Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Gupta Empire" in Simple English language version.
The capital of the Guptas was located somewhere in the eastern part of U. P. The evidence of the Puranas from which we learn that Prayāga was the nucleus of the original Gupta state, the incision of the prasasti of Samudragupta on a stone pillar at Prayāga, the discovery of several other early Gupta inscriptions and numerous hoards of coins from this area, and the possibility of the performance of Asvamedha at Prayāga by Samudragupta bring out the fact that at least in the early part of their history, the Guptas had their capital at Prayāga. [...] Later on, however, Ayodhyā was made the formal residence of the emperor, for, Paramartha, a Buddhist scholar of the Gupta age refers to this city as the capital of Vikramaditya i.e. Skandagupta who appointed Vasubandhu as the teacher of his crown-prince Bālāditya.
An indication of the leaning of the Gupta kings towards Vaisnavism is clear from the Garuda emblem of the Guptas. The gupta monarchs also used the title 'Paramabhāgavata' i.e.; the devout devotee of Visnu, in their imperial records.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Prayaga region of the modern eastern Uttar Pradesh was the centre of power of the early Guptas
The importance of this identification lies in the fact that it proves that the immediate successors of Skanda Gupta had a capital at Ayodhyā probably till the rise of the Maukharis. If the spurious Gayā plate is to be believed Ayodhyā was the seat of a Gupta jaya-skandhāvāra, or 'camp of victory,' as early as the time of Samudra Gupta. The principal capital of Bālāditya and his successors appears to have been Kāśī.
the successors of Chandra Gupta II set up their capital at Ayodhyā. It also appears from the Sarnath Stone inscription of Prakațāditya (Fleet, No. 79) that they had another capital at Kāśī.
On the south banks of the Bina, the building of a religious complex dedicated to Vishnu, the Empire's tutelary deity, had expanded under Budhagupta.
During the reign of either the emperor Kumāragupta or, more probably, that of his successor Skandagupta (AD 455–467), the capital of the empire was moved from Pāțaliputra to Ayodhyā...
UP therefore seems to have been the place from where the Guptas operated and fanned out in different directions. Probably with their centre of power at Prayag, they spread into the neighbouring regions.
During the reign of either the emperor Kumāragupta or, more probably, that of his successor Skandagupta (AD 455–467), the capital of the empire was moved from Pāțaliputra to Ayodhyā...