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Gupta Empire

Content:
1. Introduction of Guptas and their origin.
2. Famous Gupta rulers like:
a. Chandragupta-I
b. Samudragupta
c. Chandragupta-II
d. Kumaragupta
3. Administration
4. Economy
5. Society & Religion during Gupta age.
6. Literature
7. Scientific achievement during Guptas
9. Fa-Hien’s Account
10. Decline of the Gupta Empire.

Introduction:
North India came under the rule of several foreign
people, such as the Yavanas, Kushans, Sakas,
Parthians, etc. They began to settle in north-west
India from the first century B.C. onwards.
Foreign rulers came to India due to the turbulent
condition in central Asia. They adjusted themselves
with Indian culture, and introduced some new
elements in India.
Three big political powers emerged in India between
the 1st century B.C. and 3rd century A.D., which
played an important stabilizing factor over large
region. They were
1. Satavahanas in the Deccan,
2. Kushanas in the north, and
3. Sakas in the west.
In the mid of 3rd century A.D., the empires of the Satavahanas and Kushanas came to an end.

Gupta empire
• Founded by Sri Gupta during 240 AD.
• however, Gupta Empire rose to prominence in 319 AD after the accession of Chandragupta I to
the throne.

Famous rulers:
Chandragupta-i (319ad- 335ad)
• He acquired the strategically important Magadha kingdom on marriage to a Lichchhavi
princess Kumaradevi and made Patliputra his capital.
• He was successful in building a small principality into a great kingdom and is considered the
first great king of the Gupta Empire.

SAMUDRAGUPTA (335AD-380AD)
• He is the greatest king of the Gupta dynasty.

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• The Allahabad inscription on Ashoka’s pillar (known as

Prayaga Prashasti) describes his bravery as inscribed by his
court poet, Harisena.
• He was a follower of Vaishnavite Hinduism but was tolerant of
other faiths.
• He gave permission to the king of Sri Lanka, Meghavarna to
build a monastery in Bodh Gaya. Hence, he was called
‘Anukampavana’ i.e. full of compassion.
• According to legends, Samudragupta never faced any defeats
and hence he was also called ‘Indian Napoleon’ by colonial
historian Vincent Smith.
• Coins issued by him depict Goddess Laxmi and Samudragupta playing Veena.
• One of his coins refers to him as ‘the restorer of Ashvamedha’.
• On one of his coins, he calls himself ‘Lichhavi Duhitr’ i.e. son of Lichhavi’s daughter
• He was the great patron of art and adopted the title of Kavirajmarg.

Chandragupta-ii (380ad-418ad)
• Also called Chandragupta Vikramaditya
• He formed alliance with Vakataka rulers by marrying his daughter to Vakataka ruler.
• After death of Vakataka ruler he became ruler of their kingdom and western seaports including
Broach (Bharuch) fell into the hands of Guptas.
• This increased prosperity of the western part of the empire and hence Ujjain was made second
capital of the Guptas by Chandragupta II apart from Patliputra.
• He also annexed three Satrapa kingdoms and assumed the title Sakari (destroyer of the Sakas).
• His reign marked the highest territorial limit of the Gupta dynasty.
• His other names (as mentioned in coins) include Vikrama, Devagupta, Devaraja,
Simhavikrama, Vikramaditya Sakari, etc.
• His court had nine jewels or Navaratnas, nine people eminent in various fields of art, literature,
and science. This included the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, Harisena, Amarasimha
(lexicographer) and Dhanvantari (physician).
• The Mehrauli iron pillar inscription, located in the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi mentions
Chandragupta’s victory over enemies from Vanga (Bengal).
• Fa-Hien, a Buddhist from China visited India during his reign.

KUMARAGUPTA-I (415-455)
● Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumaragupta I. He ruled till 455 AD.
● Kumaragupta I was the founder of the Nalanda University.

Administration under Guptas:

• importance was given to the decentralization of power.
• The provinces (bhuktis) were divided into numerous districts or Vishayas and a Vishayapati
was appointed to control it.
• The lowest unit of administration was the village. In villages there was a headman called
Gramapati.
• The supreme judicial powers were vested in the King, he was assisted by the Mahanandanayaka
(Chief Justice).
• The army was paid in cash.
• The practice of land grants to the priest and administrative officers was continued and
entrenched during Guptas.
• Agrahara was the tax-free land grants to the religious functionaries during Guptas.

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• The net result was the emergence of feudalism in India and thus a large part of the country
was controlled by these feudal lords.
• Guptas were the first dynasty that codified civil and criminal laws and prohibited severe
punishments in the empire.

Economy under Guptas:

• Different types of land measurements were present in different regions for eg. Kulyavapa and
Dronavapa in Bengal.
• that 1/6th of the produce was taken as tax.
• Uparikara was kind of octroi tax collected when taken from one
city to another.
• Vishti was kind of forced labor which King can demand from
his subjects.
• Bali: Bali which was voluntary in Maurya era and was given to
the King became compulsory in Gupta Era.
• Harshcharita of Banabhatta mentioned ghati-yantra (pots
attached to chain) as a method of irrigation also called
Araghatta.

Society & religion under Guptas:

• Varna system became more rigid.
• Brahmins became more powerful.
• Practice of untouchability started during Gupta age.
• The position of the woman of higher Varnas had deteriorated like practice of Sati, prostitution,
Child marriage, polygamy became more prevalent during Gupta age.
• Shudras were now regarded as agriculturist, which helped in improving their position in
society.

Religion:
• The Hindu religion also received an impetus under the Guptas and it flourished and expanded
throughout India.
• Although the Gupta kings were Vaishnavas they were tolerant of Buddhism and Jainism. They
patronized Buddhist art in Ajanta caves.
• A new cult of Vaishnavism or Bhagvatism emerged during Guptas.
• Idol worship became a common feature during Guptas and various Hindu gods and goddesses
assumed their shape or images during Gupta times.

Literature during Gupta age:

• Gupta Kings patronized the Sanskrit literature.
• It became court language of Guptas.

Kalidasa, the great poet, and playwright was in the court of Chandragupta II. He composed great epics
such as-
1. Malavikagnimitram: The play tells the story of the love of Agnimitra, the Shunga Emperor at
Vidisha, for the beautiful lun-maiden named Malvika of his chief queen.
2. Vikramorvashiyam: The Vedic love story of king Pururavas and an Apsara, a celestial nymph
named Urvashi.
3. Abhijnana Shakuntalam: In this story King Dushyanta and Shakuntala meet in the forest and
get estranged and ultimately reunited. Their son Bharata laid the foundation of the dynasty that
ultimately led to Kauravas and Pandavas).

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4. Kumarasambhavam: talks about the birth of Kumara (Kartikeya), the son of Shiva and Parvati.
5. Ritusamhara: The changing seasons are depicted against the thematic backdrop of how lovers
react to the landscape.
6. Meghadootam: It recounts how a yaksha, a subject of King Kubera (the god of wealth), after
being exiled for a year to Central India for neglecting his duties, convinces a passing cloud to
take a message to his wife Alaka on Mount Kailasa in the Himalaya mountains.
7. Raghuvamsham (The stories related to the Raghu dynasty, namely the family of Dilipa and his
descendants up to Agnivarna, who include Raghu, Dasharatha and Rama).
• Vishakhadatta composed Mudrarakshasa. Mudrarakshasa means “Ring of the Demon” and it
recites the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya to the throne with the help of Chanakya by
defeating the Prime Minister Rakshasa of Dhana Nanda.
• Another play composed by him is Devi Chandraguptam.
• Shudraka’s famous Sanskrit plays are Mrichchhakatika. The central story of Mrichchhakatika
is that of a noble but impoverished young Brahmin Charudatta, who falls in love with a wealthy
courtesan Vasantsena.
• Bharavi is known for Kiratarjuniya, which talks about the combat between Shiva and Arjuna.
it is one of the larger three of the six Sanskrit mahakavyas, or great epics.
• Vatsyayana was the author of Nyaya Sutra Bhashya and Kamasutra. The Nyaya Sutra Bhashya
is regarded as the first commentary on Gautama’s Nyaya Sutras. Kamasutra is considered the
first secular literature of India and it talks about the art of lovemaking.
• Amarasimha (grammarian and poet) composed a lexicon of Sanskrit called Amarakosha.
• Varahamihira's most notable work was Brihat Samhita, an encyclopedic work on architecture,
temples, planetary motions, eclipses, timekeeping, astrology, seasons, cloud formation, rainfall,
agriculture.
• Vishnu Sharma wrote Panchatantra.
• In Gupta plays, women and shudra spoke in Prakrit whereas men of higher Varnas spoke in
Sanskrit.

Sciences:
Aryabhatta:
• Wrote Aryabhatia on astronomy.
• Gave value of zero.
• Value of Pi.
• earth is not flat and it rotated around its own axis and also that it revolved around the sun.
Thus, explaining the reason for lunar and solar eclipses.
• He also gave the distance between earth and sun

Brahmagupta:
• was an Indian mathematician and astronomer.
• works on mathematics and astronomy i.e. Brahmasphuta Siddhanta and Khandakhadyaka.
• he explained the area of cyclic quadrilateral.

Sushruta:
• Sushruta, composed the Sushruta Samhita around 600 AD.
• He has detailed surgical procedures in this work.
• He has enumerated the process of different surgeries such as cataract as well as surgical
instruments to be used.
• He is widely considered as Father of Surgery in India.

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Charaka:
• He was a physician in the court of Chandragupta II.
• Wrote Sanskrit text on Ayurveda called Charaksamhita.

Other scientific achievement:

• The Indian number system with a base of 10 which is the
present numeral system evolved from scholars of this era.
• The Mehrauli iron pillar, located in the Qutub Minar
complex in Delhi is the amazing pillar that does not rust.

Fa-Hien’s Account:
Fa-Hien was a Chinese pilgrim who visited India at the beginning of
the fifth century AD with the chief aim of visiting the holy places
connected with the life of Buddha.

His observations about Chandragupta II rule:

• Efficient administration.
• Punishment for crime was not very harsh.
• People followed vegetarianism and Ahimsa.
• Plight of Chandlas (community which assist in funeral of dead) was poor and they were
considered untouchables and were forced to live outside city.

Decline of Gupta empire:

• The Gupta decline started during the reign of Skandagupta, the grandson of Chandragupta II.
• Battle with Hunas and Vakataka rulers drained resources of the kingdom.
• Liberal land donation to Brahmins which were tax free, this practice cut off revenue needed
for efficient administration.
• The practice of granting land rights to Nobles gave birth to feudalism and fragmented the
Gupta empire.
• Mutiny of Feudal lords (Samantas) against central rule.
• So weak rulers along with incessant invasions from foreign as well as native rulers caused the
decline of the Gupta Empire.
• By the beginning of the sixth century, the empire had disintegrated and was ruled by many
regional chieftains.

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