Chandragupta II
| Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) |
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|---|---|
An 8 gm gold coin featuring Chandragupta II astride a caparisoned horse with a bow in his left hand.
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| 6th Gupta Emperor | |
| Reign | c. 380 – c. 415 CE |
| Predecessor | Ramagupta |
| Successor | Kumaragupta I |
| Wives |
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| Issue | |
| House | Gupta dynasty |
| Father | Samudragupta |
| Mother | Datta Devi |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Chandragupta II (also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya) was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta Empire in India. His rule spanned c. 380 – c. 415 CE during which the Gupta Empire reached its peak. Art, architecture, and sculpture flourished, and the cultural development of ancient India achieved new heights. The period of prominence of the Gupta dynasty is often referred to as the "Golden Age" of India. Chandragupta II was the son of the previous ruler, Samudragupta. He attained success by pursuing both a favourable marital alliance and an aggressive expansionist policy in which his father and grandfather (Chandragupta I) set the precedent. Samudragupta set the stage for the emergence of classical art, which occurred under the rule of Chandragupta II. Chandragupta II extended great support to the arts.
From 388 to 409 he subjugated Gujarat, the region north of Mumbai, Saurashtra, in western India, and Malwa, with its capital at Ujjain.
Chandragupta II's mother, Datta Devi, was the chief queen of Samudragupta.
Dhruvadevi was Chandragupta II's chief queen, as seen in the Vaisali Terracotta Seal that calls her "Mahadevi" (Chief Queen) Dhruvasvamini. The Bilsad Pillar Inscription of their son Kumaragupta I (r. 414–455 CE) also refers to her as "Mahadevi Dhruvadevi". The fragment from Vishakhadatta's play "Natya-darpana" mentions that Ramagupta, the elder brother of Chandragupta II, decided to surrender Dhruvadevi to the Saka ruler Rudrasimha III of the Western Kshatrapas dynasty, when faced with a military defeat. Chandragupta himself went to Rudrasimha III disguised as the queen, and then assassinated the enemy rulers. According to D. C. Sircar, the only facts in this story are that Dhruvadevi was Chandragupta's queen and the Saka ruler Rudrasimha III held power in western India. Everything else is "Vishakhadatta's own imagination or some current popular legends embellished by his imagination".
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Wikipedia