History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.Campbell, James M.
History
History of Gujarát: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume I, Part I.
Campbell, James M.
Gujarat (India) -- History
None of Kumáragupta's four inscriptions gives any historical or other
details regarding him. [201] But the number and the wide distribution
of his coins make it probable that during his long reign he maintained
his father's dominions intact.
Large numbers of Kumáragupta's coins of gold silver and copper have
been found. The gold which are of various types are inferior in
workmanship to his father's coins. The silver and copper coins are of
two varieties, eastern and western. Both varieties have on the obverse
the royal bust in the Kshatrapa style of dress. In the western pieces
the bust is a copy of the moustached Kshatrapa face with a corrupted
version of the corrupt Greek legend used by the Kshatrapas. The
only difference between the obverses of the Western Gupta and the
Kshatrapa coins is that the date is in the Gupta instead of in the
Kshatrapa era. On the reverse is an ill formed peacock facing front
as in Chandragupta II.'s coins. The legend runs:
Paramabhágavata Maharájádhirája Srí Kumáragupta Mahendráditya.
The great Vaishnava the supreme ruler of great kings, the illustrious
Kumáragupta Mahendráditya. [202]
In Kumáragupta's eastern silver and copper coins the bust on the
obverse has no moustache nor is there any trace of the corrupt Greek
legend. The date is in front of the face in perpendicular numerals one
below the other instead of behind the head as in the Kshatrapa and
Western Kumáragupta coins. On the reverse is a well-carved peacock
facing front with tail feathers at full stretch. Round the peacock
runs the clear cut legend:
Vijitávaniravanipati Kumáragupto devam jayati.
This legend is hard to translate. It seems to mean:
Kumáragupta, lord of the earth, who had conquered the kings of
the earth, conquers the Deva.
Probably the Deva whose name suggested the antithesis between the
kings of the earth and the gods was one of the Devaputra family of
Indo-Skythian rulers. [203]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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