CHANDRA GUPTA II
Samudra Gupta was succeeded by Chandra Gupta II around AD 375. However, some historians put Rama Gupta between Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II. In the play Devichandraguptam of Visakhadatta, Rama Gupta is the elder brother of Chandra Gupta II. Finding his position precarious, :{{ama Gupta agrees to surrender Queen Dhruvadevi to a Shaka ruler. Chandra Gupta II objects to it and saves the honour of the family by killing the Shaka chief and rescuing Dhruvadevi. He later on marries her. However, the Gupta records do not refer to Rama Gupta.
Political marriages occupied a prominent place in the
foreign policy of the Guptas. Chandra Gupta II followed
the same policy when he conciliated the Naga chieftains of the upper and central provinces by accepting the hand of the princess Kubernaga and allied himself with the powerful family of the Vakatakas of the Deccan by marrying his daughter Prabhavati with Rudrasena II. Then Chandra Gupta II invaded the Shaka kingdom of Gujarat and Kathiawar, killed the Shaka chief Rudrasimha III and annexed the kingdom about AD 409. This helped him to extend the empire up to the shores of the Arabian Sea in the west which facilitated direct cultural and commercial relations with the western world. This contributed to the prosperity of Malwa, and its chief city Ujjain which was probably made the second capital by Chandra Gupta II.
The Mehrauli iron pillar inscription near Qutab Minar enumerates the exploits of a king called Chandra. If this king were Chandra Gupta II, he might have established Gupta authority in north-western India and in Bengal. Chandra Gupta II adopted the title of Vikramaditya. The court of Chandra Gupta II at Ujjain was adorned by many scholars like Kalidasa and Amarsimha. During his reign the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hsien (399-414) visited India.
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