for students of BA I sem BHU

1. BA I sem
Later Guptas
By
Prachi Virag Sontakke

2. Introduction
• Fall of Gupta empire created a situation
of political vacuum in mid 6th cent CE.
• Number of Feudatories of Guptas now
became independent.
• Instability, chaos, political competition.
• Later Guptas, Maukharies, Vardhan
dynasty.

3. Dynastic affiliations
• Later Guptas doesn’t not denote the Later kings of imperial Gupta dynasty.
• Probably both were different families/dynasties.
• 1. Inscriptions of Later Guptas do not refer to any king of imperial Gupta
dynasty.
• 2.All the kings of this dynasty do not bear the title Gupta.
• 3. Afsadh inscription: Vamsa of Later Guptas was Sadvamsa.

4. Sources
• Deva Barnak inscription of Jeevitgupta II
• Afsadh inscription of Adityasena.
• Madhuban & Banskheda copper plate of Harshavardhan
• Harshacharita by Banabhatta
• Aryamanjushrimulkalpa.
• Mandar hill inscription

5. Original Homeland: Theory 1
• Area of rule: Magadh
• Propounded by: Fleet
• Basis: Most of the inscriptions of Later Guptas have been recovered from
Magadh.
• Analysis: Magadh was under Maukharies during the early days of
Later Guptas.
• Verdit: Plausible?

6. Original Homeland: Theory 2
• Homeland: Eastern Malva
• Propounded by: D.C.Ganguli, R.K.Mookherji, C.V.Vaidya, H.C.Raichaudhary.
• Basis: Harshacharita mentions Later Gupta king Madhavagupta as
son of Malavraja.
• Analysis: Plausible?

7. Krishnagupta (c.480-500 CE)
• Founder of later Gupta dynasty.
• Afsadh inscription: refers to him with title Nrup.
• Probably not an independent king.
• May be served imperial Gupta king Buddhgupta.
• Afsadh inscription: He fought many battles.
• H.C. Raichaudhary : He probably fought a battle with Yashovarma of Kannauj.
• Matrimonial alliance: Married his daughter with Maukhari king Adityavarma.

8. Harshgupta (c.500-520CE)
• S/O Krishnagupta
• Still not independent.
• Accepted sovereignty of Gupta king Narsimhagupta/Bhanugupta/Hunas ??
• During his time, Later Guptas has friendly relations with Maukharies
• His sister was married to Maukhari King Adityavarma.
• Both Later Guptas & Maukharies were rising powers and this alliance was mutually
beneficial.
• Afsadh inscription: calls him destroyer of many enemies.

9. Jivitagupta I (c.520-540 CE)
• S/O Harshgupta.
• Afsadh inscription: calls him ‘Kshitijchoodamani’ = still not an independent
king.
• Samant of Gupta king Vishnugupta.
• Probably participated in military campaigns of Gupta king Vishnugupta may
be against Bengal king.
• Probably got some success in Himalayan region?

10. Kumargupta (c. 550-560CE)
• Kumargupta was the First independent Later Gupta king.
• Later Guptas no longer accepted Gupta Sovereignty.
• Afsadh inscription: Calls him First among warriors.
• Equation of Later Guptas with Maukharies also changed now.

11. Imperialistic aspirations: Battle with Maukharies
• Contemporary to Maukhari king Ishanvarma.
• Ishanvarma declared his independence from Guptas & hence became a threat
to Later Guptas.
• Starting of Later Gupta-Maukhari enmity.
• Afsadh inscription: Kumargupta churned the sea of army of Ishanvarman.
• H.C.Raichaudhary: Kumargupta won the battle against Maukharies.
• Maukhari inscriptions silent about this battle.
• Kumargupta took eastern parts of Maukhari kingdom.
• But he died in the battle?
• R.K.Mookherji + Nihar Ranjan Rai: Kumargupta was defeated in battle against
Ishanvarma & so he committed suicide.
• Rajvant Rao: With this defeat, later Guptas became samantas of Maukharies.

12. Damodargupta
• S/O Kumargupta.
• Inscriptions use epithet ‘Nrup’ for him.
• Still a samant of Maukharis.
• Afsadh inscription: He gave many grants to Brahmans & provided financial
assistance for marriage of Brahman maidens.
• No coins of his have been discovered so far.
• Matrimonial relations with Pushyabhutis: Daughter Mahasenagupta married to
Adityavardhan.

13. Imperialistic activities
• Afsadh inscription: Describes the battle between the Damodargupta & Maukharis.
• Some: Maukhari king = Sarvavarma.
• S.R.Goyal: Maukhari king= Ishanvarma
• Theory 1
• H.C.Raichaudhary+ R.C.Majumdar: Damodargupta defeated the powerful Maukhari
king. But was killed in the battle.
• Theory 2
• N.Ray + R.S. Tripathi: Damodargupta was defeated in this battle & died in battle
itself.
• As a result of this defeat, Later Guptas lost most of the part of Magadh to
Maukharis.
• Acceptable view: Damodargupta was defeated.
• Evidence: Coins of Maukharis from Magadh.

14. Hunas
• Harshacharita: Refers to Huna presence in north-western India during
late 6th cent BCE.
• Afsadh inscription: Sarvavarma = Conqueror of Hunas
• Rajvant Rao: Sarvavarma was helped by his Later Gupta samant
Damodargupta in this battle against Hunas.
• ??

15. Mahasenagupta (570-600CE)
• S/O Damodargupta.
• Not even title Nrup is used for him in inscriptions.
• S.Chattopadhyaya: A feudatory of Maukharies.
• Afsadh inscription: He was a brave warrior.
• Harshacharita: He was King of Malwa.
• Friendly relations with Pushyabhuti family

16. Matrimonial/Diplomatic alliance
• Madhuban copper plate + Sonipat seal: Mother of Prabhakarvardhan was
Mahasenaguptaa
• Rajvant Rao: Mahasenaguptaa= Sister of Mahasenagupta
• H.C. Rai Chaudhary: Due to threat of Maukharies, Later Guptas entered into
matrimonial alliance with Vardhan family.

17. Imperialistic conquests
• Afsadh inscription: He defeated King Susthitavarman of Assam and his
praises were sung across the two banks of Brahamaputra.
• S.Chattopadhyaya: Mahasenagupta did this conquest of Kamrupa
(Assam) as a feudatory of Maukharis.

18. Imperialistic scenario: Later days.
• Banabhatta: calls Mahasenagupta as Malavraja.
• Amona copper plate of Kalchuris: Control of Kalchuris over eastern Malwa.
• Contemproray Kalchuri king= Shankargana.
• Rajvanta Rao: Shankargana defeated & killed Mahasenagupta.
• Harshacharita: Sons of Mahasenagupta resided with Prabhakarvardhan (in
Thaneshwar) who himself was son of Mahasenaguptaa (sister of
Mahasenagupta).

20. Devagupta
• Not referred to in Afsadh inscription
• Banskheda + Madhuban Copper plates: Refers to Devagupta king.
• Title : Sakaluttarapathnatha.
• R.K.Mookherji: Devagupta was elder son of Mahasenagupta?
• Rajvant Rao: He may be younger brother or uncle’s son of Mahasenagupta.
• May be he was some ambitious person of Later Gupta dynasty who took advantage of
Mahasenagupta’s death.
• He declared himself to be Later Gupta king because sons of Mahasenagupta were minor.
• He probably befriended Shashanka, King of Bengal.
• Mookherji: He took benefit of Prabhakarvardhan’s death and tried to expand his empire.
• Harshacharita: Evil Malava king killed brother-in-law of Harshavardhan & imprisoned sister
of Harsha.
• Dandekar + Majumdar + Raichaudhary: This Malava king= Devagupta
• Harshacharita: Rajyavardhana very easily defeated him.

21. Devagupta and Pushyabhutis
• Mookherji: Devagupta took benefit of Prabhakarvardhan’s death and tried
to expand his empire.
• Harshacharita: Evil Malava king killed brother-in-law of Harshavardhan &
imprisoned sister of Harsha.
• Dandekar + Majumdar + Raichaudhary: This evil Malava king= Devagupta
• Harshacharita: Rajyavardhana , the Pushyabhuti King, very easily defeated
Devagupta.

22. Madhavagupta(c.647-650CE)
• Harshacharita: Madhavagupta resided in Thaneshwar with Harshavardhan.
• Spend a long time as subordinate samanata of Harsha.
• Harsha appointed him as Ruler of Magadh.
• He became independent after death of Harshavardhan.
• Was old by that time.
• No effort to expand his kingdom.
• Peaceful reign.
• Afsadh inscription: He killed many enemies in war.

23. Adityasena (c.650-675CE)
• S/O Madhavagupta
• His inscriptions: Afsadh inscription, Mandar hill inscription, Devaghar
inscription.
• Re established the glory of Later Guptas.
• Performed Ashvamedha and other Vedic sacrifices.
• Public welfare: Construction of ponds.
• Erection of temples.
• Aryamanjushrimulkalpa: He constructed several Buddhist monasteries.
• Korean traveller Hui-Lun: He constructed a Buddhist temple.
• Titles: Parambhattaraka Maharajadhiraja, Prithvipati, Parambhagvata,
Shrikshitishchoodamani.

24. Extension of empire
• Inscriptions praise his successful military campaigns.
• Initially maintained a low stance due to powerful Kamarupa king, Bhaskarvarman.
• After the death of Bhaskarvarman, he seized the opportunity amidst political chaos
and captured parts of Gaud & Bengal.
• This way Later Guptas held sway over whole of Bihar & Bengal.
• Rajvant Rao: He probably conquered some areas between Varanasi and Gazipur in
Uttar Pradesh also.

25. Devagupta II (c.675-695CE)
• S/O Adityasena.
• Chinese traveller It-sing visited India during his times.
• It-sing: Ruler of northern Bihar was Devagupta.
• Western Chalukyan inscriptions: Western Chalukya kings (Vinayaditya,
Vijayaditya) defeated Sakaluttarapathnatha.
• Some scholars: Sakaluttarapathnatha = Devagupta II
• Aryamanjushrimulkalpa: King of Magadh was surrounded and killed by
enemies in battle.
• Rajvant Rao: This king of Magadh was Devagupta II.
• Titles: Maharajadhiraja, Parmeshwar, Paramamaheshwar.

26. Vishnugupta (c.695-715CE)
• S/O Devagupta II
• Shahbad inscription: His control over Bihar.
• Successfully retained the extent of Later Gupta kingdom as attained
during the times of Adityasena.
• Titles: Maharajadhiraja, Parmeshwar.

27. Jivitagupta II (c.715-730CE)
• S/O Vishnugupta.
• Last king of Later Gupta dynasty.
• His inscription: Dev Barnak inscription.
• Deva barnaka inscription: His control of southern Bihar.
• Deva barnaka inscription: He gave grants to Surya temple from his military
camp near Gomati.
• Scholars: This area near Gomati was received in inheritance from his father.
• Probably this camp was set up to stop the attacking army of King
Yashovarman of Kannauj.
• Gaudvahu: Yashovarma killed King of Magadh.
• Rajvant rao: Magadh king = Jeevitgupta II.

28. Later Guptas: Overview
• Successful in attaining control over whole of Bihar and parts of Bengal.
• Politically volatile scenario: relationship with Maukharies.
• Matrimonial alliance with Maukharies &Vardhan dynasty.
• Public welfare works:
Construction of ponds
Afsadh inscription: Damodargupta gave gifts to Brahman maidens & organised their
marriage.
• Architectural constructions:
Aryamanjushrimulkalpa + Hui-Lun: Construction of Buddhist monasteries by
Adityasena.
• Promotion of Hindu religion:
• Performance of Vedic sacrifices.
• Deva barnaka inscription: Grants to Surya temple.
• Mandar hill inscription: Construction of Vishnu temple