Origin of The Gupta Dynasty - Ancestry of The Guptas

Ancestry of The Guptas

According to many historians Gupta dynasty was a Vaishya dynasty, according to historian, Ram Sharan Sharma, Guptas were a Vaishya dynasty, "who may have appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers, Now their community Gahoi Vaishya live in their main ancient province Bundelkhand". A.S. Altekar, a historian and archaeologist, who has written several books on Gupta coinage, also regarded the caste of the Guptas as Vaishya on the basis of the ancient Indian texts on law, which prescribe the name-ending with Gupta for a member of the Vaishya caste. In opinion of famous art historian Dr. R. A. Agarawala, "Guptas" are said to be of Agrawal Vaishya community, as their Dharana Gotra is one of the gotras among the seventeen and half gotras of Agrawals. The historian H.C. Raychaudhuri, also holds that the Guptas belonged to the Dharana Gotra. According to Raichaudhuri, the Guptas were related to queen Dharini of Agnimitra, wife of the son of king Pushyamitra Shunga. Raychoudhuri drew this theory about the pedigree of the Guptas based on the Riddhapura copper-plate inscription of Prabhabati Gupta, daughter of Chandragupta II. In her records she claimed herself to be a descendant of the Dharana Gotra Furthermore it is not yet discovered whether the term Gupta indicated a surname of a specific family or referred to a clan. However Gupta Empire records and Chinese records provided by the later I-Tsing, furnished the names of the first three rulers of the Gupta Dynasty, Maharaja Sri Gupta, Maharaja Sri Ghatotkacha and Ghatotokacha's son, Maharajadhiraja Sri Chandragupta, considered the first Gupta emperor. Historian K. P. Jaiswal suggested that the Guptas belonged to the Jat tribe. But his theory lacked conclusive proofs, and it was discarded. Recently, a historian, Ashvini Agarwal, on the basis of the matrimonial alliances of the Guptas with the Vakataka, assumed that they belong to the Brahman caste. Another modern historian, S. Chattopaddhyaya, has put forth a different theory about the ancestry of the Guptas. According to him, in the Panchobh Copper Plate, some kings bearing the title Guptas and related to the imperial Gupta Dynasty, claimed themselves as Kshatriyas. Historian D. R. Regmi, says Imperial Guptas were descendants of Abhira-Guptas of Nepal.

The controversy about whether the term "Gupta" was originally a family surname or a full or clan name is still unresolved. This is so because the name of the first king was Sri Gupta, where the term "Gupta" seemed to be a title, but the second Gupta ruler, Ghatotkacha did not use it in the same manner. However the expression "Gupta" had been systematically used by all the Gupta rulers from Chandragupta I onwards, which had led to the acceptance of the term "Imperial Gupta dynasty," with Chandragupta I considered the first emperor of the dynasty.