Gupta Empire

Origins

• The Gupta Empire rose to prominence in 320 AD and spread to large parts of northern India, central and small parts of southern India.
• The founder of the Gupta dynasty is Sri Gupta.
• The original homeland of the Guptas is not known for certain. But they might have originated from Bengal. Some scholars think they are from Prayaga (Allahabad in UP).
• They are thought to be either Brahmins or Vaishyas.

Early kings

• The first ruler was Sri Gupta (reign from 240 AD to 280 AD).
• He was succeeded by his son Ghatotkacha (reign: 280 – 319 AD).
• Both Sri Gupta and Ghatotkacha are mentioned as Maharaja in inscriptions.
   

Chandragupta I (Reign: 320 – 335 AD)

• Was the son of Ghatotkacha.
• Acquired the strategically important Magadha kingdom on marriage to a Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi.
• He extended his kingdom through conquests. His territory extended from the Ganges River to Prayaga by 321 AD.
• He issued coins in the joint names of his queen and himself.
• He assumed the title of Maharajadhiraja (great king of kings).
• He was successful in building a small principality into a great kingdom.
• He is considered the first great king of the Gupta Empire.
   

Samudragupta (Reign: 335 – 380 AD)      

• Son of Chandragupta I and Kumaradevi.
• Was a military genius and was successful in adding many territories into the Gupta Empire.
• The Allahabad inscription describes his bravery as composed by his court poet, Harisena. There it is said that he defeated nine kings of the Ganges Valley, twelve kings from the southern region and eighteen forest tribes.
• His region extended from the Himalayas in the north to the Krishna and Godavari Rivers in the south; and from Balkh (Afghanistan) in the west to Brahmaputra River in the east.
• He was a follower of Vaishnavite Hinduism but was tolerant of other faiths. He gave permission to the king of Sri Lanka, Meghavarna to build a monastery in Bodh Gaya.
• He was also called “Indian Napoleon” by art historian Vincent Smith.
• He also performed Ashvamedha sacrifice. Hence, one of his coins refers to him as “the restorer of Ashvamedha.”
• He was also called “Kaviraja” since he composed verses.

Chandragupta II (Reign: 380 – 418 AD)

• Son of Samudragupta and his queen Dattadevi.
• He was also known as ‘Vikramaditya’.
• He further annexed territories including Saurashtra which gave him the western coastline.
• He used matrimonial alliances to expand his kingdom. He established matrimonial alliances with the Nagas and the Vakatakas. He gave his daughter Prabhapavatigupta in marriage to Vakataka ruler of Maharashtra Rudrasena II.
• He also annexed three Satrapa kingdoms and assumed the title Sakari (destroyer of the Sakas). He defeated the Saka king Rudrasimha III thus acquiring Saurashtra and Kathiawar.
• Through the western ports, the kingdom’s prosperity grew through trade links with Roman Empires.
• After East and West India, Chandragupta II defeated northern rulers also like the Hunas, Kambojas, Kiratas, etc.
• He was a brilliant conqueror and an able administrator as well.
• Like his father, he was a Vaishnavite but was tolerant of other religions.
• His other names (as mentioned in coins) include Vikrama, Devagupta, Devaraja, Simhavikrama, Vikramaditya Sakari, etc.
• His court had nine jewels or Navaratnas, nine people eminent in various fields of art, literature and science. This included the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, Harisena, Amarasimha (lexicographer) and Dhanvantari (physician).
• Fa-Hien, a Buddhist from China visited India during his reign. He records the prosperity of the Gupta Empire.

Kumara Gupta I (418-455 AD)

• He was the son of Dhruvadevi who extended the Gupta Empire from North Bengal to Kathiawar and from the Himalayas to the Narmada.
• During his reign, Hunas invaded India.
• He founded Nalanda University.

Skanda Gupta (455-467 AD)

• He is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. He faced some of the greatest challenges in the annals of the empire having to contend with the Pushyamitras and the Hunas.
• He defeated the Pushyamitras, a tribe who were settled in central india but then rebelled.
• He was also faced with invading Indo-Hephthalites or "White Huns", known in India as Hunas, from the northwest. Skandagupta had warred against the Huns during the reign of his father, and was celebrated throughout the empire as a great warrior.
• He crushed the Huna invasion in 455, and managed to keep them at bay; however, the expense of the wars drained the empire's resources and contributed to its decline. Skandagupta died in 467 and was succeeded by Purugupta (467-473), Kumaragupta II (473-476), Budhagupta (476-495) and Narasimhagupta, whose kingdom in the plains of Northern India was continuously attacked by the Huns.
• Skandagupta's name appear in Javanese text `Tantrikamandaka', and Chinese writer, Wang-hiuen-tse refers that an ambassador was sent to his court by King Meghvarma of Sri Lanka, who had asked his permission to build a Buddhist monastery at Bodh Gaya for the monks traveling from Sri Lanka.

Administration of Gupta Empire

• All the power was concentrated with the king. Often an element of divinity was attached to the kings.
• The king adopted the titles of such as Paramveshvara, Maharajadhiraj and Parambhattaraka. Kingship was hereditary but there was no a firm of primogeniture.
• The Gupta rulers has organised a huge army.
• Forced labour or Vishti was also practised in royal Army.
• The king acted as the fountainhead and decided all disputes in general, punishments were light and mild.
• A council of ministers and civil officials assisted the king.
• The most important officers in the Gupta Empire were the Kumaramatyas.
• The royal seal bore the imprint of Garuda. Started in the Deccan by the Satavahanas, the practice of granting land and fiscal administrative concessions the priests and administrators became regular affairs in the Gupta times.
• A new office of Sandhivigrhaka was created during Samundra Gupta who was responsible for the peace and war. Harisena held this title.

Decline of the Gupta Empire

• The Gupta decline started during the reign of Skandagupta, the grandson of Chandragupta II. He was successful in retaliating against the Huns and the Pushyamitras, but his empire was drained of finances and resources because of this.
• The last recognised king of the Gupta line was Vishnugupta who reigned from 540 to 550 AD.
• Internal fighting and dissensions among the royal family led to its weakening.
• During the reign of a Gupta king, Budhagupta, the Vakataka ruler Narendrasena of western Deccan attacked Malwa, Mekala and Kosala. Later on, another Vakataka king Harishena conquered Malwa and Gujarat from the Guptas.
• During Skandagupta’s reign, the Huns invaded northwest India but were restricted. But in the sixth century, they occupied Malwa, Gujarat, Punjab and Gandhara. The Hun invasion weakened the Gupta hold in the country.
• Independent rulers emerged all over the north like Yasodharman of Malwa, the Maukharis of U.P., the Maitrakas in Saurashtra, and others in Bengal. The Gupta Empire was restricted to Magadha only. (Yasodharman had joined forces with Narasimhagupta to successfully retaliate against the Hun chief Mihirakula.)
• The later Guptas’ following of Buddhism rather than Hinduism unlike their ancestors also weakened the empire. They did not focus on empire-building and military conquests.
• So weak rulers along with incessant invasions from foreign as well as native rulers caused the decline of the Gupta Empire.
• By the beginning of the sixth century, the empire had disintegrated and was ruled by many regional chieftains.