WARRIOR :
Samudragupta was a great warrior - this is well proved by the account of
Harisena in Allahabad Pillar inscriptions although the description is
poetic "whose most charming body was covered over with all the beauty of
the marks of a hundred confuse wounds caused by the blows of battle
axex, arrows, spears, pikes, swords, lances, javelines". At least three
types of coins - Archar Type, Battle - Axe and Tiger type - represent
Samudragupta in martial armour. The coins bearing the epithets like
'parakramah' (valour), 'kritanta-parashu', vyaghra parakramah', prove
his being a skilful warrior.
Thatd Samdudragupta was brilliant commander and a great conqueror is
proved by Harisena's description of his conquests. He mentions that
Samudragaupta exterminated nine north Indian states, Subdued eithteen
Atavika kingdoms near Bajalpur and Chhota Nagpur, and in his blitz -
like campaign humbled the pride of twelve South Indian Kings, Nine
borderstribes, and five frontier states of Smatata, Devaka, Karupa,
Nepal and Krtripur 'paid taxex, obeyed orders and performed obeisance in
person to the great Samudragupta'. The conquests made him the lord -
paramount of India. Fortune's child as he was, he was never defeated in
any battle. His Eran inscription also stresses his being 'invincible' in
battle. Samudragupta's Asvamedha type of coins commeorate the Asvamedha
sacrifices he performed and signify his many victories and superemacy..
SCHOLAR, POET AND MUSICIAN :
According to Allahabad Prasasti's exaggerated picture, 'samudragupta was
mano of many sided genius, who put to shame the preceptor of the lord
Gods and Tumburu and Narad and others by his sharp and polished
intellect and Chorla -skill and musical accmplishment. His title of
Kaviraj (King of poets) is justified by various poetical compositions.
Unfortunately none of these compositions have survived.
The presence of the two celebrated literary personalities like Harisons
and Vasubandhu definitely proves that he was a grent patron of men of
letters.
Harisena's commemoration of Samudragupta's knowledge and proficiency in
song and music is curiously confirmed and corroborated by the existence
of a few rare gold coins depicting him confortably seated on a
high-becked couch engaged in playing the Veena (tyre or lute) : the
scene is obviously from his private life.
Statesman and Administrator :
Samudragupta displayed
greater foresight in his conquests and in the administrationi and
consolidation of his empire. A practical statestesman as he was he
adopted different policies of different regions. "His treatment of the
nine kings of the north India was drastic, they were 'forcibly rooted
up' and their territories were incorporated in the dominions of the
victor, but he made no attempt to effect the permanent annexation of the
twelve southern States; he only exacted a temporary submission from the
defeated chiefs, and then withdrew after having despoiled the rich
treasures of the south; the policy of Dharm-Vijaya which Samudragupta
followed in respect of the kings of south India is symbolic of his
statesmanship, and was based on the needs and situations prevailing at
that time. It was not an easy task to control effectively the far off
regions from Pataliputra particularly when the means of transport and
communication were too meager. The later history of India bears
testimony to this fact. To the distant tribal states of the Punjab
Eastern Rajputana and Malwa he granted autonomy treating them as buffer
Kingdows against the foreign rulers like sakas and Kushans.
That Samudragupta was an efficient administrator is clear from the
very fact that he not only established a bvast empire but also left it
as legacy to his successors well-knit and well-organised. The Allahabad
Pillar Prasasti makes the mention of officials known as 'Mahadandnayaka'
'Kumaramaty' and 'Sandhivigrahika' and that his administration was
severe and tyrannical and that Samudragupta was very firm towards
sinners but generous towards righteous people.
Vedic religion and philanthrophy :
Samudragupta was the
up-holder of Brahmanical religion. Because of his services to the cause
of religion the Allahabad inscription mentions the qualifying title of
'Dharma-prachir Bandhu' for him. But he was not intolerant of other
creeds. His patronage to Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu and the acceptance
of the request of the king of Ceylon to build a monastery of Bodh Gaya
emply prove that the respected other religions.
His Asvamedha types of coins with other coins bearing the figures of
Lakshmi and Ganga together with her 'vahas' makara (crocodile) testify
his faith in Brahmanical religions.
Samudragupta had imbibed the true spirit of religion and for that
reason, he has been described as 'Anukampavan' (full of compassion) in
the Allahabad incscription. He has been described "as the giver of many
hundreds of thousands of cows"
Personal Appearance, despite the small of the coins and the limitations
of reproducing the real image by striking the die, can be judged from
his figures on the coins 'tall in stature and of good physique he has
strong muscular arms and a fully developed chest.
From the above description it is clear that Samudragupta was endowed
with no ordinary powers - Physical, intellectual and spiritural.
About 380 AD Samudragupta was succeeded by one of his son who was
selected as the most worthy of the crown. This ruler is known as
Chandragupta-II. Later he took the additional title of Vikramaditya,
which was associated by tradition with the Raja of Ujjain who was known
for defeating the sakas and founding the Vikram era.
Policy of Matrimonial Alliance
The most important event of his reign was his matrimonial alliance with
the Vakataka king rudra Sena II and the subjuqation of the peninsula of
Saurashtra of Kathaiawar which had been ruled for centuries by the Saka
dynasty as the Western Satraps. Matrnimonial alliances occupy a
prominent place in the foreign policy of the Guptas. The Lichchhavi
alliance had strengthened their position in Bihar;Samudragupta had
accepted gifts of maidens from neighbouring courts. With the same
purpose, Chandragupta II married the Naga Princess Kubernaga and gave
his own daughter, Prabhabati, in marriage to Vakataka king, Rudra Sena
II. The Vakataka alliance was master stroke of diplomacy as it secured
the subordinate alliance of the Vakataka king who occupied a strategic
geographical position. It is noteworthy that Rudra Sena died young and
his widow reigned until her sons came of age. Other dynasties of the
Deccan also married into Gupta royal family, the Guptas thus ensuring
friendly relations to the south of their domain. This also means that
Chadragupta II did not renew Samudragupta's southern advantures
preferring to seek room for expansion towards the South-west.
