Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c21.s3.17

c21.s3.17

¹ Even if the reference be merely to "*amitras*" (see *ante*, p. 568), these *amitras* could not have included an elder brother, as the passage "*kshitipa-charaṇapīṭhe sthāpita vāma-pādaḥ*," "placed (his) left foot on a foot-stool which was the king (of that hostile power himself)" clearly shows. The expression *samudita bala kosha* ("whose power and wealth had risen") would be singularly inappropriate in the case of the rightful heir to the imperial throne of the Guptas with its enormous resources existing for several generations, and can only point to a *parvenu* power that had suddenly leaped to fame.