Points to Remember About the Gupta Empire

Dear Aspirants,

The Gupta Empire was one of the greatest empires which had ruled India. During this time, India made a great progress in science, arts and literature. This is the reason why this period is sometimes referred as “the Golden Age of India”.

Maharaja Sri Gupta was the founder of the Gupta empire and Shashakgupta was the last emperor of this empire.
Gupta Empire existed about 230 years from 320 CE to 550 CE.
During this period, the social economic position of shudras improved very much. But the position of women in society reduced drastically. It should be noted that the first Sati occurred during this time only.
Gold coins and silver coins were used as currency. Gold coins were called Dinars and Silver coins were referred as Rupyakas. Gold coins were made in huge number during this era.
Sanskrit language reached its glory during this time. It was the court language.
The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien visited during the reign of Chandragupta II. His writings are one of the sources of Gupta history.
This period was truly remarkable for temple architecture and sculpture development. Several artistically rich temples were built. Such as – Dashavatara Temple of Deogarh, Vishnu Temple of Tigawa, Parvati Temple of Nachria Kuthara, Dhammekh Temple of Sarnath. Gandhara and Mathura were the two main centers of Sculptures.
Buddhist arts also flourished. One of the great example of Buddhist art of this dynasty was the Ajanta Paintings.
This age was truly a golden age for Sanskrit literature. Many Hindu epics were composed during this period. The two Hindu epic Ramayana and Mahabharata reached their peak in this time. Puranas and Smritis were developed in this era. Poem and prose both were developed in this era.
Some of the most talented scholars were born in this period. Such as – Kalidasa, Vatsyana, Harisena, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Vishnu Sharma, Bharavi.
Gupta empire achieved a lot in Astronomy, Mathematics, and Ayurveda. The invention of number zero and algebra was carried out in this period only.
Nalanda University was built during this time. This university was the center for the education at that time. It was one of the oldest educational institute of the world.
The reason behind the fall of Gupta empire was the invasion of Hunas and weak leadership of later emperors. Due to which feudatories rose in Gupta empire and gradually Gupta empire collapsed.

SOME FAMOUS EMPERORS OF THE GUPTA DYNASTY

Emperor	Reign Period	Facts
Chandragupta	319-335 A.D	He was the son of Ghatotkacha and grandson of Srigupta He fought many battles and expanded the gupta empire. He married to Kumaradevi which made the gupta empire a powerful empire. He took the title ‘Maharajadiraja’ , which means king of kings
Samudragupta	335 – 375 A.D	He was the son of Chandragupta. He expanded the empire rapidly. He also organised Ashwamedha yajna. He is called “Indian Napoleon”. During this time many great discoveries were made in different fields. He was also called Kaviraj. He wrote many poems. He was believer of Hinduism but also respected other religions.
Chandragupta II	375 – 414 A.D	He was the son of Samudragupta. He is also known as Vikramaditya. He conquered the peninsula of Saurashtra via the Arabian Sea. His court had Navaratna (Nine Jewels). Kalidas was one of the jewel among this Navaratna. Some of the great hindu art were created during his reign.
Kumaragupta	415 – 455 AD	He was the son of Chandragupta II. He assumed the title, Mahendraditya. Nalanda was established during his reign.
Skandagupta	455 – 467 A.D	He was the son of Kumaragupta. He took the title of Vikramaditya and Kramaditya. He defeated the Pushyamitra who became powerful during the period of Kumaragupta. He also defeated the White Hunas. This war effected the wealth of the gupta empire.

GREAT SCHOLARS OF THE GUPTA EMPIRE AND THEIR WORKS

Scholars	Facts
Kalidasa	Was a great Sanskrit poet and dramatist Some of his notable works are Abhijnanasakuntalam, Meghaduta, Kumarasambhava, Mrichchakatica His writings are primarily based on puranas
Aryabhatta	Was a mathematician and astronomer He was the inventor of number zero and algebra He also introduced the idea of solar eclipse and rotation of earth on it axis Some of his notable works are Aryabhatiya and Aryasiddhanta
Dhanvantri	Was a great physician He was also referred as Father of Ayurveda
Brahmagupta	Was a great Mathematician and Astronomer He wrote the Brahmasphutasiddhanta He was the first to use zero as a number and defined rules to compute with zero
Vatsyayana	He was a famous philosopher His notable work is Kamasutra
Vishnu Sharma	Was an author His notable work is Panchatantra and Hitopadesha Panchatantra is one of the most translated book in history
Harisena	Was a great Sanskrit poet He was the court poet of Samudragupta His famous poet about the Samdragupta is written on the Allahabad Pillar
Bhasa	Was a famous dramatist
Bharavi	Was a famous poet His notable work is Kiratarjuniya. It is based on the combat of Arjuna and Shiva
Varamihira	Was a famous astronomer, astrologer and mathematician His notable works are Panchasiddhantika, Brihatsamhita, and Brihatjataka