Iron in Ancient India c6.s4.8

c6.s4.8

The facts recorded in the inscription thus are that the pillar was erected in honour of Vishnu on Mount Vishnupada (Vishnu's foot) by a monarch named Chandra, who had long enjoyed world-wide sovereignty, but was deceased at the time when the inscription was engraved, and that this sovereign defeated a hostile confederacy in the Vanga countries, and had, after crossing the seven mouths of the Sindhu or Indus, vanquished the Vahlikas. Vincent Smith is convinced that the emperor referred to in the inscription is no other than Chandra Gupta II, in whose reign the Gupta empire attained its climax. Chandra Gupta II died in A.D. 413, and the posthumous inscription, which was presumably executed by his successor soon after his decease, must be dated not later than A.D. 415. This determination settles within a year or two the date of a very remarkable and interesting monument which has always attracted the attention of all travellers.