Essay, Biography or Paragraph on “Samudragupta” complete biography for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Samudragupta

India: A ruler of many talents

Samudragupta shall ever be remembered for his multi-faceted personality. He could be compared to Alexander the Great, for his conquests; to Ashoka the Great, for his religious tolerance and empire building. Indeed, he was a brave and talented ruler who carved a high niche in Indian history as he brought about political unity and stability within the country. Because of Samudragupta’s achievements, the Gupta period in Indian history is referred to as the ‘Golden age’.

His father Chandragupta-I was the founder of Gupta dynasty. Samudragupta showed early signs of his talents and promise and as such his father nominated him as his successor. He ascended the throne about .A.D 330. Many lesser rulers revolted against him but he suppressed their rebellion. He dreamt of making India as a country of united hues of religion, caste and class under his rule. Many of his edicts commemorate his victorious campaigns. First of all, he subdued the kingdoms of Doaba (the Ganga-Jamuna region). The prominent kingdoms defeated by him included those of Mathura, Achhyut and Ganpatinag across northern

India. They were annexed into the Gupta empire. He conquered the 18 principalities of Atviks around Nagpur in the south which boosted his morale. He conquered twelve kingdoms across the south which included ‘Madras, Kanchi, Chola, Chera and Pandya . He displayed forsightedness and liberal humanism when he returned the conquered kingdoms to their rulers if they accepted his suzerainty and agreed to pay him annual tribute.

In the third phase of his conquests, the rulers of north-eastern kingdoms accepted him as their suzerain. These kingdoms were of Bengal, Assam; Nepal, Kumaon, Garhwal and Rohilkhand.

In the fourth phase of his victorious campaign, he subdued rulers from Delhi to Malwa. The rulers of Malwa, Abhir and Mudrak accepted him as their emperor. In this way, Samudragupta’s domain spread from Himalayas in the north to Narmada in the south, as well as from Yamuna in the west to Hooghly in the east. The Shak, Kushan and rulers of Sinhala island were also his dependants. Malaya, Java and Sumatra also accepted his pre-eminence. The ruler of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, sought his permission to establish a monastery at Bodh Gaya.

Samudragupta organised an ashvamedh yagna to celebrate his victory. Brahmins were distributed their share of gold and thousands of cows. A gold coin with the inscription of his edicts was struck on the occasion. Samudragupta was a liberal and kind-hearted ruler. He worshipped Lord Vishnu and also allowed everyone to worship, the Almighty in any manner they liked. He had many Buddhist scholars at his court.

Samudragupta was known for his encouragement to art. By virtue, he was an accomplished ‘veena’ player and one of his coins depict him as playing veena’. He was a poet and wrote many books and was well versed in religious scriptures. The Gupta period was marked with rulers of distinction. It is called the ‘Golden age’ of Indian history. India made multi-faceted progress under them. She was politically strong and economically prosperous during that era. There have been few rulers who were as enlightened and brave as Samudragupta who cared for the learned men like Harishenu, Asang and Vasuvandhu in his court.

Samudragupta unified the country. He provided a strong central rule with liberal political freedom to local rulers. Smith has written “Samudragupta was a man of extraordinary capabilities. He was a warrior, capable ruler, learned man, poet and musician, all rolled into one”. He ruled for four decades during which he put the country on the road to overall progress and achievements. He was succeeded by his son Chandragupta Vikramaditya.