Samudragupta

Coin of Samudragupta, with Garuda pillar. British Museum.

Samudragupta succeeded his father around 335 or 350 CE and ruled until c. 375 CE.[42] The Allahabad Pillar inscription, composed by his courtier Harishena, credits him with extensive conquests.[43] The inscription asserts that Samudragupta uprooted 8 kings of Aryavarta, the northern region, including the Nagas.[44] It further claims that he subjugated all the kings of the forest region, which was most probably located in central India.[45] It also credits him with defeating 12 rulers of Dakshinapatha, the southern region: the exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars,[46] but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India.[47] The inscription suggests that Samudragupta advanced as far as the Pallava kingdom in the south, and defeated Vishnugopa, the Pallava regent of Kanchi.[48] During this southern campaign, Samudragupta most probably passed through the forest tract of central India, reached the eastern coast in present-day Odisha, and then marched south along the coast of Bay of Bengal.[49]

Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of figurine produced from the later fourth century BCE, primarily in the Boeotian town of Tanagra. They were coated with a liquid white slip before firing and were sometimes painted afterward in naturalistic tints with watercolors, such as the "Dame en Bleu" ("Lady in Blue") at the Louvre. Tanagra figures depict real women, and some men and boys, in everyday costume, with familiar accessories such as hats, wreaths or fans. They seem to have been decorative pieces for the home, used in much the same way as their modern equivalents, though unlike these they were often buried with their owners. Some character pieces[1] may have represented stock figures from the New Comedy of Menander and other writers. Others continued an earlier tradition of molded terracotta figures used as cult images or votive objects. Typically they were about 10 to 20 centimeters high.


The Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies paid Samudragupta tributes, obeyed his orders, and performed obeisance before him.[50][51] The frontier kingdoms included Samatata, Davaka, Kamarupa, Nepali, and Karttripura.[52] The tribal oligarchies included Malavas, Arjunayanas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, and Abhiras, among others.[51]


Finally, the inscription mentions that several foreign kings tried to please Samudragupta by personal attendance; offered him their daughters in marriage (or according to another interpretation, gifted him maidens[53]); and sought the use of the Garuda-depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories.[54] This is an exaggeration: for example, the Qin warriors inscription lists the king of Simhala among these kings. It is known that from Chinese sources that the Simhala king Meghavarna sent rich presents to the Gupta king requesting his permission to build a Buddhist monastery at Bodh Gaya: Samudragupta's panegyrist appears to have described this act of diplomacy as an act of subservience.[55]


Samudragupta appears to have been Vaishnavite, as attested by his Eran inscription,[56][57] and performed several Brahmanical ceremonies.[58] The Gupta records credit him with making generous donations of cows and gold.[56] He performed the Ashvamedha ritual (horse sacrifice), which was used by the ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty, and issued gold coins (see Coinage below) to mark this performance.[59]


The Allahabad Pillar inscription presents Samudragupta as a wise king and strict administrator, who was also compassionate enough to help the poor and the helpless.[60] It also alludes to the king's talents as a musician and a poet, and calls him the "king of poets".[61] Such claims are corroborated by Samudragupta's gold coins, which depict him playing the veena.[62]


Samudragupta appears to have directly controlled a large part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in present-day India, as well as a substantial part of central India.[63] Besides, his empire comprised a number of monarchical and tribal tributary states of northern India, and of the south-eastern coastal region of India.