The following excerpt was written in praise of which king: "He was without an antagonist on earth; he, by the overflowing of the multitude of (his) many good qualities adorned by hundreds of good actions, has wiped off the fame of other kings with the soles of (his) feet; ..."?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Samudragupta
The excerpt is from the Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription), composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, in praise of the king.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.2 Divine kings … Histories of the Gupta rulers have been reconstructed from literature, coins and inscriptions, including prashastis, composed in praise of kings in particular, and patrons in general, by poets. While historians often attempt to draw factual information from such compositions, those who composed and read them often treasured them as works of poetry … rather than as accounts that were literally true. The Prayaga Prashasti (also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers (c. fourth century CE), is a case in point.…”
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