________________
528 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
Sçions of the Gupta family are not unoften mentioned in old Brāhmi Inscriptions. The Ichchhāwar1 Buddhist Statuette Inscription? mentions the benefaction-ofMahādevî, queen of Sri Haridāsa, sprung from the Gupta race ( Gupta-vamsodita ). A Bharhut Buddhist Pillar Inscription 3 of the Sunga period refers to a "Gaupti" as the queen of Rājan Visadeva, and the grandmother of Dhanabhūti, probably a feudatory of the Sungas.
Traces of “Gupta” rule iz Magadha proper, or some neighbouring tract down the Ganges, are found as early as the second century A.D. I-Tsing, a Chinese pilgrim, who travelled in India in the seventh century A.D., mentions a Mahārāja Sri Gupta who built a temple near Mrigasikhāvana “which was about forty yojanas
uprooted (p. 500 ) with Chandra Gupta I, son of Mahārāja Śri Ghatotkacha whose dynasty ruled gloriously for centuries, is clearly untenable. The mere fact that Lichchhavis helped Chandasena is not enough to prove that the prince in question is identical with Chandra Gupta I. Lichchhavis appear as enemies of Magadha as early as the fifth century B. C. For a summary of the plot of the drama, which is attributed by some to a feinale writer, see Aiyangar Com. Vol.., 361f. If Sundaravarman, and his son Kalyānavarman are real historical figures, and if they actually ruled over Magadha, they must be placed either before Mahārāja Sri Gupta or after Bālāditya (6th century A. D.). The memory of Varman adhipatya over Magadha was fresh at the time of the Sirpur Stone Inscription of Mahāśiva Gupta (Ep. Ind., XI, 191 ). Cf. also Pūrņavarman and Devavarman mentioned by Chinese writers, as well as kings of the Maukhari line. The origin of the Imperial Gupta family is wrapped up in obscurity, We only know that they probably belonged to the Dhārana gotra (IHQ, 1930, 565). They may have been related to Queen Dhārini, the chief consort of Agnimitra. Dr. R. C. Majumdar points out (IHQ, 1933, 930 ff) that according to a Javanese text (Tantri Kāmandaka ) Māhārāja Aiśvaryapāla of the Ikshvāku race traced his genealogy to the family of Samudra Gupta, Little reliance can, however, be placed on the uncorroborated assertions of late writers. Even more unreliable is the testimony of works like the Bhavishyottara Purāna which, according to some critics, 'is a palpable modern forgery' (N.H.I.P., VI. 133n).
1 Bānda district, 2 Lüders, No. 11. 3 Lüders, No. 687.
