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The Gupta Empire is said to have brought back the golden era
in Bharat . During this period, there were a number of monarchical
and republic states in ancient Bharat . The Nagas ,the Ahichtaras
, the Vakatakas , the Maukharis , were the monarchies present
in ancient Bharat . There were also republics of Arjunayans
, Malavas , Yaudhehas , Lichchvis , Sibis , Kunindas and Audembaras
amongst all these Guptas also were present as a local power
. In the course of time they subdued all others and established
the largest and the ever long lasting Empire of Bharat.Srigupta
was the founder of the Gupta Dynasty followed by his son Ghatotkacha
.The new king who followed was Chandragupta I having Maharadhiraja
as his title. He married a Lichchavi princess Kumaradevi , whose
son Samudragupta proved to be an ambitious monarch of the Gupta
Empire.
Samudragupta
also known as Napoleon of India -brought wealth and fame to
the Guptas . His conquest to southern and northern states extended
his kingdom nearly all over Bharat . Samudragupta also established
trade relations with Ceylon . His empire comprised nearly the
whole of northern Bharat with the inclusion of Kashmir , western
Punjab,western Rajputana , Sindh and Gujarat with the highlands
of Chattisagarsh and Orissa and a long stretch of territory
along the eastern coast extending as far as Chingleold and probably
even further. Rama Gupta was the son and successor of Samudragupta
.However RamaGupta was an utterly weak and incapable ruler .
The result was that the Saka king compelled him to agree to
surrender his wife Dhruvadeshi to him . But Chandragupta , his
younger brother saved the situation and killed the Saka king.Rama
Gupta was succeeded by his younger brother Chandragupta II also
known as Vikramaditya . The Gupta Empire had a tradition and
policy of entering into matrimonial alliance with neighbouring
states to extend their empire . Similarly Chandragupta II married
Kuveranaga and had a daughter Prabhawati Gupta who in turn was
married to a Vakataka king. Though this is true , the Gupta
kings were not less experts in actual warfare . The greatest
of the military achivements of Vikramaditya was his advance
to the Arabian sea and his subjugation of the peninsula of Saurashtra
or Kathiawar . It was during his reign that the Chinese traveler
Fahien visited Bharat . Thus it will be appropriate to say that
the work of conquests begun by Samudragupta was completed by
Chandragupta II.
Kumargupta
succeeded Vikramaditya whose reign is considered peaceful and
prosperous . However the problem of succession after the death
of Kumaragupta happens to create a lot of confusion and unrest
. The problem lies in the chronology as it is difficult to say
whether Puru Gupta or Skanda Gupta succeeded him . Kumaragupta
had two wives. Skandagupta was the son of Devaki and Puru Gupta
was the son of Autaradevi . But generally Skanda Gupta is regarded
to be the immediate successor . The prominent contribution by
him to Bharat is his victory over the Hunas . His empire extended
from Kathiawar to Bengal . He followed the policy of religious
tolerance.However the powerful Gupta empire suffered a decline
during the reign of Puru Gupta.
The downfall of the Gupta empire began from his reign. The successors
of Puru Gupta were not capable of retaining the glory of the
empire . The downfall can be attributed to the appearance of
Huns on the scene . To some extent the Gupta kings were successful
against the Huns. Some historians hold the view that in
addition to the invasion of Huns , the emergence of ambition
local chiefs like Yasodharman also contributed to the weakening
of the empire.Many chiefs in the later phase revolted against
the Gupta empire . Thus the great civilization came to an end
gradually.
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