{{Short description|King of northern India (died c. 319)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox royalty | title = [[Maharaja]]<br/>[[Shri]] | name = Ghatotkacha | succession = [[List of Gupta emperors|Gupta King]] | image = Maharaja Sri Ghatotkacha inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg | image_size = 280 | caption = ''Mahārāja Shrī Ghatotkacha'' [[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad haa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad raa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad shrii.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad gh.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad to.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad tk.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta allahabad c.svg|12px]] inscription in [[Gupta script]], on the [[Allahabad pillar]] inscription of [[Samudragupta]].<ref>[[:File:Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta.jpg|Full inscription]], {{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3 |date=1888 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n197 1]-17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403}}</ref> | reign = {{circa}} 280 CE – 319 CE | predecessor = [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]] | successor = [[Chandragupta I]] | death_date = {{circa}} 319 CE | issue = [[Chandragupta I]] | dynasty = [[Gupta dynasty|Gupta]] | father = [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]] }} {{Gupta Empire}} '''Ghatotkacha''' ([[Gupta script]]: [[File:Gupta allahabad gh.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad to.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta allahabad tk.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta allahabad c.svg|12px]] ''Gha-to-tka-cha'', [[IAST]]: Ghaṭotkaca, r. c. late 3rd century - early 4th century) was a pre-imperial [[Gupta Empire|Gupta king]] of northern India. He was a son of the dynasty's founder [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]], and the father of the dynasty's first emperor [[Chandragupta I]].
== Sources ==
Ghatotkacha was a son of [[Gupta (king)|Gupta]], the founder of the Gupta dynasty. Like his father, Ghatotkacha is not attested by his own inscriptions. The earliest description of him occurs in his grandson Samudragupta's [[Allahabad Pillar]] inscription, and is repeated verbatim in several later records of the dynasty.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|p=6}} Earlier scholars attributed a gold coin and a clay seal to him, but these are now unanimously assigned to Ghatotkacha-gupta, who was a son or a younger brother of the 5th century Gupta ruler [[Kumaragupta I]].{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=87}}
== Period ==
Modern historians date the beginning of the [[Gupta era|Gupta calendar era]] to 318-319 CE. This era probably marks the ascension of Chandragupta I to the Gupta throne, which means that Ghatotkacha's reign ended around this time.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=87}}
The beginning of his reign is uncertain. Various estimates of his reign include:{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=49-55}}
* [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee|R. K. Mukherjee]]: 280-319 CE * [[A. S. Altekar]]: 290-305 CE * Tej Ram Sharma: 295-319 CE * [[Vincent Arthur Smith|V. A. Smith]]: 300-320 CE * Numismatist [[P. L. Gupta]] and historian [[S. R. Goyal]]: 300-319 CE
== Political status ==
The Allahabad Pillar inscription uses the title ''[[Maharaja]]'' ([[File:Gupta allahabad m.svg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad haa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad raa.jpg|11px]][[File:Gupta allahabad j.svg|12px]], "Great King") for Gupta and Ghatotkacha, as opposed to the title ''[[Maharajadhiraja]]'' ("king of great kings") for Ghatotkacha's son [[Chandragupta I]]. In the later period, the title ''Maharaja'' was used by feudatory rulers, which has led to suggestions that Gupta and Ghatotkacha were feudatory kings. However, there are several instances of paramount sovereigns using the title ''Maharaja'', in both pre-Gupta and post-Gupta periods, so this cannot be said with certainty. That said, there is no doubt that Gupta and Ghatotkacha held a lower status and were less powerful than Chandragupta I.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|pp=6-7}}
== Reign ==
Ghatotkacha may have been responsible for entering into a matrimonial alliance with the [[Licchavi (tribe)|Lichchhavis]], which resulted in the marriage of the Lichchhavi princess [[Kumaradevi]] to his son [[Chandragupta I]]. Historian [[V. A. Smith]] dates this event to c. 308 CE.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=87}} The Gupta inscriptions do not mention the paternal family of the dynasty's queens with the exception of Kumaradevi, which suggests that the Gupta family considered Kumaradevi's marriage to Chandragupta as an important event.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|p=10}}
Historian [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H. C. Raychaudhuri]] theorized that some of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' stories describing the sins of the legendary character [[Ghatotkacha]] were omitted in the final redaction of the epic out of respect for the Gupta king Ghatotkacha.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|1981|p=9}}
== References == {{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
{{ref begin}} * {{cite book |author=Ashvini Agrawal |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA315 |year=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0592-7 }} * {{cite book |author=R. C. Majumdar |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=A Comprehensive History of India |volume=3, Part I: A.D. 300-985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRBuAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |oclc=34008529 }} * {{cite book |author=Tej Ram Sharma |title=A Political History of the Imperial Guptas: From Gupta to Skandagupta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWVZWjNAcAgC&pg=PA50 |year=1989 |publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-7022-251-4 }} {{ref end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghatotkacha}} [[Category:Gupta kings]] [[Category:3rd-century Indian monarchs]] [[Category:4th-century Indian monarchs]]