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.

 

Samudragupta

Samudra Gupta was the second ruler of the famed Gupta Empire and one of Indian history’s greatest military minds. 

 Allahabad Pillar | Wikimedia Commons

Samudra Gupta (reigned c.330 – c.380) was the second ruler of the Gupta dynasty, the golden period of Hinduism. He was appointed by his father Chandra Gupta I to succeed him. The coins of an obscure prince, Kacha, suggest that his accession to the throne did not go unchallenged.  

A detailed record of Samudragupta’s reign is preserved in the Allahabad pillar inscription composed by his court poet and minister Harisena. The inscription is engraved on a pillar erected by Asoka six centuries before him. In the inscription he is mentioned to have "violently uprooted" no less than nine kings of Northern India, and to have annexed their kingdoms to his own. 

Samudra Gupta possessed domains from Assam to the borders of Punjab. He performed Ashvamedha Yajna. This was the first Ashvamedha after Pushyamitra Sunga, the founder of the Sunga dynasty, performed this sacrifice after usurping the Mauryan throne.

Samudra Gupta is known to have granted permission to the Sri Lankan king Meghavarna to build a Buddhist monastery at Bodhgaya. He was a patron of poetic arts and a poet himself. This earned him the title of Kaviraja from Harisena.

  

The Later Mauryas

The disintegration of the mighty Mauryan empire began upon Ashoka’s death around 233–232 BC. After him, the empire continued to last for another half-century before giving way to the Śungas whose founder Pushyamitra overthrew Brihadratha, the last Mauryan emperor, by way of a palace revolution in about 183 BC.

After the death of Asoka, the territory of Mauryan empire was divided into the eastern and western parts. Sampriti and Dasaratha succeeded Asoka in the western and eastern parts respectively.

Samprati had embraced Jainism. He was converted to the religion by Jain monk Suhastin.

His contribution to Jainism is similar to that of Asoka to Buddhism. After a rule of nine years Samprati was followed by his son Salisuka who ruled for 13 years. 

The other eastern half of the Mauryan empire with Pataliputra as the capital came under the control of Dasaratha who is known to have dedicated three caves in the Nagarjuni Hills (in Bihar) to the Ajivikas. 

According to Kalhana's 12th century Kashmiri chronicle, Rajatarangini, Jalauka, also spelled Jaluka, was Asoka's successor.  

The last two Mauryan rulers were Satadhanvan and Brihadratha who was assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga.

 Puranas, Hinduism’s sacred texts, attribute 137 years to the entire Mauryan dynasty. 

Kanishka: Facts about the most famous Kushana emperor

Sculpture of Kanishka at Mathura Government Museum / Image Source

• Kanishka was the founder of the Shaka Era (A.D. 78), one of the most widely spread Indian systems of dating.

• It was during the time of Kanishka that Buddhism began to spread to Central Asia and the Far East.

• According to a tradition preserved in China, the Fourth Buddhist Council was held under the patronage of Kanishka in Srinagar. In this fourth council the Sarvastivadin doctrines were codified in a summary, the Mahavibhasa.

• The convening of the Fourth Council led to the division into two broad sects, namely the Mahayana (great Vehicle ) and the Hinayana (lesser Vehicle). 

• Kanishka’s greatest contribution to Buddhist architecture was the Kanishka Stupa at Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He was a patron of Buddhist art of Gandhara.

Quiz - Delhi Sultanate Period 12 April 2020

1. The famous Atala Mosque in Jaunpur was built by the rulers of which dynasty?
(a) Sharqi dynasty
(b) Tughlaq dynasty
(c) Khilji  dynasty
(d) None of the above. 

Answer-(a) Sharqi dynasty

• Atala Mosque in Jaunpur was built by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi (1401-1408)
• Atala Mosque was built on the site of a temple at Atala Devi, demolished by Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1376. 
• Khalis Mukhlis Masjid, The Jhanjhari Masjid ,  Lal Darwaza mosque are other famous mosques in Jaunpur. 
• Jama Mosque, built by Hussain Shah Sharqi, is the largest mosque in Jaunpur.

2. The correct chronological order in which the following monuments belonging to the Delhi sultanate period were built:

(a) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi
(b) Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza,
(c) Tomb of Sikander Lodi, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza
(d) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Sikander Lodi

Answer-(a) Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Alai Darwaza, Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Tomb of Sikander Lodi

• Tomb of the Sufi saint Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fateh, commonly known by the title (Shah) Rukn-e-Alam, is considered to be the earliest specimen of Tughluq architecture. 
• Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque was commissioned by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, founder of the Mamluk or Slave dynasty.
• The Alai Darwaza was built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Khalji dynasty in 1311.

3. The Tughlaq Sultan who twice made unsuccessful efforts to recover Bengal during the reign of Ilyas Shah and his son Sikander Shah was

(a) Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq

(b) Muhammad bin Tughlaq

(c) Firuz Shah Tughlaq 

(d) Ghiyassuddin Tughlaq Shah II

Answer-(c) Firuz Shah Tughlaq 

• Soon after his accession, the Ilyas Shahi ruler Sikandar Shah has to face a military campaign of the Tughlaq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq who had earlier made an expedition to Bengal in 1353 during the rule of Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah. However like the first expedition, the second one also proved to be a failure for the Tughlaq ruler. 
• Sikandar Shah ascended the throne after the death of his father in 1357 and ruled Bengal for thirty-three years.

3. Ilyas Shahi Sultan who exchanged embassies with the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty was 

(a) Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah

(b) Sikander Shah

(c) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah

(d) Saifuddin Hamza Shah

Answer-(c) Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah

• Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah established diplomatic and cultural relations with China, and the growth of Chittagong port led to the increase in trade with the Far East. 

4. During the reign of which of the following rulers of Hussain Shahi dynasty did Sikander Lodi attack Bengal?
(a) Alauddin Husain Shah
(b) Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah 
(c) Alauddin Firuz Shah
(d) Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah


Answer-(a) Alauddin Husain Shah

• Ala-ud-din Husain Shah was founder of the Hussain Shahi dynasty. 

Malik Ambar, Ethiopian Commander of Ahmadnagar

                                  Malik Ambar / Wikimedia Commons

Malik Ambar was the regent of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, known more famously as the Nizam Shahi Dynasty, from 1607 to 1626. He was a thrice manumitted Ethiopian slave who is known in the medieval period as a great statesman and able administrator.

Malik Ambar installed Murtaza II as ruler of Nizam Shahi dynasty with his capital at Parenda. He is known for instituting the innovative techniques in guerrilla warfare known as bargigiri which was later perfected by the Marathas.  He employed this warfare tactic with great effect against the Mughals.

However, his gallant resistance to the Mughal forces ended when he was defeated by Mughal prince Khurram first in 1617 and again in 1621.

This victory earned Prince Khurram the title of Shah Jahan (King of the World) from his father Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor.

He founded the city of Khirki, which was later named Aurangabad by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He is credited with the construction of its canal called Nahr-i-Ambari.

Malik Ambar died in 1626. His death was the last nail in the Ahmadnagar’s coffin. Murtada III, the last Nizam Shahi ruler, was captured by Aurangzeb during the reign of Shah Jahan in 1636. The Nizam Shahi territories were divided between the Mughals and the Adil Shahi kingdom of Bijapur.

The tomb of Malik Ambar is located in Khuldabad near Aurangabad in Maharashtra. 

“In warfare, in command, in sound judgment, and in administration he had no rival or equal," wrote Mughal court chronicler Mu’tamad Khan. "History records no other instance of an Abyssinian slave arriving at such eminence.” 

Amoghavarsha, Greatest Rashtrakuta Ruler

Amoghavarsha I or Sarva (814-878) was the Jain scholar-king of Rashtrakuta dynasty. He succeeded to the throne after his father Govinda III’s death. He was born in a camp while his father was campaigning in the Vindhyas.

Amoghavarsha’s long reign of 64 years was marked by conflicts with the Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, and the Gangas. His army remained in occupation of Vengi for twelve years.

Amoghvarsha did not match the martial spirit of his father and other predecessors. This was due to his fascination for literature and leanings towards religion.

Amoghavarsha was converted into Jainism by the Jaina monk Jinasena, the author of Adipurana. He was a patron of Saktayana, the author of Amoghavritti, and Mahaviracharya, the author of Ganitasara-Samgraha. He himself authored Kavirajamarga, the earliest Kannada work on poetics.

The Arab traveller Suleiman in his account called Amoghavarsha as among the four great sovereigns of the world, the other three being the Caliph of Bagdad and the emperors China and Turkey (Byzantium).

Amoghvarsha built the capital city of Manyakhet to match the city of Lord Indra.