Later Guptas

The rulers of the Later Guptas had their surnames as Guptas but whether they actually belong to the Gupta dynasty is a controversy in itself. Krishnagupta is the first king of the dynasty who probably belongs to Sad-vamsa as according to the Aphsad inscription. Krishna Gupta was followed by Harsha Gupta and Jivita Gupta I. The dynasty has been so named so as most of the family members bear names ending in gupta. The greatest monarch of the line was Adityasena. Evidently it can be considered that gupta was a part of their names and not a surname.

There has been a great controversy regarding the home of this dynasty. Some historians concluded that Magadha was the home of the dynasty. Some have challenged this and they concluded that Malava was the original home. There was a line of 11 kings belonging to the line of later Guptas who had ruled for about 200 years.

Some historians feel that the Later Guptas originally ruled in Magadha and in the last quarter of the sixth century migrated to Malava. This theory has much to be praised as it is seen that in the last decade of the sixth century there was much confusion in Eastern India owing to the Tibetan invasions from the north and this forced the Later Guptas to leave their home to find a new kingdom elsewhere.

According to some inscriptions the Later Guptas lived in Eastern India for had if they lived in Malwa they would have been regarded as the Imperial suzerains of North India with a vast empire under them. The Later Guptas started their career as subordinates under the Imperial Guptas and later on became subordinates under the Maukharis. It does appear that therefore that immediately after the fail of the Imperial line, the Later Guptas of Magadha tried to become independent. They failed in ding so and acknowledged the supremacy of the Maukhari chiefs. The later Guptas were insistent rivals of the Maukharis. Both the independent powers desired to build their Empire on the model of the Imperial Guptas. This led to a hereditary struggle between the two clans. But the later Gupta king Mahasena Gupta was defeated in the hands of the Chalukyan king, Kirtivarvamana Chalukya. The final grip of the Guptas also was captured by Sasanka.