After Chandragupta, his son Bindusara ascended the throne.
He ruled for 25 years (298 B.c. - 273 B.C.) Prof. Sirajul
Islam Lelin has stated that Bindusara had once deputed
his son Ashoka to Abdullapur in Vikrampur to quell a rebellion
by the local people against the government officials.
There is no authentic history of Bengal (or of Vikrampur)
during the five centuries between the fall of the Mauryan
Empire and the rise of the Gupta dynasty (from 185 B.C.
to 320 A.D.). From accounts given by Roman and Greek scholars
of that period, some historians draw the conclusion that
Gangaridai (of which Vikrampur formed part) continued
to be a prosperous tract.
The first ruler of the Gupta dynasty was Srigupta,
who was succeded by his son, Ghatotkocha. Chandragupta,
son of Ghatotkocha was the next king. Then Chandragupta's
son, Samudragupta ascended the throne in 335 A.D. and
built an extensive empire by notching up a series of
conquests that included Vanga (east Bengal). It is said
by some historians that the conquests of King Raghu
described by poet Kalidasa in canto IV of his "Raghuvansham"
were in fact a disguised version of those of King Samudragupta.
The relevant lines of the "Raghuvansham" are:
"Vanganutkhaya Tarasa Neta Nou Sadhanadyatan
Nichakhan Jayastambhan Gangasrotahantaresu Sah Apadapadmapranatah
Kalama Iba Te Raghum PhaloihSangbardhayamasurutkhat
Pratiropitah"
(The kings of Vanga (i.e. east Bengal) appeared in
their warships to give fight to their rival Raghu, but
the latter defeated them in a display of great strength
and installed the column of his victory in the cluster
of islands located in the stream of the Ganges. After
he removed them from their positions and then restored
them to their previous positions, they lay prostrate
at his feet like transplanted paddy and worshipped him
with vast wealth).
From all this, Jogendra Nath Gupta, author of 'Vikrampurer
Itihas', concludes that the place that was thus conquered
was Vikrampur. He finds added support for this view
in an. inscription on a pillar kept in the Allahabad
Fort, which describes Samudragupta as "Samatata-Davaka"
(vanquisher of Samatata of which Vikrampur formed part).
An inscription engraved on the Iron Pillar near Qutb
Minar at Mehrauli (Delhi) mentions the conquests of
a certain king Chandra and his suppression of a revolt
by a confederacy of states in Vanga. Historians have
often debated the identity of this king. While some
have identified him with Chandra Varman of the Susunia
Inscription, others regard him as no other than Chandragupta
II or Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty,
who had subdued some rulers of Vanga towards the middle
of the 4th century A.D. The latter are of the view that
it was from the title "Vikramaditya" of Chandragupta
II that Vikrampur derived the name "Sri Vikrampur",
which figures in old copper plates. Jogendra Nath Gupta
does not come to a definite conclusion in this regard,
though he does not rule out such a possibility.
This also conforms to a belief among the local people
that Vikrampur was named after Chandragupta Vikrmaditya,
whose court was adorned by poet Kalidasa. However, it
is not definitely known how much control the Gupta rulers
had been able to exercise over Vanga or 'Vikrampur.
A Bangladesh author has claimed that Kalidasa had visited
Vikrampur.
Acknowledgement: this part of the historical background
of Vikrampur has been compiled from the book "In
Sun and Shower" by H.A. Barari.
