CHAPTER-24

Rise and Growth of the Gupta Empire

Revision or Short Notes

Arora IAS

  

Background

• On the ruins of the Kushan empire arose a new empire that established its sway over a substantial part of the former dominions of the Kushans. This was the empire of the Guptas, who may have been of vaishya origin.

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• Different titles are recommended for the different varnas by the Dharmashastras. The title sharman or auspicious is recommended for the brahmana, varman or armour for the kshatriya, gupta or hidden (also protected) for the vaishya, and dasa or servile for the shudra.
• The original kingdom of the Guptas comprised UP and Bihar at the end of the third century. UP appears to have been a more important province for the Guptas than Bihar, because early Gupta coins and inscriptions are largely found in that state.
• The Guptas established their rule over Anuganga (along the Ganges in the mid-Gangetic basin), Prayag (modern Allahabad), Saketa (modern Ayodhya), and Magadha.
• The Kushan power in north India came to an end around AD 230, and then a substantial part of central India fell under the rule of the Murundas, who were possibly kinsmen of the Kushans. The Murundas continued to rule till AD 250. Twenty-five years later, in about AD 275, the Gupta dynasty came to power.

Chandragupta I (AD 319–34)

• The first important king of the Gupta dynasty was Chandragupta I. He married a Lichchhavi princess, in all probability from Nepal, which strengthened his position.
• The Guptas were probably vaishyas, and hence marriage into a kshatriya family lent them prestige. Chandragupta I seems to have been a ruler of considerable importance because he started the Gupta era in AD 319–20, which marked the date of his accession.

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Samudragupta (AD 335–80)

• The Gupta kingdom was enlarged enormously by Chandragupta’s son and successor Samudragupta (AD 335–80). He was the opposite of Ashoka. Ashoka believed in a policy of peace and non-aggression, but Samudragupta delighted in violence and conquest.

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• His court poet Harishena wrote a glowing account of the military exploits of his patron, and, in a long inscription, the poet enumerate the peoples and countries that were conquered by Samudragupta. The inscription is engraved at Allahabad on the same pillar that carries the inscriptions of the peace-loving Ashoka.
• The places and the countries conquered by Samudragupta can be divided into five groups. Group one includes the princes of the Ganga– Yamuna doab who were defeated and whose kingdoms were incorporated into the Gupta empire.
• Group two includes the rulers of the eastern Himalayan states and of some frontier states such as Nepal, Assam, and Bengal, which were made to feel the weight of Samudragupta’s arms. It also covers some republics of Punjab. The republics, which flickered on the ruins of the Maurya empire, were finally crushed by Samudragupta.
• Group three includes the forest kingdoms situated in the Vindhya region and known as Atavika rajyas which Samudragupta brought under his control.
• Group four includes twelve rulers of the eastern Deccan and south India who were conquered and liberated. Samudragupta’s arms reached as far as Kanchi in Tamil Nadu, where the Pallavas were compelled to recognize his suzerainty.
• Group five includes the names of the Shakas and Kushans, some of them ruling in Afghanistan.
• It is said that Samudragupta swept them out of power and received the submission of the rulers of distant lands.

Chandragupta II (AD 380–412)

• The reign of Chandragupta II saw the high watermark of the Gupta empire. He extended the limits of the empire by marriage alliance and conquest.
• Chandragupta married his daughter Prabhavati to a Vakataka prince of the brahmana caste and ruled in central India.

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• Gupta writing, she promoted the interests of her father Chandragupta. Thus Chandragupta exercised indirect control over the Vakataka kingdom in central India, and this afforded him great advantage.
• With his great influence in this area, Chandragupta II conquered Mathura from the Kushans. More importantly, he occupied western Malwa and Gujarat, which had for about four centuries been under the rule of the Shaka Kshatrapas.
• The conquest gave Chandragupta control over 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 by Chandragupta II.
• The exploits of a king called Chandra are glorified in an iron pillar inscription fixed near Qutb Minar in Delhi. Chandragupta II adopted the title of Vikramaditya, which had been first used by an Ujjain ruler in 58–57 BC as a mark of victory over the Shaka Kshatrapas of western India.
• This Ujjain ruler is traditionally called Shakari or the enemy of the Shakas. The Vikrama samvat or era was started in 58– 57 BC by Shakari. However, Chandragupta II proved to be a greater Shakari and Vikramaditya.
• The court of Chandragupta II at Ujjain was adorned by numerous scholars including Kalidasa and Amarasimha. It was during Chandragupta’s reign that the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hsien (AD 399–414) visited India and wrote an elaborate account of the life of its people.
• The inscription indicates that Prabhavati had access to land, historians. Some feel that land grants were part of a strategy adopted by ruling lineages to extend agriculture to new areas. Others suggest that land grants were indicative of weakening political power: as kings were losing control over their samantas, they tried to win allies. [NCERT CLASS-XII CHAPTER-02]
• An agrahara was land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the king, guilds or shrenis, organisations of craft producers and merchants, are mentioned as well. [NCERT CLASS-XII CHAPTER-02]
• Successful merchants, designated as masattuvan in Tamil and setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit, coinage. Punch-marked coins made of silver and copper ( sixth century BCE onwards) “Periplus” is a Greek word meaning sailing around and “Erythraean” was the Greek name for the Red Sea. [NCERT CLASS-XII CHAPTER-02]

Fall of the Empire

• The successors of Chandragupta II had to face an invasion by the Hunas from Central Asia in the second half of AD fifth century. Although initially the Gupta king Skandagupta took effective measures to stem the march of the Hunas into India, his successors proved to be weak and were unable to cope with the Huna invaders who excelled in horsemanship and possibly used stirrups made of metal.
• By AD 485, the Hunas occupied eastern Malwa and a substantial portion of central India where their inscriptions have been found. The intermediate regions, such as Punjab and Rajasthan, also passed into their hands.
• Although the Huna power was soon overthrown by Yashodharman of Malwa who belonged to the Aulikara feudatory family, the Malwa prince successfully challenged the authority of the Guptas and set up in AD 532 a pillar of victory commemorating his conquest of almost the whole of northern India.
• Yashodharman’s rule was short-lived, but it dealt a severe blow to the Gupta empire. The later Guptas of Magadha established their power in Bihar. Alongside them, the Maukharis rose to power in Bihar and UP, and had their capital at Kanauj.
• It seems that by AD 550, Bihar and UP had passed out of Gupta hands. The rulers of Valabhi established their authority in Gujarat and western Malwa. After the reign of Skandagupta, that is, AD 467, hardly any Gupta coin or inscription has been found in western Malwa and Saurashtra.
• The loss of western India, which seems to have been complete by the end of the fifth century, must have deprived the Guptas of the rich revenues from trade and commerce and crippled them economically. In north India, the princes of Thanesar established their power in Haryana and then gradually moved on to Kanauj.