The Gupta Dynasty

Hi all

Starting this forum with the post on one of the mightiest dynasties that ruled ancient India.

The mighty Guptas...

While area wise they ruled a comparatively (when compared to Mauryas, British or even Mughals) very small portion of the country (they ruled an area nearly equal to the area of present day India)

But their rule was literally the Golden age of India. Their rule showed some of the best literally works by writers like the greatest Kalidasa, some of the biggest universities like The Nalanda, some of the best moortis we have found are of this period -- check the Nachna Kurtha. Some of the biggest academics of the time - Aryabhatta who calculated the circumference of earth which remained to be the closest estimate of actual value for next 1200 years (practically throughout the pre telescope era before Galelio gave a closer value) or Brahmagupta who became the first person to define properties of zero.. were all during this time

You name a field of ancient world and would see that Guptas marvelled it.

This thread I would be bring to you the facts about the Guptas and their Golden era...

Please add more if you feel I missed something or share in here what else you like to know.

Also keep adding your friends.

The oldest known person of this dynasty was Maharaj SriGupta. He would have ruled in late third century CE (common Era/post Christ).

He was succeeded by his son Maharaj Ghatochkach Gupta. Who ruled in late third and early fourth century CE.

Both SriGupta and GhatochkachGupta were monarchs ruling their own kingdoms, the weren't the emperors like their descendants. This is confirmed by the fact that they are referred to as Maharaj in the Gupta inscriptions and NOT Maharajadiraja as their descendants.

Unfortunately not much is known about them except for their names which we find in later inscriptions/Prashasthis.

The first important ruled of this dynasty was Chandragupta 1. The pioneer of the Gupta Empire, he was succeeded by his Samudragupta who in turn by Chandragupta Vikramaditya (or Chandragupta 2) the two most cherished rulers of this empire. They expanded their empire to huge distances (will discuss rach in upcoming posts)

Kumargupta succeeded Chandragupta 2 and he was succeeded by Skandagupta. However it is assumed that Kumargupta wanted his(Skandagupta's) half brother PuruGupta to succeed him. PuruGupta eventually succeeded Skandagupta and this progeny continued with the dynasty. This is the reason why no inscription of later Guptas mention Skandagupta at all

Skandagupta is known for defeating the Huns.

Some people think that Samudragupta was briefly succeed by his elder son Ramagupta.. more on this in the next post

Chandragupta the 2nd's daughter Prabhavathi Gupta married Vakatak King Rudrasen The 2nd who died soon after their marriage and she ruled Dakshin Koshal part of India with her father's guidance

Originally posted by: NoraSM

Chandragupta the 2nd's daughter Prabhavathi Gupta married Vakatak King Rudrasen The 2nd who died soon after their marriage and she ruled Dakshin Koshak part of India with her father's guidance

True also being the daughter of the biggest ruler of their times, PrabhavathiGupta always had huge hold in administration there unlike the queens/princesses of the era. In fact she took the command after her husband's death and continued to rule behind the throne even after her son attained the age of 12(an age back then which was taken as person has attained maturity)as ascertained by the coins she released

Also one of earliest documented records of close relative marriage comes here

PrabhavathiGupta's daughter Munda(some historians feel her name was Chamunda and it was an inscriptional error) has been mentioned in Ramtek inscription of the Vatakatas

Ramtek inscription states that when she was born, PrabhavathiGupta's brother Ghatochkach 2 visited her and when he saw the girl he thought of her as an incarnation of Lakshmi. When she grew up, they got married. (Union of maternal uncle and niece) Although not specifically mentioned but PrabhavathiGupta and GhatochkachGupta 2 could have been half siblings sharing a father but having different mothers though.

The Ramtek inscription also mentions that later GhatochkachGupta died and Munda returned to her maternal home.

Now this raises suspicion.

There was no tradition of sending back widows from their marital home after their husband's death back then and here she was no stranger but the daughter of emperor's sister hence a highly adored person. Why was she sent back home???

Also we find coins from GhatochkachGupta 2 where he seems more of a monarch rather than a king's brother or even a vassal..

Could this be an indication that GhatochkachGupta 2 was starting a rebellion against Kumargupta to get the throne for himself?? He was able to get some areas under his direct control and release his coins for there before Kumargupta suppressed him and got him executed?? A very good reason for Munda to not stay in that house then... She might have escaped or else Kumargupta would have allowed her to return considering their relation..

We might never know, because while Gupta inscriptions boasted and bragged their victory against everyone else, their family disputes and even bloodbath were always put under the carpet. That's why we rarely find anything about the issues of PuruGupta and Skandagupta, or anything about Ramgupta and Chandragupta 2(if there was one)..

Drop in your views

Gupta was proper name of the founder of the dynasty. Seems like later Kings adopted it as part of their names. Gupta is also a name of Vishnu.