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seventh century, the Chinese pilgrim says:-" Not long ago the king, She-shang-kia, who persecuted and sought to abolish the Law of Buddha, tried also to destroy the stone which bore the holy impressions of his feet." As She-shang-kia is not included by Hwan Thsang amongst the five kings who reigned over Magadha previous to Siladitya's conquest, he must be looked for amongst the predecessors of Budha Gupta. Of these, the only one whose name at all resembles She-shang-kia is Skanda; and as his Tántrika zeal would naturally have led him to persecute the Buddhists, there is every probability in favour of the proposed identification. It is also not unlikely that the rebellion of Skanda Gupta's minister may have been caused by his persecution of Buddhism. But the followers of Sákya recovered their influence; and the holy stone, which She-shang-kia had thrown into the Ganges, was restored to its original position, where it was seen by Hwán Thsang about A. D. 642.

26. The interval between the death of Skanda Gupta and the date of Budha Gupta's pillar at Eran is only thirty-two years;* and as Hwan Thsang places Lo-kia-lo-a-yi-to (perhaps Lokáditya) as the immediate predecessor of Budha Gupta, a reign of about twenty-five years might be assigned to him to connect the series of the earlier Guptas found in the Pillar inscriptions with the later series recorded by the Chinese pilgrim. In the Seoni copperplate grants there is mention of Deva Gupta, a paramount soveFrom 133 to 165, Anno Guptæ.

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reign whose authority was acknowledged by the petty Rajas of the Narbada. He must therefore have been one of the Magadha dynasty; and he might either be placed between the two series of Guptas, or be identified with the first of Hwan Thsang's princes. As Lo-kia-lo-a-yi-to is evidently some title, such as Lokáditya, "Sun-of-the-world," similar to those which we know were assumed by other members of this dynasty, it seems quite probable that Deva Gupta and Lo-kia-lo-a-yi-to were one and the same person.

27. The name of Budha Gupta, "cherished by Budha," refers so distinctly to his own faith that there can be no hesitation in classing him amongst the royal followers of Sákya. His pillar inscription is dated in the Gupta year 165, or A. D. 484; and I suppose that he may have reigned from about 480 to 510 A. D. During this period, in A. D. 502, the Chinese record an embassy sent by the "King of India," named Keu-to (that is, Gutto or Gupta), to the Emperor of China with presents of crystal vases, perfumes, precious talismans, and other articles. The "kingdom of India" is afterwards described to be the country watered by the Ganges and its affluents; that is, Magadha as it existed under the Guptas, which included Magadha proper, and all the tributary provinces between the Himálayan and Vindhyan mountains. This vast empire was possessed by four Gupta

Prinsep's Journal, v. 730, " Maharajadhiraja ;" that is, the King of Kings.

+ Chinese account of India, in Prinsep's Journal, vi. 65.

princes, the predecessors of Budha Gupta; and there is sufficient evidence to prove that his sway was equally extensive. He is mentioned by Hwan Thsang amongst the kings of Magadha; he is called, in the Eran pillar inscription, king of the "beautiful country situated between the Kálindi and the Narmada," or Jumna and Narbada; and his silver coins are of the Gujrat type of the Sáhs of Surashtra, which was used by his predecessors, Kumára and Skanda. Mr. Thomas doubts the accuracy of James Prinsep's reading of Kálindi; but I can vouch for its correctness, as I have examined the inscription carefully, and am now writing with a fac-simile before me. What Mr. Thomas calls the very legible r over the concluding compound letter is only the long vowel i. The name is perfectly distinct on the pillar.

28. According to Hwan Thsang, Budha Gupta was succeeded by Tha-ka-ta-kiu-to, or Takta Gupta ; but his dominions must have been confined to Magadha proper, as we learn from the inscription on the colossal Varáha Avatár, at Eran, that the paramount sovereign Toramána possessed all the country about Bhupâl and southern Bundelkhand not many years after the elevation of Budha Gupta's pillar; for the pillar was erected by Vaidala Vishnu, at the expense of his cousin Dhanya Vishnu, while the colossal Boar was set up by Dhanya Vishnu himself. The death of Budha Gupta, and the accession of Toramána, Fo-kwe-ki, Appendice. + Prinsep's Journal, vi. 634.

*

therefore both took place during the life-time of Dhanya Vishnu. But there must have been an interval of some years between the two events, as Dhanya's elder brother, Mátri Vishnu, who is not even mentioned in the pillar inscription, had since assumed the title of Maháraja, and was then dead. Dhanya himself then became regent, apparently to the young prince, Toramána; for, in another inscription from the Fort of Gwalior, I find Toramána described as the son of Mátri Dása, and the grandson of Mátrikula, who is probably the same as Matri Vishnu. As the celebrated hill of Udayagiri is mentioned in the Gwalior inscription, there can be little doubt of the identity of the two Toramánas, and of the consequent extension of the principality of Eran to the banks of the Jumna. The reign of Toramána* probably extended from A. D. 520 to 550, contemporary with Takta Gupta of Magadha.

29. From this time until the conquests of Siladitya, King of Malwa, in the early part of the seventh century, nothing certain is known of the history of India. Takta Gupta was succeeded by Nara Gupta Baladitya, and he was succeeded by Vajra, who was reigning when Siladitya conquered Magadha. According to Hwan Thsang, this warlike prince "fought battles such as had never been seen before," and all the northern provinces submitted to him. Hwan Thsang

Mr. Prinsep read this king's name as Tárapáni; but I have examined the inscription myself, and can state positively that the name is Toramána.

visited his court in A. D. 642; and from him* we learn that the king sent an embassy with a present of books to the Chinese Emperor. This present proves that Siladitya was a follower of Buddha, for none but Bauddha works would have been acceptable to the Buddhist Emperor of China.

30. At the time of Hwan Thsang's visit, Buddhism was rapidly declining, many of the monasteries were in ruins, and temples of the heretical Brahmans were rising on all sides. At Benares there were one hundred heretical temples, and ten thousand heretics who worshipped Iswara,† while the Bauddhas had only thirty monasteries, and some three thousand monks and their disciples. Beyond the city, however, at the great temple in the Deer Park, there were about fifteen hundred monks and disciples; but altogether in this once holy place, where Buddha preached the law, there were twice as many heretics as Buddhists. In Kalinga, also, the faithful were few, and the heretics very numerous. But, notwithstanding this spread of heretical opinions, the rulers of the land were still attached to Buddhism. The King of Chichi-to, Jajavati (that is, modern Bundelkhand), was a firm believer in the three precious ones,§ Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The great Siláditya of Malwa and Magadha was a Buddhist, and these two coun

Fo-kwe-ki, Appendice.

+ Fo-kwe-ki, c. xxxiv. note.
Fo-kwe-ki, Appendice, p. 389.
Fo-kwe-ki, Appendice, p. 393.

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