After being ruled by the foreign powers for more a century, the people of India for the very first time came under the rule of the native rulers around the 3rd century AD with the emergence of the Guptas in the Indo-Gangetic plain of modern-day UP & Bihar.
The Kushans who preceded the Guptas as the major power in the subcontinent started to decline due to many reasons. They lost their northwestern dominions to the rising Sassanian Dynasty from Persia in and around 230 AD and at the same time, their eastern dominions in Northern India started to shrink because of the rise in power of their feudatories. Guptas also served under them as their feudatories in the region of modern-day UP & Bihar. The early rulers of the Guptas grabbed the opportunity and started the dynasty that was to dominate the subcontinent for the coming few centuries.
The Gupta Empire
The dynasty which came to be known as the Guptas was founded by Sri Gupta. He was then followed by his son Ghatotkachha. Ghatotkachha was succeeded by his son who is considered to be the real founder of this dynasty Chandragupta. It was under his reign that the boundaries of the Gupta dominions were expanded. He in his turn took the pompous title of Maharajadhiraja which clearly shows that he had kings under him who accepted his suzerainty. He also married the Kshatriya Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi which no doubt helped him to uplift his status among the other contemporary kings as he was born Vaishya; and according to the ancient law books of the Brahmanism (now Hinduism), it was the Kshatriyas who were born to rule. Thus, his marriage to the kshatriya princess made him eligible enough to rule and probably pressed the rebellions that he might have to face in his future.
Chandragupta was succeeded by his son and the most dominant king in the History of India; Samudragupta. Often considered as the Napoleon of India (However, I’m not with that view, as it is not fair enough to compare two kings from two different timelines of the history), he is one of the greatest military generals of all time. If we are to believe the Inscriptions from the Allahabad pillar of Harisena he never lost in a war. According to the historians of today, the territories conquered by him can be divided into 5 groups:
⦁ Group I Princes of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
⦁ Group II- Kingdoms at the boundary of the Gupta Empire.
⦁ Group III- The tribal kings of the Forest areas in the Gupta dominions.
⦁ Group IV- 12 rulers of the south who were conquered and then freed on the condition to accept the suzerainty of Samudragupta.
⦁ Group V- The kingdoms ruling in the regions of Afghanistan in the western frontiers of the Empire.
His valor is even known to the kings of the distant places. There’s one incident according to which the then king of Srilanka; Meghvarman asked for his permission to build a Buddhist temple at Bodh Gaya. He was also a great patron of art which can be clearly seen from his different variety of coins. On one of his coins, he is also shown playing Veena.
Samudragupta playing Veena as depicted in his coins.
The next great king who ascended the throne was Chandragupta II or Chandragupta Vikramaditya. However, the thing that is to be noticed here is that ‘Vikramaditya’ was not his name, it was a title that he chose to show his valor and courage. [Vikramaditya was the name of the King of Ujjain in 57 BC who is known to have defeated the foreign power of the Shakas. His act of braveness was admired to such an extent that the coming kings used his name as their title].
Chandragupta Vikramaditya as shown in his coins
Chandragupta Vikramaditya was the king under whom the Guptas were at their zenith. He is known to have extended his dominions through his matrimonial alliances. He himself married the Nāga princess Kubernaga from the Nāga Dynasty who ruled over much areas in central India. He also married his daughter Prabhavatigupta to the Vakataka prince Rudrasena II. These two kingdoms that he acquired through the alliances helped him in his war against the Western Satraps from whom he got hold of the regions of Malwa & Gujarat which further helped Guptas to extend their policy of foreign trade. He was also a great patron of literature and art. He had 9 luminaries or the Nav-Ratna in his court, who were the most learned people of that time from different fields.
The Guptas started to shrink in their power after Chandragupta II descended from the throne. He was succeeded by his son Kumaragupta I. Towards the end of his reign Pushyamitras; the ethnic groups in the Narmada Valley rose to power and confronted the Guptas. However, he is widely revered as the founder of the Nalanda University which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site now.
Nalanda University, the great site of learning in the Gupta Era was founded by Kumargupta I.
Kumaragupta I was succeeded by Skandagupta who is the last of the Great Guptas. Skandagupta took the title of Kramaditya and of Vikramaditya. He successfully crushed the rising powers of the Pushyamitras and diminished their revolt against the crown. However, this success was short-lived as the mighty Hunas were the new challenge for the Guptas, whom they never defeated completely and their invasion into their kingdoms was probably the greatest cause of the disintegration of the ‘IMPERIAL GUPTAS’.
Sources: Wikipedia, India’s Ancient Past (Book by R.S. Sharma Sir)
-Jyotiraditya Goswami