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SECTION II. KUMĀRA GUPTA I MAHENDRĀDITYA.
Chandra Gupta Il's successor was Kumāra Gupta Il surnamed Mahendrāditya? whose certain dates range from A.D. 415 to A.D. 455.3 His extensive coinage, and the wide distribution of his inscriptions show that he was able to retain his father's empire including the central and western provinces. * One of his viceroys, Chirātadatta, governed Pundravardhana Biruleti or roughly North
1 The Mandasor inscription of the Mālava year 524 suggests that Kumāra may have had a rival in his brother prince Govinda Gupta. In the record Indra
(? Kumāra, who is styled Sri Mahendra and Mahendrakarmā on coins ) is represented as being suspicious of Govinda's power. Ep. Ind., XIX, App. No. 7 and n. 5.
2 Also called Sri Mahendra (on coins of the Archer type), Aśvamedha Mahendra (on coins of the Aśvamedha type), Mahendrakarmā, Ajita Mahendra (on coins of the horseman type and sometimes on the lion-slayer type), Simha Mahendra (on coins of the lion-slayer type), Sri Mahendra Simha (also on coins of the lion-slayer type), Mahendra Kumāra on coins of the peacock type ), Mahendra-Kalpa (Tumain Ins.). Simha Vikrama (on coins of the lion-slayer type ; Allan, Gupta Coins, p. 80). Vyāghra bala-parākrama (on coins of the tiger-slayer type ) and Sri Pratāba. On the swordsman type of gold coins and on copper coins of the Garuda and possibly simha-vāhini types the emperor is simply called Sri Kumāra Gupta. The title Mahendrāditya with the epithet Parama bhāgavata, 'devoted worshipper of the Bhagavat (Vishnu-Krishna ),' is found on silver coins, apparently struck in Surashtra.
3 The date 96 (= A.D. 415) is found in the Bilsar Inscription and the date 136 ( = A.D. 455 ) on silver coins (EHI, 4th ed., pp. 345-46). The Eran inscription of Samudra Gupta refers to his 'virtuous and faithful wife and many sons and son's sons of the royal pair. From this it seems probable that Kumāra Gupta and his brothers were already born during the reign of their grandfather, and that Kumāra had seen not less than some thirty five summers before his accession. As he reigned for at least forty years, he could not have died before the age of 75 (approximately).
4 The possession of the central districts in the Ganges valley is, according to Allan, confirmed by the silver coins of the peacock type (cf. the Ayodhya coins of Aryamitra, CHI, I. 538 ), and the inclusion of the western province by those of the Garuda type. Silver plaited coins with a copper core were intended for circulation in the Valabhi area, and coins of small thick fabric resembling the Traikutaka coinage were apparently struck in South Gujarāt (Allan, pp. xciii ff.).
