Inscription number 9
Ramagupta was the elder son and successor of the Samudragupta.
He was a very kind and generous king and distributed money to the poor, free food and various other resources of his empire. He became follower of Buddhism and always worked for the welfare of his people. He earned a very good name & fame among common people of Gupta empire. He reduced taxes on the farm produce and various other commodities of his empire & this generosity of the king, led to emptying of treasury & depletion of important resources of the empire. Gupta empire suffered adversely both militarily and economically. This had become very difficult to make the nation, militarily strong, as the kingdom had scarcity of financial resources. There was no money left to purchase military equipment & maintain big army.
Downfall of the empire started consequently.
It is understood that Ramagupta had to face humiliation by his Shaka enemy, Devaputra-Shahi-Shanushahi, and he had surrendered his wife Dhruva Devi to him. But Chandragputa 2, later on killed the kushan king and married Dhruvadevi, who is mentioned as Chandragupta’s queen in various other records of Gupta era. As per a few historians, he killed his brother Ramagupta also but no evidences are available to prove this theory.
However the official Gupta genealogy does not mention Ramagupta, as successor of gupta dynasity. Three undated inscriptions, written in a variety of Gupta script discovered in central India, mention a king called Ramagupta: this seems to attest the existence of a Gupta emperor named Ramagupta. Some coins discovered in central India have also been attributed to Ramagupta, but this attribution has not been unanimously accepted by many historians.
The theory that Ramagupta was a historical person and part of Gupta genealogy is supported by theI inscriptions attributed to Ramagupta .
The Eran inscription of Samudragupta mention that his queen Datta-devi had many sons and grandsons, although this cannot be confirmed with certainty because the inscription is mutilated and is not legible.
Durjanpura Inscriptions of three Jain Images of the time of Maharajadhiraja Ramagupta, were found in Village Durjanpura, 3 kilometres from Besnagar (ancient
Vidisa) Vidisa District, Madhya Predesh.
Script of the inscription is Gupta Brahmi of the 4th century and
Language is Sanskrit .
References: G.S. Gai, Ep.Ind,.. XXXVIII pp.46-49..
Footnote
1. These Inscriptions are vey important because they supply the only epigraphical evidence in addition to two coins mentioning his name. of Maharajadhiraja Ramagupta, evidently of the imperial Gupta family to correlate the testimony of Visakhadatta’s play. the DeviChandraguptas regarding his
historicity
2. From Ep.Ind.XXXVIII Pls.I-II.
3. cf. Inscription on Image B. 1.3, below. The word क्षमण is
from क्षम to forgive or be patient. It is evidently used for क्षपण ( Jain mendicant) from the क्षप to be
abstinent. do penance.
English Translation of the inscription
Image A
This image of the Lord Arhat Chandraprabha has been
got to be made by the Maharajadhiraja Sri Ramagupta on the advice of Chelu-kshamana, who is the son of Golakyanti (and) who was the pupil of the Acharya Sarpasena kshamana, who
in turn was tne grand-pupil of (pupil’s pupil) of the Jain saint.
Kshamana Chandra Kshamanacharya, who used his hands for dinner plates.
Image B
This image of the Lord Arhat Pushpadanta is got to be
made by Maharajadhiraja Sri Ramagupta, on the advice of
the grand-pupil of the Jain
saint Kshamana chandra kshamanacharya, who uses his hands as eating plates. who is (or was)
in charge of ——-
Image C
The image of the Lord. the Arhat Padmaprabha, was got
made by the Maharajadhiraja Sri Ramagupta an the advice of the
(grand-pupil) of the Panipatri – –
— – –
Footnote
1. The right fork of म is curved downward.
2. Not deciphered by G.S. Gai.
3. This inscription is badly effaced. The traces of some letters in 1.1 can be
deciphered with difficulty.
The rest of the lines are totally illegible.
I have reproduced the first half of 1.2 from Gai’s reading.