Chandragupta-II (Chandragupta Vikramaditya) (c 376-415)

Chandragupta II succeeded to the Gupta throne after his father Samudra Gupta from whom he inherited a large empire. It is believed that before Chandragupta II his elder brother Ram Gupta ruled the Gupta empire and was forced to conclude dishonourable peace treaty with the Sakas who had ruled in the parts of western India for over 200 years.

According to the drama Devichandraguptam of Vishakhadatta, Ram Gupta was badly defeated by a Saka chieftain and forced him to agree to surrender his queen Druvadevi to the Sakas. This angered Chandragupta II who killed his brother and married his widow.

However, Ram Gupta’s historicity is in the realm of doubt.

Vikramaditya (“Sun of Valour”) was one of the titles of Chandragupta II. He is probably the king eulogized in the inscription on the iron pillar in the Qūwat al-Islām mosque of Meharauli in Delhi.

It was Chandra Gupta II who soon after AD 388 finally subjugated the Shakas. This made him the lord of all Northern India. His control over much of the Northern Deccan was due to the marriage of his daughter Prabhavati with Rudrasena II, king of the Vakatakas, who ruled an area comprising modern Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and north-western Telangana. When Rudrasena died young, his widow acted as regent for her sons. Prabhavati’s charters suggest that during her regency Gupta influence in the Vakataka court had increased.

Ancient India culture reached its climax during the reign of Chandragupta II. Kalidasa, the greatest of India’s poets and dramatists, and the famed astronomer Varahamihira were patronized by him. Faxian (Fa-hsien), a Chinese Buddhist monk who spent six years (405–411) in India during his reign, attest the prosperity and happiness of the Gupta empire.

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