Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/287

 CHANDKAGUPTA I AND SAMUDKAGUPTA 249 as the junction of the Ganges and the Jumna, where Allahabad now stands, and ruled during his brief tenure of the throne a populous and fertile territory, which included Tirhut, Bihar, Oudh, and certain adjoining districts. His political importance was sufficient to warrant him in establishing, after the Oriental manner, a new era dating from his formal consecration, or coro- nation, when he was proclaimed as heir to the imperial power associated by venerable tradition with the pos- session of Pataliputra. The first year of the Gupta era, which continued in use for several centuries, ran from February 26, 320 A. D. to March 13, 321, of which dates the former may be taken as that of the coronation of Chandragupta I. Before his death, which occurred five or six years later, Chandragupta selected as his successor the crown prince, Samudragupta, his son by the Lichchhavi prin- cess. The paternal preference was abundantly justified by the young king, who displayed a degree of skill in the arts of both peace and war which entitles him to high rank among the most illustrious sovereigns of India. From the moment of his accession, Samudragupta assumed the part of an aggressively ambitious monarch and resolved to increase his dominions at the expense of his neighbours. Wars of aggression have never been condemned by such public opinion as exists in the East, and no king who cared for his reputation could venture to rest contented within his own borders. Samudra- gupta had no hesitation in acting on the principle that