Ancient and Medieval Indian Rulers

Gold coinage in India was not started by Harshavardhana; it was introduced much earlier by the Indo-Greeks and Kushanas, and extensively used by the Guptas.

Kalidasa, Bharavi, and Bhasa are all associated with the classical Sanskrit tradition, with Kalidasa and Bharavi often linked to the Gupta or post-Gupta era. Bhasa is generally considered earlier, but all are grouped within the broad classical period.

The Mahanayakacharya was an official in the Vijayanagara Empire who acted as a link between the central government and the village assemblies, exercising control over village affairs.

Prabodha Chandrodaya is a philosophical allegorical play written by Krishna Mishra, which is not connected to the historical description of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. Amuktamalyada and Manucharitam are literary works from the period, and Rehla is the travelogue of Ibn Battuta.

Mudrarakshasa, written by Vishakhadatta, is a political drama that details the schemes of Chanakya to overthrow the Nanda dynasty and establish Chandragupta Maurya as the king.

In Sanskrit plays of Gupta period, women and Sudras speak Prakrit.

In the year 1915, near a village called Maski in Raichur district of Karnataka, a rock inscription was discovered on a hill. In this inscription, for the first time, the name of Ashoka was found with titles like Devanampriya and Priyadarshi. It was then ascertained that Devanampriya and Priyadarshi was no other than Ashoka.

Susrutha Samitha was written by Susrutha. He is said to have been the best surgeon during the Gupta period.

Maski inscription at Raichur doab in Karnataka mentions his personal name, Devanam Priyadasi.

Rupaka was a silver coin of Gupta period. 16 Rupakas were equal to 1 gold coin.

The II and XIll rock edicts mention the southern kingdoms of Chola, Pandya, Satyaputra, Keialaputra and Tambapanni.

Pulakeshin II, the most famous Chalukya ruler, was known as Ereya before his coronation.

The three ancient Tamil kingdoms (Muvendar) were the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas.

Bindusara is often referred to as the 'son of a father' (Chandragupta Maurya) and the 'father of a son' (Ashoka).

Samudragupta is depicted on his coins playing the veena, and he was known for his patronage of arts and his own musical and poetic skills.