Gupta (king)  Gupta (Gupta script:  "Gu-pta", fl. late 3rd century CE) was the founder of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to (believed to be the Chinese transcription of ""Shri"-Gupta"), who, according to the 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing, built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (Mṛgaśikhāvana) for Chinese pilgrims. Gupta is not attested by his own inscriptions or coins, although some seals and coins have been wrongly attributed to him. The earliest description of him occurs in his great-grandson Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription, and is repeated verbatim in several later records of the dynasty:  The Allahabad Pillar inscription names Samudragupta's ancestors as "Shrī" Gupta (), "Shrī" Ghatotkacha, and "Shrī" Chandragupta. Some earlier scholars believed that the name of the dynasty's founder was "Shri-gupta" (IAST: Śrigupta), as Gupta does not appear to be a given name. However, it is now generally agreed that "Shri" is an honorific title and not an integral part of the king's name; "Gupta" was the actual name of the king. The Vishnu Sahasranama mentions Gupta among the 1008 names of Vishnu, which suggests that it can be used as a given name. The name derives from the word "gup" ("to protect"). Gupta most probably ruled in the second half of the 3rd century, although his reign cannot be dated with certainty based on existing evidence. Various estimates of his reign include:   The Allahabad Pillar inscription uses the title "Maharaja" ( "Great King") for Gupta and his son Ghatotkacha, as opposed to the title "Maharajadhiraja" ("king of great kings") for later ruler Chandragupta I. In the later period, the title "Maharaja" was used by feudatory rulers, which has led to suggestions that Gupta and Ghatotkacha were feudatory kings. For example, scholars R. D. Banerji and K. P. Jayaswal theorize that they were Kushana vassals. There is no doubt that Gupta and Ghatotkacha held a lower status and were less powerful than Chandragupta I.