Gupta empire :

In the fourth century, a new dynasty emerged in North India. The name of this dynasty was
Gupta dynasty. This dynasty ruled for about 300 years. Many areas developed during the reign of this
dynasty. The founder of this dynasty was Shrigupta. In the Gupta lineage, there were rulers like
Shrigupta, Ghatotkacha, Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Ramgupta, Chandragupta II, Skandagupta.
There were three major rulers in this dynasty – Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II
(Vikramaditya).

List and explanation of rulars of gupta empire :

Chandragupta I:

Magadha's power and importance had ended in the Kushan period. Chandragupta I re-established it. He
extended Magadha up to Saket (Ayodhya) and Prayag (Allahabad). He ruled from Pataliputra. He
married a princess of the Lichchavi dynasty. Due to this relationship, the relations between Magadha
and the Lichchhavis improved and the prestige of the Gupta dynasty increased. Chandragupta assumed
the title of Maharajadhiraj.

Samudragupta:

Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta I. He was the greatest among all the Gupta rulers. He was a
skilled warrior, scholar, musician and poet. Along with this, he was also a skilled ruler. Despite being a
follower of Hinduism himself, he respected Buddhism and Jainism. He adopted a policy of tolerance
towards those religions.

Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya):

Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Chandragupta II. Its other name was also Devraj or Devgupta. It
was also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Information about this is available from the Mehrauli
Iron Pillar. It is believed that when Rajgupta agreed to hand over his wife Dhruvadevi to the Shaka ruler,
Chandragupta entered the Shaka camp and killed the Shaka ruler. Later he killed Ramgupta and married
Dhruvadevi and became the king himself.

Kumaragupta I:

Like Chandragupta I and II and Samudragupta, Kumaragupta I was also a great ruler of the Gupta
Empire. Information about his reign is found from Bhitari inscription, Bhilsad pillar inscription, Garhwa
inscription and Mankuwar idol inscription. Like many Gupta kings, Kumaragupta I also issued coins.
These coins give important information about his reign. He ruled for 40 years. Many names of
Kumaragupta are found in these inscriptions – Sri Mahendra, Ajitmahendra, Mahendratya, Mahendra
Kumar etc.

Skandagupta:
Skandagupta, the son of Kumaragupta, defeated the Shakas and the Hunas. He assumed the title of
Shakraditya. During this time the Huns had attacked several times from the north-west. The Gupta rulers
did not make arrangements for the security of the north-western frontier of the empire. Taking
advantage of this, the Huns attacked India, which weakened the Gupta Empire and began to decline.
After the decline of the Gupta Empire, several kingdoms emerged, the main ones being the kingdom of
Harshavardhana of Kanauj in North India and the Chalukyas of Vatapi and the Pallavas of Kanchipuram in
South India.