The founder of the Gupta dynasty was —

Sri Gupta is regarded as the founder and earliest known ruler of the Gupta dynasty; Chandragupta I later transformed the family into an imperial power. This question belongs to the Gupta and post-Gupta phase, a period reconstructed through inscriptions, coins, monuments, literary works, scientific texts and accounts of foreign travellers. The Gupta age is often described as a classical or golden age because of important achievements in Sanskrit literature, temple architecture, sculpture, astronomy and mathematics, but the label should not conceal regional diversity or social and political change. Ghatotkacha succeeded Sri Gupta, while Chandragupta I and Samudragupta belonged to later generations. Next match the person and date, and finally eliminate alternatives that belong to another dynasty or century.