Chandragupta II

Also called: Vikramaditya · Topic: Gupta Empire and the Classical Age · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 7 "The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"

Meaning

Chandragupta II was a ruler of the Gupta dynasty (c. 375–415 CE), the son of Samudragupta, who took the title Vikramaditya ("Sun of Valour") and pushed the empire west into Gujarat, Saurashtra and Malwa [2]. His reign matters because art, literature and science grew fastest under him. It is also well recorded: by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian, by the Mehrauli Iron Pillar, and through his daughter Prabhavati Gupta's marriage into the Vakataka family of the Deccan.

Explanation

Background: who he was

• He was the son of Samudragupta and the grandson of Chandragupta I [2].
• His reign is dated c. 375–415 CE in NCERT. Britannica gives c. 380–415 CE [2]. Use the NCERT dates in the exam.
• He took the title Vikramaditya, meaning "Sun of Valour". Some of his silver coins carry this title [2].
• Later Hindu stories about a great king called Vikramaditya probably grew out of him [2].
• He was a devotee of Vishnu. Garuda, the bird Vishnu rides, appears on many of his inscriptions and coins.

Expansion to the west

• Between 388 and 409 CE he conquered Gujarat, Saurashtra and Malwa [2].

• Malwa's capital was Ujjain [2].

• Why these conquests mattered:

• The Guptas now held the western ports.

• Money from sea trade came straight to the empire.

• How the south stayed safe: his daughter Prabhavati Gupta married a Vakataka prince. The Vakatakas were the Guptas' neighbours and allies in the Deccan.

• A friendly Deccan meant the southern border was quiet.
• So Chandragupta II could put his armies into the western wars.
• This is a matrimonial alliance (a marriage used as a political tool).

The court: poets, scholars, artists

• He kept learned men, poets and artists at his court.
• Two famous names are linked to his court [2]:
• Kalidasa, the Sanskrit poet and playwright.

• Varahamihira, the astronomer (a scholar who studied the sky and the stars).

• Ayodhya was his main home, and he made it his capital. Pataliputra (today Patna, Bihar) also stayed rich and grand [2].

Prabhavati Gupta: the daughter who ruled

• She became a widow early. She then ruled as regent, which means she ruled for her sons while they were too young [S1 not cited; from NCERT].
• In her own records she calls herself "mother of two kings". It is rare for a woman to name her own power in a royal document.
• Like her father, she worshipped Vishnu. She is linked with seven temples to Vishnu and his avatars (the forms Vishnu takes on earth). Some of them are at Ramagiri (Ramtek hill), Maharashtra.
• Some historians say the Kevala Narasimha temple at Ramtek was built by her daughter in her memory.
• She also carried Gupta religion, language and art south into the Deccan.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: c. 375–415 CE, in the Gupta era (c. 300–600 CE), often called India's Classical Age.
• Places: Ayodhya (his capital), Pataliputra, Ujjain (capital of conquered Malwa), Gujarat, Saurashtra, and the Vakataka Deccan [2].
• Key people: Samudragupta (father), Prabhavati Gupta (daughter), Kalidasa, Varahamihira and Faxian.
• Evidence:
• Coins: silver coins with the title Vikramaditya [2]. Garuda appears on his coins and inscriptions.
• Traveller's account: Faxian, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, travelled in India for six years, 405–411 CE, during this reign [2]. He praised the government and the free rest houses and hospitals kept for the poor and the sick [2]. A foreigner's diary shows daily life, which royal praise-poems called prashastis do not.
• Prabhavati Gupta's own records: they show her regency and her title "mother of two kings".
• The Mehrauli Iron Pillar:
  • It weighs about 6 tonnes and is over 1,600 years old. It has still not rusted.
  • It is about 7.2 m (23.5 feet) tall, with about 5.2 m (17 feet) above the ground [4].
  • Why no rust: the special iron and the oxygen in the air formed a thin protective layer on the surface. The iron has small amounts of phosphorus, carbon and manganese, and scientists think the phosphorus helped form this coating. The full reason is still not settled [4].
  • Inscription: six lines of Sanskrit in Brahmi script, dated to the fourth century CE [3]. It says the pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja (a flag-staff of the god Vishnu) on a hill called Vishnupada, in memory of a mighty king named Chandra [3]. This "Chandra" is identified with Chandragupta II.
  • First location: probably in front of the Udayagiri caves, Madhya Pradesh. It was moved to Delhi centuries later [4].
  • Location now: the courtyard of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, inside the Qutb Minar complex, Mehrauli, Delhi [3][4]. The complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site [5].

Don't confuse with

• Chandragupta Maurya: he founded the Maurya dynasty about 700 years earlier. The "Chandra" of the Iron Pillar is the Gupta king Chandragupta II, not the Mauryan.
• Chandragupta I: he was the grandfather of Chandragupta II [2]. He did not hold the title Vikramaditya and was not Faxian's host.
• Samudragupta: he was the father of Chandragupta II [2]. The western conquests of Gujarat, Saurashtra and Malwa (388–409 CE) belong to the son [2].
• Faxian vs Xuanzang: Faxian came in Chandragupta II's reign (405–411 CE) [2]. Xuanzang came much later, in the reign of Harshavardhana.

Prelims Hooks

• Chandragupta II, Gupta dynasty, c. 375–415 CE. Title Vikramaditya means "Sun of Valour" and appears on his silver coins [2].
• Court links: Kalidasa (poet and playwright) and Varahamihira (astronomer) [2].
• Faxian was in India 405–411 CE, during his reign [2].
• Capital of residence: Ayodhya. Ujjain was the capital of conquered Malwa [2].
• Mehrauli Iron Pillar: Sanskrit in Brahmi script. It is a Vishnudhvaja on Vishnupada hill for king Chandra [3]. It stands in the Qutb Minar complex, Delhi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site [3][5].
• Trap: Prabhavati Gupta married into the Vakataka dynasty, not the Pallavas or Kadambas. The Kevala Narasimha temple is at Ramtek, Maharashtra.

Mains Points

• Alliance as much as war. The Gupta–Vakataka marriage kept the Deccan border safe. This let Chandragupta II take Gujarat, Saurashtra and Malwa (388–409 CE) [2] and gain the western sea-trade ports. Use it to argue that Gupta growth rested on diplomacy as well as conquest.
• Patronage as state policy. Keeping Kalidasa and Varahamihira at court [2] made the palace a centre of Sanskrit learning and science. The Vishnudhvaja pillar [3] showed royal faith in iron. Culture became a tool of royal prestige.
• Sources and their limits; women and power. Prashastis praise the king, Faxian describes hospitals and rest houses on the ground [2], and the iron pillar is a dated technical object. A strong answer reads all three together. Prabhavati Gupta's regency, her title "mother of two kings", and the temples linked to her show that ancient Indian royal women could hold real power.

Related concepts

• Ramagupta
• Garuda
• Iron Pillar of Delhi
• Navaratnas of Vikramaditya
• Amarakosha
• Prabhavati Gupta

Read more

• Chandragupta II and his court