The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c15.2

c15.2

In the fourth century A.D. the centripetal forces re-asserted themselves and an empire of the feudal-federal type embracing the greater part of North India and the Deccan came into existence. The famous Gupta dynasty was founded, as the Allâhâbâd Inscription of Samudragupta records, by a Râja named Gupta. His son was Ghaṭotkaca,¹ whose son and successor Candragupta I. married the Licchavi princess Kumâradevî about 308 A.D. and probably added her patrimony to his dominions. On the obverse of the coins of Candragupta the figure of the Licchavi queen appears along with that of the king himself, while the reverse bears the legend Licchavyaḥ. Probably the Licchavis were a power in eastern India and might have held Pâṭaliputra. The marriage-alliance between the Guptas and Licchavis seems to have resulted somehow in the union of the two principalities. After some additions by conquest, the dominions of Candragupta I. comprised Avadha (Oudh), Tirhut, south Bihâr and the adjoining districts. He assumed the title of Mahârâjâdhirâja and from his reign dates the Gupta era.² He was succeeded, in 330 or 335 A.D., by his