भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

reign of ten or eleven years, he extended his small kingdom of
Pataliputra wide enough to include Magadha, Prayag and Ayodhya, so
that the epithet of Maharaj should be applied to him deservedly.
Entrusting his kingdom into the able hands of his son, Samudragupta,
who was ambitious of uprooting the Mlenchcha power of the Saka-
Kushans in the north-western part of India, and of establishing an
extensive Indian empire, Chandragupta died in the year 330 A.D. This
Gupta dynasty was a staunch adherent of the Vedic religion—Shree
Vishnu being their chief God of Worship.
Emperor Samudragupta
252. As soon as he came to the throne, Samudragupta planned to conquer
the several independent Indian states in the north as well as in the south, and
establish a strong Indian empire like the Mauryan Empire of Chandragupta
and Chanakya, and then to sweep over the still lingering Mlenchcha power of
the Saka-Kushans in the north-western part of India with all the might of his
empire. Accordingly, he conquered Kamrup, Samatat, Nepal and all the
region from north-eastern frontier provinces to the Vindhyas. Thereafter,
crossing the Vindhyas, he entered South India with a powerful army. He
conquered twelve prominent kingdoms in South India. Many of the defeated
kings, after having been brought captives and after having accepted his
overlordships, were granted their kingdoms and were allowed to go free.
About these glorious campaigns of his in the north and south of India, many
western historians have spoken with eloquent praise, giving him the best of
their current phrases, ‘The Indian Napoleon’. After such an extensive
military expedition, Samudragupta returned to Pataliputra. Then in order to
proclaim to the world his acquisition of this new Indian empire, according to
the Vedic religious rites, he celebrated the horse sacrifice, on a grand scale
and was rightfully appointed a Samrat (an emperor). Thereafter, he began his
extensive preparations for his dash against the Saka-Kushans.
The Final Surrender by the Kushans
253. At the fearful reports of this impending attack of Emperor
Samudragupta, whatever small kingdoms of the Kushans like Gandhar and
others were, still leading a precarious existence in the north-western regions
of India, voluntarily sued for peace and accepted the Gupta paramountcy.
Our Indian ancestors at that time called these Kushans ‘Kush’ also. As a
token of their surrender, those Kushans sent rich offerings along with their
personal envoys to Samudragupta. Thus, after an incessant warfare for a