GUPTA EMPIRE(BIOGRAPHIES)

By
SIDDHANT AGNIHOTRI
B.Sc (Silver Medalist)
M.Sc (Applied Physics)
Facebook: sid_Econnect
•
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
 WHAT WE WILL STUDY?

• BIOGRAPHIES

• ART AND ARCHITECTURE

• EXPANSION

• FALL OF GUPTA EMPIRE

STUDY IQ
 STUDY IQ

REIGN KINGS

240s–280 Sri-Gupta
319–335 Chandragupta I
335-380 Samudragupta
380–415 Chandragupta II
540–550 Vishnu Gupta
 GUPTA(240-590 AD)
• The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire, existing from
approximately 240 to 590 CE. This period is called the Golden Age of
India.

• The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Sri Gupta; the most
notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta,
and Chandragupta II.

• The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having
conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India.

• All literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, were

canonised during this period. The Gupta period produced scholars
such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and
Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.
 SRIGUPTA AND GHATOTKACHA
• According to many scholars and historians, the Gupta Dynasty was of
Vaishya origin. Historian Ram Sharan Sharma asserts that the Vaishya
Guptas "appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers“.

• The most likely time for the reign of Sri Gupta is c. 240–280. The
Murundas, who were feudal lords of Kushans, provided or granted land to
Sri Gupta. He can be considered the first person of Gupta's empire, but
not the founder of the empire.

• His son and successor Ghatotkacha ruled presumably from c. 280–

319. He challenged other feudal lords and conquered their lands. In
contrast to his successor, Chandragupta I, who is mentioned as
Maharajadhiraja, he and his son Ghatotkacha are referred to in
inscriptions as Maharaja.
 SRIGUPTA AND GHATOTKACHA
• They were initially a family of landowners who acquired political control in
the region of Magadha and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh
seems to have been a more important province for the Guptas than Bihar.

• The Guptas enjoyed certain material advantages. The centre of their

operations lay in the fertile land of Madhyadesha covering Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. They took advantage of their proximity to the areas in north
India which carried on silk trade with the Byzantine Empire.

• On account of these favourable factors, the Guptas set up their rule

over Anuganga (the middle Gangetic basin), Prayag (modern
Allahabad), Saket (modern Ayodhya) and Magadha. In course of time
this kingdom became an all-India empire.
 CHANDRAGUPTA I

• Chandragupta was a son of the Gupta king Ghatotkacha, and a grandson

of the dynasty's founder Gupta, both of whom are called Maharaja in the
Allahabad Pillar inscription.

• Chandragupta assumed the title Maharajadhiraja ("king of great

kings") and issued gold coins, which suggests that he was the first
imperial ruler of the dynasty.

• Several modern historians, including V. A. Smith and P. L. Gupta,

have theorized that the Gupta calendar era, which begins in 319-320
CE, was founded by Chandragupta I, and marks his coronation. Thus,
Chandragupta must have ascended the throne in 319-320 CE.
 MARRIAGE

• Chandragupta married the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi.

Lichchhavi is the name of an ancient clan that was headquartered at
Vaishali in present-day Bihar during the time of Gautama Buddha.

• The Lichchhavi kingdom of Kumaradevi is unlikely to have been located in

present-day Nepal, because Samduragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription
mentions Nepala as a distinct, subordinate kingdom.

• The gold coins attributed to Chandragupta bear portraits of

Chandragupta and Kumaradevi, and the legend Lichchhavayah .
Their son Samudragupta is described as Lichchhavi-dauhitra
("Lichchhavi daughter's son") in the Gupta inscriptions.
 MARRIAGE

• Numismatist John Allan theorized that Chandragupta defeated a

Lichchhavi kingdom headquartered at Vaishali, and that
Kumaradevi's marriage to him happened as part of a peace treaty.

• It is more likely that the marriage helped Chandragupta extend his political
power and dominions, enabling him to adopt the title Maharajadhiraja.

• The appearance of the Lichchhavis' name on the coins is probably

symbolic of their contribution to the expansion of the Gupta power.

• After the marriage, Chandragupta probably became the ruler of the

Lichchhavi territories.

• Chandragupta and Kumaradevi being regarded as the sovereign

rulers of their respective states, until the reign of their son
Samudragupta, who became the sole ruler of the united kingdom.
STUDY IQ
GUPTA EMPIRE(BIOGRAPHIES)

By
SIDDHANT AGNIHOTRI
B.Sc (Silver Medalist)
M.Sc (Applied Physics)
Facebook: sid_Econnect
•
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
 SAMUDRAGUPTA(335-380)

• Samudragupta was a son of the Gupta king Chandragupta I and

queen Kumaradevi, who came from a Licchavi family.

• His Allahabad Pillar inscription similarly describes how

Chandragupta called him a noble person in front of the courtiers,
and appointed him to "protect the earth".

• The Gupta inscriptions suggest that Samudragupta had a

remarkable military career. The Eran stone inscription of
Samudragupta states that he had brought "the whole tribe of kings"
under his suzerainty, and that his enemies were terrified when they
thought of him in their dreams.
 GREAT MILITARY GENERAL

• The later Allahabad Pillar inscription, a panegyric written by

Samudragupta's minister and military officer Harishena, credits him
with extensive conquests.

• It gives the most detailed account of Samudragupta's military

conquests, listing them in mainly geographical and partly
chronological order. It states that Samudragupta fought a hundred
battles, acquired a hundred wounds that looked like marks of glory,
and earned the title Prakrama.

• The Mathura stone inscription of Chandragupta II describes

Samudragupta as an "exterminator of all kings", as someone who had no
equally powerful enemy, and as a person whose "fame was tasted by the
waters of the four oceans".

• The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that Samudragupta's aim

was the unification of the earth (dharani-bandha), which suggests that
he may have aspired to become a Chakravartin (a universal ruler).
 VICTORIES

• Samudragupta "uprooted" Achyuta, Nagasena, among the kings of

Aryavarta (northern India) defeated by Samudragupta.These kings
are identified as the rulers of present-day western Uttar Pradesh.

• According to one theory, these three kings were vassal rulers who
rebelled against Samudragupta after the death of his father.
Samudragupta crushed the rebellion, and reinstated them after they
sought his forgiveness.

• Later, these rulers rebelled once more, and Samudragupta defeated them
again.Samudragupta dispatched an army to capture the scion of the
Kota family, whose identity is uncertain. The Kotas may have been
the rulers of present-day Punjab.
 SOUTHERN CONQUEST

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta captured

the following kings of Dakshinapatha, the southern region:

1 - Mahendra of Kosala
2 - Vyaghra-raja of Mahakantara
3 - Mantaraja of Kurala
4 - Mahendragiri of Pishtapura
5 - Svamidatta of Kottura
6 - Damana of Erandapalla
7 - Vishnugopa of Kanchi
8 - Nilaraja of Avamukta
9 - Hastivarman of Vengi
10 - Ugrasena of Palakka
11 - Kubera of Devarashtra
12 - Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura
 NORTHERN CONQUESTS

According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Samudragupta "forcibly

uprooted" the following kings of Aryavarta, the northern region:

1 – Rudradeva
2 - Matila
3 - Nagadatta
4 - Chandravarman
5 - Ganapatinaga
6 - Nagasena
7 - Achyuta-nandin
8 - Balavarman
 RELIGION

• Samudragputa's Eran inscription records the installation of a Vishnu idol in

a temple.Samudragupta explicitly call him a devotee of Vishnu , but the
authenticity of these inscriptions is doubtful.

• He was also tolerant towards Buddhism, and permitted the construction of

a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the Anuradhapura king
Meghavarna at Bodh Gaya in his territory.

• The Mathura stone inscription of his son Chandragupta II also describes

him as the giver of "millions of cows and gold".It appears that
Samudragupta donated these cows to the Brahmins

• Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Ramagupta, who was

dethroned and killed by his other son, Chandragupta II
 CHANDRAGUPTA II(380-415)

• Chandragupta II also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya was one

of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta Empire in India. From
388 to 409 he subjugated Gujarat, the region north of Mumbai,
Saurashtra, in western India, and Malwa, with its capital at Ujjain.

• Chandragupta II's mother, Dutta Devi, was the chief queen of

Samudragupta. Dhruvadevi was Chandragupta II's chief queen.

• Vishakhadatta's play "Natya-darpana" mentions that Ramagupta, the elder

brother of Chandragupta II, decided to surrender Dhruvadevi to the Saka
ruler Rudrasimha III of the Western Kshatrapas dynasty, when faced with
a military defeat.

• Chandragupta II's daughter, Prabhavatigupta, by his Naga queen

Kuberanaga was married to the powerful Vakataka dynasty ruler
Rudrasena II.
 CONQUESTS

• Chandragupta is believed to have defeated the Western Kshatrapas led by

Rudrasimha III, capturing Malwa and Gujarat in the process.

• Chandragupta II controlled a vast empire, from the mouth of the Ganges to

the mouth of the Indus River and from what is now North Pakistan down to
the mouth of the Narmada.

• Pataliputra continued to be the capital of his huge empire but Ujjain too
became a sort of second capital. The large number of beautiful gold coins
issued by the Gupta dynasty are a testament to the grandeur of that age.

• Chandragupta II also started producing silver coins in the Western

Satrap tradition in his western territories.Chandragupta II was
succeeded by his second son Kumaragupta I.
 CONQUESTS

• The conquest gave Chandragupta the Western sea coast, famous

for trade and commerce. This contributed to the prosperity of
Malwa, and its chief city Ujjain. Ujjain seems to have been made
the second capital of Chandragupta II.

• ‘King Chandra’ whose exploits has been mentioned in the

Mehrauli Iron Pillar Inscription, which is located in the Qutub-
Minar complex in Delhi is identified by many scholars with
Chandragupta II.

• Chandragupta II adopted the title of Vikramaditya which had

been first used by an Ujjain ruler in 57 B.C. as a mark of
victory over the Saka Kshatrapas of western India.
 NAVRATNA

Nine famous scholars known as the Navaratnas ("nine gems")

attended the court of the legendary Vikramaditya.

1 - Kalidasa
2 - Amarasimha
3 – Dhanvantari
4 – Ghatakarapara
5 – Kshapanaka
6 – Shanku
7 - Varahamihira
8 – Vararuchi
9 - Vetala Bhatta.
STUDY IQ
GUPTA EMPIRE(BIOGRAPHIES)

By
SIDDHANT AGNIHOTRI
B.Sc (Silver Medalist)
M.Sc (Applied Physics)
Facebook: sid_Econnect
•
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
 KUMARAGUPTA(414-455)

• Kumaragupta I, also known as Shakraditya and Mahendraditya was

an emperor of the Gupta Empire in 415–455 CE. He was the son of his
predecessor, Chandragupta II, and Dhruvadevi (also known as
Dhruvasvamini).

• He was an able ruler and retained, intact, the vast empire, which extended
from Bengal to Kathiawar and from the Himalayas to the Narmada.

• Kumaragupta who enjoyed a long reign of more than forty years. He

performed the Asvamedha sacrifice, but we do not know of any
military success achieved by him.

• He maintained intact the vast empire built up by his two predecessors.

Towards the close of his reign the empire was menaced by hordes of the
Pushyamitras probably a tribe allied to the Hunas which were defeated by
the Crown prince Skandagupta.
 SKANDAGUPTA(455 - 467)

• Skandagupta, who succeeded Kumaragupta I, was perhaps the last

powerful Gupta monarch. To consolidate his position he had to fight
the Pushyamitras, and the country faced Huna invasion from access
the frontiers in the north-west. However, Skandagupta was
successful in throwing the Huns back.

• It appears that these wars adversely affected the economy of the empire,
and the debased gold coinage of Skandagupta bears testimony to these.
Moreover, he appears to have been the last Gupta ruler to mint silver
coins in western India.

• The Sudarsana lake (originally built during the Maurya times) burst
due to excessive rains and in the early part of his rule his governor
Parnadatta and his son Chakrapalita got it repaired. The last known
date of Skandagupta is 467 A.D. from his silver coins.
 LAST DAYS OF GUPTA EMPIRE

• Purugupta, a son of kumaragupta, ruled for some time and was

succeeded by his son Budhagupta whose earliest known date is A. D. 477
and the latest A.D. 495. He was succeeded by his brother
Narasimhagupta Baladitya.

• A king named Kumaragupta II is known to have reigned in A.D. 474. This

indicates internal dissension which continued after the end of
Budhagupta’s reign.

• He was succeeded by his son and grandson, Kumaragupta III and

Visnugupta – the three reigns covered the period A.D. 500-550. Two
otherkinos, Vainyagupta (A.D. 507) and Bhanugupta (A.D. 510) ruled
in Samatataand Nalandaand in Eran respectively.

• The Guptas continued to rule till about 550 A.D., but by then their
power had already become very insignificant.
 FALL OF GUPTA EMPIRE

• In the 480's the Alchon Huns under Toramana and Mihirakula broke
through the Gupta defenses in the northwest, and much of the empire in
the northwest was overrun by the Huns by 500.

• The empire disintegrated under the attacks of Toramana and his

successor Mihirakula. These invasions, although only spanning a few
decades, had long term effects on India, and in a sense brought an end to
Classical Indian civilization.

• Soon after the invasions, the Gupta Empire, already weakened by these
invasions and the rise of local rulers such as Yashodharman, ended as
well. Following the invasions, northern India was left in disarray, with
numerous smaller Indian powers emerging after the crumbling of the
Guptas.

• The Huna invasions are said to have seriously damaged India's trade with
Europe and Central Asia. In particular, Indo-Roman trade relations, which
the Gupta Empire had greatly benefited from.
 FALL OF GUPTA EMPIRE

• The Guptas had been exporting numerous luxury products such as

silk, leather goods, fur, iron products, ivory, pearl, and pepper from
centres such as Nasik, Paithan, Pataliputra, and Benares.

• The Huna invasion probably disrupted these trade relations and the tax
revenues that came with them.Great centres of learning were destroyed,
such as the city of Taxila, bringing cultural regression.

• In addition to the Hun invasion, the factors, which contribute to the

decline of the empire include competition from the Vakatakas and the
rise of Yashodharman in Malwa.

• The last known inscription by a Gupta emperor is from the reign of

Vishnugupta in which he makes a land grant in the area of Kotivarsha.
 LAND GRANTS

• The sources of the Gupta period suggest that certain important

changes were taking place in the agrarian society. Feudal
development surfaced under the Guptas with the grant of fiscal and
administrative concessions to priests and administrators.

• Religious functionaries were granted land, free of tax, forever, and they
were authorised to collect from the peasants all the taxes which could
have otherwise gone to the emperor.

• Religious grants were of two types: Agrahara grants were meant for the
Brahmanas which meant to be perpetual, hereditary and tax-free,
accompanied with the assignment of all land revenue.

• The Devagrahara grants were made to secular parties such as writers

and merchants, for the purpose of repair and worship of temples.
The secular grants were made to secular parties and are evident from
a grant made by the Uccakalpa dynasty.
 MILITARY OF GUPTA EMPIRE

• The Imperial Guptas couldn't have achieved their successes through force
of arms without an efficient martial system.

• The Guptas seem to have relied heavily on infantry archers, and the bow
was one of the dominant weapons of their army. The Indian version of the
longbow was composed of metal, or more typically bamboo, and fired a
long bamboo cane arrow with a metal head.

• The Indian longbow was reputedly a powerful weapon capable of great

range and penetration and provided an effective counter to invading horse
archers.

• The steel bow was capable of long range and penetration of

exceptionally thick armor. These were less common weapons than
the bamboo design and found in the hands of noblemen rather than
in the ranks. Archers were frequently protected by infantry equipped
with shields, javelins, and longswords.
 MILITARY OF GUPTA EMPIRE

• The Gupta armies were probably better disciplined. Able commanders

such as Samudragupta and Chandragupta II would have likely understood
the need for combined armed tactics and proper logistical organization.

• Gupta military success likely stemmed from the concerted use of

elephants, armored cavalry, steel bow and foot archers in tandem against
both Hindu kingdoms and foreign armies invading from the Northwest.

• During the reign of Chandragupta II, Gupta Empire maintained a large

army consisting of 500,000 infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 20,000
charioteers and 10,000 elephants along with a powerful navy with
more than 1200 ships.

• Chandragupta II controlled the whole of the Indian subcontinent;the Gupta

empire was the most powerful empire in the world during his reign, at a
time when the Roman Empire in the West was in decline.
 ACHIEVMENTS AND LEGACY

• Scholars of this period include Varahamihira and Aryabhata,

who is believed to be the first to come up with the concept of
zero, postulated the theory that the Earth moves round the
Sun, and studied solar and lunar eclipses.

• Kalidasa, who was a great playwright, who wrote plays such

as Shakuntala, and marked the highest point of Sanskrit
literature is also said to have belonged to this period.

• The Sushruta Samhita, which is a Sanskrit redaction text on

all of the major concepts of ayurvedic medicine with
innovative chapters on surgery, dates to the Gupta period.
 ACHIEVMENTS AND LEGACY

• Chess is said to have originated in this period, The Indian

numerals which were the first positional base 10 numeral
systems in the world originated from Gupta India.

• The ancient Gupta text Kama Sutra by the Indian scholar

Vatsyayana is widely considered to be the standard work on
human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature.

• Aryabhata, a noted mathematician-astronomer of the Gupta

period proposed that the earth is round and rotates about its
own axis. He also discovered that the Moon and planets shine
by reflected sunlight.
STUDY IQ
ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GUPTA EMPIRE

By
SIDDHANT AGNIHOTRI
B.Sc (Silver Medalist)
M.Sc (Applied Physics)
Facebook: sid_Econnect
•
STUDY IQ
STUDY IQ
 ART AND ARCHITECTURE

• The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak of North Indian

art for all the major religious groups. Although painting was evidently
widespread, the surviving works are almost all religious sculpture.

• The period saw the emergence of the iconic carved stone deity in Hindu
art, as well as the Buddha figure and Jain tirthankara figures, the latter
often on a very large scale.

• The two great centres of sculpture were Mathura and Gandhara, the latter
the centre of Greco-Buddhist art. Both exported sculpture to other parts of
northern India.

• The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the

caves at Ajanta, Elephanta, and Ellora were in fact produced under
later dynasties, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance
of Guptan style.
 ART AND ARCHITECTURE

• Earlier developments in plastic arts seem to have culminated in the Gupta

sculpture. The most important contribution of Gupta sculpture is the
evolution of the perfect types of divinities, both Buddhist and Brahmanical.

• A large number of Buddha images have been unearthed at Sarnath, and

one of them is justly regarded as the finest in the whole of India. Stone
and bronze images of Buddha have also been found at Mathura and other
places.

• The images of Siva, Vishnu and other Brahmanical gods are sculptured in
some of the finest panels of the Deogarh temple (Jhansi district).

• The art of casting metals reached a degree of development. Fa-Hien

saw an over 25 metre high image of the Buddha made of copper, but
it is not traceable now. The Bronze Buddha, found at Sultanganj, is
71/2 feet high and is a fine piece of sculpture. The Iron Pillar of Delhi,
near the Qutub-Minar, is a marvellous work belonging to the early
Gupta period.
 LITERATURE

• Sanskrit language and literature after centuries of evolution, through lavish

royal patronage reached to the level of classical excellence. Sanskrit was
the court language of the Guptas.

1. The Puranas had existed much before the time of the Guptas in the
form of bardic literature; in the Gupta age they were finally compiled
and given their present form.

2. The period also saw the compilation of various Smritis or the law-
books written in verse. The Smritis of Yajnavalkya, Narada,
Katyayana and Brihaspati were written during this period.

3. The two great epics namely the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were
almost completed by the 4th century A.D.
 LITERATURE

4. The Gupta period is remarkable for the production of secular

literature. Among the known Sanskrit poets of the period, the
greatest name is that of Kalidasa who lived in the court of
Chandragupta II.

The most important works of Kalidasa were the

Abhijnanashakuntalam (considered to be one of the best
hundred literary works in the world) Ritusamhara,
Malavikagnimitra, Kumarasambhava, Meghaduta,
Raghuvamsha and Vikrama Urvashiyam. Shudraka wrote the
drama Mrichcbhakatika or the little Clay cart. Vishakadatta is
the author of the Mudrarakshasa, which deals with the
schemes of the shrewd Chanakya.
 LITERATURE

5. The Gupta period also saw the development of Sanskrit

grammar based on Panini and Patanjali. This period is
particularly memorable for the compilation of the Amarakosha
by Amarasimha, who was a luminary in the court of
Chandragupta II.

6. Buddhist and Jaina literature in Sanskrit were also written

during the Gupta period Buddhist scholars Arya Deva, Arya
Asanga and Vasubandhu of the Gupta period were the most
notable writers.
 CRAFTS

• Crafts production covered a wide range of items. Texts like

Amarakosha of Amarasimha and Brihat Samhita which are
generally dated to this period, list many items, give their Sanskrit
names and also mention different categories of craftsmen who
manufactured them.

• Many important sites like Taxila, Ahichchhatra, Mathura, Rajghat,

Kausambi and Pataliputra have yielded many craft products like
earthen wares, terracottas, beads made of different stones, objects
of glass, items made of metals, etc.

• Different varieties of silk, cloth, called Kshauma and

Pattavastra are mentioned in the text of this period
 CRAFTS

• Contemporary literature also testifies to the wide use of jewellery

by the people of the time. A significant development of the period
in metal technology was the manufacture of seals and statues,
particularly of the Buddha.

• Ivory work remained at a premium, as did stone cutting and

carving, sculpture being very much in favour at this time. The
cutting, polishing and preparing of a variety of precious
stones – jasper, agate, carnelian, quartz, lapis – lazuli, etc.,
were also associated with foreign trade.

• Pottery remained a basic part of industrial production, though the

elegant black – polished ware was no longer used, instead an
ordinary red ware with a brownish slip was produced in large
quantities.
 SCIENCE AN TECHNOLOGY

• Aryabhata, was the first astronomer to pose the more fundamental

problems of astronomy in A.D. 499. It was largely through his efforts
that astronomy was recognized as a separate discipline from
mathematics. He calculated n to 3.1416 and the length of the solar
year to 365.3586805 days, both remarkably close to recent estimates.

• He believed that the earth was sphere and rotated on its axis, and that the
shadow of the earth falling on the moon caused eclipses. He is also the
author of Aryabhattiyam, which deals with algebra, arithmetics and
geometry.

• Varahamihira, who lived towards the end of the fifth century wrote
several treatises on astronomy and horoscopy. His
Panchasiddhantika deals with five schools of astronomy, two of
these reflect a close knowledge of Greek astonomy.
STUDY IQ