The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.17

c29.17

From the moment of his accession, Samudragupta assumed the part of an aggressively ambitious monarch, resolved to increase his dominions at the expense of his neighbours. Wars of aggression never have been condemned by such public opinion as exists in the East, and no king who cared for his reputation could venture to rest contented within his own borders. Samudragupta had no hesitation in acting on the principle that 'kingdom-taking' is the business of kings, and immediately after his succession to the throne plunged into war, which occupied many years of his unusually protracted reign.¹