Gomateshwari at 10:56, 10 February 2023

2023-02-10T10:56:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:26, 10 February 2023
Line 11:		Line 11:
	\| dynasty = [[Gupta dynasty\|Gupta]]		\| dynasty = [[Gupta dynasty\|Gupta]]
	\| issue = [[Ghatotkacha (king)\|Ghatotkacha]]		\| issue = [[Ghatotkacha (king)\|Ghatotkacha]]
	}}		\|queen=[[Rachnadevi]]}}
	{{Gupta Empire}}		{{Gupta Empire}}

Gomateshwari: Created page with "{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox royalty | title = Maharaja | succession = Founder and King of Gupta dynasty | image=Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg |image_size=280 |caption=''Mahārāja Shrī Gupta'' 11px11px11px12pxFile:Gupta..."

2023-02-10T10:54:58Z

Created page with "{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox royalty | title = Maharaja | succession = Founder and King of Gupta dynasty | image=Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg |image_size=280 |caption=''Mahārāja Shrī Gupta'' 11px 11px 11px 12pxFile:Gupta..."

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = Maharaja
| succession = Founder and King of [[Gupta dynasty]]
| image=Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg
|image_size=280
|caption=''Mahārāja Shrī Gupta'' [[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad haa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad raa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad shrii.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad gu.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad pt.jpg|12px]] ("Great King, Lord Gupta") in [[Gupta script]] on the [[Allahabad pillar]] inscription of [[Samudragupta]], where Samudragupta presents king Gupta as his great-grandfather.<ref>[[:File:Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta.jpg|Full inscription]], {{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3 |date=1888 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n197 1]-17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403}}</ref>
| reign = c. late 3rd century
| successor = [[Ghatotkacha (king)|Ghatotkacha]]
| dynasty = [[Gupta dynasty|Gupta]]
| issue = [[Ghatotkacha (king)|Ghatotkacha]]
}}
{{Gupta Empire}}

'''Gupta''' ([[Gupta script]]: [[File:Gupta allahabad gu.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad pt.jpg|12px]] ''Gu-pta'', fl. late 3rd century CE) was the founder of the [[Gupta dynasty]] of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to (believed to be the Chinese transcription of "''[[Shri]]''-Gupta"), who, according to the 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]], built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no ([[Mṛgaśikhāvana]]) for Chinese pilgrims.

== Name ==

Gupta is not attested by his own inscriptions or coins, although some seals and coins have been wrongly attributed to him.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=86}} The earliest description of him occurs in his great-grandson [[Samudragupta]]'s [[Allahabad Pillar]] inscription, and is repeated verbatim in several later records of the dynasty:{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|p=6}}

{{quote|[[Samudragupta]] the ''Mahārājādhirāja'', son of the prosperous [[Chandragupta I|Chandragupta (I)]], the ''Mahārājādhirāja'', born of the Mahādēvī Kumāradēvī, (and) daughter's son of the [[Licchavi (tribe)#Later_periods|Licchavi]], son's son of the prosperous [[Ghatotkacha (king)|Ghaṭōtkacha]], the ''Mahārāja'' and the son of the son's son of the prosperous Gupta, the ''Mahārāja''<ref name="cci81">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADvRMgEACAAJ | title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the early Gupta Kings | publisher=Archaeological Survey of India | author=Bhandarkar, D. R. | author-link=Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar | year=1981 | author2=Chhabra, B. C. | editor=Gai, G. S.}}</ref><ref name="ganguly">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C | title=The Imperial Guptas and Their Times | publisher=Abhinav Publications | author=Ganguly, Dilip Kumar | year=1987 | pages=63–64 | isbn=8170172225}}</ref>}}

The Allahabad Pillar inscription names Samudragupta's ancestors as ''Shrī'' Gupta ([[File:Gupta allahabad shrii.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad gu.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad pt.jpg|12px]] ''shri gu-pta''), ''Shrī'' [[Ghatotkacha (king)|Ghatotkacha]], and ''Shrī'' [[Chandragupta I|Chandragupta]].{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|p=6}} Some earlier scholars believed that the name of the dynasty's founder was "Shri-gupta" ([[IAST]]: Śrigupta), as Gupta does not appear to be a given name. However, it is now generally agreed that ''[[Shri]]'' is an honorific title and not an integral part of the king's name; "Gupta" was the actual name of the king. The [[Vishnu Sahasranama]] mentions Gupta among the [[List of names of Vishnu|1008 names of Vishnu]], which suggests that it can be used as a given name.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=84–85}} The name derives from the word ''gup'' ("to protect").{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=42}}

== Date ==

Gupta most probably ruled in the second half of the 3rd century, although his reign cannot be dated with certainty based on existing evidence. Various estimates of his reign include:{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=49-55}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=86}}

* [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee|R. K. Mukherjee]]: c. 240–280 CE
* [[A. S. Altekar]]: c. 270–290 CE
* [[Vincent Arthur Smith|V. A. Smith]]: c. 275–300 CE
* Tej Ram Sharma: c. 275–295 CE
* [[Sita Ram Goel|S. R. Goel]]: c. 295–300 CE

== Political status ==

The Allahabad Pillar inscription uses the title ''[[Maharaja]]'' ([[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad haa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad raa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|12px]] "Great King") for Gupta and his son [[Ghatotkacha (king)|Ghatotkacha]], as opposed to the title ''[[Maharajadhiraja]]'' ("king of great kings") for later ruler [[Chandragupta I]]. In the later period, the title ''Maharaja'' was used by feudatory rulers, which has led to suggestions that Gupta and Ghatotkacha were feudatory kings.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|pp=6–7}} For example, scholars [[R. D. Banerji]] and [[K. P. Jayaswal]] theorize that they were [[Kushana]] vassals.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=85}}

There is no doubt that Gupta and Ghatotkacha held a lower status and were less powerful than Chandragupta I.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|pp=6–7}} However, there are several instances of paramount sovereigns using the title ''Maharaja'', in both pre-Gupta and post-Gupta periods, so the use of the title ''Maharaja'' cannot be considered as conclusive evidence of Gupta's vassal status.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|pp=6–7}} The sovereign kings of several contemporary or near-contemporary dynasties, including the [[Vakataka]]s, used the title ''Maharaja''. Moreover, the Kushana Empire had already declined before the rise of the Guptas, so Gupta is unlikely to have been a Kushana vassal.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=85}}

== Identification with Che-li-ki-to ==

The 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]], in his description of the itinerary of the earlier Korean traveler(of [[Silla]]) Hwui-lun(慧輪) alias Prajnavarma, mentions that in ancient times, king Che-li-ki-to (室利笈多) built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no ([[Mṛgaśikhāvana]]) for Chinese pilgrims. The king endowed the temple with the revenue of 24 villages for its maintenance.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=7}} Only the brick foundation of this temple survived in Yijing's time.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=80}}

Numismatist [[John Allan (numismatist)|John Allan]] read Che-li-ki-to as a transcription of Shri-Gupta. [[J. F. Fleet]] opposed this theory, pointing out that according to Yijing's writings, Che-li-ki-to flourished five hundred years before him (that is, in the second century), while Gupta ruled in the late 3rd century. Moreover, the Gupta inscriptions mention the king's name as "Gupta" (which would be transcribed as ''ki-to'', 笈多), not "Shri-gupta" (''Che-li-ki-to''). Allan argued that Yijing's statement about the king's date should not be taken literally, and that the Chinese writers visiting India often used "Shri" as an honorific.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=85}}

Based on available evidence, Gupta's religious affiliation is unclear. Historian A. K. Narain theorizes that he was a [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnavite]], who was tolerant of Buddhist activity in his kingdom.{{sfn|A. K. Narain|1983|pp=17-52}} This latter scenario would have been comparable with the later Gupta monarchs, who were predominantly Vaishnavite, but under whose regimes heterodox religious movements like Buddhism and [[Jainism]] were allowed to flourish.{{sfn|A. K. Narain|1983|p=44}}

== Territory ==

Some scholars, such as D. C. Ganguly and [[R. C. Majumdar]], have interpreted Yijing's description to mean that the temple was located more than 40 ''[[yojana]]''s east of [[Nalanda]], along the [[Ganges river]], and have identified its location in present-day [[Bengal]] region.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=79}} Majumdar read Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no as a transcription of Mriga-sthapana, the name of a [[stupa]] which was located in the historical [[Varendra]] region of Bengal.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=79}} According to Ganguly, this suggests that the Gupta dynasty originated in Bengal, while according to Majumdar, this only proves that Bengal was a part of Gupta's kingdom.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=79-80}}

Other scholars, such as [[B. P. Sinha]] and Jagannath Agrawal, read Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no of Yijing's account as a transcription of [[Mṛgaśikhāvana|Mriga-shikha-vana]] ([[IAST]]: ''Mṛgaśikhāvana''), and identify it with Mrigadaya (Deer Park) in [[Sarnath]], in present-day eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]].{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=80}} Ashvini Agrawal argues that Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no is not an exact transcription of Mriga-sthapana: Mriga-shikha-vana is closer, and a different interpretation of Yijing's writings suggests that Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no was located in Sarnath.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=81-82}} Sinha theorizes that Hwui-lun erroneously mentioned its location as east of Nalanda.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=38}} These historians propose that the Gupta dynasty originated in eastern Uttar Pradesh.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=81-82}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=38}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== General sources ===
{{ref begin}}
* {{cite book |author=A. K. Narain |chapter=Religious Policy and Toleration in Ancient India with Particular Reference to the Gupta Age |editor=Bardwell L. Smith |title=Essays on Gupta Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jm0_AAAAMAAJ |year=1983 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-0-8364-0871-3 }}
* {{cite book |author=Ashvini Agrawal |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA315 |year=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0592-7 }}
* {{cite book |author=Dilip Kumar Ganguly |title=The Imperial Guptas and Their Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C&pg=PP1 |year=1987 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-81-7017-222-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=R. C. Majumdar |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=A Comprehensive History of India |volume=3, Part I: A.D. 300-985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRBuAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |oclc=34008529 |pages=17–52 }}
* {{cite book |author=Tej Ram Sharma |title=A Political History of the Imperial Guptas: From Gupta to Skandagupta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWVZWjNAcAgC&pg=PA50 |year=1989 |publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-7022-251-4 }}
{{ref end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta}}
[[Category:3rd-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Gupta Empire]]
[[Category:Founding monarchs]]

Gupta (king) - Revision history

Gomateshwari at 10:56, 10 February 2023