The Gupta period, often seen as a golden age of India, followed the Mauryan era and was characterized by significant economic progress, cultural advancements, and a strong emphasis on agriculture, trade, and craftsmanship. Innovations in agricultural practices and irrigation systems supported increased production, while the flourishing metal and textile industries reflected advancements in manufacturing and trade relations with various regions. However, the condition of ordinary farmers worsened due to increased taxation and labor demands, highlighting socioeconomic challenges despite overall economic growth.

1. Economic
Progress in the
Gupta Period
Dr. Virag Sontakke
Assistant Professor
Center for Advanced Studies
Department of A.I.H.C. & Archaeology,
Banaras Hindu University
virag@bhu.ac.in

2. Economic Progress in the Gupta Period

3. Introduction
• After the Mauryan period, Gupta Dynasty brought unity, peace and
prosperity to the Indian subcontinent.
• Although the Gupta Dynasty was smaller in size than the Mauryan, but
Gupta ruled longer than Maurya.
• Gupta period is considered as the golden age of India by some historians.
• During Gupta period the economic stability and prosperity facilitates all-
round cultural progress.
• The agriculture system was well developed and new methods were used to
increase agricultural production.
• The Mehrauli iron pillar (of Gupta period) is the best example of metal
workmanships.
• The seals, gold, and silver coins of this period also reflect the advance stage
of the metal industry.

4. Name of the King Period (CE)
Shri Gupta (c. late 3rd century)
Ghatotkacha (c. late 3rd century - 319)
Chandragupta I (c. 319 – 335/350)
Kacha (early 4th century?)
Samudragupta (c. 335/350 – 375)
(Ramagupta) (late 4th century?)
Chandragupta II (380 – 413/415)
Kumaragupta I (415 – 455)
Skandagupta (455 - 467)
Purugupta (467 – 473)
Kumaragupta II (473 - 476)
Budhagupta (476 – 495)
Narasimhagupta (495 – ?)
(Bhanugupta) (circa 510)
Vainyagupta (circa 507)
Kumaragupta III (circa 530)
Vishnugupta (540 – 55
Genealogy of the Gupta King
230 years (c. 319–543 CE),

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6. Sources
Archaeological
Literary
Chinese
Travelogues

7. Archaeological Sources
(i) Excavated Sites
• Kaushambi, Rajghat, Ayodhya, Mathura, Champa, Patliputra, Tamrlipti,
Ujjayani, Mandsor, Vidhisha, Bharukacch, etc.
(i) Inscription
• Copper plates, stone, clay seals
(ii) Coins
• Various metals
(iii) Excavations
• Antiquarian remains from excavations
(iv) Foreign travellers
• Fa-Hien, Huentsang

8. Literary Sources
1. The Amarakosha and Brihat Samhita contain special chapters on the study of plants and gardens,
forest, crops, manure, etc.
2. The Brihat Samhita describes twenty-two jewels. Jewels were used at this period for a large variety of
purposes.
3. Ratna pariksha mentioned the science of testing gems.
4. Vatsyayana mentions about Ruparatnapariksha (testing of precious stones), Dhatuveda (the
smelting of metals), and Maniragakarajnanam (technology of jewels ).
5. Among them Purana is a good source of history.
6. “Aryamanjusrimulkalpa”,
7. The drama “Kaumudini Mahotshaba” written by a woman writer Bajjika,
8. Kamandak’s “Nitisara” those sources carried important information about the Gupta Empire.
9. Kalidas: Medhdut, Raghuvansh
10. Varahmihir:
11. Vishakhadatt: Devi Chadraguptam
12. Shudraka:
13. Jindas: Vasudevhindi
14. Panchtantra

14. Economic System of Gupta Dynasty
Agriculture Art & Crafts
Industry Trade
Economy

15. Agriculture

16. Agriculture
• Agricultural was the main sources of Economy during Gupta period.
• The major part of the revenue of the state came from agriculture.
• Various types of land are mentioned in the inscriptions;
a) land under cultivation was usually called Kshetra.
b) Lands not under cultivation were variously called as Khila, etc.
c) Aprahita: jungle or forest land.
d) Vasti: habitable land.
e) Gapata Sarah: pasture land.
• Inscriptions: uncultivated land was being regularly brought under cultivation.
• Different land measures were known in different regions.
• Amarkosha: description of various ploughshare
• Bruhaspati: a) shape and size of ploughshare
• Varahmihir: triple crop pattern in a year

17. Irrigation
• The importance were given to irrigation.
• The Sudarshana reservoir (Tadaga) in Saurashtra
in Gujarat.
1. Originally built in the Maurya period (322-297
BCE) by Pushygupta.
2. Ashoka’s governor Tusask made cannels (272-
232)
3. Reservoir was thoroughly repaired in the time
of Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman (130-165 CE)
4. Again at the time of Skandagupta this dam
damaged and repaired by Parnadatta (CE 455-
467).
• Parnadatta, his newly appointed governor of
Saurashtra and Parnadatta's son Chakrapalita,
undertook the repair of the reservoir this time.

18. Agricultural Products
• Cereals
1. Barley,
2. Wheat
3. Paddy etc.
• Vegetables: cucumber, beetle, onion, garlic, gourd, pumpkin
• Cash crops like cotton and sugarcane
• Amarkosh: wheat, barley, paddy, green piece, sesame, ginger etc.
• Kalidas: Paddy cultivation is higher
• Kalidas: different category of riches, Magadh rice was sented (shali, niwar,
kalam and shyamak)
• Amarkosh: sesame, lentil, (udad, mung, masur, arhar), blackgram, kulthi
• Fruits: Mango, coconut, jackfruits, pomegranate, grapes, banana,dates
etc.

19. Different systems of Irrigation
• Another method for irrigation was to draw water from wells and supply to
the fields through channels.
• The mechanism known as ghati-yantra as ghati was referred to well
irrigation.
• Ghati-yantra: In this method, to tie a number of pots to a chain: the
chain with the pots reached down to the water of the hull, and by making
the chain and the pots rotate, the pots would continuously fill with water
and empty it.
• In regions like Bengal: rainwater was collected in ponds and other types of
reservoirs;
• In peninsular India: tank irrigation became gradually the norm.
• The farmers of course depended mainly on rainfall and the importance of
rainfall is underlined in the texts written in the Gupta period.

20. Condition of Farmers
• The condition of ordinary cultivators may be declined considerably.
• New small kingdoms, new rulers and their official who did not take part in
agriculture imposed great burden.
• The number of taxes imposed by the state on the producers also increased in this
period.
• The the practice of imposing vishti or unpaid labour was also in vogue.
• All in all, the condition of the ordinary cultivators seems to have become worse
than in the earlier periods.
• It is believed by some historians that because of the practice of land grants, the
peasant population as a whole were reduced to a very low position in society.
• There were also slaves who worked on the fields of their masters.
• Even domestic female slaves were cruelly exploited.
• Text like the Kamasutra, tells us how much hardship they had to go through at
the hands of their masters.

21. Animal Rearing
1. Manu, Kamandak & Katyayan: Vaishya were involved
2. Amarkosh: nine cattle breeds were famous
3. Amarkosh: 13 types of horses
4. Amarkosh: 9 type of oxes
5. Amarkosh: 15 names of elephants
6. Katyayana: animals hired for transportation
Shephard/ herder: gop, gosankhya, gopalak, godhudh, aabhir, vallabh
Animal products:
1. Milk
2. Meat
3. Dairy products

22. Art and
Crafts

23. Classifications of Art objects
Pottery,
Items of
furniture,
Baskets,
Metal Items,
Terracotta,
Glass Items
Ordinary
Items
Ivory Items,
Semi-precious
stone beads
Shell bangles
Gold ornaments
Fine silk,
muslin
Luxurious
Items

24. Crafts Production
• There was industrial development during the Gupta period.
• Textile was an essential industry.
• Some of the major items produce were- Muslin, linen, silk, food grains, spices,
salt, bullion, calico, wool and cotton etc.
• Other industries like ivory work, stone cutting and curving or shaping of stones.
• Metal work of precious metals like- gold, silver, copper, iron, bronze, led, pearl
industries were also very popular.
• The Gupta rulers issued a large number of gold coins with beautiful artistic
design.
• The art of the jewellery was in the advanced condition. “BrihatSamhita”
mentioned about twenty two types of jewellery.
• Huen-Tsang also mentioned that brass, gold and silver were produced in
abundance.
• The seals, gold, silver and copper coins of that period also reflect the advance
stage of the metal industry.

25. Metal industry
• Huan tsang: large scale production of metal objects
• Numerous metal coins of Gupta kings
• Alloy in gold and silver coins indicate high class of metallurgy
• Mehroli iron pillar of Chandra is best example of metallurgy

26. Amarkosh: 7 names of
iron
Mehrouli Iron Pillar.
Excavations Remains:
A) Agricultural Tools
B) Weapons
C) Daily use
D) Carpentry Tools:
plough, chain, sickle,
axes, adze, scissors,
utensils, sword, knife
Amarkosh: 6
names of copper
Excessive use of
copper plates
Coper coins:
(Chandragupt II,
Ramagupt &
Kumaragupt)
Bronze images:
Bihar, UP, MH
Sultanganj
bronze image
Silver: Roupya
Varahmihir:
silver extract
from mines
Silver coins
Silver pots
Silver
implements
Amarkosh: 19
names of copper
Shudrak: difficult
to find loyal gold
smith
Gold coins
Gold ornaments
Mrucchkatikam
Drama: Gold
jewellery shops
in Ujjayani
Bhita: gold ring
and ornament
Iron Copper Gold
Silver

27. Sultanganj bronze image

28. Ornaments of Gold period

29. Varahmihir: 22 types of
beads
Varahmihir: Source of
Diamond-Vena river,
Sopara, South Kosal,
Kalinga, Pundru
Bruhadsanhita: beads
of diamond, Agate etc.
Varahmihir: Gold
Jewellers used beads in
ornaments
Vishakadatta
(Mudrarakshas
Drama): work
assign to
Patliputra
carpenter for
Palace & Gates.
Fahiyan: 80’
wooden Buddha
image on the
bank of Indus.
Vatsyayan:
wooden art
includes in 64
Leather was
under state
control.
Varahmihir:
Leather
Worker
(Chrmshilpi)
Amarkosh:
Leather items
Shoes, bags,
whip, rope etc
Daily utensils
Abundance
variety of pots
are recovered
from excavations.
Ahichattra: life
size Ganga-
Yamuna images
Stone
Beads Carpenter Potter
Leather
Worker

30. Terracotta Art

31. Ceramics of Gupta period

32. Sculptural Art
• Earlier developments in plastic arts seem to have culminated in the Gupta
sculpture.
• The most important contribution of Gupta sculpture is the evolution of the
perfect types of divinities, both Buddhist and Brahmanical.
• A large number of Buddha images have been unearthed at Sarnath (School
of Art).
• Stone and bronze images of Buddha have also been found at Mathura and
other places.
• The images of Siva, Vishnu and other Brahmanical gods are sculptured in
some of the finest panels of the Deogarh temple (Jhansi district).
• The art of casting metals reached a degree of development.
• Fa-Hien saw an over 25 metre high image of the Buddha made of copper,
but it is not traceable now.

34. Trade

35. Textile
• Different varieties of silk cloth, called Kshauma and Pattavastra are mentioned in the texts, show in
Ajanta Paintings.
• Mandasor inscription of the Kumargupta 1st time in western Malwa refers to a guild of silk-weavers who
had migrated from south Gujarat and had settled in the Malwa region.
• Texts like Amarakosha and Brihat Samhita mention different categories of craftsmen who
manufactured textiles them.
• Cotton Centres: Bengal, Tamil, Gujrat
• Silk cloths: Banaras
• Cotton cloths : Matura
• Silappatikaram:
a) Mathura was famous for Cotton cloths; shops were crowded by buyers.
b) Kavripattanam: cotton-silk threads centres
c) Uraiyur: famous Muslin center
• Narad Smruti:
a) Ship and forest goats are useful for blankets
b) Rabbits: Wool

37. Paintings
• The art of painting reached its height of glory in this age.
• The most important examples of the Gupta paintings are to be found on
the wall frescos of the the Bagh caves.
• The Gupta painters also painted incidents from the life of Buddha during
the Gupta period.
• They probably have some influence on Ajanta painting also.

39. Amarkosh
• Fishers
• Meat Seller
• Conch seller
• Porter
Bruhad-
sanhita
• Sailor, Barber
• Writer, Architect
• Painter etc
Katyayan
• Dancer, Astrologer
• Snake charmer,
• Liquor seller, Surgent,
• Elephant rider
Other Sources of Economy

40. Guilds/Sreni
• Guilds continued as the major institution in the manufacture of goods and
in commercial enterprise.
• There were guilds not only of traders and bankers but also of manual
workers like weavers and stone cutters.
• These guilds enjoyed sufficient autonomy.
• They had their own property and trusts which worked as bankers, settle
disputes of their members and issued their hundis and even coins.
• These guilds played an important role in the goods industry and also
helped to further strength the economic condition of the empire.
• The State was provided protection and to respect their customs and norms.
• Similarly, members of the Sreni were also expected to follow the norms of
the organization; otherwise, they were liable to punishment.

41. Reference of Guilds
1. Raghuvansh: Architect Shreni (vastukar)
2. Mudrarakshas: Gold Smiths
3. Varahmihir: Carpenter, Weavers, Leather worker, painter,
4. Indore copper plate of Skandgupta period: Guild of oil-men endowment
for maintenance of oil lamp in sun temple.
5. Seals-sealing
a) Bhita: Kulik nigam
b) Vaishali: Shreshthi nigam
c) Basadh (Vaishali): Shershthi-Kulik nigan (joint organization)
d) Basadh (Vaishali): Shreshthi-Sarthvaha-kulik nigam (joint organization)

42. Taxes of Gupta period
42
• Tax was major source of Revenue collection
• Tax was lesser than Mauryan period
• Kalidas & Kamandak: King should work for wellbeing of the state
• Inscriptions: 1/6 % of agricultural tax
• Bhag, Bhog and Kar was main taxes
• Bhag: Agricultural tax 1/6
• Bhog: Periodic taxes in from of fruits, flowers, milk and dairy products
• Kara: Not clearly identified. (Rudradaman Kara is not good for people), Samudrgupt
Prayag prashasti also refer Kara.
• Hiranya: Either cash or collected from cash crop
• Dhanya:
• Shulk: Bihar pillar inscription mentions “Shoulkik” an officer who collect this tax.
• Uprikar and Udrang: these new taxes strated from this period.

43. Trade and commerce
• Trade was carried on both through the land as well as the coastal routes.
• India had trade relations with both the eastern and the western
countries.
• India maintained regular maritime relation with Sri Lanka, Persia,
Arabia, Byzantine Empire, Africa, and even further west.
• During Gupta period well developed commercial relations with China,
Burma, and South East Asia and Shri lanka.
• The important trade items were silk, spices of various kind, textiles,
metals, ivory, sea produce, etc.
• Fa-Hien: people of the “madhya desh” were prosperous and happy.

45. Internal Trade
1. Vaishyas were associated in trade
2. Weekly markets
3. Market known as “Vidani”, where traders assembled
4. Amarkosh: Roads had shops at both sides
5. Excavations at Bhita: Remains of Market area
6. South India: Spices
7. Himalaya: Saffron
8. Elephants: Kalinga, Assam
9. Horse: Kamboj
10. Salt: Sea, Mines
11. Silk: Bengal
12. Wool: Nepal, Maharashtra

46. External Trade
• Western coast: Egypt, central Asia, Europe & Africa
• Deval, Bhadoch, Shurparak and Kalyan
• Gold coin found in Madagaskar
• Eastern coast: South-east Asia, China, Java etc
• Tamralipti, Kangod
• Fahiyan went back to China from Tamtralipti
• Chinese Silk was also trading
• Ports like Brighukachchha were well connected through inland routes from
all parts of India.
• During this period, India was part of an international trade network which
also included other great classical empires of the day, the Han Dynasty, in
China to the east and the Roma to the west.

47. •Export
1. Ivory
2. Spices
3. Medicines
4. Semi-precious
stones
5. Silk Cloths
6. Cotton Cloths
7. Animals: Rhino
8. Birds
9. saffron
•Import
1. Gold
2. Silver
3. Copper
4. Lead
5. Horses
6. Maids
7. Dry fruits
8. Conch
Items of Trade

48. Conclusions
• The Gupta period was characterized by a sophisticated culture with
innovative advances in literature, arts, and sciences.
• The rulers sponsored advances in science, painting, textiles, architecture,
and literature.
• Economy of Gupta period were prosperous.
• Progress in Royal art like sculpture, paintings, structures, temples, Stupas,
Viharas, Universities, roads etc.
• Agriculture was main source of revenue.
• Increase of Art & crafts items
• Slight decline of International trade can be observed.