ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATION

The period of the Imperial Guptas has often been described as the golden age of ancient India, at least in north India. There was consolidation of a large part of northern India under one political umbrella, and it ushered an era of orderly government and progress.

An efficient administration was established in the Gupta empire. All the powers were concentrated with the king. Often an element of divinity was attached to the kings and they were looked upon as gods. Though the king possessed extensive powers he did not rule in a tyrannical manner. A council of ministers and several civil officials assisted the king. The king acted as the fountainhead of justice and decided all disputes. In general, punishments were light and mild. During the Gupta period income was from 18 sources; the greater part of it was spent on works of public welfare. Land revenue which was the chief source was generally fixed at one-sixth of the produce. The police arrangements were so efficient that travellers experienced no difficulty or danger from thieves on their journey. The Gupta rulers had organised a huge army. The country was divided into several provinces (bhuktis) which were further divided into a number of districts (visyas). The local units enjoyed much liberty and independence.

The king adopted pompous titles such as parameshvara, maharajadhiraja and parambhattaraka. This implies that they ruled over lesser kings. Kingship was hereditary but there was not a firm practice of primogeniture. The goddess Lakshmi is represented invariably on the Gupta coins as the wife of Vishnu with whom the kings were compared by the brahmanas.

The king's standing army was supplemented by the forces occasionally supplied by the feudatories. Chariots receded into the background, and cavalry came to the forefront. Horse archery became prominent in military tactics.
For the first time civil and criminal law were clearly defined and demarcated. The most important officers in the Gupta empire were the kumaramatyas. Several offices came to be confined in the hands of the same person, and posts became hereditary. The royal seal bore the imprint of garuda.

Started in the Deccan by the Satavahanas, the practice of granting land and fiscal and administrative concessions to priests and administrators became a regular affair in the Gupta times.