Page:The Age of the Imperial Guptas.djvu/18

assume that the ancestors of Candragupta I were people of no very great importance in Magadha. Whether they were subordinate chiefs with the title of Mahārājas or mere nonentities to whom Hariṣeṇa gave the rank of Mahārājas out of courtsey, need not trouble us. We learn from the coins of Candragupta I or those ascribed to him, but really issued by his son and successor Samudragupta, that Candragupta acquired importance by his marriage with the Licchavi princess Kumāradevl. So much emphasis is given to the Lichchhavi connection by Samudragupta that there cannot be any doubt about its importance. On the coins of Candragupta I, which Allan takes to be memorial medals struck by Samudragupta in honour of his parents, we see Candragupta I and Kumāradevi standing side by side with their names struck separately. On the reverse we find the word " Licchavayah" in the plural number, which cannot be explained unless the Guptas are also taken to be descended from Licchavi oligarchs. The Licchavis were, originally, inhabitants of Northern Bihar or Tirabhukti, with their capital at Vaiśali. They were ruled by a number of oligarchs selected from certain families only. They were a powerful nation whose depredations in the country to the south of the Ganges compelled the kings of Magadha to build a strong fort at the confluence of that river with the Son, which became the nucleus of the great city of Pātaliputra. The