According to the
Sanskrit play
Devi-Chandraguptam, which is now available only in form of some fragments, Dhruvadevi was originally a queen of Chandragupta's elder brother
Ramagupta. Once, Ramagupta was besieged by a
Shaka enemy, who demanded Dhruva-devi as part of a peace agreement. Ramagupta agreed to surrender Dhruva-devi to the enemy, but Chandragupta went to the enemy camp disguised as the queen, and killed the enemy. The rest of the story is not clear from the surviving fragments, but based on later literary and epigraphic references, it may be reconstructed as follows: Ramagupta's public image suffered as a result of his decision to surrender his wife to an enemy, while Chandragupta was regarded as a hero by the subjects. Ramagupta grew jealous of his brother, and tried to persecute him. Chandragupta feigned madness to escape his brother's enmity, but ultimately killed him, became the new king, and married Dhruva-devi. Several modern historians believe that the play is based on true historical events. According to this theory, Ramagupta agreed to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi to the Shaka king, alienating her as well as his subjects. However, Chandragupta heroically defeated the enemy, winning the admiration of the queen and the subjects. Chandragupta ultimately de-throned his brother, and married Dhruvadevi. Historian Romila Thapar theorizes that the play may have been written in the Gupta court, possibly during the reign of Chandragupta's successors. The author's intention may have been to justify Chandragupta's unorthodox act of killing his elder brother and marrying his predecessor's wife. == References ==