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554 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
of the new monarch disclosed by certain Vākāṭaka inscriptions, several types of coins and the Sanchi inscription of A. D. 412-3, was Deva Gupta, Deva-śri or Deva-rāja.1
For the reign of Chandra Gupta II, we possess a number of dated inscriptions so that its limits may be defined with more accuracy than those of his predecessors. His accession should be placed before A.D. 381, and his death in or about A.D. 413-14.
The most important external events of the reign were the emperor's matrimonial alliance with the Vākāṭaka king Rudrasena II, son of Prithivishena I, and the war with the Saka Satraps which added Western Malwa and Surashtra (Kāṭhiawar) to the Gupta dominions.
Matrimonial alliances occupy a prominent place in the foreign policy of the Guptas. The Lichchhavi connection had strengthened their position in Bihār. After the conquest of the upper provinces they sought alliances with other ruling families whose help was needed to consolidate the Gupta power in the newly acquired territory and prepare the ground for fresh conquests. Thus Samudra Gupta received presents of girls (kanyopāyana) from Saka-Kushan chiefs and other foreign potentates. Chandra Gupta II married
added in the days of Amoghavarsha I (A. D. 815-78) and Govinda IV (A.D c. 927-933). The Devi Chandraguptam and smilar works are as much unsuited to form bases of the chronicles of Chandra Gupta II as the Mudrakshasam and the Aśokāvadāna are in regard to the doings of the great Mauryas. The subject has been fully discussed by the present writer in an article entitled "Vikramaditya in History and Legend" contributed to the Vikrama volume contemplated by the Gwalior authorities. The story of Chandra Gupta's adventure in its developed form has absorbed a good deal of folklore, such as tales about Ghouls Pisacha. The motif of the wife leaving a mean-spirited husband is found in Penzer Katha S.S,, III. 290.
1 Cf. Bhandarkar, Ind. Ant. 1913, p. 160.
