Gupta & Post-Gupta Period: previous-year questions

Answer: (C) Skandagupta

Skandagupta (c. 455-467 CE) repelled the first Huna invasion, an achievement recorded in his Bhitari pillar inscription; his Junagadh rock inscription records the repair of the Sudarshana lake. Among the distractors, Samudragupta is known from Harishena's Allahabad pillar inscription for his conquests of other Indian kings ('Napoleon of India'); Chandragupta II Vikramaditya defeated the Western Kshatrapas (Shakas) and is linked with the Mehrauli iron pillar and Fa-Hien's visit; and Bhanugupta is mentioned in the Eran inscription (510 CE), the earliest epigraphic record of sati. In the next century the Huna chiefs Toramana and Mihirakula overran north India until Yashodharman of Malwa defeated Mihirakula (Mandsaur inscription).

Answer: (A) Harshavardhana

King Harshavardhana of Kannauj wrote three Sanskrit plays: Nagananda, Ratnavali and Priyadarsika. Kanishka, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II were patrons of learning but are not credited with these plays.

No option is correct as printed — this question is disputed. WBPSC awarded the mark to all candidates: two options are correct — Chandragupta II and Skandagupta both used the title Vikramaditya.

The question has two correct options: Chandragupta II is best known as Vikramaditya, but Skandagupta also used the title Vikramaditya on his coins. Because both (C) and (D) are correct, the Commission awarded the mark to all candidates; Chandragupta I and Samudragupta did not bear this title. PSC AWARDED TO ALL: two options are correct — Chandragupta II and Skandagupta both used the title Vikramaditya.

Answer: (A) Chandragupta II

Tradition credits Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) with the Navaratnas, nine learned men including Kalidasa, Amarasimha and Varahamihira. Samudragupta, Chandragupta I and Chandragupta Maurya are not linked with the Nine Jewels.

Answer: (A) Skandagupta

Skandagupta repulsed the Huna invasion around 455–460 CE, an achievement recorded in his Bhitari pillar inscription. The later Guptas, Budhagupta and others, could not hold back the next Huna wave under Toramana.

Answer: (B) Pulakeshin II

Pulakeshin II (c. 610–642) of the Chalukyas of Badami (Vatapi) stopped Harshavardhana on the banks of the Narmada, which then became the boundary between the two empires. The victory is recorded in the Aihole inscription (634 CE) composed by his court poet Ravikirti, and he took the title Dakshinapatheshvara. Hiuen Tsang visited his kingdom. He was finally defeated and killed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took the title Vatapikonda. Pulakeshin I founded the dynasty, Kirtivarman I was his son, and Mangalesha was the uncle whom Pulakeshin II overthrew to gain the throne.

Answer: (D) Kumaragupta I

Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar was founded in the fifth century by the Gupta ruler Kumaragupta I (c. 415–455), also called Shakraditya. Hiuen Tsang studied there under Shilabhadra in Harsha's time, I-tsing came later, and the Palas were its later patrons; it was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1200 and its ruins became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. Samudragupta is known from the Allahabad pillar inscription, Chandragupta II from Fa-Hien's visit and Skandagupta for repelling the Hunas. Vikramashila and Odantapuri were founded by the Palas.

Answer: (C) Huna king

Mihirakula (c. 515–540 CE), son of Toramana, was the most notorious Huna (White Hun or Hephthalite) ruler in India, with his capital at Sakala (Sialkot). A Shaiva, he is described by Hiuen Tsang as a persecutor of Buddhists. He was defeated by Yashodharman of Malwa (Mandasor inscription) and by the Gupta ruler Narasimhagupta Baladitya, and retired to Kashmir. Earlier, Skandagupta had repelled the first Huna invasion. Famous names from the other groups: Rudradaman I among the Shakas, Kanishka among the Kushanas and Gondophernes among the Pahlavas (Indo-Parthians).

Answer: (A) Satakarni I

The Nanaghat (Naneghat) cave inscription in the Western Ghats near Pune was issued by Queen Naganika (Nayanika), widow of the Satavahana king Satakarni I. It lists his Vedic sacrifices, including two Ashvamedhas, and calls him lord of Dakshinapatha. The achievements of Gautamiputra Satakarni are recorded in the Nasik prashasti of his mother Gautami Balashri; Vasishthiputra Pulumavi was his son, and Yajna Sri Satakarni, known for ship-type coins, was the last great Satavahana. The dynasty was founded by Simuka, had its capital at Pratishthana (Paithan) and used matronymics.

Answer: (C) Kalidasa

Kumarasambhavam ("Birth of Kumara") is a Sanskrit mahakavya by Kalidasa on the marriage of Shiva and Parvati and the birth of their son Kartikeya, who was to slay the demon Taraka. Kalidasa's other works are the epic Raghuvamsham, the lyric poems Meghadutam and Ritusamharam, and the plays Abhijnanashakuntalam, Malavikagnimitram and Vikramorvashiyam; he is associated with the court of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. Vishnu Sharma wrote the Panchatantra, Dandin the Dashakumaracharita and Kavyadarsha, and Somadeva the Kathasaritsagara.

Answer: (D) Ujjayini

Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (c. 375–415) conquered the Shaka (Western Kshatrapa) kingdom of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra, took the title Shakari, and made Ujjayini (Ujjain) his second capital alongside Pataliputra; this gave the Guptas access to the western ports such as Bharuch. Fa-Hien visited India in his reign, and the Mehrauli iron pillar is attributed to him. Vidisha (Besnagar) is known for the Heliodorus pillar, Malava is the name of the region around Ujjain rather than a city, and Valabhi was the later capital of the Maitrakas of Saurashtra.

Answer: (C) Samudragupta

The historian V. A. Smith called Samudragupta the 'Napoleon of India' because of the military campaigns recorded in his Allahabad Pillar inscription (Prayag Prashasti), composed by Harishena. Kumaragupta I is credited with founding Nalanda university. Skandagupta is remembered for repelling the Hunas, as recorded in his Bhitari pillar inscription. Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huna king Mihirakula, as claimed in his Mandsaur inscription.

Answer: (B) Gupta period

The Allahabad Pillar Inscription usually means the Prayag Prashasti of Samudragupta, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet Harishena, which belongs to the Gupta period. Maurya period is the tempting option, because the pillar itself was first raised by Ashoka and carries his edicts too; it also bears a later inscription of Jahangir. For the Kushan period, Kanishka's Rabatak inscription is a key source. For the Sakas, Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription is famous as the first long inscription in Sanskrit.

Answer: (A) Chandragupta I

The Gupta era begins in 319–320 AD, taken to mark the accession of Chandragupta I, the first Gupta to take the title Maharajadhiraja. He strengthened his position by marrying the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi. Samudragupta, his son, expanded the empire through the conquests recorded in the Allahabad Pillar inscription. Kumaragupta I is linked with the founding of Nalanda, and Budhagupta was a later Gupta ruler of the late 5th century.

Answer: (A) Chandragupta II Vikramaditya

Chandragupta II Vikramaditya was called Sakari ('destroyer of the Sakas') after he defeated the Western Kshatrapa (Saka) ruler Rudrasimha III and annexed Gujarat and Saurashtra. His court is traditionally said to have had the Navaratnas, including Kalidasa. Samudragupta is called the 'Napoleon of India'. Kumaragupta I founded Nalanda, and Skandagupta repelled the Hunas.

Answer: (C) Gaur

Shashanka was the king of Gauda (Gaur) in Bengal in the early 7th century, ruling from his capital Karnasuvarna, near present-day Murshidabad. He was the first major independent king of Bengal and a rival of Harshavardhana. Kanauj was Harsha's capital. Pataliputra had been the capital of the Mauryas and Guptas, and Assam (Kamarupa) was ruled by Bhaskaravarman, Harsha's ally against Shashanka.

Answer: (A) Chandragupta II Vikramaditya

Fa-Hien travelled in India in the early 5th century, during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, and described the country as peaceful and prosperous. Harshavardhana's reign is linked instead with Hiuen Tsang, the tempting option. Kharavela was a Jain king of Kalinga known from his Hathigumpha inscription near Bhubaneswar. Bimbisara of Magadha lived about a thousand years before Fa-Hien.

Answer: (B) Banabhatta

Banabhatta, the court poet of Harshavardhana, wrote the Harshacharita, a biography of Harsha, and the prose romance Kadambari. Nagarjuna was the Buddhist philosopher who founded the Madhyamika school of Mahayana. Aryabhata wrote the Aryabhatiya on mathematics and astronomy. Varahamihira wrote the Brihat Samhita and the Pancha Siddhantika.

Answer: (C) Eran inscription

The Eran pillar inscription of 510 CE (Madhya Pradesh), of the time of the Gupta ruler Bhanugupta, records that the wife of his general Goparaja burnt herself on her husband's pyre; it is the earliest epigraphic evidence of sati. The Aihole inscription is Ravikirti's eulogy of Pulakeshin II (it mentions his victory over Harsha), the Damodarpur copper plates record Gupta-period land sales in north Bengal, and Girnar has Ashoka's rock edicts along with Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription.

Answer: (D) Bisthi

Vishti (written 'Bisthi' here) was forced, unpaid labour that subjects owed to the king or the landholder; it is mentioned from the Mauryan period and became common in Gupta and post-Gupta land grants. The other terms are taxes: Shulka was toll or customs duty, Bali was at first a voluntary offering and later a compulsory tax, and Udranga was a tax on land (probably on permanent tenants). Also remember Bhaga, the king's customary one-sixth share of the produce.