North Indian Inscriptions

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS

somewhat as follows: He was the son of Samudragupta and elder brother of Chandragupta II and succeeded his father to the throne. He was besieged by a Śaka ruler and was placed in such a difficult position that to effect his escape and for the safety of his subjects, he had to agree to surrender his queen Dhruvadēvī. But his brother Chandragupta could not tolerate this ignominious arrangement and offered to go to the enemy’s camp in the guise of the queen with a view to killing the enemy. He succeeded in this plan and was raised in the estimation of his people as well as in that of the queen while the reputation of Rāmagupta suffered which resulted in the enmity between the brothers. Ultimately Chandragupta II murdered Rāmagupta, succeeded to the Gupta throne and married queen Dhruvadēvī.

       This ingenious reconstruction of the story of Rāmagupta was considered by some scholars as incredible and unbelievable. They doubted the existence and historicity of Rāmagupta himself in the absence of any epigraphical records mentioning his name and also of coins prior to their discovery in 1951. Even after the discovery of the copper coins of Rāmagupta, some scholars did not accept his identification with the imperial Gupta king in the absence of any imperial title but took him to be a local ruler in the Vidiśā region.¹

       In the midst of these conflicting views, it was considered wise to suspend one’s judgement. In fact Majumdar and Atlekar said “we must suspend our judgement upon the historical character of Rāmagupta, his fight with the Śakas, and the strange event which deprived him of his throne, life and the natural affection and fidelity of his wife,”²

       Under these circumstances, the discovery of three stone inscriptions in the Vidiśā region, two of them clearly mentioning the name of Mahārājādhirāja Rāmagupta, is undoubtedly of great significance. As indicated above, the third record also seems to mention this ruler. And, as stated above, they establish the existence and historicity of Rāmagupta as an imperial ruler of the Gupta dynasty.

TEXT³

Inscription on Image A

1Bhagavatō=rhataḥ Chandraprabhasya pratim=ēyaṁ kāritā ma-
2 hārājādhirāja-śrī-Rāmaguptēna upadēśāt=pāṇipā-
3 trika-Chandraksham⁴-āchāryya-kshamaṇa-śramaṇa-praśishya-āchā-
4 ryya-Sarppasēna-kshamaṇa-śishyasya Gōlakyāntyā-satpū(tpu)ttrasya Chēlla-kshamaṇasy-ēti ||

Inscription on Image B

1 Bhagavatō=rhataḥ Pushpadantasya pratim=ēyaṁ kāritā ma-⁵
2 hārājādhirāja-śrī⁶ –Rāmaguptēna upadēśāt=pāṇipātrika-
3 Chandrakshama[ṇāchā]ryya⁷-[kshamaṇa]-śramaṇa-praśi[shya]⁸ . . .
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ti⁹
__________________

¹ JIH., Vol. XL, pp. 533 ff.
² The Vakāṭaka-Gupta Age, 1946, p. 164.
³ From impressions.
⁴ The two letters ksha and mā are slightly blurred.
⁵ The formation of this latter m is rather peculiar inasmuch as the head is curved into a downward stroke.
⁶ This letter is slightly damaged.
⁷ Inscription on image A reads Chandraksham-āchārya.
⁸ Only a portion of the letter sh is preserved.
⁹ This line is completely effaced.