The Ujjain Mystery- Author's note

 

Gold coin from the Gupta period depicting King Chandragupta II

King Chandragupta II, also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, is considered the greatest ruler of the Gupta Empire. He ruled in the 4th and the 5th centuries CE. His empire extended from the east to the west coasts of India, and he ruled during the Golden Age of India. After defeating the Western Kshatrapas, he made Ujjain the second capital of his kingdom, first being Pataliputra, present day Patna. He was a patron of arts, science, and culture; although a Hindu king, he was extremely tolerant of other religions such as Buddhism and Jainism which also flourished in India during his time. He was a shrewd administrator, committed to maintaining peace within his borders as well as with the neighbouring kings.

When King Chandragupta II ruled over all of northern India, parts of present day Karnataka was being ruled by Kadamba dynasty, and parts of present day Telangana and Karnataka was ruled by Vakataka dynasty.

King Chandragupta II, (who was most likely referred to as King Chandra during his era as evidenced by the inscriptions on the coins, and that is how I will be referring to him in the story as well), had two wives. His first wife was Dhruvadevi, and his second wife was a Kadamba and a Naga princess by the name of Kuberanaga, whom he married in order to maintain peace with the Kadamba dynasty. In order to make Vakatakas his allies, he gave his daughter Prabhavati in marriage to the Vakataka king Rudrasena.

In addition to Prabhavati, he had two sons, Govindgupta, who was the older son, and Kumargupta, who was the younger son, but it was Kumargupta who succeeded King Chandra to the throne.

Map of Gupta Empire during the reign of King Chandragupta II

Area ruled by Vakatakas during the 4th and 5th centuries CE

Several of the persons mentioned in the narrative above do feature in the story, and this background is important to understand the story, but the hero of the story is Supratik, the Chief of Police, and Head of Internal Security of Ujjain city, who is a completely fictional character.

I have used modern names of cities and modern terminologies to make the story more relatable.

Having said that, the actual story is coming soon!