Gupta Emperor who ruled parts of Indian subcontinent during c. 455–467
Skandagupta
Vikramaditya Kramaditya
Gold coin of Skandagupta, depicting himself on the obverse, Lakshmi on the reverse. The name Skan-da appears vertically under the left arm of the emperor.
Find spots of inscriptions of Skandagupta, and contemporary polities.
Skandagupta (Gupta script: Ska-nda-gu-pta,[2] r. c.455-467) was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites (known as Hunas in India), probably the Kidarites. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, and is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. The Gupta genealogy after him is unclear, but he was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his younger half-brother.
Skandagupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I.[3] His mother may have been a junior queen or a concubine of Kumaragupta. This theory is based on the fact that Skandagputa's inscriptions mention the name of his father, but not of his mother.[4] For example, Skandagupta's Bhitari pillar inscription lists the chief queens (mahadevis) of his ancestors Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II, but does not mention the chief queen of his father Kumaragupta.[5][6]J. F. Fleet read a line of the Bhitari inscription to state that Skandagupta was "raised to Aryan status by the panegyrics of bards". Based on this, A. L. Basham theorized that his mother was from a low-caste Shudra background.[7]
Others, such as Dasharatha Sharma have criticized this theory, pointing out that the Bhitari inscription clearly suggests that Skandagupta's mother held a very exalted status in the eyes of her son.[7] The inscription states that after restoring the fallen fortunes of his family by defeating his enemies, he visited his mother just like the legendary hero Krishna had visited his mother Devaki.[3] Jagannath Agrawal theorizes that the composer of the inscription deliberately departed from convention and devoted a line to the king's mother: this was not because of the inferior status of the mother.[8] Agrawal disputes Fleet's reading of the "Aryan status" line, providing an alternative reading: "whom nobility causes to blush by reason of the narrations of his exploits by means of songs and eulogies". This line seems to be inspired from a verse in Kalidasa's Raghuvaṃśa. Agrawal further argues that the Bhitari inscription is a prashasti aimed at glorifying the king, and its composer would not have made a derogatory insinuation about the low status of the king's mother.[8]
Based on the inscription, some scholars have theorised that Devaki was the name of his mother. However, according to historian R. C. Majumdar, it is more likely that the description aims to highlight the degraded position of his mother just like that of the legendary Devaki, before Skandagupta restored her to a position of prestige and power, just like Krishna did for Devaki.[3]
Skandagupta ascended the throne in year 136 of the Gupta era (c.455-456 CE).[3] According to the Bhitari pillar inscription, he restored "the fallen fortunes of his family". The inscription states that when he prepared to do so, he spent a night on the bare earth, and then defeated his enemies, who had grown wealthy and powerful. After defeating his enemies, he visited his widowed mother, whose eyes were "full of tears from joy".[3]
Many scholars read the name of the enemies mentioned in the Bhitari inscription as "Pushyamitras", who according to the Puranas, were a tribe, and probably ruled an area located on the banks of the Narmada River. However, an alternative interpretation of the inscription reads "Yudhyamitras" (a generic term for enemies) instead of "Pushyamitras".[9]
According to one theory, these enemies invaded the Gupta empire during the last years of Kumaragupta's reign, or shortly after his death, and Skandagupta defeated them. According to another theory, the conflict referred to in the Bhitari inscription resulted from a disputed succession to the throne. This theory is based on the following points:[9]
The Junagadh inscription states that after his father's death, Skandagupta became "the ruler of the earth" by his own prowess.[9] This suggests that Skandagupta acquired the throne using force.[5]
His mother may was probably a junior wife of Kumaragupta rather than the chief queen (see Early life section above), and therefore, his claim to the throne was not legitimate.[5][6]
The Junagadh inscription states that Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, chose Skandagupta as her husband after rejecting all other "sons of kings".[11][9] Some coins issued by Skandagupta depict a woman offering him an uncertain object, probably a garland or a ring. Assuming this woman is Lakshmi, the depiction seems to be a visual representation of the statement made in the inscription.[12] (Some scholars identify the woman as a queen rather than Lakshmi).[11]
The Bhitari inscription makes three mentions of the fallen fortunes of the Gupta family (kula or vamsha). The mention of family, rather than the empire, may be a reference to the disputed succession to the throne. The reading "Yudhyamitras", rather than "Pushyamitras", may be correct, and the enemies referred to in the inscription may be rival claimants to the throne.[12]
Various historical records suggest that multiple people in the Gupta empire assumed sovereign status after Kumaragupta's death. These people include Kumaragupta's brother Govindagupta, his relative Ghatotkacha-gupta, and Prakashaditya (who is known from some gold coins). These people may have been rivals of Skandagupta.[5]
Another argument cited in favour of the disputed succession theory is that the records of the subsequent Gupta kings omit Skandagupta's name from the royal genealogy, listing Purugupta's name after that of Kumaragupta. An example is the Bhitari seal of the 6th century king Kumaragupta III. However, this omission may be explained by the fact that these subsequent kings were descendants of Skandagupta's half-brother Purugupta, and the genealogical lists in their records intend to list only their direct ancestors, rather than provide a comprehensive list of the earlier Gupta kings.[5]
During Skandagupta's period, the Indo-Hephthalites (known as the White Huns or Hunas) invaded India from the northwest, advancing as far as the Indus River.[13]
The Bhitari pillar inscription states that Skandagupta defeated the Hunas:[13]
(Skandagupta), "by whose two arms the earth was shaken, when he, the creator (of a disturbance like that) of a terrible whirlpool, joined in close conflict with the Hûnas; . . . . . . among enemies . . . . . . arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . proclaimed . . . . . . . . . . . . just as if it were the roaring of (the river) Ganga, making itself noticed in (their) ears."
The date of the Huna invasion is not certain. The Bhitari inscription mentions it after describing the conflict with the Pushyamitras (or the Yudhyamitras), which suggests that it happened later during Skandagupta's reign. However, a possible reference to this conflict in the Junagadh inscription suggests that it may have happened at the beginning of the Skandagupta's reign or during the reign of his father Kumaragupta. The Junagadh inscription, dated to the year 138 of the Gupta era (c. 457–458 CE) mentions Skandagupta's success against the mlechchhas (foreigners):[14]
...whose [Skandagupta's] fame, moreover, even [his] enemies, in the countries of the mlechchhas... having their pride broken down to the very root, announce with the words "verily the victory has been achieved by him."
The victory against the mlechchhas happened in or before the year 136 of the Gupta era (c.455-456 CE), when Skandagupta ascended the throne and when he appointed Parnadatta as the governor of the Saurashtra region, in which Junagadh is located. Since Skandagupta is not known to have fought against any other foreigners, these mlechchhas were probably the Hunas. If this identification is correct, it is possible that as a prince, Skandagupta was sent to check the Huna invasion at the frontier, and Kumaragupta died in the capital while this conflict was happening; Skandagupta returned to the capital and overcame rebels or rival claimants to ascend the throne.[14]
A sentence in the Sanskrit text Chandra-Vyakarana (c.7th century) states Ajayad-Gupto Hunan, literally, "The Gupta conquered the Hunas". This may be a reference to Skandagupta's victory over the Hunas, although an alternative reading by scholar K. P. Jayaswal has "Jato" instead of "Gupto".[15] A story in the Kathasaritsagara (11th century) states that the legendary king Vikramaditya ascended the throne after his father Mahendraditya abdicated it, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the mlechchhas. Since Mahendraditya was a title of Kumaragupta, and Vikramaditya that of Skandagupta, this may be a reference to Skandagupta's victory over the Hunas.[16]
Western India
The Junagadh rock, which contains inscription of the earlier emperors, Ashoka and Rudradaman, has an inscription engraved on the orders of Skandagupta's governor Parnadatta. The inscription states that Skandagupta appointed governors of all provinces, including Parnadatta as the governor of Surashtra.[16] It is not clear if the verse refers to routine appointments made by the king, or his actions after a political turmoil resulting from a war of succession or invasion.[17] The inscription outlines several qualifications required to be the governor of Surashtra, stating that only Parnadatta met these requirements. Again, it is not clear if these were actual qualifications required to be a governor under Skandagupta's rule, or if the verse simply aims to eulogise Parnadatta.[16]
Parnadatta appointed his son Chakrapalita as the magistrate of the Girinagara city (near modern Junagadh-Girnar area), which was presumably the capital of Surashtra. The Junagadh inscription records Chakdrapalita's repairs to the Sudarshana lake, an ancient reservoir originally constructed by Chandragupta Maurya, and later improved by his grandson Ashoka. The dam was subsequently re-built by Rudradaman in c. 150, but burst in c. 456–457 (year 137 of the Gupta era). Chakrapalita is said to have spent an "immeasurable" amount of wealth to build an embankment, and is also credited with the construction of a Vishnu temple.[17]
An inscription of the Vakataka king Narendrasena claims that his commands were obeyed by the rulers of Kosala, Mekala and Malava. The regnal dates of Narendrasena are not certain, but he is generally thought to be a contemporary of Skandagupta. Since Malava was a part of the Gupta Empire at one time, it is possible that Narendrasena raided Gupta territories during Skandagupta's reign. Skandagupta would have restored Gupta control over the region soon after. A c. 460–461 inscription refers to the "tranquil reign of Skandagupta, the lord of hundred kings."[18]
Succession
The last known date of Skandagupta is c. 467–468 CE (year 148 of the Gupta era),[18] and he probably ruled for a few more years.[19]
Skandagupta was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his half-brother. Purugupta was a son of Kumaragupta I from his chief queen, and therefore, must have been his legitimate successor. It is possible that he was a minor at the time of Kumaragupta I's death, because of which Skandagupta ascended the throne. Skandagupta appears to have died heirless, or his son may have been dethroned by Purugupta's family.[20]
Coinage
Compared to his predecessors, Skandagupta issued fewer gold coins, and some of these coins feature relatively less quantity of gold. It is possible that the various wars fought by him strained the state treasury, although this cannot be said with certainty.[5]
Skandagupta issued five types of gold coins: Archer type, King and queen type, Chhatra type, Lion-slayer type and Horseman type.[21] His silver coins are of four types: Garuda type, Bull type, Altar type and Madhyadesha type.[22] The initial gold coinage was on the old weight standard used by his father Kumaragupta of approximately 8.4gm. This initial coinage is quite scarce. At some point in his reign, Skandagupta revalued his currency, switching from the old dinar standard to a new suvarna standard that weighed approximately 9.2gm.[23] These later coins were all only of the Archer type, and this standard and type was followed by all subsequent Gupta rulers.
Coin of Skandagupta Kramaditya with facing Garuda.
Gold dinar of Skandagupta.
In popular culture
Jaishankar Prasad, a renowned poet of modern Hindi literature, wrote a play named Skandagupta in 1928, based on the life of Gupta emperor Skandagupta.[25] In the 1960s, Shanta Gandhi, Professor of Ancient Indian Drama while at National School of Drama, revived interest in Jaishankar Prasad's plays by successfully staging his most important play Skanda Gupta written in 1928, with little changes to the original script.[26][27]
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire on the Indian subcontinent which existed from the early 4th century CE to early 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Skandagupta. The 4th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.
Chandragupta II, also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was the third ruler of the Gupta Empire in India. Modern scholars geneerally identify him with King Chandra of the Delhi iron pillar inscription.
Chandragupta I was a king of the Gupta Empire, who ruled in northern and central India. His title Mahārājadhirāja suggests that he was the first emperor of the dynasty. It is not certain how he turned his small ancestral kingdom into an empire, although a widely accepted theory among modern historians is that his marriage to the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi helped him extend his political power. Their son Samudragupta further expanded the Gupta empire.
Samudragupta (Gupta script: Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta, was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of India. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty's political and military power.
Kumaragupta I was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and Queen Dhruvadevi. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
Gupta was the founder of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to, who, according to the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing, built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (Mṛgaśikhāvana) for Chinese pilgrims.
Ramagupta, according to the Sanskrit play Devichandraguptam, was an emperor of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. The surviving fragments of the play, combined with other literary evidence, suggest that he agreed to surrender his wife Dhruvadevi to a Shaka enemy: However, his brother Chandragupta II killed the Shaka enemy, and later dethroned him, marrying Dhruvadevi.
The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Europe as the Chionites, and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites. The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites". The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during a similar period. They are entirely different from the Hephthalites, who replaced them about a century later.
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India, between 35 and 415 CE. The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and were possibly vassals of the Kushans. They were also contemporaneous with the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western Satraps" in modern historiography in order to differentiate them from the "Northern Satraps", who ruled in Punjab and Mathura until the 2nd century CE.
Yaudheya (Brahmi script: 𑀬𑁅𑀥𑁂𑀬) or Yoddheya Gana (Yoddheya Republic) was an ancient militant gana (confederation) based in the Eastern region of the Sapta Sindhu. The word Yaudheya is a derivative of the word from yodha meaning warriors and according to Pāṇini, the suffix '-ya', was significant of warrior tribes, which is supported by their resistance to invading empires such as the Kushan Empire and the Indo-Scythians. Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps notes in his Junagadh rock inscription that the Yaudheyas were 'heroes among all Kshatriya' and 'were loath to surrender'. They were noted as having a republic form of government, unique from other Janapadas which instead maintained monarchies.
Ghatotkacha was a pre-imperial Gupta king of northern India. He was a son of the dynasty's founder Gupta, and the father of the dynasty's first emperor Chandragupta I.
Purugupta was an emperor of the Gupta dynasty in northern India. Purugupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta I by his queen Anantadevi. He succeeded his half-brother Skandagupta. No inscription of Purugupta has been found so far. He is known from the Bhitari silver-copper seal of his grandson Kumaragupta III and Nalanda clay sealings of his sons Narasimhagupta and Budhagupta and his grandson Kumaragupta III. From the Saranath Buddha image inscription, it is concluded that he was succeeded by Kumaragupta II. According to Hornell and Raychaudhary, Prakashaditya was another title of Purugupta, although this has now been disproven by Pankaj Tandon, who has definitively shown that Prakashaditya was the Hun king Toramana.
Dhruva-devi was the queen of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II, who ruled in present-day northern India. She was the mother of his successor Kumaragupta I, and was most probably same as Dhruva-svamini, who has been mentioned as a queen of Chandragupta and the mother of prince Govindagupta in a clay seal inscription.
The Pushyamitras were a tribe who lived in Central India during the 5th century CE. Living on the banks of the river Narmada, they are believed to have posed a serious threat to the Gupta Empire during the late period of Kumaragupta I's reign.
The Gupta era is a historical calendar era that begins from c. 318–319 CE. It was used by the Gupta emperors, as well as their vassals and their successors in present-day northern India and Nepal. It is identical to the Vallabhi era, which was used in the Saurashtra region of western India, although regional differences lead to a slightly different calculation for the conversion of Vallabhi era years to Common Era (CE).
The Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta was discovered in the village of Bhitari near Saidpur in Uttar Pradesh and dates to the reign of Gupta Empire ruler Skandagupta. Further, the inscription is written in Sanskrit and is 15 feet high.
Devi-Chandraguptam or Devi-Chandragupta is an Indian Sanskrit-language political drama attributed to Vishakhadeva, who is generally identified with Vishakhadatta. The complete text of the play is now lost, but its portions survive in form of quotations in the later works. The plot also survives in form of a Persian language story, which appears to be an adaptation of the play, and is included in the 11th century text Majmal-ut-Tawarikh.
Govindagupta was a Gupta prince of ancient India. He was a son of Chandragupta II and Dhruvadevi, and a brother of Kumaragupta.
The Gupta-Saka Wars refers to the military conflict between the Gupta Empire, ruled by Chandragupta II, and the Western shatrapas, also known as the Shakas, during the 4th century CE.
After Yazdegerd II was defeated by the Hepthalites who had invaded Persia. The Hepthalites and the other mlecchas have all started invading the Gupta empire from the northwestern side. In response to their invasion, Kumaragupta I sent an army under his son in order to check the invaders' progress. This led to the wars between the prince, Skandagupta and the invaders. At the end of Skandagupta's wars with the invaders, he defeated the invaders and repulsed their attacks. Also this brought the Hunas to hault their plans to conquer for the next fifty years.
↑ A.S. Altekar (1957). "The Coinage of the Gupta Empire", Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University.
↑ "Evidence of the conquest of Saurastra during the reign of Chandragupta II is to be seen in his rare silver coins which are more directly imitated from those of the Western Satraps... they retain some traces of the old inscriptions in Greek characters, while on the reverse, they substitute the Gupta type ... for the chaitya with crescent and star." in Rapson "A catalogue of Indian coins in the British Museum. The Andhras etc.", p.cli
Singh, Jai Prakash (1976) History and Coinage of Skandagupta Kramāditya, Varanasi:Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University.
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Skan-da appears vertically under the left arm of the emperor.
Ska-nda-gu-pta, [2] r. c. 455-467) was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites (known as Hunas in India), probably the Kidarites. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, and is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. The Gupta genealogy after him is unclear, but he was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his younger half-brother.
