The Gupta Empire ruled India between the early fourth and late sixth centuries CE. It ruled a large portion of the Indian subcontinent between 319 and 467 CE. Historians refer to this time period as India's Golden Age.
The empire's ruling family was established by King Sri Gupta and included Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya.
Chandra Gupta-I
Gupta Chandra-I founded the Gupta dynasty. Sri Gupta, the first known king of the Gupta line, was his grandfather. Gupta Chandra-I As a local chief rose to prominence in the Magadha kingdom. He increased his authority and power by marrying Princess Kumaradevi of the Licchavi family, which ruled northern Bihar and possibly Nepal at the time.
By the third century A.D., India had been divided into a number of independent nations, both monarchical and non-monarchical. This marriage bolstered the new kingdom's power and reputation.
On one side, special gold coins depicted the king and queen; on the reverse, the Licchavis. The Gupta calendar dates all the way back to 320 B.C. and was in use for centuries.
By the time he died, his kingdom had expanded westward to what is now Allahabad and included Ayodhya and southern Bihar. The Puranas refer to these areas as his kingdom (ancient chronicles of early Sanskrit literature). His kingdoms were sufficient in size for him to accept the title maharajadhiraja ("king of kings") and for his son Samudra Gupta to establish the Gupta empire.
Samudra Gupta
Samudra Gupta is frequently cited as an example of a "perfect ruler" during the "golden age of Indian history" of the Gupta kingdom. He is portrayed as an intimidating warrior, poet, and musician.
After re-establishing peace in his kingdom, he launched a series of territorial expansion wars from his northern stronghold near modern-day Delhi. He defeated King Vishnugopa in the southern Pallava kingdom and restored him and other defeated southern rulers to their thrones in exchange for tribute.
However, the Gupta empire defeated and conquered several northern rulers. At the height of his power, Samudra Gupta ruled nearly the entire Ganges valley, and he was revered by the kings of eastern Bengal, Assam, Nepal, the eastern section of Punjab, and numerous Rajasthani tribes.
According to inscriptions on gold coins and the Ashoka pillar in Allahabad's fort, Samudra Gupta was a devotee of the Hindu god Vishnu.
He restored the Vedic Ashwamedha Yajya.
He commemorated the occasion with a one-of-a-kind gold coin depicting him playing the harp; each coin was made entirely of gold and was expertly crafted.
Chandragupta II, Samudragupta's son, was able to expand the Gupta empire into western, northern, and eastern India. Fa-Hien visit's to India in search of Buddhist literature was a significant event during this time period. He created vivid images of the places he visited in his writings, as well as some social and administrative details.
However, he omitted the king's name from his reports. He did, however, praise the King of Madhyadesa, a region ruled directly by the Guptas during this time period and prosperous and happy under his rule.
Additionally, Chandragupta-II is well-known for its patronage of scholars.
"Vikramaditya" Chandragupta II
The Gupta Empire reached its zenith with allies during Chandragupta II's reign in 414 AD.
According to Gupta records, Samudragupta chose prince Chandragupta II, the son of queen Dattadevi, as his new leader from among his sons. From 375 to 415, Chandragupta II was known as Vikramaditya (the Sun of Power). He married Kuberanaga, a Kuntala Naga princess (Ngakulotpannn). Rudrasena II, the Deccan's Vakataka king, married Prabhavatigupta, the Naga queen's daughter. Kumaragupta I, one of his sons, married a Kadamba princess from Karnataka.
Chandragupta II expanded his territory to the west during a war that lasted until 409, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat, and Saurashtra. Rudrasimha III, his main adversary, was defeated in 395, and he annihilated the Bengal chiefdoms. This effectively extended his rule from coast to coast, resulting in the establishment of a second capital at Ujjain and bringing the empire to its zenith.
Various Writings
The Kuntala writings document Chandragupta's rule over the Kuntala region of Karnataka, India.
Although some scholars have cast doubt on Chandragupta's identity, Hunza writings indicate that he was able to control the northwest Indian subcontinent and then capture Balkh.
Despite its military origins, the empire is remembered for its significant contributions to Hindu art, literature, culture, and science, particularly during the reign of Chandragupta II. Numerous outstanding examples of Hindu art, such as the paintings in Deogarh's Dashavatara Temple, help to demonstrate the splendour of Gupta art. Above all, it was the synthesis of elements that imparted the distinctive flavour to Gupta art.
The Guptas were also supportive of the developing Buddhist and Jain civilizations during this time period, resulting in a long history of non-Hindu Gupta art.
The Gupta period's Buddhist art, in particular, was intended to have a profound influence on the majority of East and Southeast Asia.
Numerous accomplishments were recorded and later published in the journal of a Chinese scholar and traveller Faxian.
Source Of Information
In the absence of an authoritative text on administration, archaeological evidence, Smritis (particularly those of Narada, Brhaspati, and Katyayana), works on technical aspects of policy such as Kamandaka's Nitisara, the first phase of the Puranas such as Vaya, Brahmanda, and Vishnu, and other diverse writings such as ancient Sanskrit literature, Buddhist philosophy, and other sources are used to reconstruct the Gupta period.
Politics and Administration in the Gupta Dynasty
The Gupta administration is a watershed moment in the history of politics and governance. It served as a theoretical and practical model for early mediaeval India.
Godly King or Superhuman
The Guptas eschewed the humble title 'Rajan in favour of loftier and more honorific titles such as'maharajadhiraja' and its numerous variants. The Gupta emperors are given the titles 'paramadaivata,' 'paramabhattaraka,' and'maharajadhiraja' in North Bengali documents, which became the sole title for succeeding supreme rulers.
Additionally, the Guptas bestowed additional titles upon themselves, claiming superhuman abilities that elevated them to godhood.
Samudragupta is referred to as a god who resides on Earth in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription. All of these smritis emphasise one aspect of royalty: its superhuman status.
A Feudal Order
The use of great names by the Gupta emperors suggests the presence of lesser kings within the Gupta kingdom. The Guptas established subordinate independence in several occupied countries.
Samudragupta subjected border rulers and republicans to varying degrees, but not directly into the empire. Except for north Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, the rest of the empire was ruled by kshatriya princes such as the parivrajaka and uccakalpa, who paid tribute to the emperor, demonstrated respect, and married their daughters to him.
Later, the so-called parvrajaka maharajas exchanged their land gifts for power with the Gupta emperors. With the fall of the empire, the Guptas' leading space for people became stronger and eventually led to the formation of their own kingdoms on its ruins.
The presence of these rulers harmed the Guptas' ability to exercise royal power. Because the Gupta government was less detailed and organised than the Mauryan government, it permitted the consolidation of numerous offices under a single individual and the establishment of ancestral positions.
All of these factors contributed to the king's direct control of the administrative structure is weakened.
Systematic Administration
The organised local governance of the Gupta period incorporated several novel features. In urban governance, organised professional groups wield considerable influence. Seals were used to demonstrate their authority and control over city affairs.
While pre-Gupta writings make reference to guilds, the Gupta acharyas established the most detailed regulations governing their operation and economic partnerships.
The significance of these corporate organisations had increased to the point where jurists advised the king to recognise and enforce the unions' laws and practises. Large corporations also play a critical role in the justice system.
According to the law books, a three-tiered system exists, with the king serving as the final appellate court.
As a result, it appears as though groups looking out for the interests of their members as well as the towns in which they resided during the Gupta period. Also, the state relinquished some of its municipal government responsibilities.
Another significant social change during the Gupta period was the grant of financial and administrative protection to priests and temples, a practice that began in the Deccan during the Satavahanas. Administrative rights for recipients were a defining feature of the Gupta period's land charters.
Economic Aspects
The Gupta period saw economic development, aided by gifts of land to forward-thinking Brahmins in virgin areas of central India and the Deccan. There was also a significant increase in land ownership. The gold coins and the wealth defined the riches of the ruling class.
A Chinese traveller named Fa Hien confirmed the kingdom's incredible wealth. The use of gold money benefited merchants and wealthy artisans whose guilds were critical to the Gupta economy and government.
Production of Crafts: Throughout this time period, a diverse range of crafts were produced. Among the everyday items on display were clay pots, furniture, and metal household equipment. Numerous high-end items were used, including gold, silver, and precious stone jewellery, ivory artefacts, fine cotton and silk clothing, and other pricey items. Numerous items were acquired through trade, while others were created on the spot.
Legacy
Scholars: Varahamihira and Aryabhata are credited with recognising zero as a distinct number, proposing the theory that the Earth spins on its own axis, and studying solar and lunar eclipses. Kalidasa is the one who wrote the great playwright who wrote Shakuntala and established the pinnacle of Sanskrit literature.
Advances in Medical Sciences: The Su are credited with recognising zero as a distinct number, proposing the theory that the Earth spins on its own axis, and studying solar and lunar eclipses. Kalidasa is the one who wrote the great playwright who wrote Shakuntala and established the pinnacle of Sanskrit literature.
Vatsyayana, an Indian philosopher, wrote the Gupta classic Kama Sutra, which is widely regarded as Sanskrit literature's foundational text on human sexual behaviour.
The Game of Chess: Chess is said to have evolved around this time period, with the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook representing the "four divisions [of the military]" – infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry.
Additionally, physicians invented a variety of medical tools and performed procedures. Indian numerals, the world's first positional base-ten numeral system, originated in Gupta India.
At the start of the Gupta empire, the seven days of the week were given names based on Hindu gods and planets that corresponded to Roman names.
Cosmology: According to Aryabhata, a Gupta-era mathematician and astronomer, the earth is circular and revolves around its own axis. He also established that reflected sunlight illuminates the Moon and planets. In contrast to popular cosmology, he explains eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth.
Literature
The Development of Sanskrit
In the early centuries A.D., a new Sanskrit literary style emerged, influencing a new generation of Indian languages and kinds of literature.
The kavya style is defined by a desire to write poetry that is both aural and intellectually pleasing.
There are both Mahakavya and Sanskrit theatres available. Additionally, it was used in narrative literature, most notably in the prose novel. Asvaghosha, Kalidasa, Magha, Bhavabhkati, and Bharavi were the great masters of the kavya form.
Asvaghosha, a Buddhist who is said to have been a friend of Kushan ruler Kanishka, is credited with creating the first extant kavya literature. Asvaghosha's work also represents a transition from the Pli of the Theravda branch of Buddhism to the increasingly popular Sanskrit of the Mahayana branch.
Two maha kavya texts have survived: the Buddhacarita ("Life of the Buddha") and the Saundari and Nanda ("Of Sundari and Nanda").
These were written in a more straightforward style than the following examples, but they share the traditional characteristics of writers in this genre: a strong preference for descriptions of natural attractions, great spectacles, romantic events, and poetic observations. The Sanskrit language's resources are fully exploited, including stylistic embellishments (Alankara) such as simile and metaphor, alliteration, and tone.
The text is most effective when it describes that same existence, despite the text's stated purpose of encouraging the reader to abandon physical existence and follow the Buddha's path.
The well-known storey of how the Buddha converted his half-brother Nanda, who was head over heels in love with his wife Sundari and the good life, to the monastic life of austerity is told in the Sundari and Nanda. Asvaghosha's command of sound details, as well as the subtleties of grammar and vocabulary, demonstrates his complete forerunnership of the subsequent maha kavya authors.
Gupta Culture's Golden Age
The Gupta period is known as the Classical Age. It was a time of great advancement in literature, art, architecture, and science. It is also considered a very intellectual and creative period. During this time period, peace, prosperity, and liberal arts support were all important.
The Guptas produced a lot of Sanskrit literature. Prakrit was supplanted by the Sanskrit because the Gupta emperor cherished Sanskrit. Samudragupta was also known as kaviraja. Sanskrit became the official language and was widely spoken in royal palaces, particularly at the Ujjain court.
The period's literary achievements led scholars to call it a period of Sanskrit literature reconstruction. Buddhist and Jaina kinds of literature, originally written in Pali, then in Prakrit, used Sanskrit extensively. They wrote mostly in prose, with poetic sections in various Sanskrit dialects.
The Mahayana monks also began writing in Sanskrit.
Religious Texts
Gupta literature is classified into two categories: sacred and cultural. Brahmanism's growing influence aided in the development of sacred literature. During this time period, the eighteen Puranas and sixteen Upapuranas reached their final form.
Even the major epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, evolved during this time period. Manusmriti, alternatively referred to as Manu's code has been updated.
Nagarjuna founded the Madhyamika school of philosophy in Buddhism. As a writer, he authored the Madhyamika Sutra and contributed to the Prajnaparamita Sutra.
The Chatussataka was written by Arya Deva, a Nagarujna student. Sutralankar was written by Asanga. Vasubandhu, his younger brother, wrote Ashidharmakosa, a seminal Mahayana Buddhist text. Dinaga is the author of the Pramana-Samuchchaya, a well-known book on logic.
Sanskrit also inspired the Jaina canonical literature, and a number of brilliant scholars emerged relatively quickly.
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