The Gupta Age and Harsha: Polity, Society, Science and Culture

Rise of the Guptas

The Gupta empire (c. 320–550 CE) rose in the middle Ganga plains (eastern UP and Bihar), where the Kushanas had weakened. Its rulers were probably of vaishya origin, but they strengthened their position by marriage alliances and conquest. The period was once called the "Golden Age" of India because of its achievements in art, literature and science. Modern historians accept the cultural brilliance but question the label, pointing to growing inequality, the rise of untouchability and the beginnings of feudalism.

Sources: inscriptions (Allahabad Pillar by Harishena, Mehrauli Iron Pillar, Junagadh inscription of Skandagupta, Bhitari pillar, Eran inscription), coins (many gold dinars), the account of the Chinese pilgrim Faxian (Fa-Hien), and Sanskrit literature such as Kalidasa's works and Vishakhadatta's Devichandraguptam.

The great Gupta rulers

Sri Gupta (founder) and Ghatotkacha were minor chiefs.

Chandragupta I (c. 319–335 CE)

• First to take the title Maharajadhiraja.
• Married the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi, a powerful alliance commemorated on king–queen type gold coins.
• The Gupta era begins in 319–320 CE, probably from his accession.

Samudragupta (c. 335–375 CE)

• His conquests are recorded in the Prayag Prashasti on the Allahabad Pillar, composed by his court poet Harishena. (The same pillar has an Ashokan edict and a Jahangir inscription.)
• Policy by region:
• Aryavarta (north): uprooted nine kings and annexed their lands (prasabhoddharana).
• Dakshinapatha (south): defeated 12 kings (including Vishnugopa of Kanchi) but restored them as tributaries – capture and release (grahana-moksha-anugraha).
• Forest kingdoms (atavika rajyas) were made subordinate.
• Frontier kingdoms (Samatata, Kamarupa, Nepal) and republics (Malavas, Yaudheyas) paid tribute.
• Foreign rulers like the Kushanas and the King of Sri Lanka (Meghavarman), who sought permission to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya, sent gifts.
• V.A. Smith called him the "Napoleon of India".
• Performed Ashvamedha (coins show the horse). Coins show him playing the veena, indicating love of music. Titles: Kaviraja (king of poets).

Chandragupta II "Vikramaditya" (c. 375–415 CE)

• Defeated the Western Kshatrapas (Shakas) of Ujjain (under Rudrasimha III), gaining Gujarat and Malwa with their rich ports and western trade. He took the title Shakari ("destroyer of Shakas") and issued silver coins for the west.
• Married his daughter Prabhavati Gupta to the Vakataka king Rudrasena II, securing the Deccan flank.
• Ujjain became a second capital.
• His court is said to have had the Navaratnas (nine gems), including Kalidasa, Amarasimha (Amarakosha), Varahamihira and Dhanvantari – though not all were contemporaries.
• Faxian visited during his reign (c. 399–411 CE).
• The Mehrauli Iron Pillar (inscription of "Chandra") has resisted rusting for over 1,500 years – a marvel of metallurgy.

Kumaragupta I (c. 415–455 CE) – founded Nalanda university; performed Ashvamedha; Kartikeya on coins.

Skandagupta (c. 455–467 CE) – repelled the Hunas (Hephthalites); repaired the Sudarshana lake (Junagadh inscription). His Bhitari inscription records the Huna wars.

Decline of the Guptas

• Repeated Huna invasions under Toramana and Mihirakula (a Shaiva who persecuted Buddhists) drained resources. Yashodharman of Mandasor and Narasimhagupta Baladitya later defeated Mihirakula.
• Feudatories (samantas) became independent: Maitrakas of Vallabhi, Maukharis of Kannauj, later Guptas of Magadha, Pushyabhutis of Thanesar.
• Debased gold coins in the later period show financial strain; loss of western trade with Rome.
• Land grants reduced state revenue and authority.

Administration

• Kings took grand titles: Maharajadhiraja, Parameshvara, Paramabhattaraka, and claimed divine qualities.
• Administration was less centralised than the Mauryan. Provinces (bhuktis) under uparikas, districts (vishayas) under vishayapatis, and villages under gramikas. Town councils included the chief merchant (nagarashreshthi), chief trader (sarthavaha), chief artisan (prathama-kulika) and chief scribe (prathama-kayastha).
• Officials were often paid in land grants; posts became hereditary.
• Land grants (agraharas) to brahmanas included fiscal and administrative rights – an important cause of what historians call Indian feudalism (R.S. Sharma).
• Faxian found the punishments mild and the people prosperous, but he noted the chandalas lived outside towns and struck wood to announce their approach – evidence of untouchability.

Society and religion

• The varna system hardened; jatis multiplied as tribes and foreigners were absorbed. Kayasthas (scribes) emerged as a new group.
• Women's status declined: early marriage, no property rights except stridhana; the first recorded sati in an inscription is at Eran (510 CE), of the wife of Goparaja.
• Puranic Hinduism grew: worship of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess through idols, temples and bhakti. Vishnu's avatars became popular. The Guptas were Bhagavatas (Vaishnavas) but tolerant; Buddhism flourished at Nalanda, Sarnath and Ajanta.

Art, literature and science

Temples: the first structural temples – Dashavatara temple, Deogarh (with a shikhara, the beginning of the Nagara style), Bhitargaon (brick temple, Kanpur), Tigawa, Sanchi temple 17 (flat-roofed).

Sculpture and painting: the Sarnath school (Buddha in dharmachakra mudra), the Sultanganj copper Buddha, the Udayagiri caves (Varaha panel) near Vidisha, and the Ajanta paintings (caves 1, 2, 16, 17 in this broad period, under Vakataka patronage), Bagh caves.

Literature: Kalidasa – plays Abhijnanashakuntalam, Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvashiyam; poems Meghadutam, Raghuvamsham, Kumarasambhavam, Ritusamhara. Shudraka – Mricchakatikam. Vishakhadatta – Mudrarakshasa, Devichandraguptam. Vishnu Sharma – Panchatantra. Amarasimha – Amarakosha (lexicon). The Puranas and the epics took final form; Smritis of Narada and Brihaspati.

Science:

• Aryabhata (b. 476 CE) – Aryabhatiya; the Earth rotates on its axis; explained eclipses by shadows; value of π ≈ 3.1416; place-value system. India's first satellite (1975) was named after him.
• Varahamihira – Pancha Siddhantika, Brihat Samhita (encyclopaedia), Brihat Jataka.
• Brahmagupta (7th century, slightly later) – rules for zero and negative numbers.
• Vagbhata – Ashtanga Hridaya (medicine); Palakapya – Hastyayurveda (elephant medicine).
• Metallurgy – Mehrauli Iron Pillar, Sultanganj Buddha.

Harsha (606–647 CE)

After the Guptas, Harshavardhana of the Pushyabhuti dynasty united much of north India.

• Capital moved from Thanesar to Kannauj.
• Sources: Harshacharita by his court poet Banabhatta, the account of Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) – Si-Yu-Ki – and inscriptions (Banskhera, Madhuban).
• He was defeated by Pulakeshin II (Chalukya) on the banks of the Narmada (c. 618–619), recorded in the Aihole inscription of Ravikirti.
• He held a grand assembly at Kannauj (643 CE) to honour Xuanzang, and the Prayag assembly every five years, where he distributed his wealth.
• He wrote three Sanskrit plays: Nagananda, Ratnavali, Priyadarshika.
• Xuanzang studied at Nalanda, which had about 10,000 students; Harsha supported it generously.

Mains practice question

Q. "Was the Gupta age really a golden age?" Critically examine. (250 words)

Framework: *Yes* – political unity, prosperity, gold coins, Kalidasa, Aryabhata, temples, Ajanta. *But* – limited to elites; feudal land grants; rise of untouchability (Faxian); decline of women's status (sati at Eran); decline in trade and urban centres late in the period. *Conclusion*: a classical age of culture, not a golden age for all.

Quick self-test

1. Who composed the Prayag Prashasti? *(Harishena)*
2. Who called Samudragupta the Napoleon of India? *(V.A. Smith)*
3. Which ruler founded Nalanda? *(Kumaragupta I)*
4. Where is the first inscriptional evidence of sati? *(Eran, 510 CE)*
5. Who defeated Harsha on the Narmada? *(Pulakeshin II)*

Key terms glossary

• Bhukti / vishaya: province / district.
• Uparika / vishayapati: provincial / district head.
• Agrahara: tax-free land granted to brahmanas.
• Dinar: Gupta gold coin (from Roman *denarius*).
• Prashasti: a eulogy inscription praising a king.
• Samanta: a feudatory chief.