THE GREAT ANCIENT EMPIRESbetween 397 and 409: after 397 because for this year coins of the Shaka
ruler Rudrasimha III are existent, and before 409 because Chandragupta II
that year produced coins of a similar pattern but with the Shakas’ Buddhist
vihara replaced by Garuda, Vishnu’s eagle, the favourite symbol of the
Guptas.
Chandragupta’s other great achievement was the marriage of his
daughter, Prabhavatigupta, with Rudrasena II of the Vakataka dynasty of
central India. This dynasty had risen to prominence in the third century
AD after the fall of the Shatavahana empire. The founder of the Vakataka
dynasty was named Vindhyashakti after the goddess of the Vindhya
mountains. Under his successors, Pravarasena I, Rudrasena I and
Prithvisena I who ruled from about 275 to 385, the Vakatakas emerged as
a major power in central India blocking Gupta expansion beyond the
Vindhyas. Samudragupta did not mention them among the border kings in
his inscription and on his southern campaign he seems to have carefully
avoided their territory.
Chandragupta II probably concluded this marital alliance with the
Vakatakas before attacking the Shakas so as to be sure of having a friendly
power at his back when descending upon Gujarat. Rudrasena II died after
a very short reign in 390 and, on Chandragupta’s advice, Prabhavatigupta
then acted as a regent on behalf of her two sons, who were 2 and 5 years
old. During her regency which lasted about twenty years the Vakataka
realm was practically part of the Gupta empire. Under Pravarasena II (c.
410 to 440), whose reign is well documented by many inscriptions, the
Vakatakas reasserted their independence. But the relations between the
Guptas and the Vakatakas remained friendly and close. Many historians
therefore refer to this whole period as the Vakataka-Gupta Age. The
Vakatakas certainly contributed to the spread of Gupta political culture in
central and southern India.
Chandragupta II controlled most of northern India from the mouth of
the Ganges to the mouth of the Indus and from what is now Northern
Pakistan down to the mouth of the Narmada. In alliance with the
Vakatakas, he also controlled a large part of central India. Assam, Nepal,
Kashmir and Sri Lanka retained good diplomatic relations with this vast
new empire, as did many realms of Southeast Asia where a new wave of
Indian cultural influence set in. The oldest Sanskrit inscriptions found in
Indonesia which testify to the establishment of kingdoms on the Indian
pattern can be traced back to this period. The Gupta empire was at its
zenith.
Direct access to the eastern and western ports had greatly augmented
trade in northern and central India. The large number of beautiful gold
coins issued by the Guptas testify to the growth of the imperial economy.
Initially these coins, like those of the Kushanas, conformed to the Roman
pattern and were accordingly called Dinara. Skandagupta later on