This presentation is all about classical age or golden age of indian history. It consist of dynastic history from srigupta to skandagupta, their administration,art and architecture, how "golden" was golden age. Hope you'll find it helpful. thank you

1. Dynastic history of the
Guptas

2. • Ruled mid-to-late 3rd century to 543 AD.
• Came into power in around 275 CE.
• Founded by srigupta.
• Established control over former dominions
of Kushanas and Satvahanas.
• Guptas believed to be feudatories of the
Kushanas.
• A.S Altekar- ‘Vaishya’ origin.
• R.S Sharma – merchant class may have
become rulers after resisting oppressive
taxation by the previous rulers.
• Referred to as ‘GOLDEN AGE’ but rejected
by some scholars.

4. Notable rulers
1) Chandragupta I
• Matrimonial alliance with lichchhavis. Married
kumaradevi, added power and prestige.
• Extended his territory from Ganges to Prayaga.
• Issued coins in the joint names of his queen
and himself.
• Assumed the title of ‘ Maharajadhiraja’.
• Considered first great king of the Gupta
Empire.

5. Samudragupta (335-375 CE)
• Allahabad Pillar Inscription( by Harisena)– his policy of
war and conquest.
• Issued coins with the legend ‘ restorer of the
asvamedha’.
• Also known by the title ‘kaviraja’( King among poets).
• Image depicting him with veena found in the coins.
• Follower of ‘Vaishnavism’, also in buddhism, Patronised
Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu.

6. Samudragupta’s Military Conquests
• VA Smith dub him first as ‘ the Indian Napoleon’.
• Details of his military conquest :
A. Campaigns in the ‘Aryavarta’ or North India
• Twice led his expeditions to north.
• Seems to have advanced as far as the Chambal and all kings were killed and their
territories incorporated into the Gupta Empire.
B. Compaigns in the ‘Dakshinapatha’ or South India
• Economic motive behind his compaigns; maritime trade with south east asia.

7. C. Samudragupta vis-a`-vis Forest, Frontier and
Tribal states
• After aryavarta, he turned his attention to the kings of the forest kingdom (attavika
rajya) located presently at Jabalpur, MP.
• Defeated kings were appointed to look after the administration of their respective
territories.
• Gupta empire extended in the south.
D. Samudragupta’s Relation with Foreign Powers
• Established diplomatic relations with foreign kings , who acknowledged his
authority.
• Chinese source tells us that king meghavarna of sri lanka sent his presents to
sought permission to build a monastery at Gaya.

8. Chandragupta II(376-413/415 CE)
• Expanded his territories through conquest as well as
by matrimonial alliance.
• Married , a Naga Princess and had daughter,
Prabhavati.
• Later married her to Vakataka prince and after his
death , Prabhavati ruled the territory . Thus
Chandragupta II indirectly controlled the Vakataka
kingdom.
• control over Vakataka proved advantageous as he
can conquer Gujrat and W. Malwa, which was under
shakas for 4 centuries.

9. • Issued gold, silver, copper coins , he is mentioned as Chandra.
• Iron Pillar Inscription at Mehrauli, Delhi- indicates his empire included
even N-W India and Bengal. Adopted titles ‘Vikramaditya’ and
‘simhavikrama’.
• Fa-hien visited his empire.
• Udaigiri cave inscription refer to his ‘digvijya’ i.e his conquest of the
whole world.
• His court was adorned with 9 famous scholars. ‘Golden period’ in
terms of development of art and literature.

10. Chandragupta II is associated with the development
of Vaishnavism in India, and the establishment of
the Udayagiri Caves with Vaishnava iconography
(here Varaha saving the world from chaos).
Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II.
Vikramaditya goes forth to war, a
modern artist's imagination

11. Kumargupta (415-455 CE)
• Among the gupta rulers, maximum inscription have been
found of him.
• Attack by huns during his reign.
• Known as 'mahendraditya’.
• Introduced large number of peacock shaped silver coins and
performed ashwamedha yagya.
• Nalanda university was established during his reign.
Skandagupta (455-467 CE)
• Sent an ambassador to the court of the Chinese song dynasty.
• He had renovated Sudarshan lake built by the mauryas.
• 455 AD- defeated Huns.
• Ended the rebellion of Pushyamitra.
The Bhitari pillar
inscription of
Skandagupta The Bhitari pillar inscription of
Skandagupta
Silver coin of the Gupta
King Kumaragupta

12. Administration
• During the Gupta period, monarchy was the prevailing form of
government
• The council of ministers was known as Mantri Parishad
• It consisted of high officials like the kumaramatya and the
sandhivigrahika
• The empire was divided into provinces which were known as
‘bhuktis’
• The bhuktis were further divided into ‘Vishyas’
• Each bhukti was under the control of an ‘uparika’ and the Uparikas
were appointed by the king
• The vishayas were under the control of Vishayapatis who were
appointed by the provincial governor or sometimes the king
himself
• The village administration was managed by the headman of the
village
• Unlike the Mauryan times, the administration in the Gupta period

13. •Art and Architecture
• The Gupta period is considered the apex of North Indian art by all major
religious organisations
• The best-preserved examples of Gupta-style architecture are the
Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed (including Jain) caves at Ajanta, Elephanta,
and Ellora.
• Deogarh’s Dashavatara Shrine is an ancient shrine, one of the earliest
to exist, featuring remarkable sculpture, as is the Hindu Udayagiri
Caves

14. Udayagiri
Caves mukhalinga (C
ave 4), described as
"pulsating with
psychic power
Vishnu holds the
Kaumodaki in his lower
right hand; 5th century.
Standing Buddha of the art of
Mathura. Gupta Empire period,
circa 5th century CE.
Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh
Cave 19, Ajanta, Deccan

15. How golden was the ‘Golden Age’
• Golden Age is a period of great peace, prosperity and happiness in a particular area.
• But not everyone had equal opportunities. So while it may have been ‘golden’ for some, it was
not for everyone.
• D.N. JHA
• Rise of feudatories leading eventually to the economic bondage of the peasantry.
• Status of women decline.
• Caste distinctions and rigidity became sharper. Upper class was happy as can be judged from
contemporary art and literature but not true of the lower orders.
• Fahien himself speaks of the plight of the Chandalas.
• Untouchables came to be degraded in the social scale.
• According to jha , religion was used as an instrument to justify varna-divided society.
• He further said, for upper class all periods in history have been golden; for the masses none.