POINTS TO REMEMBER

Samudra Gupta is known as the Indian Napoleon. . The Gupta era started in AD 320.
. The royal seal of the Guptas bore the emblem of the
garudas.
. The official language of the Guptas was Sanskrit.
. The narrative scenes of the Ajanta paintings of this
period mainly relate tq stories from the Jataka.
. The poet Harisena's inscription-known as Prayagaprasasti
and engraved on the Asokan pillar at Allahabad­
speaks of Samudragupta's accession and conquests. . According to Prayagaprasasti, 12 rulers from dakshinapatha
(South India) were defeated by Samudra Gupta.
. Gupta Kings adopted titles like Parambhattaraka,
Paramdaivata, Chakravarti, Parmeshwar, etc.
. Pratihara in the Gupta age regulated ceremonies and granted the necessary permits for admission to the royal presence. Dutakas were associated with the task of implementing land gifts to brahmans and others.
. Uparikara was a tax levied on cloth, oil etc. Sulka, a commercial tax, was imposed on the organisation of traders. The king had a right to forced labour (visthi), bali and many other types of contributions.
. The Gupta empire was divided into desas or rashtras, or bhuktis. The bhuktis were governed by uparikas (provin­cial governors) who were appointed directly by the king.
. The bhukti or province was divided into vishayas (dis­tricts) under an officer called ayuktaka and in other cases a vishayapati appointed by the uparika.
. The l)ead of the city Ip.erchants was called nagarsresthi, while the caravan leader was known as sarthavaha. . Pustapalas were the district level officials whose work
was to manage and keep records.
. Village under gramapati or gramadhyaksha was the lowest
unit of administration.
. Gupta inscriptions from Bengal mention different cat­
egories of villages such as gramikas, kutumbis and mahattaras.
. Lands under cultivation were usually called kshetra, while those not under cultivation were variously called as khila, aparahata, etc.
. Nivartana was the term used for a measure of land but, in the inscriptions of Bengal, terms like kulyavapa and dronavapa are used for measuring land.
. Irrigation through ghati-yantra, also known as araghatta, became more popular in the Gupta age. In ghati-yantra, a number of pots were tied to a chain. The chain and the pots were rotated to reach down to the water of the hull so that pots would continuously fill with water and empty the hull.
. Ordinary cultivators of the Gupta period were known by various terms such as krishihala, karshaka or kinass. They had low social and economic status.
. Kshauma and pattavastra were different varieties of silk
cloth produced in the Gupta age.
. An inscription of the fifth century AD from Mandasor (Malwa) refers to a guild of silk weavers who had migrated from South Gujarat and had settled in the Malwa region.
. Brahman settlements in the Gupta period were known
as brahmadiyas, agraharas, etc. '
. Various jatis (castes) originated in the Gupta age through
varna- samkara or inter-marriages between various varnas.
. Vratya kshatriyas or semi-KShatriyas were the terms used
for various pre-Gupta ruling families.
. The empire of the Guptas, feudatories of the Kushans in Uttar Pradesh, arose on the ruins of the Kushan empire. After the end of Kushan power around AD 230, central India fell under the rule of the Murundas, possibly the kinsmen of the Kushans. The Murundas were defeated by the Guptas in AD 275.
Harishena was a court poet of Samudragupta.
. Atarilca rajyas was the term used for forest kingdoms
situated in the Vindhya region.
. The victory of Chandra Gupta IT over western Malwa
and Gujarat gave the Gupta ruler the western sea coast,
which was famous for trade and commerce.
. Chandra Gupta II, who adopted the title of Vikramaditya,
made Ujjain his second capital.
. Skanda Gupta is credited with effectively stemming the march of the Hunas into India, but his successors could not cope with the Huna invaders who excelled in horsemanship and used stirrups made of metal.
. Yasodharman of Malwa successfully challenged the authority of the Guptas and set up, in AD 532, pillars of victory commemorating his conquest of almost the whole of northern India.
. Following the end of the Gupta rule in the sixth century, Maukharis, with their capital at Kanauj, rose to power in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
. Land tax in the Gupta period varied from one-fourth
to one-sixth of the produce.
. Kumaramatyas, appointed in the home provinces and
paid in cash, were the most important officers in the
Gupta empire.
. In the urban administration, organised professional bodies
were given considerable share.
. The grant of fiscal and administrative concessions to priests and officers was an important feudal develop­ment that surfaced under the Guptas. Religious func­tionaries were granted land (free of tax for ever) and they were authorised to collect from the peasants all taxes that could have otherwise gone to the king. Royal agents, retainers, etc. could not enter the granted vil­lages.
. The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins,
called dinars in Gupta inscriptions, in ancient India.
. There were two main factors for the proliferation of numerous sub-castes in Indian society during the Gupta period: (i) assimilation of foreign invaders, mainly as kshatriyas, into the Indian society, and (ii) absorption of many tribal peoples into brahmanical society through the process of land grants.
. The position of shudras improved in this period. T were allowed to perform certain domestic sites i worship a new god, Krishna.
. The first example of sati appears from Eran (Mad
Pradesh) in Gupta times in AD 510.
. The status of women, particularly these belonginl
upper varnas, declined during the Gupta period.
. Bhagavatism or Vaishnavism overshadowed Mahay
Buddhism by the time of the Guptas.
. Samudra Gupta is represented on his coins playing I . There are 33 lines in Harisena's Prayagaprasasti. . The Gupta period is called the Golden Age of anc
India. .
. Samudra Gupta granted permission to the Bud~
king of Ceylon, Meghavarman, to build a monaste~
Bodh Gaya.
. Chandra Gupta IT married with the Naga pnnj
Kubernaga and allowed his daughter Prabhavat
marry with Rudrasena II, a Vakataka king.
. The Mehrauli iron pillar inscription near Qutab M
Delhi, enumerates the exploits of Chandra Gupta
. The Gupta empire extended from north Bengal ill
east to Kathiawar in the west and from the Himal
in the north to Narmada in the south.
. Ajanta, Ellora and Bagh are the famous centres of G
paintings.
. The Gupta era heralded the two important stylE
temples-Nagara (North India) and Dravida (Soutl
dia).
. An over two-metre high bronze image of the BUt
belonging to the Gupta period has been recovered
Sultanganj (Bihar).
. The best specimens of Hindu sculpture during the (
period are found in the Deogarh (Madhya Pra(
temple.
. 'The chief characteristics of Gupta art are refineI
simplicity of expression, and religious virtuosity.
. The Indian notational system was called Hindsa b:
Arabs who took it to the West.
. Aryabhatta is credited with calculating the value
and the length of a solar year.
. Vagabhatta was a renowned physician of the tin

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The craftsmen of the period were experts in working metals, as is evident from the discovery of colossal copper statues of the Buddha and an iron pillar at Mehrauli near Delhi. The pillar represents the triumph of Gupta metallurgical skill, as in spite of exposure for centuries to sun and rain the column has not yet rusted. Mathematics and astronomy .saw great development. Numerals and the decimal system were in regular use. The Indian notational system was adopted by the Arabs who took it to the West. Called Arabic by the English, the system was called Hindsa by the Arabs themselves. The concept of zero had been developed. Aryabhatta calculated the value of 1t and the length of a solar year with a remarkable degree of accuracy. He also theorised upon the earth's rotation on its axis and the cause of eclipse being the earth's shadow on the moon. Varahamihira was an astronomer in the sixth century.
He stated that the moon rotated round the earth which rotates round the sun. The science of medicine also developed; Vagabhata was a renowned physician of the time.

Important Literary Works During the Gupta Perioc

Important Literary Works During the Gupta Perioc

Epics

Raghuvansa, Ritusamhara, Meghaduta - Kalidasa Ravanabodha - Batsabhatti
Kavyadarshana and Dasakumarcharita - Dandin Kiratarjuniyam - Bharavi
Nitishataka - Bhartahari

Dramas

Vikramovarshiya, Malavikagnimitra and Abhijnanasakuntalt
- Kalidasa Mrichchakatika - Sudaraka Swapnavasavadatta, Charudatta and Pratignayaugandharaya
- Bhasa
Mudrarakshasa and Devichandraguptam - Visakhadatta

Eulogy

Prayag-Prasasti - Harisena

Philosophy
Sankhyakarika (based on Sankhya philosophy) - Ishwi
Krishna
Padartha Dharmasangraha (based on Vaisheshika philosoph~
- Acharya Prashastipada
Vyasa Bhasya (based on Yoga philosophy) - Acharya Vyasa Nyaya Bhasya (on Nyaya philosophy) - Vatsyayana

Religious Works
The two great epics, the Rnmayana and the Mahabharata,
were given final shape during the period.

Grammar
Amarakosha - Amarsimha
Chandravyakarana - Chandragomin
Kavyadarsha - Dandin

Narrative Story
Panchatantra and Hitopadesha - Vishnu Sharma

Smritis
Yajnavalkyasmriti, Parasharsmriti, Brihaspatismriti, Naradasmriti
and Katyayanasmriti

Mathematics and Astronomy
Aryabhattiya, Dashajitikasutra and Aryashtashata - Aryabhatta Brihatsamhita and Panchasidhantika - Varahmihira Brahmasidhanta - Brahmagupta

Miscellaneous Works
Nitisastra - Kamandaka
Kamsutra - Vatsyayana
Kavyalankara - Bhamah

LITERATURE

LITERATURE

The growing influence of brahmanical religion gave impe.tus to the development of Sanskrit which displa( Prakrit as the popular language. Most of the inscripti( now began to be written in Sanskrit, which became 1 official language of the Gupta empire. To this period belc the 13 plays of Bhasa and those of Kalidasa. Most of, plays of this period had happy endings. The higher clas are given dialogues in Sanskrit, while the lower clas speak Prakrit in these plays.

Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntal is considered to be one of the best hundred literary WOI in the world. The two great epics, the Ramayana and 1 Mahabharata, were compiled in this period. Of the Purall the earlier ones were finally compiled in the Gupta tim The period also saw the compilation of various Smritis the law hooks written in verse. The period is particula memorable for the compilation of Amarakosha by AmarsimJ who was a luminary in the court of Chandra Gupta il, a the Panchatantra. Sanskrit language developed an om style. From this period onwards we find greater empha on verse than on prose.

ART AND CRAFTS

ART AND CRAFTS

There are only a few temples made of brick in Uttar Pradesh and a stone temple. The brick temples of the Gupta period include those of Bhitargaon in Kanpur, Bhitari in Ghazipur and Deogarh in Jhansi. The Buddhist university at Nalanda was set up in the fifth century, and its earliest structure, made of brick, belongs to this period. In the history of temple architecture, the Gupta period is the formative and creative age heralding the two important styles, Nagara and Dravida. Of the stupas built during this period, the one at Mirpur Khas in Sind and Dhamekh at Sarnath deserve mention. Of the tall stupa ofSarnath near Varanasi, now little more than the inner core remains. It was once a most imposing structure of beautifully patterned brick-work with a high cylindrical upper dome rising from a lower hemi­spherical one, and with large images of the Buddha set in gable ends at the cardinal points.

The rock-cut architecture of the period is represented by the two conventional types-the chaitya and the vihara. They are mostly found atAjanta, Ellora and Bagh. The most characteristic feature of the chaitya is its emphasis on the colossal image of Buddha seated between two standing attendants. The vihara was planned in the form of rows of cells round a central court. The most numerous viharas are to be found at Ajanta. While retaining the essential features of the past, these caves are remarkable for the variety and beauty of the pillars as well as the fine fresco paintings with which the walls and ceilings are decorated.

There are no remains of free-standing Hindu temples erected before the Gupta period, though by this time they must long have been built in wood, clay and brick. From
the Gupta period, however, several examples survive, chiefly in western India, all showing the same general pattern. Pillars were usually ornate, with heavy bell-shaped capitals surmounted by animal motifs, and the entrances were often carved with mythological scenes and figures. All the Gupta temples were small, and most had flat roofs. Their masonry was held together without mortar, and was far larger and thicker than was necessary for the comparatively small buildings. The finest Gupta temple was that of Deogarh, in which iron dowels were used to hold the masonry together, and a small tower rose above the sanctum. The portal veranda was continued all round the building, making a covered walk.

It is in the domain of sculpture that the Gupta period marked great development. The Gupta sculpture suggests simplicity and serenity. An over two-metre high bronze image of the Buddha has been recovered from Sultanganj near Bhagalpur. According to Fa-Hsien there was an over 25-metre high image of the Buddha made of copper, but it is' not traceable now. In the Gupta period, beautiful images of the Buddha were fashioned at Sarnath and Mathura. For the first time in the Gupta period we get images of Vishnu, Shiva and some other Hindu gods. At many places we get a whole pantheon in which the chief god appears in the middle and his retainers and subordinate gods surround him on the panel. The leading god is represented large in size, but his retainers and subordinate gods are drawn on a smaller scale. The best specimens of Hindu sculpture are to be found in the Deogarh temple containing effective Hindu mythological themes of Rama, Vishnu and Narayana.

In the art of painting, the Gupta Age attained a high degree of proficiency. The specimens of Gupta paintings preserved in the Ajanta caves and the Bagh caves. . Ajanta caves adorned with best fresco paintings w constructed between the first and seventh centuries Paintings in six of the 29 caves have survived the rava of time. The subjects of these paintings are threef( relating to decoration, portraiture and narration. The dE rative designs include an infinite variety of animals, tr and flowers. Of the portraits the central figures are th of the various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The narrat scenes mostly portray Jataka stories.

The murals of Aja vividly portray in panorama the whole human and nah. drama-the princes in their palaces, ladies in their hare] coolies carrying burdens over their shoulders, beggl peasants and ascetics, the flowering trees, beasts and bil The paintings at Bagh epitomise the Ajanta school. The d characteristics of Gupta art are refinement, simplicity expression, and religious virtuosity.

SOCIETY AND RELIGION

SOCIETY AND RELIGION

The brahmanas became richer because of land grants, and claimed many privileges which are listed in the Naradasmriti (fifth century AD). There was a great increase in the number of castes and sub-castes with the large-scale absorption of foreigners and tribals. The position of the shudras improved slightly; they were permitted to listen to the epics and Puranas, to worship a new god called Krishna, and to perform certain domestic rites such as probably paying fees to the priests. Shudras were now considered as agricultur­ists rather than servants and slaves. But the untouchables increased in number, especially the chandalas. According to Fa-Hsien, they had to face many disabilities. They lived outside the village and dealt in meat and flesh. They were not allowed to enter the town as they were considered polluted. Women's position declined.

Disallowed formal education and inheritance of property, they were married early. Widow marriage was disallowed. The first reference to sati appears in Gupta times in AD 510 at Eran.

Buddhism no longer received royal patronage, though according to Fa-Hsien Buddhism was in a very flourishing state. Bhagavatism or Vaishnavism overshadowed Mahayana Buddhism by the time of the Guptas. By the sixth century, Vishnu became a member of the trinity of gods along with Siva and Brahma. A few Gupta kings were worshippers of Siva, but Siva does not seem to have been as important as Vishnu in the early Gupta period. Idol worship in the temples became a common feature of Hindusim from the Gupta period onwards. Many festivals also came to be celebrated. Agricultural festivals observed by different classes of people were given a religious garb and colour, and turned into good sources of income for the priest. Religious toleration was, however, prevalent.

The Shakti cult gave rise to consorts to gods, and goddesses like Lakshmi, Parvati, Durga, etc. appeared. Tantricism also became popular in the fifth century. The schools of Hindu philosophy were enunciated in this period. By the fourth century AD Bhagvadgita was finally compiled, which taught devotion to Lord Krishna and stressed the performance of the functions assigned to each varna. Henceforth, the concept of bhakti developed; worship superseded sacrifice.

ECONOMY

ECONOMY

In ancient India, the Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins, which were called dinaras in their inscriptions but they were not a common currency. After the conquest of Gujarat, the Guptas issued a good number of silver coins., mainly for local exchange. Cowries, according to Fa­Hsien, became a common medium of exchange. In contrast to those of the Kushanas, the Gupta coppers are very few. Compared to the earlier period we notice a decline in long­distance trade. South-East Asia gained importance as a centre for Indian trade. After AD 550 the trade with the Roman empire slackened. The striking development of the Gupta period, especially in Madhya Pradesh, was the emergence of priestly landlords at the cost of local peasants. Peasants were sometimes subjected to forced labour.

The commodities for export continued to be more or less the same as before, but items of import now included Chinese silk in greater quantity and ivory from Ethiopia. Horses too were imported in great number from Arabia, Bactria and Iran. Cities like Banares. Thaneswar and Mathura came into prominence.