Skandagupta ascended the Gupta throne in 1 G.E. (AD 455-56), the very year in which his fa Kumaragupta I died. It seems his succession not a peaceful one. This information is derived Bhitari stone pillar inscription. R.C. Majumdar suggested that after Kumaragupta’s death, there a fratricidal war in which Skandagupta came victorious after defeating his brothers includ Purugupta, the rightful claimant, and rescued mother.
He also observed that Skandagupta had natural claim to the throne and the rightful heii Kumaragupta I was Purugupta, the son of Mahadevi Anantadevi. This view of Majumdar been contested by many.
The view that Skandagi was the immediate successor of Kumaragupt seems to be confirmed by a verse in the .4Mb On the basis of the Kathasaritasagara, I Chandragarbhapariprichchha and Apratigha-tj of coins, Goyal suggests that in his old a Kumaragupta 1 became recluse and 1 responsibility fell upon the shoulders Skandagupta who was selected for the pur Skandagupta assumed the titles of Kramaditya Vikramaditya. The AMMK refers to his appellaf Devaraja and in the Kahaum record Skandag is called Shakropana.
The Bhitari record and the Junagarh prashb refer to four categories of the enemies who w overcome by Skandagupta: no evidence that the ‘tranquil reign of Skandagupta, the lord of hundred kings’ (kshitihshatapatih), as described in an inscription dated AD 460-61, was seriously disturbed. Perhaps he left the vast empire in peace and security when he died in or shortly after AD 467.