CHANDRA GUPTA BY CONQUEST OF SOUTH INDIA: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO MYSORE

Abstract

Chandragupta, also spelled Chandra Gupta, also called Chandragupta Maurya or Maurya (died c. 297 BCE, Shravana Belagola, India). founder of the Mauryan dynasty (reigned c. 321–c 297 BCE) and the first emperor to unify most of India under one administration. After the Kushana, the Guptas were the most important dynasty. The Gupta age is called the classical age. It refers to the period when most of North India was united under the Gupta Empire. It was perhaps, sometimes late in the obscure period of the 3rd century, that the Gupta dynasty emerged. The first two Guptas, Srigupta and Ghatothkach, were rulers of conquest and are known only through respectful mention by Chandragupta I, the real founder of the Gupta empire. The first Gupta ruler was Chandragupta I, son of Ggatotkacha. By marrying a Lichhavi princess, Kumaradevi, he sought to gain in prestige, though Vaishali does not appear to have been a part of his kingdom. His rule remained confined to Magadha and part of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He took the title of MAHARAJADHIRAJA, and his accession in about AD319-320 marked the beginning of the Gupta era. The territorial heads ruling over various parts of India could not counter the superior armed forces of Chandragupta I and had to surrender before him. It is conjectured that at the end of his reign, the boundary of the Gupta Empire already extended to Allahabad.

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