Chandragupta I
Chandragupta I founded the Gupta Empire in northern India in the early fourth century, turning a minor local dynasty into an imperial power. His grandfather Sri Gupta and father Ghatotkacha are known from inscriptions only as maharaja, a title used by local rulers; Chandragupta is the first of the line styled maharajadhiraja, great king of kings. His reign is conventionally dated from about 320, the year from which the Gupta era was calculated, though whether that marks his accession or his coronation is not settled. The decisive act of his career was a marriage. He married Kumaradevi, a princess of the Licchavi, an old and prestigious clan controlling territory around Vaishali in northern Bihar. The alliance is commemorated on a distinctive series of gold coins showing the two of them on the obverse, named individually, with the legend Licchavayah — the Licchavis — on the reverse. Issuing coins that name a queen and her natal clan is unusual, and the emphasis suggests the connection was the source of his standing rather than an ornament to it. His son Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription describes him as the son of the daughter of the Licchavis, which carries the same implication. The territory he assembled probably covered Magadha, Saketa and Prayaga — roughly the middle Ganges plain — with Pataliputra as his capital. He was succeeded by Samudragupta, apparently chosen in preference to other sons, and the inscription's defensive tone about the selection hints at a disputed succession. The dynasty he began presided over the classical period of Indian art, mathematics and Sanskrit literature.
- Nationality: Indian
- Roles: emperor
