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ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF GUPTA INDIA 559
That Chandra Gupta II was a good monarch may be inferred also from the inscriptions. Himself a devout Vaishnava (Parama-bhāgavata), he appointed men of other sects to high offices. His general Amrakārddava, the hero of a hundred fights, anēkasamar-āvāpta-vijaya-yaśaspatākah, appears to have been a Buddhist or at least a à pro-Buddhist, while his Minister of Peace and War, Sāba-Virasena, and perhaps also his Mantrin or High Counsellor, Sikharasvāmin, were Saivas.
Regarding the machinery of Government we have no detailed information. But the following facts may be gleaned from the inscriptions. As in Maurya times, the head of the state was the Rājā who was at times nominated by his predecessor. The king is now regarded as a divinity-Achintya Purusha, 'the Incomprehensible Being, Dhanada-Varunendrāntaka-sama, the equal of Kuvera, Varuņa, Indra and Yama, loka-dhāma deva, 'a god dwelling on earth, Paramadaivata, 'the supreme deity. He was assisted by a body of High Ministers whose office was very often hereditary as is suggested by the phrase "anvaya-prāpta Sūchiyya" 'acquirer of the post of minister by hereditary descent,' of the Udayagiri Inscription of Śāba. The most important among the High Ministers were the Mantrin, 'High Counsellor,' the Saidhi-vigrahika, Minister for Peace and War,' and the Akshapatal-ūdhikrita, 'the Lord
but they are also mentioned in the time of his son in inscriptions of Northern Bengal. The Baigram inscription.of the year 128 (448 A.D.) for instance refers to rūpakas along with dināras (cf. Allan, p. cxxvii). The copper coins issued by Chandra Gupta II are commonly found around Ayodhyā (Allan, p. cxxxi).
1 The Maha-danda-nāyaka Harishena was the son of the Mahā-danda-nāyaka Dhruva-bhūti. The Mantrin Pșithivishena was the son of the Mantrin Sikharasvāmin. Cf. also the hereditary governors (goptri), of Mandasor, Surāshtra, etc. Things were somewhat different in the Maurya Period. Pushya Gupta, Rashtriya of Surāshtra in the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya, was quite unconnected by blood with Tushāspha, governor or feudatory in the time of Asoka.
