The Great Indian Empires II

Blog#18

The Gupta Empire

 

Abstracts:

            Around the period of 185 BCE, the Mauryan Empire had collapsed, when the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha, was assassinated by his army general, Pushyamitra Sunga. After the demise of the Mauryan Empire, small kingdoms arose all over India. This was a period of political disunity and chaos with various small kingdoms contesting against each other to gain dominance in North India. The unity finally came out with the rise of the Gupta Empire around 240 CE.

 

Introduction:

            The period of the Guptas (240 CE to 647 CE) is marked by the creativity and great achievements in the field of education, literature, music, art, architecture and philosophy. These great achievements have led many historians to proclaim that the Gupta period was a ‘Golden Period’ in the history of India. Some of the most important achievements of the Gupta Empire are the invention of the decimal system of notation, establishment of world’s first international residential university at Nalanda and tremendous works in science of astrology, mathematics and metallurgy etc.

 

Rise of Empire:

            Shrigupta, the first of the gupta kings to rule over the kingdom, had ascended the throne in the period around 240 CE and ruled till 280 CE. He was succeeded by his son, Ghatotkacha who ruled over the kingdom from 280 CE to 319 CE. The first ruler who ruled the kingdom fluently was the grandson of Srigupta, Chandragupta I, who is also known as the first prominent ruler of the Gupta Empire. Chandragupta I took the title of ‘Maharajadhiraja’ after he ascended the throne in 320 CE. He paved a way for his son Samudragupta, to develop an extensive empire.

 

The Prominent Kings of the Gupta Empire

Chandragupta I 

            Chandragupta I was the first prominent ruler of the Gupta kingdom, who ruled from 320 CE to 335 CE. He began his career as a local chief in the kingdom of Magadha. He married to Princess Kumaradevi of the Lacchavi tribe of the Vaishali kingdom near the Bihar and Nepal area, and incorporated Vaishali in the Gupta Empire. He introduced himself as a powerful and prestigious king after his marriage. After he conquered the kingdoms of Magadha, Saket and Prayag, he adopted the title of ‘Maharajadhiraja’ or the ‘king of kings’.

 

Samudragupta 

        The mother of Kings Samudragupta was the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, but Samudragupta was not the eldest son of Chandragupta I. from the Allahabad Pillar inscription composed by Harisena, it is learnt that Chandragupta I intentionally choose Samudragupta to succeed him as the next king.  

            Historians such as R K Mukherjee have called Samudragupta as a king with the opposite character of that of King Ashoka, as his principle was war and aggression. The historian Vincent Smith has called Samudragupta as ‘Indian Napolean’ due to his military conquests. Samudragupta was not only a great conqueror but also a great civil servant, statesman and an able and efficient administrator. Not only these, he was also known as ‘the prince of the poets’ or the ‘Kaviraj’ as he composed several poems. He was also the protector of the weak as well as poor.

            Samudragupta made elaborate plans for his conquests of the north and the South India. Initially, he decided to hold back the neighboring kingdoms and then went for far off expeditions.

            In the first campaign of Samudragupta for North India, he defeated Achyuta, the ruler of Ahichhetra, the Naga rulers of Mathura and also the ruler of Padmavati. The Naga rulers were the most powerful kings among them.

              After securing his position in the Ganga Yamuna valley, he turned his attention towards the southern kingdoms. Samudragupta’s successful southern conquest is considered to be his biggest achievement. In the South, he marched against twelve kings, including those of the Modern Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Though he marched against twelve kings at once, he defeated them all. However, he realized that governing far flinging areas from the capital would be difficult for him. Therefore, he didn’t annex the kingdoms. He let the kings to rule their kingdoms as feudatory chiefs.

                Impressed by his military works, many frontier states submitted to Samudragupta and agreed to pay annual tribute. These were the states of Kartripura, Bengal, Assam and Nepal. There were many independent republican tribes that existed on the western frontier the Guptas. The Allahabad Pillar Inscription mentions that nine tribes have inhabited Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh submitted to Samudragupta.

            He led military expeditions to Kingdoms of local tribes such as Malwas, Yaudhyeyas, Arjunayanas, Maduras and Abhiras. When he died in 380 CE, there were twenty kingdoms in his empire that stretched from the Himalayas in the North to Narmada in the South. He also conquered Afghanistan and Kashmir which were known as mlechha (barbarians or non Vedic) countries.

       According to Harisena, Samudragupta had performed an ashwamedha yajna or the horse sacrifice. A stone replica has been kept at the Lucknow museum. He also had issued gold coins to celebrate his conquests.

                Apart from his military prowess, Samudragupta also had great inclination towards art, literature and learning. Many eminent scholars adorned his court. Harisena, Asanga and Vasubandhu were the major scholars. Apart from this he was also a music lover. In fact, in some of his coins, he is shown seated on a couch and playing a veena or lute. Though Samudragupta was an orthodox Hindu and a follower of Vishnu, he was tolerant to other religions too. He permitted Sirimeghvanna, a Buddhist king from Sri Lanka, to construct a monastery at Bodh Gaya.

 

Ramgupta

                   The great king Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Ramgupta, but he was a very weak as well as incompetent ruler. Taking its advantage, the Shaka ruler of Mathura, Rudrasimha attacked on the Gupta Empire of Magadha. In this battle, Ramgupta lose and signed a humiliating treaty, which had a condition that ruler Ramgupta had to surrender his wife Dhruv Devi to the Saka ruler Rudrasimha. The weak ruler Ramgupta accepted the condition, but this treaty was not accepted by Ramgupta’s younger brother, Chandragupta II.

                Chandragupta made a disguise as Dhruv Devi and he entered the palace of Rudrasimha, and as he got a chance, he stabbed Rudrasimha. Impressed by his deed, the townspeople and ministers of his empire made Chandragupta II the king. Chandragupta II also hung his elder brother Ramgupta to death.

 

Chandragupta II or Chandragupta Vikramaditya

                 Chandragupta II also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya was the son of king Samudragupta from his queen Datta Devi. It is said that he was chosen as the successor to the imperial throne by Samudragupta himself. However, it is also claimed that he came to power by assassinating a weak elder brother. Inheriting a large empire, he continued the policy of his father by extending control over the neighboring territories. During his rule, art, architecture and sculpture flourished and the cultural and traditional development in India reached its highest point.

                Chandragupta Vikramaditya used matrimonial alliances as a part of his foreign policy. Chandragupta Vikramaditya married the Naga princess, Kubernaga. With this marriage, the mighty and powerful Naga rulers became his allies. He also married the Kadamba princess from the Kuntala region. Then he got his daughter Prabhavati, born to the Naga princess, married to Rudrasena II, the Vataka Prince of South India. This alliance helped him to establish a political influence in the Deccan.

                    Chandragupta II also carried out military campaigns to extend his empire and territories. He fought a long campaign against the Saka rulers of west India. During the time period 408 to 409 CE, the Saka rulers, who ruled in the Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra regions, had came to an end. He was then given the title of ‘Sakari’ or the ‘conqueror of the Sakas’. He also led down the chiefs of Bengal, also known as Vanga, and his main enemy, Rudrasimha II. According to Kalidasa, Chandragupta II also conquered Paraskias and Kambojas who lived the area of present day Iran. Kalidasa also said that Chandragupta II won the lands run by the tribes, such as the Kiratas and Kinnaras. He had stated that Chandragupta II had won 21 kingdoms within and outside India. A Kashmiri writer, Kshemendra, has described in Brihatkathamanjari the victories attained by the ruler Chandragupta II over tribes such as Yavanas and Tusharas.

                If the reign of Samudragupta is known as the period of conquests and expansion of empire, then Chandragupta Vikramaditya’s period is known as one of the consolidation, peace and prosperity.

We learn from the accounts of Fa Hien. He described Chandragupta II as a tolerant king and described the administrative system as:

Ø People lived in peace and prosperity in his kingdom. The government was efficient and well organized.

Ø The administration was never harsh with punishments. They suggested fines on certain act of crimes.

Ø Chandragupta II was a follower of Lord Vishnu, but was tolerant to every religion, just like his father.

Ø His gold coins suggest that he was a great lover of art, sculpture and learning. Many learned poets and writers adorned his court.  Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Varahamihira and Amarsimha were a part of the group of nine literary geniuses called the navratna.  

 

Kumaragupta

                    The strength and prosperity of the Guptas continued during the rule of the next emperor, Kumaragupta. Kumaragupta was the second son of Chandragupta II and reigned till 455 CE. Among all the Gupta rulers, he issued the maximum number of gold coins. It indicated the prosperity of the kingdom. He was the founder of the first International residential university in the world, the Nalanda University.

                Kumaragupta’s reign was marked as a threat due to these external factors. Towards the end of his reign, the northern India was attacked by the Hunas for the first time. And also, the Pushyamitras, a tribe from the Narmada valley also became powerful and a threat to the Gupta empire.

                     After Kumaragupta, Skandagupta ascended the throne. Since he was not the son from the chief queen of Kumaragupta, Skandagupta was opposed by his stepbrother Purugupta. But Skandagupta was been choosed as the ruler due to his abilities.

 

Skandagupta

                     Skandagupta, Kumaragupta’s son, became the next Gupta king. He spent most of his time and effort in fighting with the Hunas. He emerged victorious and drove the Hunas out of the Indian Subcontinent. For about half a century, the Hunas didn’t come back to India. Skandagupta also defeated the Pushyamitras but the invasion of Hephthalites (or the White Hunas) was a major threat. Although he was able to defeat Hunas, it drained the kingdom’s resource and led to its eventual decline.

 

Decline:

                After the death of Skandagupta, his succession became the reason for the decline of the Gupta Empire. The succeesion of Skandagupta had led to family disputes, which could never be solved. Internal and family conflicts led to the decline of such a great and huge empire. After the death of Skandagupta, his as well as his stepbrother’s sons divided the empire in two parts, which led to the weakening of the kingdom. Taking the advantage of this situation, the tribal people or Hunas came back to India and captured a vast area of the Gupta Empire. Watching this condition, the local governors started declaring themselves as an independent state and this is how the great Gupta Empire saw its decline.  

 

Conclusion:

                    The Gupta Empire in the Indian Subcontinent, also known as the ‘Golden Era of Indian History’, due to its supremacy in the field of Art, Literature, Science, Poetry and education. The kings of the Gupta Empire had led to the growth of their kingdom and captured a vast area. The Gupta period launched a new era in the history of Indian architecture, painting and sculpture. The age is connected to the out of the ordinary growth and development of the temples and universities. Unfortunately, most of the examples of the Gupta architecture has been lost in to the ravages of time. Moreover, the Hunas destroyed most of the Architectural work of those days.

 

Some Common & Important Abbreviations:

AD: It literally means ‘ANNO DOMINI’ or ‘in the year of our lord’. It is used for the years after the birth of Christ.

CE: Common Era or the period since the birth of Christ.

BCE: Before the Common Era or before the birth of Christ

 

Total No. of words: 2000+

 

Sources of Data:

ICSE AGES AND EVENTS IX- PEARSON

‘RAJVANSH’ SERIES from EPIC CHANNEL, India

OTHER COARSE MATERIALS and internet

ICSE Understanding HISTORY AND CIVICS PART VI (by AVICHAL PUBLISHING COMPANY)