Chandragupta

Genealogy of Early Guptas

Chandragupta (320 - 335 AD) (चन्द्रगुप्त) was ruler of Gupta Empire and successor of Ghatotkacha.

Variants

• Chandragupta (Anabasis by Arrian, p. 275.)

Mention by Panini

Chandragupta-Sabha (चन्द्रगुप्त-सभा) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

Ch.6: General description of India. (p.274-277)

Arrian writes.... WHOEVER arranges the position of Asia in such a way that it is divided by the Taurus and the Caucasus from the west wind to the east wind, will find that these two very large divisions are made by the Taurus itself, one of which is inclined towards the south and the south wind, and the other towards the north and the north wind. Southern Asia again may be divided into four parts, of which Eratosthenes and Megasthenes make India the largest. The latter author lived with Sibyrtius,¹ the viceroy of Arachosia, and says that he frequently visited Sandracotus, king of the Indians.^[2] These authors say that the smallest of the four parts is that which is bounded by the river Euphrates and extends to our inland sea. The other two lying between the rivers Euphrates and Indus are scarcely worthy to be compared with India, if they were joined together. They say that India is bounded towards the east and the east wind as far as the south by the Great Sea, towards the north by mount Caucasus, as far as its junction with the Taurus; and that the river Indus cuts it off towards the west and the north-west wind, as far as the Great Sea. The greater part of it is a plain, which, as they conjecture, has been formed by the alluvial deposits of the rivers; just as the plains in the rest of the earth lying near the sea are for the most part due to the alluvial action of the rivers by themselves. Consequently, the names by which the countries are called were attached in ancient times to the rivers. For instance, a certain plain was called after the Hermus, which rises in the country of Asia from the mountain of Mother Dindymene³, and after flowing past the Aeolian city of Smyrna discharges its water into the sea. Another Lydian plain is named after the Cayster, a Lydian river; another in Mysia from the Caicus; and the Carian plain, extending as far as the Ionian city of Miletus, is named from the Maeander. Both Herodotus and Hecataeus⁴ the historians (unless the work about the Egyptian country is by another person, and not by Hecataeus) in like manner call Egypt a gift of the river⁵ and Herodotus has shown by no uncertain proofs that such is the case⁶; so that even the country itself perhaps received its name from the river. For that the river which both the Egyptians and men outside Egypt now name the Nile, was in ancient times called Aegyptus, Homer is sufficient to prove; since he says that Menelaus stationed his ships at the outlet of the river Aegyptus⁷. If therefore single rivers by themselves, and those not large ones, are sufficient to form an extensive tract of country, while flowing forward into the sea, since they carry down shine and mud from the higher districts whence they derive their sources, surely it is unbecoming to exhibit incredulity about India, how it has come to pass that most of it is a plain, which has been formed by the alluvial deposits of its rivers. For if the Hermus, the Cayster, the Caicus, the Maeander, and all the other⁸ rivers of Asia which discharge their waters into this inland sea were all put together, they would not be worthy of comparison for volume of water with one of the Indian rivers. Not only do I mean the Ganges, which is the largest, and with which neither the water of the Egyptian Nile nor the Ister flowing through Europe is worthy to compare; but if all those rivers were mingled together they would not even then become equal to the river Indus, which is a large river as soon as it issues from its springs, and after receiving fifteen rivers⁹, all larger than those in the province of Asia, discharges its water into the sea, retaining its own name and absorbing those of its tributaries. Let these remarks which I have made about India suffice for the present, and let the rest be reserved for my “Description of India.”

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1. Cf. Arrian, vi. 27 infra.

2. Probably the Chandragupta of the Sanscrit writers. He conquered from the Macedonians the Punjab and the country as far as the Hindu-Koosh. He reigned about 310 B.C.

3. Mount Dindymus, now called Murad Dagh, was sacred to Cybele, the mother of the gods, who was hence called Dindymene.

4. Hecataeus of Miletus died about B.C. 476. He wrote a work upon Geography, and another on History. His works were well known to Herodotus but only fragments survive.

5. See Herodotus, ii. 5.

6. See Herodotus, ii. 10-34.

7. See Homer's Odyssey, iv. 477, 581. In Hebrew the name for Egypt is Mitsraim (dark-red). In form the word is dual, evidently in reference to the division of the country by the Nile. The native name was Chem, meaning black, probably on account of the blackness of the alluvial soil

8. αλλοι is Abicht's reading instead of πολλοί.

9. Arrian, in his Indica, chap. 4, gives the names of these rivers.

p.274-277

History

Ghatotkacha (c. 280–319) CE, had a son named Chandragupta. In a breakthrough deal, Chandragupta was married to Kumaradevi, a Lichchhavi—the main power in Magadha. With a dowry of the kingdom of Magadha (capital Pataliputra) and an alliance with the Lichchhavis, Chandragupta set about expanding his power, conquering much of Magadha, Prayaga and Saketa. He established a realm stretching from the Ganga River (Ganges River) to Prayaga (modern-day Allahabad) by 320. Chandragupta was the first of the Guptas to be referred to as 'Maharajadhiraja' or 'King of Kings'.

इतिहास

दिलीपसिंह अहलावत लिखते हैं - पहला महान् गुप्त सम्राट् - घटोत्कच के पश्चात् उसका पुत्र चन्द्रगुप्त प्रथम राजगद्दी पर बैठा। इसको श्री महाराजाधिराज विजयादित्य चन्द्रगुप्त प्रथम भी कहते हैं। उसने सन् 320 ई० से 335 ई० तक राज्य किया। यह गुप्तवंश का पहला महान् सम्राट् था। उसने ‘महाराज’ की उपाधि को त्यागकर ‘महाराजाधिराज’ की उपाधि धारण की। चन्द्रगुप्त प्रथम ने लिच्छविवंश (जाटवंश) की राजकुमारी कुमारदेवी से विवाह किया। लिच्छवि वंश उस काल का एक प्रसिद्ध तथा माननीय

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जाट वीरों का इतिहास: दलीप सिंह अहलावत, पृष्ठान्त-495

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वंश था, जिसका वैशाली तथा आस-पास के प्रदेशों पर राज्य था। प्रो० एन० एन० घोष के शब्दों में, “यह मिलाप गुप्तवंश को महान् बनाने में एक नये युग का द्योतक था।” (N.N. Ghosh Early History of India, p 245)। लिच्छवि वंश की सहायता से ही चन्द्रगुप्त ने पाटलिपुत्र तथा आस-पास के कई प्रदेश प्राप्त किये। उस समय पाटलिपुत्र का शासक राष्ट्रकूट या राठी जाट वंशज राजा सुन्दरवर्मन था। चन्द्रगुप्त ने लिच्छिवि गण की सहायता से राजा सुन्दरवर्मन का वध करके पाटलिपुत्र पर भी अधिकार कर लिया। परन्तु उस राजा का वध करके राज्य हथियाने से प्रजा बिगड़ उठी तथा मगध भर में भयंकर विद्रोह कर दिया। तब सुन्दरवर्मन के पुत्र कल्याणवर्मन को राजसिंहासन पर बैठाया गया जिससे प्रजा का आन्दोलन शान्त हुआ। अनुकूल अवसर पाकर चन्द्रगुप्त ने चार वर्ष बाद पाटलिपुत्र पर अधिकार कर लिया। चन्द्रगुप्त ने घनघोर युद्ध करके गंगा के समीपवर्ती सब प्रदेशों, प्रयाग, अयोध्या एवं मगध के चारों ओर के प्रदेशों पर शासन स्थापित कर लिया। उस सम्राट् ने सोने के सिक्के प्रचलित किये जिन पर उसने अपना नाम तथा चित्र के साथ-साथ ‘महादेवी कुमारदेवी’ का नाम तथा चित्र भी अंकित कराये। चन्द्रगुप्त प्रथम ने एक नया संवत् चलाया जिसे गुप्त संवत् कहते हैं। इस संवत् का पहला वर्ष 26 फरवरी 320 ई० से आरम्भ होता है। इस संवत् की तिथियों के अनुसार ही हम गुप्तकाल की तिथियों को ईसा की तिथियों में समझ पाते हैं। चन्द्रगुप्त प्रथम की सन् 355 ई० में मृत्यु हो गई। उसके बाद उसका पुत्र समुद्रगुप्त राजसिंहासन पर विराजमान हुआ।

Further readings

• पाठ 5- धारण जाटों का साम्राज्य पुस्तक, जाट प्राचीन शासक; लेखक बी. एस. दहिया।

References

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