[33] The further suggestion may be offered that if as seems probable Dr. Bhagvánlál is correct in considering Chandragupta II. to be the founder of the Gupta era this high honour was due not to his conquest of Málwa but to some success against the Indo-Skythians or Śakas of the Punjáb. The little more than nominal suzerainty claimed over the Devputras, Sháhis, and Sháhánusháhis in Chandragupta’s father’s inscription shows that when he came to the throne Chandragupta found the Śaka power practically unbroken. The absence of reference to conquests is no more complete in the case of the Panjáb than it is in the case of Gujarát or of Káthiáváḍa which Chandragupta is known to have added to his dominions. In Káthiáváḍa, though not in Gujarát, the evidence from coins is stronger than in the Panjáb. Still the discovery of Chandragupta’s coins (J. R. A. S. XXI. 5 note 1) raises the presumption of conquests as far north and west as Pánipat and as Ludhiána (in the heart of the Panjáb). Chandragupta’s name Devarája may, as Pandit Bhagvánlál suggests, be taken from the Śaka title Devaputra. Further, the use of the name Vikramáditya and of the honorific Śrí is in striking agreement with Beruni’s statement (Sachau, II. 6) that the conqueror of the Śakas was named Vikramáditya and that to the conqueror’s name was added the title Śrí. Mr. Fleet (Corp. Ins. Ind. III. 37 note 2) holds it not improbable that either Chandragupta I. or II. defeated the Indo-Skythians. The fact that Chandragupta I. was not a ruler of sufficient importance to issue coins and that even after his son Samudragupta’s victories the Śakas remained practically independent make it almost certain that if any subjection of the Śakas to the Guptas took place it happened during the reign of Chandragupta II. [↑]
[34] Corp. Ins. Ind. III. Ins. 10. [↑]
[35] Corp. Ins. Ind. III. Ins. 8, 9, 10 and 11. [↑]
[36] J. R. A. S. (N. S.) XXI. 123. [↑]
[37] J. R. A. S. (N. S.) XXI. 126. That Kumáragupta’s two successors, Skandagupta and Budhagupta, use the same phrase devaṃ jayati makes the explanation in the text doubtful. As Mr. Smith (Ditto) suggests devaṃ is probably a mistake for devo, meaning His Majesty. The legend would then run; Kumaraguptadeva lord of the earth … is triumphant. Dr. Bhagvánlál would have preferred devo (see page 70 note 2) but could not neglect the anusrára.—(A. M. T. J.) [↑]
[38] Corp. Ins. Ind. III. Ins. 13. [↑]
[39] Mr. Fleet (Corp. Ins. Ind. III. 53, 55) reads “nítá triyámá” and translates “a (whole) night was spent.” Dr. Bhagvánlál read “nítás trimásáḥ.” [↑]
[40] Mr. Fleet finds that Pushyamitra is the name of a tribe not of a king. No. VI. of Dr. Bühler’s Jain inscriptions from Mathurá (Ep. Ind. I. 378ff) mentions a Pushyamitriya-kula of the Váraṇagaṇa, which is also referred to in Bhadrabáhu’s Kalpa-sútra (Jacobi’s Edition, 80), but is there referred to the Cháraṇa-gaṇa, no doubt a misreading for the Váraṇa of the inscription. Dr. Bühler points out that Varaṇa is the old name of Bulandshahr in the North-West Provinces, so that it is there that we must look for the power that first weakened the Guptas.—(A. M. T. J.) [↑]
[41] See V. de St. Martin’s Essay, Les Huns Blancs; Specht in Journal Asiatique Oct.–Dec. 1883 and below page 74. [↑]
[42] In Rudradáman’s inscription the Paláśiní is mentioned, and also the Suvarṇasikatás “and the other rivers,” In Skandagupta’s inscription Mr. Fleet translates Sikatáviláśiní as an adjective agreeing with Paláśiní. [↑]