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The Imperial GuptasAshokas death left a vacu-

um in India for the next 600years, during which, severalforeign tribes overran India.With the ascent of the Gupta

power, the northern States weremerged into a single empire.This national revival yielded anexcellent administration andtrade, all-round developmentwith prevailing order and

peace. The tax-burden was lowcompared to the Mauryan ruleand the State provided for saferoads for trade. The period sawthe revival of religion, sanskritliterature, art and architecturetoo.

1. After the Mauryas,the two main powers werethe Satavahanas in the Dec-can and theKushanas in thenorth. They carried on brisktrade with the Roman

empire. These powers werereplaced in the middle of the3rd century A.D. by the Gup-tas. The Guptas wereVaishyas by caste and fol-lowed Vaishnavism.

2. The main centres ofGupta activity were Magad-ha (Pataliputra), Prayag(Allahabad), Ujjain (M.P.,considered as their secondcapital), Saket (Ayodhya,U.P.), and Sarnath (Benaras,Varanasi, U.P.).

3. Sri Gupta and his sonGhatotkacha Gupta were thefirst definite rulers of thisdynasty, who also used theterm Maharaja. However,no definite place is assignedto them over which theyruled.

4. Chandragupta-I is

considered real founder.He started the Gupta Era(320 A.D.). His marriagealliance with the Licchavi(North Bihar) princess

Kumaradevi enhanced hisstatus and he ruled overOudh, Magadh and Prayag.

5. Samudra Guptascampaigns have been men-tioned by his court poet

Harisena in the Prayag

Prasasti, which is a valuablesource of information for thevarious States, tribes andtheir rulers. His victory overthe Nagas, Hunas,Vakatakas, etc gave him thetitle of Indian Napoleon(for his conquests), especial-ly the Vakataka rulerPravarasena (of Berar, Dec-can) and Tamralipti (Bengal).

6. The Guptas were sec-ular rulers and offered reli-

gious freedom to the society.7. Chandra Gupta-II(Vikramaditya) defeatedhis elder brother Ramaguptaand the Saka chief Basana,

because Ramagupta hadagreed to offer his wifeDhruvadevi to save thekingdom from Basana. Tostrengthen his position fur-ther, he married his daugh-ter Prabhadevi, by his wifeKuber Naga, to the Vakatakaking Rudrasena II. TheVakatakas helped him to endthe power of the Sakas ofWestern India.

8. Vikramaditya is iden-tified with king Chandra ofthe iron pillar inscriptionnear Qutab Minar, Delhi.

9. The reign of Vikrama-ditya also saw the visit of the

Chinese monk Fahien, whowanted to secure somecopies of Buddhist manu-scripts from India.

10. Skanda Gupta isfamous for saving theempire from theHuna tribe,which had overran Asia andEurope. They suffered a ter-rible defeat in India.

11. Skanda Guptaappointed Parnadatta as

governor to the Sakas atSaurashtra. The famousJunagarh rock inscription inGirnar hills, Kathiawar, referto the repair of the embank-ment of the Sudarshan Lake

by Parnadatta and his sonChakrapalita.

12. The last importantGupta ruler was VishnuGupta.

1 3 . A r c h a e o l o g i c a lsources of Gupta history are

available as prasastis(charters recording landgrants, etc). They are calledTamra sasanas or Tamrapa-tras (copper plates).

14. Gupta coins werefirst issued by SamudraGupta, as the goldenDinara. He also issuedChandragupta and Kumaradevitype coins to commemorate his

fathers marriage to the Liccha-vi princess.

15. Thefirst silver coinswere issued by Chandragup-ta-II, on imitation of thewestern Satraps. Coppercoins were also issued.

16. Brahmanical faith,which had been eclipsed forlong by the new sects ofBuddhism and Jainism,achieved immense splen-

dour under the VaishnaviteGuptas, who also encour-aged to revive use of Sans-krit.

17. Devi worship in var-ious forms achieved impor-tance during Gupta period.Lakshmi was worshipped asconsort to Vishnu and Parvatito Shiva.

18. Emergence of Bhakticult, stressing on worship,

devotion and love towards apersonal God, gained impor-tance during the Guptaperiod.

19. Literature and intel-lectual progress also mani-fested unparalleled progress.Sanskrit was honoured asthe State language.

20. Some importantscholars/works of theperiod are:

( a ) Vish n u sh a rma

wrote Panchatantra, a col-lection of moral stories.(b)Harisenaauthor of

Prayag (Allahabad) prasasti(insciption)gives accountof Samudraguptas cam-paigns.

(c) Vishakhadutta wrote Mudra Rakshas (onMauryas and Nandas) andDevichandragupta (onChandragupta-II and Dhru-va Devi).

(d) ShudrakawroteMricchakatika (a drama ona Brahmin merchantCharudutt and a courtesanVasantsena, portrays citylife).

(e) Bharaviepic poemKirtarjuneya (Arjuna and thedisguised hunter Shiva).

(f) DandinDasaku-

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Quick Revision Noteson Indian History

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maracharita (stories of 10princes).

(g) SubandhuVasav-datta (story of prince Kan-darpketu and princessVasavdatta).

(h) Banabhattaa later

date writerwrote Har-shacharita and Kadambarihewas court poet of HarshaVardhana.

(i)Amarsimhaa lexi-cographerhe wrote Ama-rakosa, he listed variousmetals and alloys.

(j)KamandakaNitis-ara (on Chandragupta-Ispolity and administration)is parallel to Kautilyas

Arthasastra.

(k) Puranasreligiousliterature was made moreappealing. Puranas werefinally written down.

(l) Kal idasagreatestliterary scholarwrote thedramas Abhijnanasakuntalam(Shakuntala), Vikramorvasiya,

Malvikagnimitra; The epicsRaghuvamsa and Kumara-sambhava; The poetries

Meghaduta and Ritusamhara.21.Nalanda (Rajagriha,

Bihar) was founded byKumaragupta (A.D. 450) andwas famous for its tests.There was free education. Ithad 10,000 students, 1,500teachers and 300 class-rooms, a big three-storeyedlibrary. Huen Tsang whocame later, during Harsha,studied here for five years.Itsing (A.D. 675) records adonation by Sri Gupta, for theUniversity.

22. Guptas started usingbricks for temples (E.g. Bhi-targaon temple, Kanpur). TheDasavatara temple, dedicatedto Vishnu, at Deogarh, Jhansishows a transitory State from

flat roof temples to theshikhara style.

23. In sculpture, purelyindigenous patterns wereadoptedinstead of the

Kushana period Buddhawith shaven head, we havethe Buddha with curly hairnow, and transparent drap-ery was used along with var-ious mudras (postures). Themain centres were Sarnath

(Benaras), Mathura, Patal-iputra (Patna).24. Some famous sculp-

tures of Gupta period are:The seated or preach-

ing Buddha, giving his firstsermon, discovered in sand-stone, at Varanasi.

The standing Buddha,at Mathura, in red sand-stone.

The great boarasVishnus incarnationUdai-

giri caves.25. The art of paintingreached its zenith during theGupta period and is mani-fested at Bagh caves(Gwalior, M.P.) and Ajantacaves (Maharashtra).

26.Aryabhattamath-ematician and astronomer ofGupta periodwrote Arya-bhattiya and Surya Sid-dhanta. He explained theeclipses, shape of earth, its

rotation and revolution andgave important results inmaths too.

27. BrahmaguptaofUjjainhad an observatory.

28. Varahmihir wroteJyotishsastra and Pancha sid-dhantika on astronomy.

29. VagabhattaPhysi-cianwrote Astangasangra-ha.

30. The central adminis-trative system of the Guptaera comprised the

Mantri/Sachiv (modern ChiefMinister), Bhatasvapati (com-mander of infantry and cav-alry), Kataka (commander ofelephants), Dandapasadhi-karan (police chief), Kumara-matyas and Ayuktas (provin-cial heads).

31. Each province wascalled bhukti and was under

such officials as uparikas, bho-jikas, goptas, rajasthaniyas, etc.

32. The provinces weredivided into vishyas, undercharge of Vishyapatis. Thelowest division (village) wasunder the gramika (village

headman).33. Land was properlyclassified into kshetra (cul-tivable), khila (wasteland),donations for brahmins(agrahara grants), donationsfor religious purposes(Devagrahara land grants)and so on.

34. The land revenuesystem was put in charge ofDhruvadhikaranika. The

pustapala was an officer

especially appointed torecord various land transac-tions.

35. The receivers of landgrants had the right to enjoyland revenue from the farm-ers. They could even punishand try thieves. Thus, therewas serfdom (forced work) andoppression of the peasantry.

36. A number of taxeshad to be paid to the king.These were: Bhaga (1/6th of

produce). Bhoga (taxes inkind fruits, wood, flowers,etc.). Kara (periodic tax onfarmers). Uparikara (extrataxes). Udianga (probablywater tax). Sulka (moderncustoms tax). Klipta andUpaklipta (purchase andsales taxes).

37. There were twoclasses of merchantsset-tled (sresthi) and caravantraders (Sarthavaha). Thegroup of merchants called aspugaconstituted the advi-sory council in cities. Itspresident was the Nagar-sresthi. Town mayor wascalled Purupala.

38. The Guptas spreadIndian culture to the S.E.Asian countries, especiallyMahayana Buddhism andHinduism.

39. The Srenis (tradersunions or guilds) hadimmense powers. Not onlydid they perform economicfunctions but also judicialand executive ones. Some ofthem even issued seals and

coins and had their ownmilitia (called Srenibala, inthe Kalachuri inscriptions).

40. Narada and Brihas-pati smritis lay down therules for merchants. The nor-mal rate of interest was 15%per annum.

41. The most importantmetal of the Gupta age wasiron.

42. The blacksmithacquired the second most

important place in the vil-lage economy. The iron pillar(of Chandra Gupta-II) is afine example of iron workersof Gupta period.

43. The term golden agecan be applied mainly forthe economically upperclasses, and that too inNorthern India only. Thoughart and architecture flour-ished, it was confined as aState art. There was flour-

ishing trade with the south-east, but, on the whole, therewas decline of trade centresand towns. Sanskrit litera-ture, undoubtedly, made im-mense progress, but it wasmore of a state language,limited to the learned ones.

44. The caste-systembecame rigid during thisperiod. Manu, for instance,had put several restrictionson the woman and the shu-dras. In no way was the tax-

burden on the common manlow. The flourishing mon-eyeconomy during theirpredecessors (Kushanas andSatvahanas)also slowly

broke down. Fahien men-tions use of cowries(shells) as the commonmedium of exchange, indi-cating shortage of coins.

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