Samudragupta: History, Coins, Conquests and Achievements

After the fall of the Maurya Empire, the Gupta Empire established a unified empire across almost all of India. If we talk about the rulers of the Gupta dynasty among them the greatest king was Samudragupta. He ruled from 335 AD to 380 AD. Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta I and Lichchhavi Princess Kumara Devi.

Samudragupta was the exact opposite of Ashoka because while Ashoka believed in the policy of non-violence and non-aggression, he was more interested in expanding the empire through violence and war. During his time, the Gupta Dynasty achieved its most extensive imperial expansion.

Due to Samudragupta’s military prowess, aggressive and imperialistic policies in conquering multiple kingdoms, and astute leadership, British historian Vincent Arthur Smith dubbed him the “Napoleon of India.” Samudragupta wrote a book called “Krishnacharitam.” The Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu, the author of “Abhidharmakosa-Bhasya,” also served as Samudragupta’s minister.

Title of Samudragupta

Samudragupta was also known as Chandraprakash. Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta, also known as Prayag Prasasti, referred to him as “Kaviraja,” “Dharmapracharbandhu,” “Vikramanka,” “Parambhattaraka,” “Dharani-Bandha,” “Prakramah,” “Apratirathah,” “Kritanta-Parashuh,” “Vaghra-Prakramah,” “Ashvamedha-Prakramah,” Various inscriptions reveal that Samudragupta called himself “Lichchavi Dauhitra.” Additionally, some of his other titles are ‘Param Bhagvata’ (Nalanda and Gaya Copper Plate) and ‘Sarva-Raj-Oh-Chetta’ (which appears only on coins, where he is the only ruler with this title).

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Samudragupta Coins

The rulers of the Gupta Empire borrowed most things from the Kushana Dynasty, from the characteristics of their coins to their names. Samudragupta introduced a total of 6 types of coins during his reign. Samudragupta coins are Standard Type (Samudragupta title ‘Prakramah’), Archer Type (Title ‘Apratirathah’), Battle Axe Type (Title ‘Kritanta-Parashuh’), Ashvamedha type (Title ‘Ashvamedha-Prakramah’), Tiger Slayer Type (Title ‘Vaghra-Prakramah’), and Lyrist type (‘Maharajadhiraja Sri Samudragupta’).

Conquest of Samudragupta

Samudragupta’s conquests and the expansion of his kingdom have been recorded in the Allahabad pillar inscription, which was written by his court poet, Harisena. He conquered Aryavarta, i.e. 9 kings of North India, 12 kings of South India, 5 frontier states, and 9 tribal republics, and launched campaigns in neighboring states and defeated them all.

Military Achievements of Samudragupta

Names of conquered states and rulers of North India:

The 13th and 14th lines of the seventh stanza and the 21st and 23rd lines of the eighth stanza of the Allahabad pillar inscription, or Prayag prasasti, contain details of Samudragupta’s conquest of North Indian states.

12 kings of South India and their kingdoms in order:

The 19th and 20th lines of the eighth stanza of the Allahabad pillar inscription mention the subjugation of “all the kings of Dakshinapatha.” During the South Indian campaign, Samudragupta’s general was Virasen.

5 Frontier States:

The five frontier states were: Samatata (Bengal), Davaka (Assam), Kamarupa (Assam), Nepala (Nepal), and Karttipura (Uttarakhand).

9 Tribal Republics:

Neighboring kings and kingdoms:

The 23rd and 24th lines of the Allahabad pillar inscription mention this conquest.

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Review of the Imperial Policy of Samudragupta

• Samudragupta adopted different imperialist policies for North and South India in terms of conquest and different imperialist policies for frontier states and tribal republics.
• He adopted an ‘aggressive’ or ‘conquest policy’ over the states of North India and directly annexed all the kingdoms of the kings. Hence the word ‘uprooted’ is used here, which means complete extermination.
• He adopted a ‘policy of capture and release’ over the states of South India. This policy was applied to the states in three ways. These are ‘capture’ meaning conquest, ‘release’ meaning freeing the defeated king, and ‘favor’ meaning returning the kingdom in exchange for accepting subjugation. However, he never returned sovereignty to the kings of these states.
• In the case of frontier states, Samudragupta, instead of directly annexing all the states, turned them into ‘tributary states’ in exchange for annual taxes.
• However, there is room for debate in historical circles about exactly what policy he applied to the tribal republics. Some historians have commented that he turned the states into tributary states. Again, another group of historians say that without completely destroying the states, he incorporated them into his empire.
• He bound the neighboring states in a bond of the subordinate alliance.

Samudragupta Inscription

• Some of the inscriptions from Samudragupta’s time are Allahabad Prasasti, Eran Stone Pillar (MP), Nalanda Copper Plate Inscription (Bihar), and Gaya Copper Plate Inscription (Bihar), from which much information about his reign is obtained.
• The details of his reign and successive conquests were obtained from Allahabad Prasasti and Eran Stone Pillar.
• A sort of land charter known as the Nalanda Copper Plate Inscription (Bihar) shows that Samudragupta donated a village to a Brahmin. The first usage of the word ‘Agraha’ can be found in the Nalanda copper plate inscription of Samudragupta.
• Samudragupta donated a village to King Mahameghavarman of Sri Lanka to build a Buddhist Vihara at Gaya.

Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta

• Kaushambi was the initial location of the Allahabad pillar inscription. It was established by Jahangir at the Allahabad Fort during Akbar’s reign. This inscription has a total of 33 lines. This pillar inscription was in Brahmi script and Sanskrit language. Allahabad pillar inscription is written on an Ashokan pillar found in Allahabad by Harisena who was the court poet of Samudragupta. It was engraved on stone.
• It is written in the Champu Kavya style and does not mention any date. There is no description of Samudragupta’s Ashvamedha Yajna in this inscription.
• This inscription contains details of Samudragupta’s conquests in North and South India and the conquest of frontier and tribal republics. The city of Pataliputra is called Pushpanagar in this prasasti. The description of Samudragupta’s military victories begins from the 7th verse of the Prasasti.
• This inscription mentions the names of three Mahadandanayakas (important judicial and military officers) of the royal court, those three individuals are Harisena, Tilakbhatta, and Dhruvabhuti.
• This prasasti also mentions the inscriptions of Jahangir and Birbal. Jahangir’s inscription is engraved in Persian, which he had written by his favorite writer Abdulla Muskin Qalam.

You can also read more about Indian Copper Plate Grants Inscriptions from here.

Conclusion

Samudragupta was undoubtedly a notable monarch of ancient India and the Gupta Empire. Political foresight and traditional imperial dominance were the core ideals of his character. Balkrishna Govind Gokhale identified Samudragupta as the “harbinger of the golden age of ancient India.”

Samudragupta FAQ’s