Political History of Imperial Guptas

The one century gap between the extinction of Kushana & Satavahanas (around 220-230 AD), till the rise of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty a century later, is known to be one of the darkest in the whole of history of India. After the disintegration of the Mauryas, the Kushanas kept the North united and Satavahanas kept the Deccan united. Further south there were three Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas. In north, the Malvas, Yaudheyas, Kunidas etc. contributed to the extinction of Kushanas and in Deccan, the Vakatas and Ikshwaku contributed to the death of Satavahana dynasty. This dark period of one century was followed by a dawn of classical age which is also known as the Golden Age of Indian History. The classical age refers to the period between 320 AD to 550 AD when India was united again under the Gupta Dynasty. This period marks the crystallization of Hindu Culture and known for developments in all walks of life including the science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy. The founder of this dynasty was Sri Gupta. But there were other early Guptas mentioned in many inscriptions such as Shiva Gupta in Nasik Inscription and Puru Gupta in Karle Inscription. The brief description about the Kings of Imperial Guptas is as follows:

Sri Gupta (240-280 AD)

Sri Gupta was the founder of the Gupta dynasty. The details about the Sri-Gupta, the first ruler of the Gupta Dynasty come from the accounts of ITsing who came to India in around 690 AD. Sri Gupta has been identified with Che-li-ki-to of ITsing, who as per his details, had built a temple 500 years back from is visit for Chinese Pilgrims. Some of the scholars are of the view that Sri-Gupta was a feudatory of the Kushanas.

Ghatotkacha: (c. 280-319 A.D.)

Ghatotkacha was son of Sri Gupta and he succeeded him after his death. Not many details are available about Ghatotkacha.

Chandragupta I (c. 319-335 AD)

Chandragupta-I was son of Ghatotkacha and is considered to be the real founder of Gupta Empire. He was most powerful monarch and assumed the title of Maharajadhiraj. The earlier kings were given the titles Maharaja only. Chandragupta –I can be called the first independent ruler of the Gupta Dynasty. He was married to Licchhavi princes Kumara Devi and this helped him to get influence and extend the dominion. Samudragupta was born of this dominion. This is proved by the inscriptions of Samudragupta, in which he proudly described himself as Licchavidauhitra, but not at Guptaputra.

Gupta Era

Chandragupta-I ascended to the throne in 319-320 AD. The Valabhi Era of Gujarat has been identified coterminous with the Gupta Era. The Valabhi kings were feudatories of the Guptas and they might have used it as era of their overlords. Dr. Fleet has treated with this at length and has established that beginning of this era is Saka era 242, which means 242 +78 = 320 AD. This coincides with the Nepal Era of Jaydev-I that is 320 AD.

The first year of the Gupta Era may be taken as February 26, 320 AD to March 13, 321 AD, of which the first date is coronation of Chandragupta.

Samudragupta: (335-380 AD)

Samudragupta was son of Chandragupta –I and Kumaradevi. He ascended the throne in 335 AD. Before his death, probably 4 or 5 years back, Chandragupta-I had publicly announced that Samudragupta would be his heir apparent and thus abdicated the throne in his favor. This was justified by the killer instincts of Samudragupta who displayed a greater degree of skill in the arts of both peace and war. Read more about Samudragupta here

Chandragupta-II (Chandragupta Vikramaditya)

Chandragupta II, the great was son of Samudragupta and Datta Devi. Not much is known about the character but the corroborated facts about his life prove that he was a strong, vigorous ruler and was well qualified to govern and extend his empire. Read more about Chandragupta-II here.

Kumaragupta –I (415-455 AD)

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumaragupta I or Mahedraditya. The period assigned to him is 415-455 AD and his reign spanned for a long period of 40 years. He was an able ruler and there is no doubt that his empire suffered no diminution but extended. Like his grandfather, he celebrated the horse sacrifice (Ashvamedha) as an assertion to his paramount supremacy. The records furnish that at the close of his reign, Kumaragupta’s dominion suffered severely from the invasion of Huna Hordes, all over North India. The invaders from South India also disturbed him. He issued coins with images of killing a lion. He also issued a coin which bear the picture of Kartikeya.

Skandagupta: (455-467 AD)

Kumaragupta–I was succeeded by Skandagupta. Skandagupta was the last powerful king of the Gupta Empire. He assumed the title of Vikramaditya, Devraj and Sakapan and subdued the invaders (Pushyamitras and Hunas) and brought back the peace and glory of his father. He faced invasion of White Huns, the central Asian tribes. He issued 4 types of Gold coins and 4 types of Silver coin. Bhitari Inscription details about the prowess of Skandagupta. After his death in 467 AD, the Gupta empire declined rapidly.