Describe the military achievements of Samudragupta
Answers
Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta-I and Kumaradevi. He was considered to be the best among their sons if not eldest.
If Chandragupta-I and Kumardevi were the joint rulers, Samudragupta succeeded both of them. He was, in fact, proud of being the son of the daughter of the Lichchhav is.
He ascended the throne about 335 A.D. The selection of Samudragupta as king was accepted with joyous satisfaction by the counsellors. But those who w ere of equal birth and were rivals to the throne became 'pale-faced' with disappointment.
But other scholars do not accept this view. They believe that Samudragupta had another name as Kacha, and the coins bearing that name were of Samudragupta himself The coins of Kacha earn the epithet 'Sarva- Rajochhetta' which term can be applicable only to a great warrior and conqueror like Samudragupta.
Allan says, "Kacha was the original name of the emperor and he took the name Samudragupta in allusion to his conquests".
Samudragupta's title of Parakramanka indicates his power. He has been described by some as the Chakravartin of the Ganga Valley and Digvijayi of other countries, the Eran inscription states that. "The whole tribe of kings upon the earth was overthrown and reduced to the loss of the wealth of their sovereignty" by Samudragupta. "It was the aim of Samudragupta to bring about the political unification of India and to make himself and Ekrat or sole ruler like Mahapadma Nanda.
Allahabad Pillar Inscription:
The Allahabad Pillar Inscription is the most important source which throws a flood of light upon the history of Samudragupta.
The inscription was engraved in Sanskrit verse on one of the Ashoka Pillars at Kausambi. The pillar was shifted laster by a Muslim king of Delhi to Allahabad, where it now stands on a fort.
This inscription is along royal prasasti (eulogy) of thirty lines composed by Harisena who was known to have held various important posts of the state.
He was the Mahadanayaka or Chief Justice and also Sandhibigraha or Minister of War and Peace. He was a poet of high merit. Harisena has depicted the conquest of Samudragupta both in the Aryavarta and the Deccan in a systematic manner as he had a first hand knowledge of his master's activities. But the Allahabad; pillar inscription is not dated.
The inscription also does not mention about the Horse sacrifice of Samudragupta. So it is probable that it was set up before sacrifice of Samudragupta.
Conquests of Samudragupta:
According to V.A. Smith "From the moment of his accession, Samudragupta assumed the part of and aggressively ambitions monarch, resolved to increase his dominions at expense of his neighbours.
Wars of aggression never have been condemned by such public opinion as exists in the east and no king who cared for his reputation could venture to rest contended with in his own borders. Samudragupta had no hesitation in acting on the principle that 'kingdom taking' is the business of king and immediately after his succession to the throne plunged into war. This occupied many years of his unusually protected reign".
(2) Southern Campaign of Samudragupta:
In his northern expedition, Samudragupta had followed the policy of 'Dig-Vijaya' by defeating the kings and then annexing the kingdoms to his empire.
In his Souhern campaign he followed the policy of 'Dharma-Vijaya' in which the rulers were defeated, captured and then liberated, so the subjugation of South was based on three stages such as Grahana (capture of the enemy). Moksha (liberating him) and Anugraha (favouring him by reinstating him in his kingdom.)
Dr. R.K. Mookherji writes that in the distant South he (Samudragupta) was only anxious that his position as the paramount sovereign of India should be recognized. There was yet another motive behind expedition to the South. It was in the second century A. D. that some good ports were found to have flourished in the eastern coast of South India. And possibly Samudragupta wanted to have those parts his control.
Furthermore. Samudtagupta also wanted to curb the power of the Vakatakas in the Maharastra region as they were becoming more and more dominating a power. So a check to their domination in the political domain was a necessity. Hence he felt a successful military expedition to the South was imperative".
The route Samudragupta took in his Southern campaign is a controversial subject. Neverthless a more accepted view given by B. G Gokhale is as follows "From Pataliputra he proceed to a triangular area formed by Bilaspur, Raipur and Sambalpur in the East-central parts of Madhya Pradesh and North Orissa.
From there he struck into the heart of the forest tracts of Orissa and then along the eastern seaboard to kingdom of the Pallavas centered round Kanchi and followed more or less the eastern route to his capital."
Samudragupta defeated twelve kings in course of his Deccan campaign. The rulers who were defeated by him were.
Samudragupta
Explanation:
- Samudragupta was a ruler of the Gupta empire. He was the third emperor of the Gupta dynasty and ruled from 335 to 375 CE. Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta I, who was the founder of the Gupta dynasty.
- Samudraupta's greatest achievement was his expansion of the Gupta empire by launching a series of conquests across India. Samudragupta extended the empire from Magadha throughout North India by conquering parts of present day West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and upto Gujarat and Punjab in the west.