Later Gupta dynasty

The Later Gupta dynasty, also known as the Later Guptas of Magadha, were the rulers of Magadha and Malwa from the 6th to 8th centuries CE. The Later Guptas emerged after the disintegration of the Imperial Guptas. However, there is no evidence to connect the two dynasties and the Later Guptas may have adopted the -gupta suffix to link themselves with the Imperial Guptas.^[4]

Later Gupta dynasty
c. 490 CE–c. 750 CE
"Swordsman type" gold coin of Mahasenagupta from the 6th century CE. On the obverse, the King is shown holding a sword in his left hand. On the reverse, a Goddess is shown seated in a lotus pose.[1]
South Asia 600 CE MORIS PANDYAS LICCHAVIS CHOLAS ZHANGZHUNG CHERAS SAMATATAS GAUDA KAMARUPA VISHNU- KUNDINAS PALLAVAS ALUPAS NEZAKS ALCHONS KALINGAS PANDUVAMSHIS SHAILODBHAVAS GONANDAS MAUKHARIS WESTERN TURKS TOCHARIANS MAITRAKAS RAIS PRATIHARAS PUSHYA- BHUTIS CHALUKYAS EARLY KALA- CHURIS SASANIAN EMPIRE ◁ ▷ The later Gupta dynasty at its zenith, and its neighbours.[2]
Capital	Pataliputra
Religion	Hinduism Buddhism[3]
Government	Monarchy
History
• Established	c. 490 CE
• Disestablished	c. 750 CE
Preceded by Succeeded by Gupta Empire Alchon Huns Maukharis of Kannauj Maukharis of Gaya Varman dynasty (Kannauj)

There are several important sources of information regarding the Later Guptas including two epigraphs, the Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena, which sets out the genealogy of the ruling family from Kṛṣṇagupta to Ādityasena, and the Deo Baranark inscription of Jīvitagupta II. The Harshacharita of Bāṇabhaṭṭa is also an important source of information as are the records of the Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang and Yijing which also mentions them. The Gaudavaho of Vākpatirāja refers to the victory of King Yashovarman of the Varman dynasty against the king of Magadha, with the scholarly consensus being that this is a reference to Jīvitagupta II.^[5][6]

Origins

The general consensus among researchers of the period including John Faithfull Fleet, Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha and Ram Shankar Tripathi,^[7] is that the Later Guptas emerged from the Magadha region of what is now Bihar in India. The reasoning behind this is that all inscriptions relating to the dynasty have been found in this region. A Nepalese inscription also refers to King Ādityasena as the "Lord of Magadha". They were likely originally feudatories under the Imperial Guptas and came into possession of large territories in Magadha following the fall of the Empire.^[8]

Hans T. Bakker also agrees that the bulk of the evidence points to Magadha as the homeland of the Later Guptas.^[9]

History

Kyrgyzs

CHAM-
PA

576

CHENLA

FIRST TURKIC KHAGANATE

SASANIAN
EMPIRE

ALCHON
HUNS

CHALU-
KYAS

LATER
GUPTAS

NORTH.
ZHOU

NORTH.
QI

ZHANGZHUNG

CHEN

BYZANTINE
EMPIRE

AVAR
KHAGANATE

TUYUHUN

Khitans

Paleo-Siberians

Tungus

GOGU-
RYEO

Tocharians

The Later Gupta and main polities in Central Asia and South Asia c. 576.

After the decline of the Gupta Empire, the Later Guptas succeeded them as the rulers of Magadha.^[4] The daughter of the dynasty's founder Krishnagupta is said to have married prince Adityavarman of the Maukhari dynasty. According to the Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena, Krishnagupta's grandson Jivitagupta carried out military expeditions in the Himalayan region and southwestern Bengal.^[10]

During the reign of Jivitagupta's son Kumaragupta, the dynasty developed a rivalry with the Maukharis for control of the Ganges valley.^[5] Kumaragupta defeated the Maukhari king Ishanavarman in 554 CE, and extended his territory to Prayaga. His son Damodaragupta suffered reverses against the Maukharis and was pushed back into Magadha.^[10]

Damodaragupta's son Mahasenagupta allied with the Pushyabhuti dynasty. His sister married the ruler Adityavardhana. He invaded Kamarupa and defeated Susthita Varman.^[10] But he subsequently faced three invaders: the Maukhari king Sharvavarman, the Kamarupa king Supratishthita-varman, and the Tibetan king Songtsen. His vassal Shashanka also abandoned him (and later established the independent Gauda Kingdom). The Maukhari king Sharvavarman is thought to have defeated Damodaragupta, invading Magadha circa 575 CE, which made him ruler of the entire Uttar Pradesh.^[11][12] Under these circumstances, Mahasenagupta was forced to flee Magadha, and take shelter in Malwa. Subsequently, the Pushyabhuti emperor Harsha (ruled c. 606 – c. 647 CE) restored the Later Gupta rule in Magadha, and they ruled as Harsha's vassals.^[4]

After Harsha's death, the Later Gupta ruler Adityasena became the sovereign ruler of a large kingdom extending from the Ganges in the north to the Chhota Nagpur in the south; and from Gomati River in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east.^[13] However, he was defeated by the Chalukyas.^[14]

Jivitagupta II, the last known ruler of the dynasty, still ruled Magadha and parts of Bengal into the beginning of the 8th century^[15] however he appears to have been defeated by Yashovarman of the Varman dynasty of Kannauj circa 750 CE.^[13]

Archaeology

Remains of a Vishnu temple built by King Adityasena of the Later Gupta dynasty in Aphsad, Nawada district

The remains of a 7th-century temple dedicated to Vishnu were found by the ASI in the area of Apshad in modern-day Nawada district of Bihar during excavations between 1973 and 1983.^[16] The building of the temple has been connected to King Ādityasena of the Later Gupta dynasty on the basis of an inscription in nearby Mandar Parvat which attributes the building of a Vishnu temple from the same period to Ādityasena. The temple measured 15 metres in height, composed of five stories and was described as being a "rectangular pyramidal brick structure".^[16] Within the temple are stucco reliefs depicting scenes from the Ramayana.^[17] Sculptures including a well-preserved Vishnu have also been found in and around the site of Apshad from the Later Gupta period.^[18] Many of the shrines within the modern village of Aphsad contain statues dating back to the Later Gupta period which are still used for worship amongst the locals to this day.^[16]

Later Gupta period sculpture of Vishnu from Apshad

Coinage

Coinage from the reign of the Later Gupta kings has been relatively scarce. So far the only coins discovered are from the period of Mahasenagupta who ruled from 562-601 CE. The numismatic evidence makes it clear that the Later Guptas were devout Shaivites with depictions of Nandi replacing the depictions of Garuda that were present in the coinage of the imperial Guptas. Two types of coinage from Mahasenagupta's reign have been discovered, the "archer type" and the "swordsman type".^[1]

Foreign relations

The Later Guptas maintained marital ties with their neighbours. One inscription in Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu records the marriage of the granddaughter of Adityasena to Shivadeva II who belonged to the Licchavis of Nepal.^[19]

During the reign of Jivitagupta in 539, the Later Guptas received a delegation of Buddhist monks sent by the Liang Emperor Wu who came with the purpose of collecting and translating original copies of Mahayana sutras to take back to China. The delegation was warmly received by Jivitagupta, who assigned the task of translating the texts to the monk, Paramartha.^[3] During the reign of Adityasena in the latter half of the 7th century, a Chinese Buddhist monk named Hwui Li visited the Later Gupta kingdom. Hwui Li translates Adityasena's name as "Sun Army" and records that he built a "Chinese temple" (tohina) specifically to house visiting priests from China. It is speculated that Adityasena himself may have been a Buddhist.^[3]

During the time of the Later Guptas, the Tibetan Empire had influence to the north of Magadha in Tirhut until around 703 CE. The threat of the Tibetans may have pushed the Later Guptas to ally with the Maukharis and Licchavis for a time. Once the Tibetans had left Tirhut, it was probably annexed by the Later Guptas during the reign of Jivitagupta II.^[20]

List of rulers

The known Later Gupta rulers include:^[21][22][23]

• Nrpa Shri Krishnagupta (Kṛṣṇagupta), r. c. 490-505 CE
• Deva Shri Harshagupta (Harṣagupta), r. c. 505-525 CE
• Shri Jivitagupta I, r. c. 525-550 CE
• Shri Kumaragupta, r. c. 550-560 CE
• Shri Damodaragupta, r. c. 560-562 CE
• Shri Mahasenagupta, r. c. 562-601 CE
• Shri Devagupta, r. c. 601-605 CE (As king of eastern part of the Later Gupta kingdom after defeat of his father)
• Shri Madhavagupta, r. c. 601-655 CE (Queen: Shrimati)
• Maharajadhiraja Ādityasena, r. c. 655-680 CE (Queen: Konadevi)
• Maharajadhiraja Devagupta, r. c. 680-700 CE (Queen: Kamaladevi)
• Maharajadhiraja Vishnugupta (Viṣnugupta) (Queen: Ijjadevi)
• Maharajadhiraja Jivitagupta II

Possible descendants

Guptas of Jayapura

A small kingdom that ruled the area around Lakhisarai district during the 11th and 12th centuries bore the name Gupta and have subsequently been linked as a surviving line of the Later Guptas.^[24] Evidence of their rule comes from the Panchob copper-plate inscription which was discovered in 1919.^[25]

Gallery

• 
  Four Armed Goddess from the Later Gupta period excavated from Mundeshwari Temple and currently kept at the Bihar Museum
• 
  Sculpture of Vishnu from the Later Gupta period found in Benisagar in Singhbhum, Jharkhand
• 
  Archer type coinage of King Mahasenagupta
• 
  The Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena (r. c. 655-680 CE) establishes the genealogy of the Later Gupta dynasty down to Ādityasena.