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THE GUPTA DYNASTY.
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himself con
able to tell us anything about the origin of the Mimūlanar Gupta dynasty. All that is known of it is that fused." the founder of the dynasty was a petty local Zemindar at Pātaliputra, who contracted a lucky marriage, with the Lichchhavi princess, Kumaradevi, and thence rose to power and fortune. It is noteworthy that he assumed the same name as the grand-father of Asoka Maurya, the founder of Mauryan greatness, Chandragupta Maurya. What could be more natural for the people of the distant south than to connect the new Imperial power with the ancient Mauryas ? Our point is that there has been a confusion in the mind of Māmūlanår himseaf in regard to Gupta ancestry. That such a confusion prevailed among the king3 and princes of North India is evident from the remark of Dr. Fleet in his account of Gutta princes. Thus Dr. Fleet :
“ The traditions embodied in the Gutta records involve some confusion. The mention of Pātaliputra shows distinctly that the Guttas supposed themselves to be descended ultimately from the great Maurya king, Chandragupta of Pătaliputra, the grand-father of Asoka."
And agairt :- ..
“ It is plain, in fact, that the Gutta princes of Guttal claimed descent in reality from the early Gupta kings, of whose dominions, at any rate from the time of Kumāragupta I. onwards, Mālwa did form a part, and not from the Mauryas. From their use of the names Chandragupta and Vikramāditya, they seem to have really had some
