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 CAMPAIGNS OF SAMUDRAGUPTA 251 The value as dated literature of the great historical inscriptions, although emphasized by Buhler, is still, perhaps, not fully recognized by scholars who occupy themselves primarily with the literature preserved in libraries. But our concern at present in the elaborate composition of Harishena is with its contents as a historical document, rather than with its place in the evolution of Sanskrit. The author of the panegyric classifies his lord's opponents geographically under four heads: eleven kings of the south; nine named Kings of Aryavarta, or the Ganges plain, besides many others not specified; the chiefs of the wild forest tribes; and the rulers of the frontier kingdoms and republics. He also explains Samudragupta's relations with certain foreign powers, too remote to come within the power of his arm. Al- though it is at present impossible to identify every one of the countries, kings, and peoples enumerated by the poet, enough is known to enable the historian to form a clear idea of the extent of the dominions and the range of the alliances of the most brilliant of the Gupta emperors. Since the matter of the record is arranged on literary rather than on historical principles, it is not possible to narrate the events of the reign in strict chronological order. We may feel assured that this Indian Napoleon first turned his arms against the powers nearest him, and that he thoroughly subjugated the rajas of the Ganges plain, the wide region now known as Hin- dustan, before he embarked on his perilous adventures