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Gupta Dynasty Rulers
| List of Gupta Emperors | |
| Shri Gupta 240 - 290 A.D. | He is mentioned as the first ruler of this dynasty in Prayag Prashasti, Vilsad and Bhitri inscriptions of Samudra Gupta, Kumar Gupta and Skand Gupta respectively. Chinese traveller I-Tsing (671-695) mentioned that Shri Gupta had built temples for Chinese travellers even 4 centuries before his visit to India. |
| Ghatotkachha Gupta 290 - 305 A.D. | He was the first ruler of this dynasty who adopted the title of Maharaja. However, both Shri Gupta and Ghatotkachha were not independent rulers yet. |
| ChandraGupta Vikramaditya I 305 - 335 A.D. | 1st important ruler of this dynasty. He was first to adopt the title Maharajadhiraj (king of kings). He strengthened his position through marriage alliances. He married Lichhavi princess Kumardevi and also circulated coins bearing the images of his queen with him. He was the first Gupta ruler who started the circulation of gold coins. He started the Gupta Era (Gupt Samvat) in 320 AD on his corondation. According to Puranas, by the end of his reign, his kingdom probably extended west to the present-day city of Prayagraj, Ayodhya and southern Bihar. |
| Samudra Gupta 335 - 370 A.D. | The real expansionist of this dynasty through war. Historian VA smith, called him Napoleon of India, because his empire extended to Malay peninsula as he possessed a strong Navy He practiced Vaishnavism; however, he gave patronage to Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu also and allowed building of a Buddhist monastery in Gaya by Meghavarman, ruler of Sri Lanka. Harisena was his court poet who gave accounts of military conquests of Samudra Gupta inscribed on the Allahabad pillar of Ashoka known as Prayag Prashasti. However, this inscription does not provide chronological order of his conquests. Samudra Gupta had conquered territories down to Kanchi, Tamil Nadu. He adopted titles like Parakramank, Apratirath, Vyaghra Parakram. He was also a great musician and was called Kaviraja. His coins potray his images as holding a bow, holding an axe, slaying a tiger and playing a veena. Some other types of coins were also obtained which display a garuda flag with an image of the king and coins with images of Ashwamedha yagya. Geographical Extent Northern lands were annexed by Gupta empire- Rajasthan paid tribute however Punjab was outside the limits of his authority. He directly controlled the Ganges valley only since Sakas dominated the west. Foreign Kings- Assam, Bengal, Sakas, Kushans and Lankans paid tribute. Forest tribal Kings of Deccan and Central India along with Southern Kings paid tribute. |
| Ram Gupta 370 - 380 A.D. | His sources of information are “Devichandraguptam” written by Vishakhdutt and Erand inscription. |
| ChandraGupta Vikramaditya II 380 - 415 A.D. | He took this dynasty to its highest glory. Growth and prosperity of India reached to highest level during his reign. He adopted the titles like - Devraj, Vikrama Devagupta, Devshri Vikramank, Param Bhagwat, Simhavikrama, Vikramaditya, Ganari, Shakari. Expansion He strengthened his position through marriage alliances and conquests. He married a Naga princess Kubernaag. He married his daughter Prabhavati to Rudrasen II, a Vakataka king. After the death of her husband, Prabhavati became the regent and through her Vikramadita II exerted his influence over the Vakataka kingdom. As a result, this gave him the opportunity to conquer Malwa and Gujarat from the Shakas who were ruling in these areas for the past 4 centuries. Vanquishing the Shakas was his greatest achievement. He adopted the title of Vikramaditya to commemorate his victory over the Shakas. He also issued silver coins with dates to celebrate this event. 5 types of coins attributed to him were obtained. These coins portray him as an archer, rider, slayer of a lion etc. Ujjain became the second capital of the Gupta empire. Defeated northern rulers like the Huns, Kambojas and Kiratas Now the Guptas had access to the seaport of Gujarat which enormously increased their economy. Had trade links with the Roman Empire. His exploits are mentioned in the iron pillar of Mehrauli, located in the Qutub Minar complex. Culture His court included many notable scholars ‘navratnas’ - Kalidas, Amarsimha, Dhanvantri, Harisen, Kshapanak, Shanku, Varahmihir, Vararuchi, Vetalbhatt. He was trained by Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu who was appointed by Samudra Gupta. Chinese traveller Fa-Hien visited India during his reign (399-414) and stated that various types of punishment were used, people did not register their households and welfare assistance was provided to weaker sections. |
| Kumar Gupta I 415 - 455 A.D. | The highest number of inscriptions of this dynasty belongs to Kumar Gupta I. Apart from inscriptions, several copper plate inscriptions were also obtained bearing his name. He adopted the title of Mahendraditya. His gold coins read him as Guptkulamal Chandra and Guptkul Vyomshashi. Huien-Tsang mentions him as Shakraditya. KumarGupta I built the Nalanda Buddhist university Several coins of gold, silver and copper attributed to him were also obtained. His gold coins had images of a peacock instead of garuda. His coins potray him as a rider, archer, riding a peacock, riding an elephant. Other images inscribed in his coin were horse of Ashvamedha Yagya with Ashwa Mahendra written on it back side. He is also shown slaying a tiger with Vyaghrabal Parakram written on the back. He is even shown slaying a rhino. Inscriptions The Garhwa inscription mentions him as Param Bhagwat. The Mandsaur inscription made by Vatsabhatti gives an account of the organized administration of Kumar Gupta I. This inscription also mentions his governor Bandhu Varman who had built a Sun temple. Bilasgarh inscription, Etah, U.P was made in Gupta Samvat 96 (416 A.D). This inscription also gives names of Gupta emperors until Kumar Gupta I. His Karmdand inscription, Faizabad, U.P is made on a statue of Lord Shiva. It was made by his minister Prithvi Sen. His Mankunwar inscription, Prayagraj, U.P is made on a statue of Lord Buddha. It was made by a Buddhist monk Buddhmitra. Other significant inscriptions of Kumar Gupt I are - Sanchi inscription, Udayagiri cave inscription, Tummain inscription (Guna, M.P). |
| Skand Gupta 455 - 467 A.D. | He was the last great emperor of this dynasty. He had fought and defeated the White Hunas (Eastern Hunas) who had invaded India from Central Asia. He had inflicted great damage to the Huns and as a result they did not invaded India for next 50 years. His victory is mentioned in a book named Chandragarbh Pariprichya. The Junagarh inscription provides for the beginning of his reign from Gupta Samvat 136 (455 A.D). This inscription also gives information about Parndutt and Chakrapalit. Parndutt was governor of Saurashtra and father of Chakrapalit. Chakrapalit was appointed as commander of a fort in Girnar. He had revived the old Sudarshan Lake that had been in existence since the times of Mauryas. Bhitri inscription (Ghazipur, U.P) mentions his triumph over attacks of the Hunas and Pushyamitras. The Pushyamitras lived on the banks of river Narmada. Patna inscription, Kahom inscription (Gorakhpur, U.P), and Garhwa inscription (Prayagraj) also provide significant information of this emperor. His gold and silver coins are inscribed with his archer image and on their opposite side goddess Lakshmi is shown sitting in Padmasan with Shri Skand Gupta written below. Some of his coins also bore images of Garuda, Nandi etc. Quality of coins declined due to wars with the Hunas. Buddhist text Aryamanjushri Mulakalpa mentioned him as a wise and righteous emperor. The mighty Gupta empire started declining after the death of Skand Gupta. |
| Kumar Gupta II 467 - 477 A.D. | He was also known as Puru Gupta and was a follower of Buddhism. His inscription was made on a Buddha statue dating to Gupta Samvat 154 (473 A.D.). |
| Buddha Gupta 477 - 496 A.D. | He was son of Kumar Gupta II as proven from his seal obtained from Nalanda. His sources of information come from inscriptions of Sarnath and Erand. His silver coins give the ending date of his reign on Gupta Samvat 175 (494 A.D.). He was the last emperor to rule an undivided Gupta empire. |
| Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya III |496 - 500 A.D. | |
| Vainya Gupta |500 - 515 A.D. |
| Narsimha Gupta 515 - 530 A.D. | He was also known as Baladitya. The Gupta empire broke into three parts during his reign - Magadh region, Malwa region and Bengal region. His greatest achievement was defeating and imprisoning Huna king Mihirakul. However, he later released Mihirakula on the advice of his mother Mahadevi Chandra. He was a follower of Buddhism and a disciple of Buddhist monk Vasubandhu. His coins display him as an archer. |
| Kumar Gupta III |530 - 540 A.D. | |
| Vishnu Gupta I | 540 - 550 A.D. |