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CONQUESTS OF CHANDRA GUPTA I
his wife's relatives. But Allan suggests that Pataliputra was in the possession of the Guptas even in Śri Gupta's
time. 1
531
From the record of Samudra Gupta's conquests it has been deduced that his father's rule was confined to Magadha and the adjoining territories. In the opinion of Allan the Puranic verses defining the Gupta dominions refer to his reign:
Anu-Ganga-Prayagamcha Saketam Magadhamstatha Etan janapadan sarvan bhokshyante Guptavamsajah.
"Kings born of the Gupta family will enjoy all these territories viz., Prayaga (Allahabad) on the Ganges," Saketa (Oudh), and Magadha (South Bihar)."
It will be seen that Vaisali (North Bihar) is not included in this list of Gupta possessions. Therefore, it is difficult to concur in Allan's view that Vaisali was one of Chandra Gupta's earliest conquests. Nor does Vaisali occur in the list of Samudra Gupta's acquisitions, though the reference to Nepal as a border state in the famous Allahabad inscription may suggest that North Bihār was included within his dominions. It first appears definitely as a Gupta possession in the time of Chandra Gupta II, and constituted a viceroyalty under an imperial Prince. Prayaga (Allahabad) may have been conquered from a line of kings whose existence is disclosed in certain inscriptions discovered at Bhiṭā. Two of these kings, Mahārāja Gautamiputra Sri Sivamagha and Rajan Vasishṭhiputra Bhimasena are assigned
1 Kielhorn's North Indian Inscription, No. 541, however, suggests some connection between the Lichchhavis and Pushpapura (Pataliputra).
2 Cf. Anu-Gangam Hastinapuram, Anu-Gangam Vārānasi, Anu-Śoṇam Patali-putram-Patanjali, II. 1. 2.
3 And Bandhogarh( Rewa )-Amrita Bazar Patrika, 11-10-38, p. 2; NHIP. VI, 41 ff. The Magha kings also known from coins (Fatehpur hoard).
