Rulers of the Gupta Empire
Major rulers of the Gupta Empire - General Knowledge of Ancient History: The major rulers of this empire were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya), Kumaragupta I, Skandagupta, Prashasti and Charita (writing related).
COMMENDATION AND CHARACTER
Appreciation writing developed in the Gupta period. Prashasti Lekh was a special type of record, in which the king was praised. In these praises, along with the achievements of the king, his greatness was also written. Harisena, Vatsabhatti, Vasul etc. were the prominent prashasti writers. His praises are the main source of information about the history of Gupta period. Similarly, Harshacharita and Kadambari composed by Banabhatta gives information about the history of Harshvardhan period. Rampalcharit describes the activities of the Pala ruler Rampal and gives information about the then Bengal. Vikramankadevacharita was written on the Chalukya king Vikramaditya.
More General Knowledge of Ancient History
CHANDRAGUPTA I
The power and importance of Magadha had ended during the Kushan period. Chandragupta I restored it. He expanded Magadha till Saket (Ayodhya) and Prayag (Allahabad). He ruled from Pataliputra. He married a princess of the Licchavi dynasty. With this relation, relations between Magadha and Licchavis improved and the prestige of Gupta dynasty increased. Chandragupta assumed the title of Maharajadhiraj.
SAMUDRAGUPT
Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta I. He was the greatest of all the Gupta rulers. He was a skilled warrior, scholar, musician and poet. Along with this, he was also an efficient ruler. Despite being a follower of Hinduism, he respected Buddhism and Jainism. He adopted the policy of tolerance towards those religions.
Samudragupta's name is taken in history as a conqueror and empire builder. We get to know about his conquests from the praise of Allahabad. Information about Samudragupta's time is also available from Eran records and coins. Most of the praises of that time give information about the ancestors of the kings. Apart from the Allahabad Prashasti, information about Samudragupta is also available from Chandragupta II's 'Vamshavali' (list of ancestors).
These sources tell us that Samudragupta also assumed the title of Maharajadhiraja.
Samudragupta's court poet Harisena has written a prashasti in Sanskrit and has told that Samudragupta had defeated 9 states of North India. These states were - Delhi, areas of western Uttar Pradesh etc., which he had merged in his empire. Samudragupta had also won 12 states of the south. These states were - Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Pallava etc. The records (edicts) tell that after the surrender of these states, Samudragupta returned their state, but on the condition that they will continue to pay him regular taxes and tribute. Samudragupta also subdued the wild tribes of central India.
CHANDRAGUPTA II (VIKRAMADITYA)
Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Chandragupta II. Its other name was also Devraj or Devgupt. It was also known by the name of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Information about this is available from the Mehrauli iron pillar. It is believed that when Rajgupta was ready to hand over his wife Dhruvadevi to the Saka ruler, Chandragupta entered the Saka camp and killed the Saka ruler. Later he killed Ramagupta and married Dhruvdevi and became the king himself. The inscriptions of Udayagiri, Sanchi, Mathura, the iron-pillar inscriptions of Mehrauli (Delhi) and coins are sources of information about the time of Chandragupta II. It is known from these sources that Chandragupta II defeated the Shakas of Gujarat, Malwa and Saurashtra and subdued their territories. With this success, Chandragupta II got Western Samudragupta. He got control over the port of Broach, Cambay and Sopara. Because of this, he could increase the commerce and trade of his state. He made Ujjayini his second capital.
KUMARAGUPTA I
Like Chandragupta I and II and Samudragupta, Kumaragupta I was also a great ruler of the Gupta Empire. Information about his reign comes from the Bhitari inscription, Bhilsad pillar inscription, Garhwa inscription and Mankuwar idol inscription. Like many Gupta kings, Kumaragupta I also issued coins. Important information about his reign is obtained from these coins. He ruled for 40 years. Many names of Kumaragupta are found in these inscriptions - Srimahendra, Ajitmahendra, Mahendratya, Mahendrakumar etc.
SKANDAGUPTA
Kumaragupta's son Skandagupta had defeated Shakas and Hunas. He assumed the title of Shakraditya. At this time the Huns had attacked several times from the North-West. The Gupta rulers did not make arrangements for the security of the north-western border of the empire. Taking advantage of this, the Huns attacked India, due to which the Gupta Empire became weak and its downfall started. After the decline of the Gupta Empire, several kingdoms emerged, the main ones being Harshavardhana's kingdom of Kannauj in North India and the Chalukyas of Vatapi and the Pallavas of Kanchipuram in South India.
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Ancient History