Altekar dates this King from AD 469-471 while Allan dates this King from AD 480-485
PuraGupta was the son of the mighty king Kumaragupta I and brother of Skandagupta. He does not seem to have had too much coinage but the few specimens that have come to light (as compared to Kumaragupta & Skandagupta coinage) points to a short reign.
His coins use the Biruda Sri Vikrama and he is referred to as PuraGutpa Vikramaditya on various inscriptions uncovered so far. The biruda (title) used on the reverse of the coin below is Parakramah. This title was ONLY used by Samudragupta. All later Gupta Kings used other titles. Now this heavy weight coin has been found in mint condition, but with a biruda that was not known for any of the later Gupta Kings.
Samudragupta used this title extensively on coins of the
Standard Type Parakramah Asvamedha Type Asvamedha Prakramah Tiger Slayer Type Vyaghra Parakramah
However now this coin below has come to light with Parakramah as a Biruda... could this be also be another title used by Puragupta or was this coin in fact struck for another King - a so far unknown Gupta King?
Purugupta - Unknown Gupta King - Parakramah Coin
Archer type, 9.46 g.
Nimbate king standing left, resting left hand on top of bow, his right hand holding an arrow, garuda standard in field left.
Legend: Parahitakari..... Sri Parakramaditya "The all powerful King 'Sri Parakramaditya..... benefactor to others "
Reverse: Parakramah in field right, nimbate goddess Lakshmi seated facing cross-legged on lotus holding long stemmed flower and riband, tamga in field left.
BMC. Pl.XXI, 24-25.
Broad flan, well centred. Extremely fine
December 2009: The credit for the correct reading of the biruda as Parakramah on this coin goes to Ms. Ellen Raven, Indologist and art historian at the University of Leiden, which was then confirmed by Mr. Shailendra Bhandare - Assistant Keeper South Asian Numismatics at the Ashmolean Museum, Univ. of Oxford. In addition, Ms. Raven helped with the deciphering of the Obverse legend that was further confirmed as Parahitakari... Sri Parakramaditya by Mr. Bhandare. My thanks to both Ellen and Shailendra.
This is a very important coin for the fact that it is the first coin discovered with the reverse Biruda of Parakramah.
None of the later Gupta Kings (after Samudragupta) was known to have used this Biruda which means "All Powerful". Even the most powerful of the Gupta Kings at the height of the Gupta Empire, refrained from using this title. It was reserved as an honor for the mighty Samudragupta who created the vast Gupta Empire.
For a later Gupta King to use this major title on his coins points to possbily either an unknown major Gupta King or a King of huge ambitions, whose reign was possibly cut short.
This specimen is of excellent style, reminescent of the care used by the mint masters in designing the coins for the earlier mighty Gupta Kings like Chandagupta and Kumaragupta. An excellent quality design and strike points to an important King that wanted his ALL POWERFUL message to be broadcast to the masses on a beautiful coin portrait.
While Skandagupta, son of Kumaragupta I, did ascend to the throne after Kumargupta I and used the title Karamaditya, it is possible that Puragupta also shared in the reign by either ruling after Skandagupta or contemporary to Skandagupta's reign by controlling other provinces. This is possibly a strike by him to legitimize his rule.
Puragutpa is known to have used the title SriVikrama on some of his coins. Hiuen Tsiang, the famous Chinese Pilgrim who toured India during the 6th Century left behind a detailed narrative of this travels in India.
In this narrative, he refers to a King by the name of TathagataGupta-raja who is also referred to as King Vikramaditya by him. He describes how King Vikramaditya became a patron of Buddha and sent his wife and Son - Baladitya - to study with Vasubandhu, the great buddhist scholar. NarasimhaGupta was the son of Puragupta, nephew of King Skandagupta. Hence, Puragupta is the same as TathagataGupta raja referred to by Hiuen Tsiang, who goes on to describe the King as a major patron of Buddhism, following in the footsteps of his father and responsible for a major expansion of the Colleges at University of Nalanda.
Hiuen Tsiang described four Gupta Kings by using their descriptive titles as they must have been popularly known in the region during the 6th Century:
Sakraditya = Kumaragupta I (Sakra and Mahendra are both names of Indra - K1's title was Mahendraditya) Buddhagutpa raja = Skandagupta Tathagatagupta raja = Purugupta - also referred by him as King Vikramaditya Baladitya raja = Narasimha Gupta Baladitya
Puragupta definately shines thru as a major King on his way to establishing himself in the annals of the Gupta Dynasty.
For more info on Puragupta, please refer to the paper By Rev. H. Heras, published in the Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, PART I. Vol. XIV 1928 pp. 1-23. http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/heras.htm
Purugupta Archer Type Coin
Archer Type:
King facing left, holding arrow in right hand, bow in left hand. Sword hanging off Kings waist. Garuda Standard on left.
Reverse: Goddess seated on lotus. Holds a fillet/Ribbons in right hand and a flower in left hand. Legend: Sri Vikramah
Heavy Weight - 9.28 gms, typical of coinage from the later Gupta Kings.
Images and design copyright Shivlee Collection
A comprehensive collection of rare gold coins from the Gupta Empire of India.
