Category Social Sciences

          Aryabhatiya, an astronomical treatise of 118 verses written by Aryabhata of Pataliputra came out in the Gupta age. The mathematical section of Aryabhatiya covers algebra, arithmetic, plane and spherical trigonometry, and quadratic equations. It is in this work that Aryabhata displays an awareness of both the zero and the decimal system.

          Apart from Aryabhatiya, he also wrote the Aiya-siddhanta, a lost work on astronomical computations, which is known through the writings of Aryabhata’s contemporary, Varahamihira, and later mathematicians and commentators, including Brahmagupta and Bhaskara I. Romaka Siddhanta was another popular book on astronomy which was written down in the Gupta period. It was influential on the work of Varahamihira.

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         Though scripting was not a prominent practice in India, many works of importance that were earlier recited were documented and given a final form during the Gupta Age. This includes the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Panchatantra, some of the Puranas, and the Smritis or law books. Sanskrit literature grew richer and reached its peak during the reign of the Guptas.

          Kalidasa, who authored Meghaduta, Abhijnana Shakuntalam, Raghuvamsa and many other works was the finest writer of the Gupta age. Other interesting literary figures of the period include Visakhadatta, the author of the celebrated drama Mudra Rakshasa, Bhartrihari who renounced the world to lead a saintly life, Vishnusharma, the author of the famous Panchatantra and Shudraka, the dramatist who wrote Mrichchhakatika.

          Another notable contribution of this period is the compilation of Amarakosha by Amarasimha, who was a grammarian and poet in the court of Chandragupta II. Based on the work of Panini and Patanjali, Sanskrit grammar too developed during the Gupta age.

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          The Gupta kingdom was divided into provinces and districts. The cities were governed by councils, which had representatives of different professionals while the villages were looked after by the elders of the villages. Most of the cities were planned and neatly laid out in a grid pattern with roads in a crisscross fashion. The cities had two- and three- storeyed houses. Kalidasa’s accounts talk about people gazing down at the street through latticed windows.

          Apart from grain and vegetables, the markets were stocked with things made of metals, stone, terracotta, ivory, precious and semi-precious stones, and pearls. The pottery was plain red and sometimes had a brown slip or polish. The kingdom had trade relations with the Byzantine Empire, China, Java, Sumatra, Arabia and even Ethiopia.

          Inscriptions describe the Gupta kings as being equal to the gods; Maharajadhiraja and Paramarajadhiraja were some of the elaborate titles that described the Gupta kings.

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          Samudragupta was the son of Chandragupta I, who ascended the throne after defeating his rival Kacha, an obscure prince of the dynasty. He ruled from around AD 335 to 380; we know of his conquests from a rock pillar at Allahabad and a lengthy poem of praise composed by his court-poet Harishena.

          It seems that Samudragupta had directly controlled a large part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain as well as a considerable part of central India. As per the inscription on the pillar at Allahabad, Samudragupta appears to have been a wise king and a strict administrator, who was also compassionate enough to help the poor and the helpless. He had great interest in music and poetry. Some of his gold coins represent him playing on the lyre.

          Harishena, his court poet describes him as the hero of a hundred battles; no Wonder historians call him the ‘Napoleon of India’.

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          The Guptas came into power in North India around the 3rd century AD, much after the establishment of the Satavahana kingdom. They existed till AD 543 and are considered as one of the most important dynasties of North India. The Gupta kingdom spread over much of the Indian subcontinent and some historians identify this period as the Golden Age of India.

          Sri Gupta is the first among the known Gupta kings. He was followed by Ghatotkacha. Though not much is known about their early history, they are assumed to have been minor rulers in east Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya are the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty. Other Gupta rulers including Purugupta, Buddhagupta, Baladitya etc., were weak rulers.

          The Gupta Empire gradually went into decline and by AD 543, they had lost all their territories. After the Guptas, the Hunas occupied Malwa and part of central India and the eastern states became independent. The Maitrakas of Valabhi established themselves in western India while the Vardhanas or Pushyabhutis occupied Haryana.

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