Gupta Period

                            Gupta Period

It was, perhaps, sometimes late in the obscure period of the third century AD that the Gupta dynasty emerged. One Sri Gupta, who brought Magadha under his control, was the founder of the Gupta dynasty. Sri Gupta was succeeded by Ghatotkacha Gupta. The first two kings of the dynasty were described as Maharajas. It is generally believed that the first two rulers of the dynasty ruled before 320 AD. They were followed by some of the mighty rulers of Ancient Indian history.

Chandragupta I (320AD-335AD)

Chandragupta I, grandson of Sri Gupta and son of Ghatotkacha Gupta, was the line's first great ruler. He increased the power and prestige of the empire to a great extent by matrimonial alliance and conquests. He married Kumardevi, the Lichchavi princess. His empire included modern Bihar, Oudh, Allahabad, Tirhut, in addition to Magadha. He assumed the title of Maharajadhiraja. He started the Gupta Era in AD 320, which marked the date of his accession.

Samudragupta (335 AD-375 AD)

Samudra Gupta ascended the throne in 335 AD. The basic information about his reign is provided by an inscription prayaga prasasti composed by Harisena, the poet at his court, and engraved on an ashokan Piller at Allahabad. The places and the countries conquered by Samudra Gupta can be divided into five groups.

Group one includes princes of the Ganga-Yamuna doab who were defeated. Group two includes the rulers of eastern Himalayan states and some frontier states, such as the princes of Nepal, Assam, and Bengal.

It also covers some republics of Punjab. group three includes the forest kingdoms situated in the Vindhya region and known as 'atavika rajyas'. group four includes twelve rulers of the eastern Deccan and south India, who were conquered and liberated. Group five includes the names of the Sakas and Kushans.

Samudragupta embarked upon a policy of conquest. In fact, Digvijaya became the ultimate goal of his life. He has been aptly complimented by the historian V.A Smith as the Indian Napoleon for his military achievements. He has described Samudra Gupta as the 'Hero of a Hundred Battles.'

Chandragupta II (380 AD-412 AD)

The reign of Chandragupta II saw the highest watermark of the Gupta empire. He extended the limits of the empire by marriage alliance and conquests. Chandragupta I married his daughter Prabhavati with a Vakataka prince who belonged to the Brahmana caste and ruled in central India. The prince died and was succeeded by his young son. So, Prabhavati became the virtual ruler. Chandragupta exercised indirect control over the Vakataka Kingdom. This afforded a great advantage to him. With his great influence in this area, Chandragupta II conquered western Malwa and Gujarat, which had been under the rule of the Saka Kshatrapas for about four centuries. The conquest gave Chandragupta the eastern sea coast, famous for trade and commerce. The exploits of the king called Chandra are glorified in an iron pillar inscription fixed near Qutub Minar in Delhi. But the epigraphic eulogy seems to be exaggerated.

Chandragupta II adopted the title of Vikramaditya which had been first used by a Ujjain ruler in 57BC as a mark of his victory over the Saka Kshatrapas of western India.

The court of Chandragupta at Ujjain was adorned by numerous scholars such as Kalidasa and Amarasimha.

In Chandragupta's reign, the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien (399-414) visited India and wrote an elaborate account of its people's lives.

Kumaragupta I, Mahendraditya (415-455 AD)

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son, Kumaragupta I. Nothing is known about his political career, but numismatic and epigraphic evidence indicates that the empire's strength, unity, and prestige remained unshaken in his reign. Towards the close of his reign, the Gupta power was seriously menaced by the new invaders called the Hunas. Kumargupta died during the war with the Hunas.

Skandagupta Vikramaditya (455-467 AD)

Skandagupta, the last great ruler of the Gupta dynasty, probably came to the throne when the war with Pushyamitra was still going on. His victory saved the Gupta empire. He succeeded in defeating the Hunas and in maintaining the integrity of his ancestral empire. Success in repelling the Hunas seems to have been celebrated by the assumption of the title Vikramaditya. The decline of the empire began soon after his death. The Hunas later became the rulers of Punjab and Kashmir.

The decline of the Gupta Empire

Though Gupta rule lingered till the middle of the sixth century AD, the imperial glory had ended a century earlier. The reasons were: 

1- Invasion by the Hunas

2- Rise of feudalism,

3- Weak successors

4- Financial difficulties

5- Decline of foreign trade, and

6- Absence of a large professional army to maintain a vast empire.

Gupta Administration

In contrast to the Mauryas, the Gupta kings adopted pompous titles such as parameshvara, maharajadhiraja, and paramabhattaraka which signify that they ruled over lesser kings in their empire. Kingship was hereditary, but royal power was limited by the absence of a firm practice of primogeniture.

The Gupta bureaucracy was not as elaborate as that of the Mauryas. The most important officers in the Gupta empire were the kumaramatyas. They were appointed by the king in the home provinces and possibly paid in cash. The Guptas organized a system of provincial and local administration. The bhakti were divided into vishayas (districts), which were place under the charge of vishyapati. In eastern India, the Visayas were divided into vithis, which again were divided into villages.

The village headman became more important in Gupta times.

Since much of the imperial administration was managed by feudatories and beneficiaries, the Gupta rulers did not require as many officials as the Mauryas did. They did not require too many officers also because, unlike the Maurya state, the Gupta state did not regulate economic activities on any big scale. The participation of leading artisans, merchants, elders, etc, in rural and urban administration also lessened the need for maintaining a large retinue of officers.

Economic and Social Developments

Revenue and Trade- A study of the Gupta period's inscriptions reveals that eighteen different taxes were levied at that time. Land revenue was the chief source of income. Land tax was between 1/4 to 1/6 of the produce. It is known from the inscriptions of the Pallavas and Vakatas that taxes were enforced on buffalo milk, curd, and also on fruits and flowers.

Land taxes increased while those on trade and commerce decreased; Vishthi (forced labor) prevailed. Religious functionaries were granted land called Agrahara.

Trade through rivers proved quite cheap and comfortable. During this period, the ship-building industry greatly flourished. Tramrapti, a port in Bengal, was an important trade center and from there trade was carried on with the eastern countries like China, Ceylon, Java, and Sumatra. In Andhra, there were many ports on the rivers, Godavari and Krishna; Tondai was a famous port of Chola state. Kalyana, Chol, Broach, and Cambay were the important ports of the south.

The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins, which were called dinars in their inscription. 

The emergence of Priestly Landlords

The striking development of the Gupta period, especially in Madhya Pradesh, was the emergence of priestly landlords at the cost of local peasants. Land grants made to the priests certainly brought many virgin areas under cultivation. But these beneficiaries were imposed from above on the local tribal peasants, who were reduced to a lower status. In central and western India, the peasants were also subjected to forced labor (Vishthi). Land grants to the brahmana supremacy continued in Gupta times. The Gupta were originally vaishyas. The Brahmanas. All the helped to legitimize the position of the Gupta princes, who became great supporters of the Brahmanical order. The Brahmanas accumulated wealth on account of numerous land grants. So they claimed many privileges, which are listed in law Book of Narada, which works in the fifth century AD.

Caste System- The castes proliferated into numerous sub-caste as a result of two factors. A large number of foreigners had been assimilated into the Indian society, and each group of foreigners was considered a kind of Hindu Caste. The other reason for the increase in the number of castes was the absorption of many tribal peoples into Brahmanical society through the process of land grants.

The tribal chief was given a respective origin. But most of their ordinary kinsmen were given a low origin, and every tribe became a kind of caste in its new incarnation. The position of Sudras improved in this period. They were now permitted to listen to the epics and the Puranas. They could also worship a new god called Krishna. All this can be attributed to a change in the economic status of the Shudras as from the seventh century onwards, they have mainly represented agriculturists during this period, the uncountables, especially the chandalas, increased in number.

Position of women- In the Gupta period, women were also allowed to listen to the epics and the Puranas, and advised to worship Krishna. but women higher orders did not have access to independent sources to livelihood in pre-Gupta and Gupta times. the main reason for the subordination of women belonging to the upper varans was the complete dependence on men for their livelihood. Gupta and post-Gupta law books substantially enlarged the scope of these gifts which were known as Stridhana.