The Imperial Guptas : A Multidisciplinary Political Study

Contents: Publishers' Preface. Author's Preface. 1. Changing attitudes of historians to Gupta history and the need of a multidisciplinary integral approach. 2. Sources of Gupta history: new methods of interpretation. 3. Original home and social milieu of the imperial Guptas. 4. Rise of the Gupta dynasty: the first three rulers. 5. Samudragupta Parakramanka (i): Factors determining the nature of his conquests and empire. 6. Samudragupta Parakramanka (ii): Chakravarti of the Gupta dynasty. 7. Samudragupta Parakramanka (iii): Gupta political influence beyond the imperial frontiers. 8. Chandragupta II Vikramaditya: further expansion of the empire. 9. Kumaragupta I Mahendraditya: Pinnacle of Gupta glory. 10. Skandagupta Vikramaditya: empire under internal and external pressures. 11. Immediate successors of Skandagupta upto Budhagupta: beginning of the decline and disintegration of the empire. 12. Successors of Budhagupta: the tripartite struggle and the collapse of the Gupta empire. Select bibliography. Genealogy of the imperial Guptas. Chronology. Index.

"The present research work on the Imperial Guptas by Professor S.R. Goyal will blaze, we believe, a new trail in the historiography of ancient Indian political history, for it looks upon the history of the imperial Guptas not from the traditional 'what and when happened approach' but from multidisciplinary integral standpoint in which main political developments and events are put in their proper context by an analysis of their determining influences--social, economic, religious, geographical, etc. with the help of other branches of knowledge, of course without overlooking the need of reconsidering the 'what and when happened' problems afresh, wherever necessary. For example, on such problems as the social origin and original home of the Guptas, location of their capital, Chandragupta I-Kumaradevi coins, early and later chronology of the Guptas, place of Kacha in Gupta history, nature of Samudragupta's conquests and empire, place of Ramagupta in Gupta dynasty, identity of Chandra of the Meharauli prasasti, place of Prakasaditya in Gupta history, Gupta-Vakataka relations, impact of religion and feudalism on Gupta history and political ideology and culture, contribution of the Guptas to the Vikramaditya legend, etc. the author has made interesting and cogent suggestions.

Unlike Marxist historians who explain political events and developments by looking at them only in the light of changes in production relations, the author of the present work has tried to study the colour scheme of the variegated canvas of the Gupta history in totality and read the meaning of the relation of the central picture with every component of its background. In such a venture none can claim finality but the author of the present wok hopes and believes that his work is the most up-to-date study of the political history of the Guptas, that is takes into consideration the recent-most discoveries of sources and that solutions he has offered to various problems are not only logical but are also without prejudice to other alternatives which may be offered by other scholars now or when fresh data and new facts come to light." (jacket)