NCERT HISTORY CLASS-VI
CHAPTER-X PART-1
PRASHASTIS
Generally, the Inscription is used to carry messages of kings to the people, it lasts generations after generations so that they can follow the king's idea for a long time. There is also a special kind of inscription known as Prashastis, which means 'In praise of', these inscriptions praise the king and his bravery, intelligence, and at all.
Example; A long inscription of Samudragupta, a famous Gupta ruler was inscribed on Ashoka's pillar at Allahabad, and composed as a kavya by Harishena, a poet & minister at Samudragupta's court.
SAMUDRAGUPTA'S PRASHASTI
The poet was well aware while writing his prashasti, He used glowing terms (warrior in battles, learned as a poet, equal to God) to glorify him. Normally, the Prashasti was composed in long sentences. He specifically describes him as a warrior whose body was most charming and covered with plenty of beautiful marks of a hundred scars caused by arrows, spikes, swords, javelin, iron club, and many.
Many maps were constructed based on the information provided in the prashasti. He describes four different kinds of rulers and the policies of Samudragupta towards them.
- The ruler of Aryavarta, where there were nine rulers, was uprooted, and their kingdoms were part of Samudragupta's empire.
- The twelve rulers of Dakshinapatha surrendered themselves to Samudragupta after being defeated in battle and were allowed to rule again.
- States like Assam, Coastal Bengal, Nepal, and Gana Sanghas of the northwest brought tribute to him followed by his orders and attended his court.
- The rulers of Sri Lanka, Descendants of Kushanas and Shakas submitted themselves to him and offered daughters in marriage.
GENEALOGIES
Genealogies mean the list of Ancestors who were mostly described on a prashasti. This mentions the Grandfather, Great Grandfather, and mother of Samudragupta. His father was Chandragupta, a ruler of the Gupta dynasty, while his mother Kumara Devi was a Lichchhavi Gana. Chandragupta was the first ruler to adopt the title Maharaja-Adhiraja which is also used by Samudragupta later, but his grandfather and great grandfather simply used Maharaja. This shows their importance raised in generations. Samudragupta's son Chandragupta II led an expedition to western India, also overcame the last of Shakas. His court is full of learned people like Aryabhata, the Astronomer, and Kalidasa, the Poet. This all information was observed from the Inscriptions and coins.
HARSHAVARDHANA AND HARSHACHARITA
Despite coins and inscriptions, we can also find out the kings through Biographies. Around 1400 years ago, Harshavardhana ruled over a large part, His poet Banabhatta mentioned his early genealogies in Harshacharita and the ending is provided by Xuan Zang, who gave a detailed account about what he saw. He became the Ruler after his two elder brothers died, His brother-in-law's Kanauj was captured by the ruler of Bengal, but he took war and defeated him and ruled it too. He was also successful in the east but when he tried to cross Narmada to Deccan, he was stopped by Pulakeshin II, Thr Ruler of the Chalukya dynasty.