Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumara Gupta I (c. 415-455 AD), who like his grandfather Samudragupta, performed the Vedic horse sacrifice (Ashvamedha).
In his last years, the Gupta empire suffered a severe blow in the form of attack by the Hunas, the barbaric tribes from Central Asia. The Hunas were finally defeated by his son Skanda Gupta.
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.
Samudra Gupta was the second ruler of the famed Gupta Empire and one
of Indian history’s greatest military minds.
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 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.
World map by Cosmas Indicopleustes / Image Credit: upload.wikimedia.org Cosmas Indicopleustes (literally: "who sailed to India") ...
