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568 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
founts of the vivifying liquid, and smiles with the flowers of its forest glens."
Like his father, Kumāra was a tolerant king. During his rule the worship of Svāmî Mahāsena (Kārttikeya ), of Buddha. of Śiva in the linga form and of the sun, as well as that of Vishņu, flourished peacefully side by side. 1
The two notable events of Kumāra's reign are the celebration of the horse sacrifice, evidenced by the rare Ašvamedha type of his gold coinage, and the temporary eclipse of the Gupta power by the Pushyamitras. The reading Pushyamitra in the Bhitari inscription is, however, not accepted by some scholars because the second syllable of this name is damaged. Mr. H. R. Divekar in his article "Pusyamitras in the Gupta Period”makes the plausible emendation Yudhy=amitrāmś= ca for Dr. Fleet's reading Pusyamitrās = ca in the Bhitari Pillar Inscription. It is admitted on all hands that during the concluding years of Kumāra's reign the Gupta empire "had been made to totter." Whether the reference in the inscription is simply to amitras (enemies), or to Pushyamitras, cannot
1 Cf. the Bilsa, Mankuwār, Karamadāņde and Mandasor inscriptions. Siva appears to have been the favourite deity of many high ministers, Vishņu of the most powerful ruling race and the sun of traders and artisans in the early Gupta period. The expression Jitam Bhagabatā appears to have been popularised by the king. His example seems to have been followed by Mādhava Ganga of Penukonda plates (Ep. Ind. XIV. 334), Vishnuvarman i Kadamba of Hebbata grant (Mys. A.S., A. R, 1925. 98), Nandivarman Pallava of Udayendiram (Ep. Ind, III. 145) and other kings of the south. The popularity of the cult of Kārttikeya is well illustrated not only by the sanctuaries erected in his honour, but also by the names Kumāra and Skanda assumed by members of the imperial family, and the issue of the peacock type of coins by the emperor Kumāra Gupta I. The Gupta empire reached the zenith of its splendour before its final decline in the time of the originator of the 'peacock' coins, as a later empire did in the days of the builder of the peacock-throne.
2 Cf. Fleet, CII, p. 55 n. 3 Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1919-20, 99 f. 4 CII, iii, p. 55.
