the reference in the inscription is simply to *amitras* (enemies), or to Pushyamitras, cannot be satisfactorily determined. We should, however, remember in this connection that a people called Pushyamitra is actually referred to in the *Vishṇu Purāṇa* and a Pushyamitika-Kula in the Jain *Kalpasūtra*.¹ The Purāṇa text associates the Pushyamitras, Paṭumitras, Durmitras and others with the region of Mekala near the source of the Nerbudda.² References to the warlike activities of Mekala and the neighbouring realm of Kosala that had once been overrun by Kumāra’s grandfather, are found in inscriptions of the Vākāṭaka relations of Kumāra Gupta. Bāṇa relates the tragic story of a ruler of Magadha who was carried off by the ministers of the lord of Mekala. A passage in the Mankuwar stone image inscription of the year 129 (A.D. 449) where the emperor Kumāra Gupta I is styled simply *Mahārāja Śrī* instead of *Mahārājādhirāja Śrī* has been interpreted by some scholars to mean that he was possibly deprived by his enemies of his status as paramount sovereign. But the theory is rendered improbable by the Dāmodarpur plate of about the same date where Kumāra is given full imperial titles. It may be noted in this connection that in several inscriptions, and on certain coins, his immediate predecessors, too, are simply called *Rājā* or *Mahārāja*.

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² *Cf.* Fleet, CII, p. 55 n.

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³ *Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute*, 1919-20, 99 f.

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⁴ *CII*, iii, p. 55.

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¹ SBE, XXII, 292 *Cf.* the legend *Pusamitasa* found on Bhīṭā seals in characters of the Kushān period or a somewhat earlier date (JRAS, 1911, 138).

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² *Vish.*, IV, 24. 17; Wilson, IX, 213. “Pushyamitra, and Paṭumitra and others to the number of 13 will rule over Mekalā.” The commentary, however, distinguishes the 13 Pushyamitra-Paṭumitras from the 7 Mekalas. But from the context it is apparent that the position of the Pushyamitras was between the Māhishyas (people of Māhishmatī ?) and the Mekalas in the Nerbudda-Son valleys if not in a part of the country of the Mekalas themselves. *Cf.* Fleet, JRAS, 1889, 228, *cf.* also Bhīṭā seals. For Mekalā see also *Ep. Ind.* xxvii 138 f.

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The assumption of the title *Vyāghra-bala-parākrama* “displaying the strength and prowess of a tiger”, on coins of the *tiger-slayer* type, by Kumāra may possibly indicate that he attempted to repeat the southern venture of his grandfather and penetrate into the tiger-infested forest territory beyond the Nerbudda. Expansion towards the south is also indicated by a find of 1,395 coins in the Satara District.¹ But the imperial troops must have met with disaster. The fallen fortunes of the Gupta family were restored by prince Skanda Gupta who may have been appointed his father's warden in the Ghāzīpur region, the Aṭavi or Forest Country of ancient times.²

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¹ Allan, p. cxxx. *Cf.* also the Kadamba inscription referring to social relations between the Kadambas of the fifth century and the Guptas.

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² *Cf.* the Bhitarī Inscription.

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The only queen of Kumāra I named in the genealogical portion of extant inscriptions is Anantadevī. He had at least two sons, *viz.*, Puru Gupta, son of Anantadevī, and Skanda Gupta the name of whose mother is, in the opinion of some scholars, not given in the inscriptions. Sewell, however, suggests that it was Devakī.³ This is not an unlikely assumption as otherwise the comparison of the widowed Gupta empress with Kṛishṇa's mother in verse 6 of the Bhitarī Pillar Inscription will be less explicable. Hiuen Tsang calls Buddha Gupta (*Fo-to-kio-to*) or Budha Gupta,⁴ a son (or descendant ?) of Śakrāditya.⁵ The only predecessor of Budha Gupta who had a synonymous title was Kumāra Gupta I who is called Mahendrāditya on coins. *Mahendra* is the same as *Śakra*.

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³ *Historical Inscriptions of Southern India*, p. 319.

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⁴ The name *Fo-to-kio-to* has been restored as Buddha Gupta. But we have no independent evidence regarding the existence of a king named Buddha Gupta about this period. The synchronism of his successor's successor Bālāditya with Mihirakula indicates that the king meant was Budha Gupta, *cf.* also *Ind. Ant.*, 1886, 251 n.

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⁵ That Śakrāditya was a reality is proved by a Nālandā seal (H. Sastri, *MASI*, No. 66, p. 38). To him is ascribed an establishment at Nālandā, the far-famed place, which grew into a great university in the seventh century A. D. The pilgrim was not indulging in mere fancy as suggested by Śrī N. Sāstrī in a treatise on Nālandā.

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The use of terms conveying the same meaning as titles and epithets was not unknown in the Gupta period. *Vikramāditya* was also called *Vikramāṅka*. Skanda Gupta is called both *Vikramāditya* and *Kramāditya*, both the words meaning "puissant like the sun" or "striding like the sun." If Śakrāditya of Hiuen Tsang be identical with Mahendrāditya or Kumāra I, Buddha Gupta¹ was closely related to Kumāra. Another member of Kumāra's family was possibly Ghaṭotkacha Gupta.²

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¹ Recent discoveries show that Budha Gupta was really a grandson (*not a son*) of Kumāra Gupta I. The Chinese pilgrim may have failed to distinguish between a son and a grandson. Cf. The Kopparam plates where Pulakeśin II is represented as a grandson of Kīrtivarman I. But he was really the son of the latter. It is also possible that Śakrāditya was an epithet of Purugupta, the father of Budha.

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² The Tumain Inscription referred to by Mr. Garde; *cf.* also the Basārh seal mentioning Śrī Ghaṭotkacha Gupta. The exact relationship with Kumāra is, however, not stated in the inscription.

Section III. Skanda Gupta Vikramāditya

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According to the evidence of the *Ārya-Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa*, confirmed by epigraphic testimony, the immediate successor of Mahendra, *i.e.*, Kumāra Gupta I, was Skanda Gupta. In an interesting paper read at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Dr. R. C. Majumdar suggested that after Kumāra's death, which apparently took place while the struggle with the Pushyamitras was still undecided, there was a fratricidal war in which Skanda Gupta came off victorious after defeating his brothers including Puru Gupta, the rightful claimant, and rescued his mother just as Kṛishṇa rescued Devakī.¹ Dr. Majumdar observed that the omission of the name of the mother of Skanda Gupta in the genealogy given in the Bihār and Bhitarī Stone Pillar Inscriptions indicated that she was not the chief queen and Skanda 'had no natural claim to the throne'. The rightful heir of Kumāra was Puru Gupta, the son of the *Mahādevī* Anantadevī.

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¹ *Cf.* the Bhitari Inscription, *JASB*, 1921 (N. S. XVII), 253 ff. In *IC*. 1944, 171, Dr. Majumdar modified his views regarding the omission of the name of the queen mother in the Bihar ins. and finds the names of Mahādevī Anantadevī and her son Purugupta in the inscription.

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We should, however, remember that there was no rule prohibiting the mention of ordinary queens in inscriptions. The mother of Princess Prabhāvatī, Kuberanāgā, was not the chief queen of Chandra Gupta II.² No doubt the title *Mahādevī* is once given to her in the Poona plates of her daughter in the year 13, but it is not repeated in the Riddhapur plates of the year 19, where she is called simply Kuberanāgā *devī* without the prefix *Mahādevī*, whereas Kumāra-devī, Datta-devī and even her own daughter, Prabhāvatī-guptā are styled *Mahādevīs*. The contrast is full of significance and we know as a matter of fact that the real *Mahādevī* (chief queen) of Chandra Gupta II was Dhruva-devī or Dhruva-Svāminī. Though Kuberanāgā was not the principal consort (*agramahishī*) of her husband, she is mentioned in the inscriptions of her daughter. On the other hand the names of queens, the mothers of kings, are sometimes omitted.¹ In the genealogical portion of the Banskhera and Madhuban plates the name of Yaśomatī as *Harsha's mother* is not mentioned, but in the Sonpat and the Nālandā *seals*² she is mentioned *both as the mother of Rājya-vardhana and as the mother of Harsha*. Therefore it is not safe to draw conclusions from a comparison of genealogies given on seals and those given in **ordinary praśastis.** From a comparative study of the seals and plaques referred to above on the one hand and ordinary panegyrical epigraphs on the other, two facts emerge, *viz.*, (*a*) genealogies given by the records of the former class are *fuller* than those given in the others, and (*b*) names of mothers of reigning kings that are invariably given (even though this meant repetition) in documents of the first group are sometimes omitted by the writers of *praśastis*, even though they be the names of the chief queens. There is no real analogy between the genealogy on the Bhitarī seal and that in the **Pillar** Inscriptions. *A seal should be compared to another seal and an ordinary praśasti with another document of the same class.*³

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² *JASB*, 1924, 58.

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¹ The name of the father of a reigning king is also sometimes omitted (*cf.* Kielhorn's N. Ins. Nos. 464, 468).

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² A. R. of the ASI. Eastern Circle, 1917-18, p. 44; *Ep. Ind*, XXI, 74 ff.; *MASI*, No. 66, 68 f.

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³ We have already seen that in the opinion of Sewell the name of Skanda's mother is actually mentioned in one epigraph. According to that scholar her name was Devakī. The comparison with Kṛishṇa's mother (who, with all her misfortunes, did not experience the pangs of widowhood) in the Bhitarī Inscription would be less explicable, if not altogether pointless, if Devakī was not the name of the mother of Skanda Gupta as well as that of Kṛishṇa. Why were Kṛishṇa and Devakī thought of in connection with the victory over hostile powers, instead of, say, Skanda (Kārttikeya) and Pārvatī, Indra or Vishṇu and Aditi,

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As to the question of rightful claim to the succession, we should remember that the cases of Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II suggest that the ablest among the princes was chosen irrespective of any claim arising out of birth.

c21.s3.9

There is nothing to show that the struggle at the end of Kumāra's reign, referred to in the Bhitarī Pillar Inscription, was a fratricidal conflict. The relevant text of the inscription runs thus:

c21.s3.10

*Pitari divam upētē viplutāṁ vaṁśa-lakshmīṁ*
*bhuja-bala-vijit-ārir-yyaḥ pratishṭhāpya bhūyaḥ*
*jitam-iti paritoshān mātaraṁ sāsra-nettrāṁ*
*hata-ripur-iva Kr̥ishṇa Devakīm-abhyupetaḥ*

c21.s3.11

"Who, when (his) father had attained heaven (*i.e.*, died), vanquished (his) enemies by the strength of (his) arm, and steadied once more the drifting fortunes of his family; and then exclaiming 'the victory has been won' betook himself, like Kr̥ishṇa, when his enemies had been slain, to his weeping mother, Devakî"¹

c21.s3.12

¹ For the reference to Devakī, see Vishṇu Purāṇa, V, 79.

c21.s3.13

The hostile powers (*ari*), who made the *Vaṁsa-lakshmī*, goddess of family fortune, of Skanda Gupta "*vipluta*," 'convulsed,' after the death of his father, were apparently enemies of the Gupta family, *i.e.*, outsiders not belonging to the Gupta line. As a matter of fact the antagonists expressly mentioned in the Bhitarī Pillar by the panegyrist of Skanda Gupta who is compared to Śakra (*Sakropama*, Kahaum Inscription) and Vishṇu (*Śrīparikshiptavakshā*, Junāgaḍh epigraph)? A possible explanation is that the name of his mother coupled with her miserable plight suggested to the court-poet comparison with Kr̥ishṇa and Devakī. *Cf.* Ep. Ind. I, 364; xiii. 126, 131 (Hampe and Conjeeveram ins. of Kr̥ishṇadeva Rāya) where we have a similar play on the name Devakī:—

c21.s3.14

*tadvamśe Devakījānirddidipe Timma bhūpatiḥ*
*yaśasvī Tuluveṁdreshu Yadoḥ Kr̥ishṇa ivānvaye...*
*sarasādudabhūttasmān Narasāvanipālakaḥ*
*Devakīnaṁdanāt* (var. *°nandanaḥ*) *Kāmo Devakī naṁdanādiva*.

c21.s3.15

The problem, however, is not free from difficulties and its final solution must await fresh discoveries.

c21.s3.16

Incription were outsiders, *e.g.*, the Pushyamitras¹ and the Hūṇas. There is not the slightest reference to a fratricidal war. There is no doubt a passage in the Junāgaḍh Inscription of Skanda which says that "the goddess of fortune and splendour (Lakshmī) of her own accord selected (Skanda) as her husband (*svayaṁ varayāṁchakāra*)...having discarded all the other sons of kings (*manujendra-putra*)." But "*Svayameva śriyā gṛihīta*" "accepted by Śrī or Lakshmī of her own accord" is an epithet which is applied by Prabhākara-vardhana, shortly before his death, to Harsha whose devotion to his elder brother is well-known. That Skanda Gupta like Harsha was considered to be the favourite of the Goddess of Luck is well-known. Attention may be invited to the Lakshmī type of his coins² and the epithet *Śrī-parikshipta-vakshāḥ* ("whose breast is embraced by Śrī, *i.e.*, Lakshmī"), occurring in the Junāgaḍh Inscription. The panegyrist of the emperor refers to a *svayambara* in the conventional style.³ A *svayambara* naturally presupposes an assemblage of princes, not necessarily of one particular family, in which all the suitors are discarded excepting one. But there is no inseparable connection between a *svayambara* and a fight, and, even when it is followed by a fight, the combatants are hardly ever princes who are sons of the

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