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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
POLITICAL HISTORY the moon) the ocean of the Gupta race”. This leaves no doubt as to the family name ‘Gutta’ being identical with ‘Gupta’. Now, it is worthy of note that the members of the family are described not only as Vikramāditya-vaṁś-ōdbhava, “born in the race of Vikramāditya” but also as Chandragupta-vaṁś-ōdbhava, “born in the race of Chandragupta”. It is also worthy of note that the hereditary titles, which commemorated their place of origin, were Ujjayanī-puravar-ādhīśvara, “supreme lord of Ujjayanī, the best of towns” and Pāṭalipuravar-ādhīśvara, “supreme lord of Pāṭali, the best of towns”. And to crown all, we are told that they were descended through a Vikramāditya, who is specified as king of Ujjayanī, and whom one record represents plainly as himself a descendant of Chandragupta. Now who could this ancestor of the Guttas or Guptas of Guttal be, who was not only Chandragupta by name, but also a descendant of Chandragupta, and who, again, not only had the title Vikramāditya but also was a king of Pāṭaliputra. He can be no other than Chandragupta II, grandson of Chandragupta I, of the Imperial Gupta dynasty. And, as the place of origin of his descendants, namely, the Guttas of the south, is represented once as Pāṭaliputra and once as Ujjayanī, the natural conclusion is that this Chandragupta II had two capitals, one Pāṭaliputra and the other, Ujjayanī.
It has been assumed above that Chandragupta II bore the title or epithet of Vikramāditya.
This is, however, quite clear from a critical study of his coin,1 which, again, throw light upon
the other titles by which he was known. The most pre-eminent of these was Vikrama,2 which
was to Chandragupta II, what Parākrama was to his father, Samudragupta. There were many
combinations formed out of Vikrama as there were out of Parākrama. Like Vyāghra-Parākrama of Samudragupta, we have Siṁha-Vikrama for Chandragupta II. Coins bearing this epithet
are known to the numismatist as the Lion-Slayer Type which has been distinguished into
at least four classes and each further into a number of varieties.3 On the obverse the king
stands, wearing waist-cloth with sash, turban and jewellery, shooting with bow at a lion and
trampling on the animal with one foot. These details, however, vary with the varieties. It
is, no doubt, tempting to take this Type of coins as indicating that Chandragupta annexed
Kāṭhiāwāṛ, in the Gīr forest of which alone the Indian lions at present exist. But the lion
was formerly found throughout the greater part of North-western and Central India. “In
the early part of the nineteenth century, lions occurred in Hariyāṇā, Khāndēsh, and Rewah
and as far east as Palamau, whilst up to 1860 or 1870 many existed in Kāṭhiāwāṛ and parts
of Rajputana”.4 The Lion-Slayer Type cannot thus be taken as a sure indication of Chandragupta’s conquest of Kāṭhiāwāṛ. And we have, therefore, to understand that as among animals
the tiger and the lion afford the best standard of comparison, Samudragupta is taken to
surpass the former and his son Chandragupta the latter animal in strength and agility. The
court poets were so fond of Comparing Chandragupta to the lion, that they invented not
only Siṁha-Vikrama but Siṁha-Chandra also.5 This combination of names in not noticeable
in the case of other Gupta kings. Thus we have Vyāghra-Parākrama and Siṁha-Mahēndra, but
not Vyāghra-Samudra and Siṁha-Kumāra, in the case of Samudragupta and Kumāragupta I,
respectively. What is further noteworthy about Chandragupta is that Vikrama was combined
with Āditya and developed into the title Vikramāditya. It is somewhat difficult to know what
this name exactly means, that is, whether it means ‘the Sun of Valour’ as it is generally interpreted or ‘Valour who is (also) the Son’. The latter seems to be the better of the two explana- 1 Allan, Catalogue of the Coins of the Gupta Dynasty, pp. 35-37 and 49-50; V.A. Smith, Catalogue of the Coins in
the Indian Museum, Calcutta, Vol. I, p. 109.
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