THE GREAT ANCIENT EMPIRESChandragupta introduced a new era starting with his coronation in AD
320 and he also assumed the title ‘Overlord of great kings’
(maharajaadhiraja).
Chandragupta’s son, Samudragupta (c. AD 335–375), earned a
reputation as one of the greatest conquerors of Indian history. This is
mainly due to the fact that his famous Allahabad inscription on an old
Ashokan pillar withstood the ravages of time and thus preserved a glorious
account of his deeds.^1 The inscription, which is undated, was perhaps
initially located at Kausambi. It contains a long list of all kings and realms
subdued by Samudragupta. Only half of the names on this list can be
identified, but the rest provide us with a clear picture of Samudragupta’s
policy of conquest and annexation. In the ‘land of the Aryas’ (aryavarta)
he uprooted (unmulya) many kings and princes between west Bengal in the
east, Mathura in the west and Vidisha in the southwest and annexed their
realms. The old kingdom of Panchala north of the Ganges and many Naga
(Snake) dynasties which had arisen in the area from Mathura to Vidisha
after the decline of the Kushanas were eliminated in this way. The conquest
of Pataliputra was also achieved in this first great campaign.
The most famous campaign of Samudragupta was aimed at southern
India. Altogether twelve kings and princes of the South (dakshinapatha)
are listed among those whom he subdued at that time. Many of them are
known only due to their inclusion in this list which is thus one of the most
important documents for the early history of southern India. In Dakshina
Koshala he defeated King Mahendra, then he crossed the great forest
region (Kalahandi and Koraput Districts of western Orissa) so as to reach
the coast of Kalinga. In this region he defeated four rulers, among them
Mahendra of Pishtapura in the Godaveri Delta and Hastivarman of Vengi.
His final great success in the south was the defeat of King Vishnugopa of
Kanchipuram. The inscription states that Samudragupta ‘defeated, released
and reinstated’ all these kings thus showing his royal mercy. But this is
probably a euphemism typical of the campaigns of early medieval Indian
kings who were more interested in conquest as such than in the annexation
of distant realms which they could not have controlled anyway. We may
therefore assume that those southern kings ruled their realms undisturbed
after Samudragupta had returned to the north where he celebrated his
imperial round of conquest (digvijaya) with a great horse sacrifice
(ashvamedha). On this occasion he issued gold coins showing the sacrificial
horse and on the reverse his chief queen. The coins have the legend: ‘After
conquering the earth the Great King of Kings with the strength of an
invincible hero is going to conquer the heavens.’ His grandson,
Kumaragupta, praised him many decades later as the great renewer of the
horse sacrifice which had been forgotten and neglected for such a long
time. This shows that the Guptas consciously strove to renew the old
Hindu institutions of kingship.