By the end of the 4th century AD the Guptas had conquered most of south Asia. An elaborate ritual known as the ‘horse-sacrifice’ (aśva medha) was used to officially validate these military achievements and establish the legitimacy of the dynasty. In this rite, a sacrificial horse was allowed to wander freely for a full year, the king claiming all the land over which the horse passed. Coins were issued to commemorate the event. Passing from hand to hand, the coins travelled throughout the land, their circulation mimicking the horse’s unbridled wanderings. These coins spread beyond the area covered by the actual horse, increasing the territory which the king could claim. Using coins in this way also brought the authority of the ritual and the king into economic and social realms which would not normally be touched by such a rite.

The Guptas did not rule their lands directly, but exercised control through a carefully ordered hierarchy of subordinate rulers. This hierarchy followed Indian theories of statecraft which advocated that an imperial overlord should place himself at the centre of a ‘circle of kings’. The most important members of this circle in Gupta times were the Vākātakas who controlled the Deccan and had Rāmtek as their ritual centre.