Chandragupta II – Father of surgical strikes

Chandragupta II – Father of surgical strikes

Emperor Samudragupta  of Gupta Dynesty, who has established his supremacy over Saka Kings,  breathed his last in 375 A.D. He had expressed his wish that after him his younger but valiant and virile son, Chandragputa II, should be crowned emperor. But discarding this dying wish of his, the elder son, Ramgupta, ascended the throne on the strength of his seniority in age.

With death of Emperor Samudragupta, the Saka kings became fearless. An impertinent and mean-minded Mlenchcha king of these Sakas commanded Ramgupta in order to humiliate him that he should send his young and beautiful wife, Grahdevi, to him or else be prepared for war. This insolent and wicked message convulsed the whole political atmosphere of the Magadhan empire with shame and indignation. But Emperor Ramgupta had become so utterly imbecile and shameless as to start preparations to send his queen, Grahdevi, to that Saka Satrap with the sole intention of avoiding a conflict. This infuriated his younger brother, Chandragupta. Flouting Ramgupta's orders, he took Grahdevi under his protection. Then resorting to guile, Chandragupta sent word to the Saka king that according to his commands Queen Grahdevi was being sent to him, but that because of natural womanly bashfulness and modesty she would like to go in a curtained palanquin. She was also to be accompanied by a retinue of her maids in similar litters. The Saka king was mad with joy to hear this message, and he replied that the queen might be sent that way. Chandragupta, however, himself donned the female attire and sat in the Queen's palanquin, while in the accompanying ones, too sat the chosen warriors in feminine garb. As the train (procession) of those covered palanquins drew near the capital of that Saka King, the latter, beside himself with joy, came forward to the queen's palanquin to receive her in person; whereupon out came Chandragupta, in the guise of a woman, and pouncing on the unsuspecting Saka King slew him instantly with his sword. From other litters too, issued forth the warriors with drawn swords and before the shocking news of the slaughter of the Saka King could spread about they vanished along with Chandragupta quite out of the enemy's reach.

The whole capital and the nation itself was resounding with the praise for Chandragupta when the glad news spread that Prince Chandragupta had returned to Pataliputra after accomplishing this unprecedented daring feat and punishing with his own hands the Saka King, who had insulted the nation, with instant death. There was a great agitation to dethrone the cowardly Ramgupta who had ascended the throne of Magadha setting aside the last wish of the deceased emperor, Samudragupta, and to crown Chandragupta in his place. In that commotion Ramgupta was killed. Immediately Chandragupta was crowned emperor and he married the same Grahadevi whom he had with his exceptional valour saved from humiliation at the hands of the enemy. Later on with a well-equipped huge army Samrat Chandragupta marched upon the Saka Satraps and defeted every one of them.

Having thus vanquished the Sakas completely, Chandragupta liberated the provinces of Sindh, Kaccha, Sourashtra, Gujarath, Malava and others under their domination and incorporated them into his Indian empire. He assumed the title of Vikramaditya and established his capital at Ujjayini. In order to immortalize his glorious and crushing victory over the Sakas, he renamed the so far universally current Malava Samvat itself as Vikram Samvat after his own name.

(From Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History by Swatantryveer Savarkar)