Editing Gupta Empire (section)

===Samudragupta===
{{Main article|Samudragupta}}
[[File:Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg|thumb|280px|[[Gupta script]] inscription ''Maharaja Sri Gupta'' [[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|11px]] [[File:Gupta allahabad haa.jpg|11px]] [[File:Gupta allahabad raa.jpg|11px]] [[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|12px]] [[File:Gupta allahabad shrii.jpg|14px]] [[File:Gupta allahabad gu.jpg|14px]]<sub>[[File:Gupta allahabad pt.jpg|12px]]</sub> ("Great King, Lord Gupta"), mentioning the first ruler of the dynasty, king [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]]. Inscription by [[Samudragupta]] on the [[Allahabad Pillar]], where Samudragupta presents king Gupta as his great-grandfather. Dated circa 350 CE.<ref>[[:File:Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta.jpg|Full inscription]], {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403 |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3 |last=Fleet |first=John Faithfull |date=1888 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n197 1]–17}}</ref>|right]]
Samudragupta succeeded his father around 335 or 350 CE, and ruled until {{Circa|375}}.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=51–52}} The Allahabad Pillar inscription, composed by his courtier [[Harisena]], credits him with extensive conquests.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=106–07}} The inscription asserts that Samudragupta uprooted 8 kings of [[Āryāvarta]], the northern region, including the [[Nagas of Padmavati|Nagas]].{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=114}} It further claims that he subjugated all the kings of the forest region, which was most probably located in central India.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=117}} It also credits him with defeating 12 rulers of [[Dakshinapatha]], the southern region: the exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars,{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=107}} but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=112}} The inscription suggests that Samudragupta advanced as far as the [[Pallava dynasty|Pallava]] kingdom in the south, and defeated Vishnugopa, the Pallava regent of [[Kanchipuram|Kanchi]].{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=110}} During this southern campaign, Samudragupta most probably passed through the forest tract of central India, reached the eastern coast in present-day [[Odisha]], and then marched south along the coast of the [[Bay of Bengal]].{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=80–81}}

The Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal [[Aristocracy|aristocracies]] paid Samudragupta tributes, obeyed his orders, and performed obeisance before him.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=84}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2017|p=343}} These polities and tribes included [[Samatata]], [[Davaka]], [[Kamarupa]], [[Licchavis of Nepal|Nepal]], [[Katyuri kings|Karttripura]],{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=112–18}} [[Malavas]], [[Arjunayanas]], [[Yaudheyas]], [[Madra Kingdom|Madrakas]], and [[Abhira dynasty|Abhiras]].{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2017|p=343}}

The inscription also mentions that several foreign kings tried to please Samudragupta by personal attendance, offered him their daughters in marriage (or according to another interpretation, gifted him maidens{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=125}}), and sought the use of the [[Garuda]]-depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories.{{sfn|Shankar Goyal|2001|p=168}} However, this is likely an exaggeration, and Samudragupta's panegyrist appears to have described acts of diplomacy as ones of subservience. For example, the King of [[Anuradhapura kingdom|Simhala]] is listed among these foreign rulers, but it is known that from Chinese sources that the Simhala king [[Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura|Meghavarna]] merely sent presents to the Gupta emperor requesting his permission to build a Buddhist monastery; he did not express subservience.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=90}}

Samudragupta appears to have been [[Vaishnavite]], as attested by his [[Eran]] inscription,{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=68}}{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=32}} and performed several [[Brahmanism|Brahmanical]] ceremonies.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=91}} The Gupta records credit him with making generous donations of cows and gold.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=68}} He performed the [[Ashvamedha]] ritual (horse sacrifice), which was used by the ancient Indian kings and emperors to prove their imperial sovereignty, and issued gold coins (see [[#Coinage|Coinage]] below) to mark this performance.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=125–26}}

The Allahabad Pillar inscription presents Samudragupta as a wise king and strict administrator, who was also compassionate enough to help the poor and the helpless.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=91, 94}} It also alludes to the king's talents as a musician and a poet, and calls him the "king of poets".{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=31}} Such claims are corroborated by Samudragupta's gold coins, which depict him playing a [[ancient veena|veena]].{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=94}}

Samudragupta appears to have directly controlled a large part of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] in present-day India, as well as a substantial part of central India.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|pp=23, 27}} His empire comprised a number of monarchical and tribal tributary states of northern India, and of the south-eastern coastal region of India.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=22}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=112}}