1889.] Dr. Hoernle — TSaJhibits a seal of Kumdra Gupta. 195 



seven names also running from father to son : Gupta, Ghatotkacka, 

 Chandra I., Samudra, Chandra II., Kuniara and Skanda. In the place 

 of the seventh name Skanda Gupta, the new list gave Pura Gupta. The 

 question was in what relation Skanda Gupta stood to Pura Gupta. 

 "Were they identical, or perhaps brothers ? There was another important 

 piece of information in the new list ; it mentioned by name the queens 

 of every king, except the two first and the last. Their names were : 

 1, Kumara Devi, queen of Chandra Gupta I., 2, Datta Devi, queen of 

 Samudra Gupta, 3, Dhruva Devi, queen of Chandra Gupta II., 4, Ananta 

 Devi, queen of Kumara Gupta I., 5, S'rivatsa Devi, queen of Pura Gupta, 

 6, S'riinati Devi, queen of Narasimka Gupta. The older genealogies 

 only mentioned three of these names, viz., Kumara, Datta and Dhruva. 

 The queen of Kumara Gupta I. and mother of Skanda Gupta was never 

 named, though she was referred to in them. The queen of Skanda Gupta 

 was never mentioned at all, whether by name or otherwise. Among 

 the older genealogies, there were only two that carried the line down 

 to the seventh generation of Skanda Gupta. These were the genealogy 

 recorded on the Bhitari stone pillar, and another, in a greatly mutilated 

 state, on tho Bihar stone pillar. The former mentioned that Skanda 

 Gupta, after having restored the fallen fortunes of his empire, reported 

 his victories to his mother. The latter mentioned that his father 

 Kumara Gupta married the sister of a person who appears to have been 

 named Ananta Sena. Unfortunately that inscription was in a too bad 

 state of mutilation to place any reliance on it. But if Kumara Gupta's 

 wife's brother was named Ananta Sena, the sister herself would very pro- 

 bably have borne the name of Ananta Devi, by which name Kumara 

 Gupta I's queen is called in the new genealogy. In that case the pro- 

 bability was either that Pura Gupta was identical with Skanda Gupta, or 

 that he was a younger brother of Skanda Gupta, and succeeded the 

 latter, who probably died without issue, there being no indication of his 

 wife's name or existence. In any case the present seal seemed to prove 

 that the line of the early Guptas did not, as was hitherto generally as- 

 sumed, terminate with Skanda Gupta, but extended to at least two more 

 generations. Hitherto it was supposed that there was only one Kumara 

 Gupta ; and the appeai'ance of a second Kumara Gupta would perhaps 

 necessitate a reconsideration of certain historical speculations based on 

 the assumption that there was only one member of that name in the 

 early line of Guptas. Curiously enough there was some independent 

 evidence for the existence of a king Narasimha Gupta. Among tho 

 gold coins, belonging to the class of the early Gupta coins, there were 

 some which bore the name of Nara or Nara Gupta. Hitherto these 

 coins had been a puzzle ; they resembled very closely the coins of the 



