Note 26 — Chapter VII · THE GUPTAS (G. 90–149; a.d. 410–470.)

Chandragupta II. a.d. 396–415.Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Chandragupta II. whose mother was the queen Dattádeví. He was the greatest and most powerful king of the Gupta dynasty and added largely to the territory left by Samudragupta. His second name Vikramáditya or the Sun of Prowess appears on his coins. Like his father Chandragupta II. struck gold coins of various types. He was the first Gupta ruler who spread his power over Málwa and Gujarát which he apparently took from the Kshatrapas as he was the first Gupta to strike silver coins and as his silver coins of both varieties the eastern and the western are modifications of the Kshatrapa type. The expedition which conquered Málwa seems to have passed from Allahábád by Bundelkhand to Bhilsá and thence to Málwa. An undated inscription in the Udayagiri caves at Vidiśá (the modern Besnagar) near Bhilsa records the making of a cave of Mahádeva by one Śába of the Kautsa gotra and the family name of Vírasena, a poet and native of Páṭaliputra who held the hereditary office of minister of peace and war sandhivigrahika, and who is recorded to have arrived with the king who was intent upon conquering the whole earth.26 A neighbouring cave bears an inscription of a feudatory of Chandragupta who was chief of Sanakáníka.27 The chief’s name is lost, but the names of his father Vishṇudása and of his grandfather Chhagalaga remain. The date is the eleventh of the bright half of Chapter VII. The Guptas, a.d. 410–470. Chandragupta II, a.d. 396–415. Ásháḍha Saṃvatsara 82 (a.d. 401). From this Chandragupta’s conquest of Vidiśá may be dated about Saṃvatsara 80 (a.d. 399) or a little earlier.