Gupta Period: Golden Age of India? Question : Analyse the view that the characterization of the Gupta’s period as ‘golden’ is a myth. Answer: “There are as many histories as there are historians.” These words said by E.H. Carr are more than true in the case of the Guptas. The Gupta period has been subjected to a lot of scrutiny after the discovery of their records and deciphering their documents. While understanding if the Gupta age was really a Golden age in the history of India, we should first study the various kind of perspectives that existed. The various kinds of historiographies can be easily divided on their style of writing in various forms like colonialist’s historians, imperialists’ historians, nationalist historians and so on. So if colonialist’s historians would present history in such a manner so as to favour the colonials then the nationalists would present history in order to encourage nationalism and favour the sentiments of the indigenous population of the country. It is actually the Indian nationalist historians who have given the epithet of the golden age to the Gupta period. Failing to latch on to anything else, the Indian historians justifiably seized upon the documents of the Guptas and used them as a counter argument to the persistent British imperialist propaganda that India had no history except for a series of conquests by a succession of invaders. For historians writing in the early twentieth century, the “Golden age” had to be a utopia set in the distant past, and the period chosen by those working on the early history of India was one in which they perceived that the Hindu culture came to be firmly established. The glorification of Gupta period, at the time of the independence movement might have been seen as necessary but it no longer is. Hence, we should first understand why the Gupta period is seen as a golden age and see if it actually applies to them. To understand the Gupta period, we should first understand their empire. The beginnings of the empire are somewhat obscure, it is somewhat possible that the family was one of wealthy landowners who gradually gained a lot of political control in the rich lands of Magadha, gained supremacy and automatically became rulers. The Guptas are supposed to have been Vaishyas, and the dynasty came into its own with the accession of Chandra Gupta I, about whom not much is known except for the fact that he married a Lichchhavi princess, which it seems was done for the purpose of gaining political advance, considering that the Lichchhavis were an old established and highly favoured tribe. Chandra Gupta I ruled over Magadh and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and was succeeded by his son, Samudra Gupta in 135 AD. He was the most famous Gupta king, thanks to a long eulogy dedicated to him that is inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at Allahabad. Samdura Gupta expanded his reign all over the Indian sub continent including the decan regions, including Ceylon. Samudra Gupta was succeeded by Chandra Gupta II, who is reputed to have shown the most chivalrous and heroic qualities among all the Gupta kings. His reign lasted for approximately forty years (375 AD-415 AD). There is confusion as to who the next ruler was. Some scholars suggest it was Kumar Gupta who was Chandra Gupta II’s son while others suggest it was someone named Rama Gupta. After that, Skandagupta ruled the empire till 467 AD which was followed by the succession of several kings who could not keep the empire intact. A major blow came to the Gupta power towards the end of the fifth century when the Huns entered North India in large numbers which ultimately led to the decline of the Guptas. Now that we know the basic outline of the Gupta period, let us see the various achievements of the Gupta period in various different fields which have given reason to historians to see the Gupta period as a golden age. ADMINISTRATION The Guptas had a highly organized system of provincial and local administration. The empire was divided into divisions called Bhuktis and each Bhukti was placed under the charge of an Uparika. Bhuktis were further divided into districts and placed under the charge of a vishayapati. In the urban administration, organized professional bodies were given a considerable say. They had a highly centralized empire in the beginning, in which there was a group is superior officers known as kumaramatyas. It was from them that important officers like the ministers and military commanders were selected. This ensured that the influential officers came from a selected class, very often they were personally chosen by the king himself. These officers were in turn responsible for the entire maintenance of the kingdom, which shows their efficiency, considering the large territory of the Gupta empire. The Gupta kings were highly accomplished. The second Gupta king, Samudra Gupta, conquered the entire Indian subcontinent. The places conquered by him were divided into five groups. Group one includes the princes of the Ganga-Yamuna doab, the second group includes the rulers of eastern Himalayan states and some frontier states such as Nepal, Assam and Bengal. Group three includes the forest kingdoms of the Vindhyan regions. Group four includes twelve rulers of the eastern Deccan and South India who were conquered and later liberated, while group five includes the name of Shakas and Kushanas as far as Afghanistan. Samudra Gupta is known as the Napoleon of India and he delighted in violence and conquest. His prestige and influence spread even outside of India and his magnificent conquests show his skills as a great military commander and the fact that he was able to maintain these territories under his control shows that he had impressive administrative control over them. Under the reign of Chandra Gupta II, though there wasn’t much territorial expansion for the obvious reason that there were hardly any territories left to be conquered, Chandra Gupta did take some important political decisions. He extended the limits of the empire by marriage alliance and conquers. He married his daughter Prabhavati to a Vakataka prince of the Brahmna caste and ruled in central India. The prince died, and soon his daughter virtually became the ruler. Chandra Gupta gained control over Mathura, defeating the Kushanas and also over the western sea coast. It was during Chandra Gupta’s reign that the Chinese pilgrim Fa- Hsein visited India and wrote an elaborate account of the life of its people and stressed on the impressive administrative policies of the Guptas. ECONOMY According to Fa-Hsein’s account, Magadha, capital of the Gupta empire was full of cities and its rich people believed in and supported it with charitable offerings. We know that revenue came from mainly the land, commercial activities didn’t provide a large income. Guilds were a common feature, and they continued as the major institution in the manufacture of goods and in commercial enterprise. They had their own laws, which the government generally agreed with. Manufacture of textiles of various kinds was seen among the more important industries of this time. Silk, muslin, calico, linen, wool and cotton were produced in great quantities. Ivory work was also practised as a premium activity as did stone cutting and carving. Metal work also continued as one of the essential industries. Gupta kings issued a large number of gold coins, which were not only used to pay the salary of the officials serving in the army and the administration but also to meet the needs of sale and purchase of land. The use of gold for the purpose of trading points towards the prosperity of the Gupta period. LITERATURE In literature, the Gupta period witnessed an efflorescence. Important developments took place in the sphere of Sanskrit literature during this period. This is one of the major reasons why the nationalists chose the Gupta age to represent the golden age because it is supposed to have established the roots of Hinduism and propagate it. Sanskrit language and literature, after centuries of evolution and through lavish royal patronage reached what has been described as classical excellence, with some scholars even going to the extent of calling the Gupta age as the Classical age. Among the known Sanskrit poets of this period, the greatest name is that of Kalidasa, who has written Meghaduta and Raghuvamsha and one of the most popular plays, Abhijnanashakuntala. Several other dramatists also flourished during this period like Shudraka. Erotica became a prominent feature of the gupta period, of which the Kamasutra is a relevant example. This period also saw an increase in religious literature. The epics and majors of Puranas were given final shape and form and these texts form important sources for religious and cultural processes of those times. Some important Astronomical works like aryabhatiyam authored by Aryabhata were written. ART AND ARCHITECTURE In the history of Indian art and architecture, the Gupta period occupies an important place. Both Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta were great patrons of art and literature. Both the Nagara and Dravidian styles of art evolved during this period. But most of the architecture of this period had been lost due to foreign invasions like that of Huns. Yet, the remaining temples, sculptures and cave paintings provide an idea about the grandeur of the Gupta art. This period is also consider a pioneer for it was supposed to be in this period that the images of various Hindu gods like Vishnu, Shiva were fashioned for the very first time. The temple at Deogarh near Jhansi and the sculptures in the temple at Garhwas near Allahabad remain important specimen of the Gupta art.