沙摩陀罗·笈多一作三慕达罗笈多、三谟陀罗笈多，即“海护王”，是古印度笈多王朝第二位君主（335年 - 375年在位）。在位期间大力扩张领土，首先征服了恒河上游地区和印度河流域东部地区；然后回师东进，征服恒河下游直至三角洲的大部分；后又挥师南下，进抵奥里萨和德干高原东部。势力远及马来半岛和印度人侨居的爪哇和苏门答腊等地。此外沙摩陀罗·笈多还兼容婆罗门教和佛教，奖励文学艺术，他本人也谙熟文艺，有“诗人国王”之称。

Samudragupta (r.c.335 – c.380 CE) was the fourth ruler of the Gupta Empire and the son and successor of Chandragupta I. His rule was one of expansion marked first by the conquest of his immediate neighbours and then by campaigns to the east and the south where chiefdoms and kingdoms were subdued and forced to pay tribute to him. Much of the knowledge of Samudragupta's military exploits comes from the Allahabad Pillar of Ashoka which includes a prashasti (a eulogy) extolling the deeds and virtues of the Gupta emperor. Going by the inscription, Samudragupta exerted direct or indirect control over much of the Indian subcontinent stretching from kingdoms in Nepal and the Punjab in the north all the way to the Pallava kingdom at Kanchipuram in the south-east.