Vainyagupta Dvadasaditya

Summary

This miscellaneous note discusses a copper‑plate inscription discovered near Comilla that introduces a hitherto unknown Gupta king named Vainyagupta, titled Dvādaśāditya. The author describes the circumstances of the plate’s discovery and provides a transliteration and translation of the record. The inscription gives a brief genealogy, placing Vainyagupta after Budhagupta and before Bhānugupta, thereby extending the known succession of late Gupta rulers. The charter records a land donation to a Buddhist monastery, suggesting religious tolerance; it also refers to the king’s devotion to Maheśvara, indicating syncretic practices. The author analyses the coinage attributed to Vainyagupta, noting that the archer‑type coins bearing the legend ‘Vainya’ and ‘Dvādasa‑āditya’ share features with Budhagupta’s coinage yet display distinctive epithets. By comparing the palaeography and diplomatic formulas with other late Gupta plates, he argues for dating Vainyagupta’s reign to around 500 CE. The note thus revises the chronology of the Gupta dynasty and highlights the complexity of its later phase when multiple minor rulers held power in different regions. A small genealogical table summarises the sequence from Kumāragupta through Vainyagupta, Budhagupta and Bhānugupta, illustrating the fragmented political landscape of the late fifth century.