Part 1
Guptas(Goop-Ta) were a major power that rose to prominence in the aftermath of the Kushan Empire and its fall Around 240 AD. They are said to have started out, like most major ancient North Indian Dynasties in Magadha in north eastern india toward Bihar, what with the Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Prathiharas.
The dynasty started with Sri Gupta upon whom the records are scarce but it is known that Ghatotkacha (Gha-Toth-ga-cha) had established himself and his lineage and proceeded to rule from Magadha and subdued a handful of neighboring kingdoms, yet his greatest of gifts to his lineage was not from his sword hand but from his loins.
Chandragupta, the first of the great Gupta Emperors were born.
In the next twenty or so years Ghatotkacha before his death in 319 AD established an alliance between the Gupta Kingdom and the powerful Clan of the Licchavis (in modern day Nepal), an ancient clan that was prominent amongst the old Vajji Confederation a sort of Proto-Republic called a ganarajya(similar to res publica) but only a few had the right to vote.
Anyway, these clans had a representative princess Kumaradevi who married Chandragupta the Scion of the King. With the ancient city of Pataliputra as dowry and the soldiers of the Licchavis at their command he set about subduing the neighboring nations and kingdoms.
Thus began the campaigns of Chandragupta I as he vehemently expanded his realm in three years from the Ganges to Prayaga (modern day Allahabad) North east of India. His wars are not as well recorded or well known due to the lack of historical references, all that is known is that he was a great king who was attempting to ascend to Emperor, which he eventually did in 321 AD
>>966670
The gupta were destroyed in there fight against the "Huns" if I am not mistaken. Aren't they also responsible for alot of the mathematical advances that came from India.
>>966676
pls stop
>>966688
Well apparently the pressures from the Sveta Huna(Hepathlites who may have been Avars instead of the huns) caused their downfall, but the name Huna and Hun are too cognate to be anything but some distant cousin of the Hun. But the records show that the last Huna Emperor to threaten the Guptas was Mihirakula, who was in turn totally defeated by the then Gupta Emperor Narasimhagupta.
But I doubt destroyed is the correct word, the empire collapsed and the descendants of the Kushans and the Western Kshatrapas, mainly old Iranic nomads who had moved into india and the Indus Valley were now civilized and became the Gurjaras and Pratiharas, they also had a massive hand in the disintegration of the Guptas and the eventual fall.
>>966688
Drop the trip
>>966722
Why I figure it makes it easier to have a conversation
>>966734
This isn't Gamefaqs
Take off the attentionwhore flag
>>966738
calm down man its 4chan not some holy site it really doesn't matter whether I trip fag or not the only people who will notice are people who I am having a conversation with and people who are easily butthurt about the sacredness of 4chan being anonymous.
>>966670
Part 2
As was the Dharmic tradition in those days in accordance with the sacred scriptures and Arthashastra the most able of his two sons Kacha and Samudragupta were to be chosen as the successor.
The latter(Samudragupta) was the most talented and showed the most potential, and for the ten years or so of Chandragupta's rule Samudragupta was mentored and advised on the craft of the state and the craft of war which his father was highly able at due to his conquests.
His brother Kacha according to local tales was a soft and introverted boy but his brother was the exact opposite and was considered brave and fearless this has its doubts due to being an oral tradition and maybe to legitamize Samudraguptas rule.
In around 335 AD the first Emperor of the Guptas died on the throne and was immediately succeeded by Samudragupta, he gathered his armies and launched a massive military campaign of conquest, his rule was characterized by incessant warfare and continuous territorial expansion, he likened himself to a conqueror and never erred from this opinion.
His campaign while huge and laborious was quite an achievement and this is shows by the boasts and laurels that are inscribed into the victory pillar in Allahabad which is one of the primary sources on the Second Emperor.
He was known to lead from the front as evidenced by the inscriptions which describe him as "whose most charming body was covered over with all the beauty of the marks of a hundred confuse wounds caused by the blows of battle axes, arrows, spears, pikes, swords, lances, javelins". Along with this it lists the kings and nations he had subdued amongst who were old republics (like the Arjunayas) ancient clan holds and kingdoms that had existed since the time of Buddha.
Samudragupta's Empire stretched from Afghanistan to modern Bangladesh, he proceeded to turn his attention to the wealthy south and prepared a massed invasion of southern india...
>>966809
The invasion of the south was not as expansive as the northern conquests as Samudragupta found the deccan under the Vakatakas and had to settle for a matrimonial alliance with the Vakatakas giving his daughter to Rudrasena II, thus the conquest of the south eastern coast of india until the holdings of the Vishnukundinas at the edge of Pallava held area somewhere in the south of modern day Andhra Pradesh, here he challaenged the Pallava King Vishnugopa and defeated him in a battle, he reinstated all the defeated kings into their respective kingdoms.
Samudragupta then decided to turn his attention further north west and proceeded to invade many of the collapsing Western Kshatrapa holdings and cities in Gujrat and Saurashtra and proceeded to destroy the Saka(Scythians) and what resistance the Kushan managed to put up.
Samudragupta was not only a great warrior, supposedly he was an excellent administrator and ruler, his Empire and this period saw the rise of art and literature and for another twenty years set the stage for the Golden Age of India to occur.
Around 375 AD at the newly found glory of the Gupta Empire the Emperor Samudragupta died and was replaced by his First son Ramagupta while the second Chandragupta Second set about to capture the throne of the vast empire himself and intrigue afflicted in the once peaceful Imperial Palace of the Guptas...
So anyone here who wants me to continue?
>>966996
Yes.
>>966996
Yes pl0x
Doing the work of vishnu, son
>>967006
Part 3
Ramaguptas rule is extremely sketchy and not many people know of why exactly he was disliked, but certain sources primarily folk tales and legends collected and thoroughly refuted by prominent scholars like D.C Sircar due to its parallel with similar tales associated with emperors who usurped power.
However the tale goes like this; Ramagupta ascended the throne on the virtue of being the eldest and proceeded to marry Chandragupta II's betrothed Dhruvaswamini, once married he launched an attack against the Saka rulers of Western Kshatrapas who still were a force to be reckoned with, but was disastrously defeated by Rudrasimha III's armies.
Ramagupta in the shock of defeat and desperate to stop a Kshatrapa invasion offered his Queen Dhruvaswamini as a peace offering to Rudrasimha.
Enraged by the cuckold Chandragupta II cross dressed as his sister in law went into Rudrasimha's camp and assassinated him, he somehow made it back to the Gupta Camp and gathered his men and defeated the Sakas.
Returning to Pataliputra he set about overthrowing and killing Ramagupta and married his Queen Dhruvaswamini with the apparent full support of the people.
The story is suspicious from the beginning due to no set reference points in the story, it seems conveniently one sided where the Hero Chandragupta II can do no wrong.
Whatever the truth of the matter, may it be an impotent and useless ruler or just pure jealousy on the part of Chandragupta II, Ramagupta was deposed and slain and Chandragupta II crowned himself as Emperor and added the moniker Vikramaditya in 380 AD.
Thus began the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya and the thirst of his father afflicted him, conquest was the only thing that could sate this thirst.
>>967080
>calling the ruler you deposed a cuck
>it makes history
kek
Was the practice of giving up one's wife to placate a superior enemy a thing?
>>967080
The Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (henceforth known as Vikramaditya to avoid any conjectural confusion) gathered his massive forces numbered at ridiculous estimates in ancient sources set about subjugating the broken Sakas in 380 AD and added their vast holdings into his empire including the productive district and state of Malwa and set about controlling everything from Gujarat to central india, his campaign may have involved the genocide of the Sakas as he was known as Sakari (enemy of the sakas) and the inscriptions also describe him as "unburdening the earth of Sakas".
He also expanded north ward into Ujjain area where the Saka tribes yet roamed and had dominion because during the earlier period under Kushan dominion many allied indo-iranic nomads poured into the subcontinent and conquered much of the north western and north central india, Vikramadityas primary conquests concerned their elimination in their entirety and he supposedly waged it for over ten years but the source solid enough to back it is scarce and is often dependent on local tales and folklore.
By the height of his rule Vikramadityas Empire spread from Northern Pakistan to the mouth of the Narmada river in the south bordering the Vakataka kingdom.
This period saw massive investment in the arts, literature, mathematics and sciences, the Emperor's court hosted the Navaratan, the 9 gems of the court including poets, artisans, playwrights, scientists, mathematicians, astrolgers, like Kalidasa Amarasimha, Dhanvantari, Ghatakarapara, Kshapanaka, Shanku, Varahamihira, Vararuchi, and Vetala Bhatta
Fuxian a chinese visitor and so far the most reliable and objective source for Gupta history claims some hard to believe things about the kingdom, "The people were rich and prosperous and seemed to emulate each other in the practice of virtue. Charitable institutions were numerous and rest houses for travelers were provided on the highway. The capital possessed an excellent hospital."
>>967141
On my way home now, I will continue with the Golden Age of India and the Invasion of the hephatlites (white huns)subsequent fall of the Gupta empire. I hope I can finish that and start on the Imperial Cholas
>>967129
One's women in general because they are literally treated as property, the northern Indians tend to do this a lot due to its first historical instance in the Indian conscious was learned during the Maurya-Seleucid war when the Mauryan's won and in a gesture to sue for peace Seleuces I Nictator gave his daughter to the Indians, so Chandragupta Maurya saw this as some great and noble gesture to give ones own blood to secure peace, though it may have been done because Antigonus was kicking everyone's shit in over in Asia Minor, getting 500 elephants to fight later in Ipssus was also a plus.
Either way indians were told that this was noble and that idea carried into india because people are a little more devote apparently and it became fashionable. Must be why they were doing it well into the Rajput era and a famous example is Jodhabai and Akbar.
Good shit, OP
