Governing the Gupta empire

Coins and inscriptions show the grand titles Gupta kings used: mahārājādhirāja, samrāṭ and chakravartin. These claimed supreme power, above earlier kings who used simpler titles like rājan and mahārāja. A bigger title is a louder claim!

To grow and hold their empire, the Guptas used three methods:

• war (military conquest)
• diplomacy (talks and agreements)
• alliances, including matrimonial ones (marriages between royal families)

Remember Kauṭilya: allies (mitra) are one of a kingdom's seven limbs.

A famous example: Prabhāvatī Gupta, daughter of Chandragupta II, married a prince of the Vākāṭakas, the Guptas' southern neighbours.

Sadly, the Vākāṭaka prince died early, so she became the regent: someone who rules for a while on behalf of a king who can't yet rule himself.

As regent, she kept the Vākāṭaka–Gupta friendship strong. One inscription calls her 'mother of two kings', because both her sons later became Vākāṭaka kings. A marriage alliance turned into a real link between two powers, through her.

Like her father, she worshipped Viṣhṇu, and is linked to seven temples for him and his avatars. Some are at Ramagiri (Ramtek hill) in today's Maharashtra.

The Guptas didn't run everything from the centre. They divided the empire into provinces and granted land to local rulers, priests and chieftains.

Each grant was carefully written on a copper plate, a bit like a land registry. Archaeologists have found many of them! This kept records accurate, made tax collection work, and let local leaders keep some control. And copper lasts, which is why we can still read who was given what.