The stallion Abhimanyu sped through the banks of the Kshipra, along the uneven terrain, as if intoxicated by the atmosphere. Its rider, a radiant youth of twenty one, steadied his muscles with the steely determination that had consumed him over the past few days. His crimson eyes bore testimony not only to the passing gusts of wind, but also to the rage within. As the rocky shores led to a canopy of teak and sishoo trees, the pillars of Ujjain showed themselves off from afar. This only made Chandragupta kick his ride further into momentum.
Chapter I : The war council, Pataliputra
"This is slander!", exclaimed Veersena.
Chandragupta was silent, careful to not show his emotions.
"The Kshatraps are speading these lies purposefully, my Lord", Veersena continued, "Our King might have been defeated but he can never say such a thing!"
"I agree, my Lord", added Svamidasa, "The Kshatraps are apostates! One can expect them to reach down to these levels."
"Nevertheless, the royal bloodline has been insulted", interjected Amrakardava, the chief of military.
"We need to respond carefully, my Lord. They would like us to do something hasty," cautioned Veersena.
"My brother rots in those cells," spoke Chandragupta.
Silence hung over the war council that included the crown prince, the chief of military, the minister of coins and the Prime Minister.
"The first born of Samudragupta, the Emperor of emperors, Ramagupta Prachanda rots in enemy cells, captured by that nomad," Chandragupta
continued slowly. "The legacy of Chandragupta and Samudragupta remains confined within walls of Rudrasimha's arrogance."
"My Lord, we will avenge every ounce of this insult, in kind," interjected Amrakardava.
Chandragupta looked at him, "Would you now, Chief? With the death of your predecessor the empire would certainly love to lean on your shoulders. But can you erase the stain that it has left on my family?"
Amrakardava fell silent.
Chandragupta continued, "The audacity of Rudrasimha intrigues me! Can my trusted council not comprehend what His Highness' subjects might be saying today? Their King has been captured and now held ransom, not for the empire but for the Queen!", the crown prince thundered!
He turned to Veersena, the Prime Minister, "Lord Veersena, has the news reached Her Highness?"
Veersena nodded, "Her Majesty has requested for a meeting with you, My Lord."
"Kindly send her in." Chandragupta dismissed the council.
Dhruvadevi, a woman of sixteen walked into the war room. A yellow angvastram caressed her slender frame. The queen had a sharp face, enlightened by sparkling eyes, high cheek bones and wide lips.
She stood right in front of Chandragupta, "My Lord, has this become of the great Chandragupta's empire? The King being bargained for the queen, how much humiliation has to be enough for you to rise up to the name of your grandfather?"
"We will leave for Ujjain in a fortnight, Your Grace," replied Chandragupta. "The exchange is supposed to take place in the city. Brother Ramagupta would be brought from Bharukachchha by Yasodaman, Rudrasimha's brother. Rudrasimha has demanded that I bring you to Ujjain in person. However, I need not be present at the exchange."
"So you are supposed to parade me through the empire and bring your King back along the same path," Dhruvadevi smiled scornfully.
Chandragupta remained silent.
Dhruvadevi added, "Let me know what role I still need to play for this empire."
Chandragupta looked at her. "The role of a queen," He said, bowed and left.
Chapter II : Ujjain
Thousands of people gathered on the streets of Pataliputra in shock to witness the desperation of the royal family. Who could believe that the lineage of the great rulers Chandragupta and Samudragupta would turn out to be so meek! Some even suspected a coup waiting to happen on the family. But more than anything, the people were interested to catch a glimpse of Dhruvadevi, whose raging beauty had been a matter of pride for the mass. Countless indoor debates took place about her origin. But the only consensus seemed to be on her appearance.
It was announced as part of the peace pact, that Chandragupta would lead the queen's convoy to Ujjain. The queen would be allowed a last dignified passage through her empire. Once in Ujjain, Chandragupta would have the license to not be present at the exchange. This was argued by Rudrasimha to be an act of courtesy towards the royal bloodline, and a token of future friendship with the Guptas. A long standing war between the Guptas and the Kshatraps could never be a good idea for either empire.
The Guptas were expansionists, ever since the times of Chandragupta I, the grand father of Ramagupta and the founder of the dynasty. With the most formidable military of the era, it was a shocking defeat for Ramagupta, and an equally shocking victory for Rudrasimha. When Ramagupta began his western conquest, Rudrasimha's council had already started making plans for a face-saving surrender. It was only because of the surprising efficiency of a few Kshatrap spies, that the Gupta army was caught off-guard in Ujjain and had led to the lucky capture of Ramagupta, who was then brought to Bharukachchha, the capital of the Kshatraps. Even before the Kshatraps could realize the enormity of their victory, Ramagupta's council had requested for a shocking bargain. They requested the release of the King in exchange for his queen.
Although Dhruvadevi's beauty had radiated to the western banks of this ancient land, rulers through histroy have generally been accustomed to caution. Rudrasimha, thus still unable to believe Ramagupta's cowardice, agreed to his peace proposal, on the pretext that the proposal be then sent to Pataliputra with Ramagupta's seal.
For the Gupta aristocracy this came as a double shock. First, before the battle took place, Ujjain, a vassal of the Kshatraps, seemed to have been aligning with the Guptas over the years. The battle, which was supposed to take place beyond the western borders of Ujjain, arrived prematurely for Ramagupta within the city gates, where the Kshatrap army was already waiting.
In Pataliputa, there was confusion whether Ujjain had turned on their King. But even before these doubts could be settled, the peace letter came from Rudrasimha, approved by Ramagupta.
Pataliputra was divided between two competing opinions : one, where the argument was to bring back the King and avenge this humiliation later, in kind. Two, (in hushed tones) that this was the end of the Gupta empire and a bloody coup awaited the royal family.
The decision, however, lay with Chandragupta, the crown prince. There seemed to be enough faith of the aristocrats in the dynasty and this defeat seemed largely to be a one-off incident. Nevertheless, Ramagupta's cowardice had become the talk of every household.
Chandragupta had decided to lead Dhruvadevi's convoy in Pataliputra but was seething within. The Kshatraps had never given in to the Gupta demands. This arrogance partly stemmed from the fact that their center of power resided on the western shore, far away from Pataliputra. Even though there were skirmishes aplenty during Samudragupta's rule, no convincing victory was won by either side. The Guptas then tried a strangling strategy. Their own expansionist reputation had made the proximal kingdoms fearful of the empire. This fear was leveraged by the Guptas to gain economic footprints into smaller kingdoms of Sanchi, Kashi and even vassals of the Kshatraps like Ujjain. Chandragupta knew that time was ripe for the Guptas to lay a siege and to eradicate the Kshatraps. He had convinced his brother of this idea who was more than willing to come out of the shadow of their great father. What had infact happened at Ujjain, was no doubt an unexpected result.
The stallion Abhimanyu sped through the banks of the Kshipra, along the
uneven terrain, as if intoxicated by the atmosphere. Its rider, a
radiant youth of twenty one, steadied his muscles with the steely
determination that had consumed him over the past few days. His crimson eyes
bore testimony not only to the passing gusts of wind, but also to the
rage within. As the rocky shores led to a canopy of teak and sishoo trees, the pillars
of Ujjain showed themselves off from afar. This only made Chandragupta
kick his ride further into momentum.
Yasodaman had sent the Prime Minister of Ujjain to receive the Gupta queen and the crown prince. Arrangements were made at the guest palace situated near the city gates to welcome the Gupta royalty. It was understood that Chandragupta would leave Ujjain, once the queen had reached the guest palace. Within Ujjain, there would be no need for Chandragupta to accompany the queen during the exchange.
Chandragupta mounted into Ujjain wearing a yellow turban and a gold-lined blue angvastram, studded with pearls. The whole city of Ujjain drank in his majestic attire with awe. He was a lean young man, confident on his mount, and his dress gleefully accepting the onlookers' captivation. He rode straight upto the guest palace, ignoring the Prime Minister at the gates. There was no need for pleasantries on this day. He dismounted and walked into the palace as the convoy arrived at the city gates. Before the queen arrived, it fell on him to ensure the safety of these walls. As he stepped inside each wing of the building, his guards ordered all maids to leave the palace. He would wait for the queen to arrive and then leave to end this humiliation. Later, Dhruvadevi's palanquin shall leave the guest palace for the Royal palace of Ujjain after nightfall.
For dwellers of Ujjain waiting at the city gates, however, there was disappointment. The queen's palanquin went straight into the guest palace and her beauty only remained a myth to all present. Dhruvadevi had also rebuffed the Prime Minister's welcome and had ordered her convoy to head straight to the guest palace. No doubt, the Gupta Royalty had had enough of this indignation. As soon as the queen's palanquin went inside the palace, Chandragupta strode out of its gates. For everyone it was clear that the majestic Gupta crown prince could not handle this shame anymore. He strode up to his horse, and angrily kicked it into motion! This was an even more exciting sight for the Ujjain citizens. They were being witness to the end of the mighty Guptas! So much for their hefty claims about the future!
Abhimanyu rode away from the commoner's gaze, far from Ujjain's suffocating air, with the glowing yellow turban and gold-lined, pearl studded angvastram, of its rider carrying one last ray into the descending darkness.
Chapter III : The Exchange
Dhruvadevi's palanquin arrived at the gates of the Ujjain Royal palace accompanied by five thousand of her subjects. It was such a national shame, that many citizens supposedly wanted to show their allegiance to the royal family, and joined her exodus. To save her from further embarrassment, Dhruvadevi was exempt from stepping out of her palanquin in public. The carriers took the palanquin inside the central chamber where Yasodaman waited alongside Ramagupta. Once inside, except for the three royals, everyone esle was asked to leave. History has never really been a royal insider.
Yosodaman stood up and walked upto the palanquin. He bowed, "If you could kindly step out, Your Grace.." and extended his hand. Dhruvadevi walked out from the other side of the palanquin, ignoring Yosodaman, her face and body fully covered. She was a queen, not a slave. Even in exchange, she was supposed to retain her status!
Yosodaman quenched his injured ego as he spoke to Ramagupta, "O Mighty King, you are now free to rule your land!"
Ramagupta who was silent all this while spoke up in rage. But he did not address Yasodaman. His rage fell on Dhruvadevi, "You cunt of a woman! How dare you conspire with my brother like this? Whore! I would have cut you and that scheming, devious brother of mine in half if I could! Did you not for once think of my father, the great Samudragupta who had been so kind to you? Could you not even consume poison when you heard of this illicit pact?"
Dhruvadevi stood silent. Yasodaman butted in, "Dear King, you would do well to remember that you are now speaking to the queen of the Kshatraps."
Ramagupta looked at him with disdain, "You should have killed me on the field! History will never forgive you for what you have done. Neither will it forgive Chandra and this slut!"
Yasodaman enquired, "I wonder what the purpose of this fake rage is, my King. The terms of your surrender were discussed with your council before being approved with your stamp. Although, it is shocking to be honest that Chandragupta decided to respect your treaty!"
Ramagupta bellowed, "Lies! You scoundrels have tarnished my image after I was betrayed by my own men in battle! And now these lies! And this whore!"
With Yasodaman smirking, Ramagupta strode up to Dhruvadevi and slapped her across the face.The face cover flew away only to reveal Chandragupta underneath. Even before either Ramagupta or Yasodaman could react, a dagger went inside Ramagupta twice as he fell flat on the ground. A shocked Yasodaman was hardly back into his senses when Chandragupta held him by the collar and brought him out of the chamber. All his personal guards had been killed as Gupta soldiers stood tall, dressed in civilian clothes. The Kshatraps had never noticed that a coup had taken place in Ujjain.
Chandragupta spoke slowly, "Never again should the world dare to look a Gupta in the eye."
Yasodaman surrendered to his fate, "You played us all along."
Chandragupta added, "You captured our King. You dared to insult our Queen. One can safely say, you have done enough to be remembered in History."
Yasodaman smiled, "Your King's council came to us with the peace terms. And now you have killed Him. All I can say is that the coup didn't take place today."
Chandragupta carefully let the dagger go deep into Yasodaman's stomach, as the vanquished's life exited through his last shriek. Chandragupta let his royal dagger rest on Yasodaman.
Chandragupta II went on to become one of ancient India's greatest emperors (380-415 CE). He obliterated the western Kshatrap empire, whose last ruler was Rudrasimha III. Chandragupta married Dhruvadevi. Their son Kumaragupta, who succeded him to the throne was the founder of Nalanda. Chandragupta II, who was named after Chandragupta I, the founder of the Gupta dynasty, later took the name Vikramaditya. He moved his capital from Pataliputra to Ujjain.
This story is a re-telling of Vishakhadatta's Devi-Chandraguptam.
Author's note : History is ambiguous regarding Ramagupta. While Chandragupta I and Samudragupta's times are well recorded, the mystery surrounding Ramagupta is more than intriguing. In this re-telling of a sort, I have only tried to ignite curiosity about ancient India's probably most well documented era. When we look at History, our modern glasses acquire colours beyond the Seven. My hope is, this small piece will make you revisit aspects of our past - which, I have always found to be alive, and stirring in its grave.
Also to clarify my preference, I never shy away from letting the reader make his/her own conclusion. If you have doubts regarding the politics of the story, I am of the belief that all answers are already buried between the lines. Happy hunting!
To add a final disclaimer, this is a story of fiction, with deviations even from its inspiration, and like every chapter of History, should be read with a cynic eyebrow.
