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The Gupta Empire (Hindi: गुप्त राजवंश) was founded by Sri-Gupta. The Empire covered most of Northern India and Eastern Pakistan, parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan and what is now western India and Bangladesh. The capital of the Guptas was Pataliputra, present day Patna, in the north Indian state of Bihar.

The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside with the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization. The time of the Gupta Empire is referred to by some scholars as the Golden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy, religion, dialectic and Indian philosophy.


Origin of Guptas
Main article: History of the Gupta dynasty

The origins of the Guptas are shrouded in obscurity. The Chinese traveler Yijing(see also Xuanzang) provides the first evidence of the Gupta kingdom in Magadha. He came to north India in AD 672 and heard of Maharaja Sri-Gupta, who built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near Mrigasikhavana who lost their lives in epic battle . Yijing gives the date for this event merely as '500 years before'. This does not match with other sources and hence we can assume that Yijing's computation was a mere guess. Very recently a few scholars have linked Guptas with rulers mentioned in Bhagwatam; however, these things are largely disputed and the idea seems politically motivated and to promote the sale of books written and promoted by some entities.[1]

The most likely date for the reign of Sri-Gupta is c. AD 240-280. He was, perhaps, from a Vaishya community and a Prayag based feudatory of Kushanas.His successor Ghatotkacha ruled probably from c. AD 280-319. In contrast to his successor, he is also referred to in inscriptions as 'Maharaja'. At the beginning of the 5th century the Guptas established and ruled a few small Hindu kingdoms in Magadha and around modern-day Bihar.

[edit] Chandra Gupta

Ghatotkacha (c. AD 280–319), had a son named Chandra Gupta. (Not to be confused with Chandragupta Maurya (340-293 BC), founder of the Mauryan Empire.) In a breakthrough deal, Chandra Gupta was married to Kumardevi, a Lichchhavi princess—the main power in Magadha. With a dowry of the kingdom of Magadha (capital Pataliputra) and an alliance with the Lichchhavis, Chandra Gupta set about expanding his power, conquering much of Magadha, Prayaga and Saketa. He established a realm stretching from the Ganga River (Ganges River) to Prayaga (modern-day Allahabad) by 321.He assumed the imperial title of “Maharajadhiraja”.

[edit] Samudragupta

Samudragupta succeeded his father in AD 335, and ruled for about 45 years, till his death in AD 380. He took the kingdoms of Shichchhatra and Padmavati early in her reign. He then attacked the Malwas, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunayanas, the Maduras and the Abhiras, all of which were tribes in the area. By his death in 380, he had incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm and his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the Brahmaputra to the Yamuna. He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. He is considered the Napoleon of north India. He performed Ashwamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) to underline the importance of his conquest. The stone replica of the sacrificial horse, then prepared, is in the Lucknow Museum. The Samudragupta Prashasti inscribed on the Ashokan Pillar, now in Akbar’s Fort at Allahabad, is an authentic record of his exploits and his sway over most of the continent.

Samudragupta was not only a talented military leader but also a great patron of art and literature. The important scholars present in his court were Harishena, Vasubandhu and Asanga. He was a poet and musician himself. He was a firm believer in Hinduism and is known to have worshipped Lord Vishnu. He was considerate of other religions and allowed Sri Lanka's buddhist king Meghvarna to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya.He provided a gold railing around the Bodhi Tree.

[edit] Chandra Gupta II

Samudragupta was succeeded by his elder son Ram Gupta , a weak king who agreed to surrender his wife Dhruvadevi to the Saka Chief Rudrasimha II. Ram Gupta’s younger brother Chandra Gupta II went to the Saka camp disguised as the queen and assassinated the Saka Chief. After this he killed his brother Ram Gupta, married to his widow Dhruvadevi and ascended to the throne. Chandra Gupta II, the Sun of Power (Vikramaditya), ruled from 380 till 413. Chandra Gupta II also married to a Kadamba princess of Kuntala region and a Nag princess, Kubernag.His daughter Prabhavatigupta from this Nag wife was married to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king of Deccan (this daughter was forced to be married by the father). Only marginally less successful than his father, Chandra Gupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409, but with his main opponent Rudrasimha III defeated by 395, and crushing the Bengal (Vanga) chiefdoms. This extended his control from coast-to-coast, established a second (trading) capital at Ujjain and was the high point of the empire.

Despite the creation of the empire through war, the reign is remembered for its very influential style of Hindu art, literature, culture and science, especially during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. Some excellent works of Hindu art such as the panels at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh serve to illustrate the magnificence of Gupta art. Above all it was the synthesis of the sacred and sexual elements that gave Gupta art its distinctive flavour. During this period, the Guptas were supportive of thriving Buddhist and Jain cultures as well, and for this reason there is also a long history of non-Hindu Gupta period art. In particular, Gupta period Buddhist art was to be influential in most of East and Southeast Asia. Much of advances was recorded by the Chinese scholar and traveller Faxian (Fa-hien) in his diary and published afterwords.

The court of Chandragupta was made even more illustrious by the fact that it was graced by the Navaratna (Nine Jewels), a group of nine who excelled in the literary arts. Amongst these men was the immortal Kalidasa whose works dwarfed the works of many other literary geniuses, not only in his own age but in the ages to come. Kalidasa was particularly known for his fine exploitation of the sringara (erotic) element in his verse.