The imperial policy of Samudragupta.
The imperial policy of Samudragupta.
How was Samudragupta's North India campaign different from the South India campaign?
Samudragupta's imperial policy:-
Historical sources related to Samudragupta:-
The sources from which we can learn about Samudragupta and his imperial policy are -
(i) Allahabad Prasasthi written by Harisena.
(ii) Eran inscriptions found in Madhya Pradesh.
(iii) Five different types of coins issued by Samudragupta.
(iv) Chinese accounts.
(v) Other coins, Bagelkhand inscriptions - etc.
Purpose of Samudragupta's conquest:-
In the post-Mauryan era, there was disunity and chaos in the political field of India. Samudragupta wanted to establish political unity in India by conquering a large part of India. However, there is disagreement in historical circles about the purpose of Samudragupta's conquest. For example, according to Dr. Romila Thapar, Samudragupta devoted himself to expanding his empire to spread the Brahmin religion. Again, Dr. Goyal says - the main purpose of Samudragupta's expedition to South India was to plunder the vast resources of South India.
However, although there is disagreement in historical circles about the purpose of Samudragupta's conquest, there is no doubt that political unity was established in the whole of India as a result of his imperial policy.
Samudragupta's imperial policy can be divided into several parts. For example -
(A) North India or Aryavarta conquest.
(B) South India or Deccan conquest.
(C) Conquest of Atvik kingdoms.
(D) Expedition against border states.
(E) Subordinationist alliance policy.
(A) North India or Aryavarta conquest:-
Samudragupta defeated nine kings of North India and incorporated their empires into his kingdom. These nine kings were -
1. Achyuta, the ruler of Ahichhatra.
2. Nagasena of Central India.
3. Ganapatinag, the Naga dynasty, king of Mathura.
4. Rudradeva, the Vakataka king.
5. Motil of Bundelshahar.
6. Nagadatta, the ruler of Vidisha.
7. Chandravarman, the ruler of Gokarna.
8. Balvarman, the king of Kamarupa.
9. King Nandin of the Naga dynasty.
Samudragupta defeated these nine kings of North India and incorporated their kingdoms into his empire. In this way, political unity was established in the entire Aryavarta, i.e., North India.
(B) South India or Deccan conquest:-
He conquered a total of twelve kingdoms in South India. These twelve kingdoms are - 1. Mahendra of Kosala, 2. Tyaghraraja of Mahakantar, 3. Mantaraja of Kaural, 4. Mahendragiri of Pishthapuram, 5. Dhananjaya of Kusthalpur, 6. Kubera of Devarashtra, 7. Swamidatta of Kottur, 8. Ugrasena of Palakka, 9. Daman of Erandapalla, 10. Nilraja of Avamukta, 11. Vishnugopa of Kanchi, 12. Hastivarman of Bengi.
Despite defeating these twelve kings of South India, Samudragupta did not incorporate their kingdoms into his empire. Samudragupta limited his Deccan policy only by taking taxes and oaths of allegiance. Through this political policy, Samudragupta showed his profound diplomatic foresight. He realized that it was not possible to control the entire Deccan from faraway Magadha. This policy is known as ''Graha - Moksha - Parigrah''.
(C) Victory of the Atvik kingdoms:-
The third stage of Samudragupta's conquest was the campaign against the Atvik kingdoms. He realized the need to conquer these Atvik kingdoms to conduct military campaigns in South India. If he could not conquer the forested areas of the Atvik kingdoms, it would have created obstacles in the South India campaign. Therefore, Samudragupta launched a campaign against the Atvik kingdoms and almost completely subordinated the Atvik kingdoms to the Gupta empire and made them slaves.
(D) Campaign against the border states and gaining their allegiance:-
Frightened by Samudragupta's conquest, almost every state and their kings in the eastern and western border regions unconditionally accepted Samudragupta's allegiance. Samatata, Kamarupa, Nepal, Davaka and Kartrapura - these five border states accepted Samudragupta's submission. In addition, almost nine tribal kingdoms of India also accepted the submission of Samudragupta. These tribal kingdoms are - Malva, Arjunayana, Madrak, Prajna, Kaka - etc.
(E) Subordinate alliance policy: -
Apart from the above kingdoms, several kingdoms entered into a subordinate alliance policy with Samudragupta. These kingdoms are - Singhalraja Meghavarna, Malvaraj, the Sakas of Kathiawar, the rulers of Sumatra, Malaya and Java. Also, the Kushan rulers of Western Punjab and Afghanistan, fearing the Persian invasion, sought the help of Samudragupta.
Expansion of Samudragupta's empire: -
Following the above five conquest policies, Samudragupta established a large empire and through this India became a united empire and political unity was established. Samudragupta's empire extended from Kashmir in the north; to West Punjab, Rajputana, Sindh and Gujarat in the west; to the Brahmaputra River in the east and to the Narmada River in the south. There were also numerous tributary states, loyal states and allied states. Historian Smith has called Samudragupta the 'Napoleon of India' due to his successful policy of conquest.
Differences in Samudragupta's imperialist policies in North India and South India: -
Samudragupta defeated nine kings of North India and incorporated their kingdoms into his empire; but although he defeated twelve kings of South India, he did not incorporate their kingdoms into his empire. He was satisfied only with collecting taxes and swearing allegiance. This incident is historically significant. Because -
1. Samudragupta, who possessed outstanding diplomatic power, realized that it was not possible to maintain control over the Deccan from far away Magadha.
2. If the Deccan was directly occupied, the size of the Gupta Empire would have become huge. As a result, the weakness of the empire was inevitable.
3. The lifestyle and culture of the Aryavartas and the Deccan were completely different. Therefore, even if the Deccan was incorporated into the empire, it would not have been possible to establish cultural harmony with them.
4. If the provincial rulers and nobles of the Deccan declared rebellion, it would have become a cause of unnecessary worry for the Gupta Empire.
5. Samudragupta turned the Deccan princes into his allies by returning their kingdoms. This event was important in strengthening the Gupta Empire.
For all these reasons, Samudragupta adopted the policy of ''Grahan-Moksha-Parigrah'' in South India. This meant - conquering or accepting the enemy, giving the enemy freedom or Moksha and taking an oath of allegiance, returning the enemy his kingdom or Parigrah. Samudragupta's Deccan policy is an indication of his outstanding diplomatic knowledge.
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