Gupta Period: Golden Age of India?

Question : Analyse the view that the characterization of the

Gupta’s period as ‘golden’ is a myth.

Answer:
“There are as many histories as there are historians.” These
words said by E.H. Carr are more than true in the case of the
Guptas. The Gupta period has been subjected to a lot of
scrutiny after the discovery of their records and deciphering
their documents. While understanding if the Gupta age was
really a Golden age in the history of India, we should first
study the various kind of perspectives that existed. The
various kinds of historiographies can be easily divided on
their style of writing in various forms like colonialist’s
historians, imperialists’ historians, nationalist historians and
so on. So if colonialist’s historians would present history in
such a manner so as to favour the colonials then the
nationalists would present history in order to encourage
nationalism and favour the sentiments of the indigenous
population of the country. It is actually the Indian nationalist
historians who have given the epithet of the golden age to
the Gupta period. Failing to latch on to anything else, the
Indian historians justifiably seized upon the documents of
the Guptas and used them as a counter argument to the
persistent British imperialist propaganda that India had no
history except for a series of conquests by a succession of
invaders. For historians writing in the early twentieth
century, the “Golden age” had to be a utopia set in the distant
past, and the period chosen by those working on the early
history of India was one in which they perceived that the
Hindu culture came to be firmly established. The
glorification of Gupta period, at the time of the independence
movement might have been seen as necessary but it no
longer is. Hence, we should first understand why the Gupta
period is seen as a golden age and see if it actually applies to
them.
To understand the Gupta period, we should first understand
their empire. The beginnings of the empire are somewhat
obscure, it is somewhat possible that the family was one of
wealthy landowners who gradually gained a lot of political
control in the rich lands of Magadha, gained supremacy and
automatically became rulers. The Guptas are supposed to
have been Vaishyas, and the dynasty came into its own with
the accession of Chandra Gupta I, about whom not much is
known except for the fact that he married a Lichchhavi
princess, which it seems was done for the purpose of gaining
political advance, considering that the Lichchhavis were an
old established and highly favoured tribe. Chandra Gupta I
ruled over Magadh and parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and
was succeeded by his son, Samudra Gupta in 135 AD. He was
the most famous Gupta king, thanks to a long eulogy
dedicated to him that is inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at
Allahabad. Samdura Gupta expanded his reign all over the
Indian sub continent including the decan regions, including
Ceylon. Samudra Gupta was succeeded by Chandra Gupta II,
who is reputed to have shown the most chivalrous and
heroic qualities among all the Gupta kings. His reign lasted
for approximately forty years (375 AD-415 AD). There is
confusion as to who the next ruler was. Some scholars
suggest it was Kumar Gupta who was Chandra Gupta II’s son
while others suggest it was someone named Rama Gupta.
After that, Skandagupta ruled the empire till 467 AD which
was followed by the succession of several kings who could
not keep the empire intact. A major blow came to the Gupta
power towards the end of the fifth century when the Huns
entered North India in large numbers which ultimately led to
the decline of the Guptas.

Now that we know the basic outline of the Gupta period, let
us see the various achievements of the Gupta period in
various different fields which have given reason to historians
to see the Gupta period as a golden age.
ADMINISTRATION
The Guptas had a highly organized system of provincial
and local administration. The empire was divided into
divisions called Bhuktis and each Bhukti was placed under
the charge of an Uparika. Bhuktis were further divided into
districts and placed under the charge of a vishayapati. In the
urban administration, organized professional bodies were
given a considerable say. They had a highly centralized
empire in the beginning, in which there was a group is
superior officers known as kumaramatyas. It was from them
that important officers like the ministers and military
commanders were selected. This ensured that the influential
officers came from a selected class, very often they were
personally chosen by the king himself. These officers were in
turn responsible for the entire maintenance of the kingdom,
which shows their efficiency, considering the large territory
of the Gupta empire.

The Gupta kings were highly accomplished. The second

Gupta king, Samudra Gupta, conquered the entire Indian
subcontinent. The places conquered by him were divided
into five groups. Group one includes the princes of the
Ganga-Yamuna doab, the second group includes the rulers of
eastern Himalayan states and some frontier states such as
Nepal, Assam and Bengal. Group three includes the forest
kingdoms of the Vindhyan regions. Group four includes
twelve rulers of the eastern Deccan and South India who
were conquered and later liberated, while group five
includes the name of Shakas and Kushanas as far as
Afghanistan. Samudra Gupta is known as the Napoleon of
India and he delighted in violence and conquest. His
prestige and influence spread even outside of India and his
magnificent conquests show his skills as a great military
commander and the fact that he was able to maintain these
territories under his control shows that he had impressive
administrative control over them.
Under the reign of Chandra Gupta II, though there wasn’t
much territorial expansion for the obvious reason that there
were hardly any territories left to be conquered, Chandra
Gupta did take some important political decisions. He
extended the limits of the empire by marriage alliance and
conquers. He married his daughter Prabhavati to a Vakataka
prince of the Brahmna caste and ruled in central India. The
prince died, and soon his daughter virtually became the
ruler. Chandra Gupta gained control over Mathura, defeating
the Kushanas and also over the western sea coast. It was
during Chandra Gupta’s reign that the Chinese pilgrim Fa-
Hsein visited India and wrote an elaborate account of the life
of its people and stressed on the impressive administrative
policies of the Guptas.

ECONOMY
According to Fa-Hsein’s account, Magadha, capital of the
Gupta empire was full of cities and its rich people believed in
and supported it with charitable offerings. We know that
revenue came from mainly the land, commercial activities
didn’t provide a large income. Guilds were a common
feature, and they continued as the major institution in the
manufacture of goods and in commercial enterprise. They
had their own laws, which the government generally agreed
with.

Manufacture of textiles of various kinds was seen among

the more important industries of this time. Silk, muslin,
calico, linen, wool and cotton were produced in great
quantities. Ivory work was also practised as a premium
activity as did stone cutting and carving. Metal work also
continued as one of the essential industries.

Gupta kings issued a large number of gold coins, which

were not only used to pay the salary of the officials serving
in the army and the administration but also to meet the
needs of sale and purchase of land. The use of gold for the
purpose of trading points towards the prosperity of the
Gupta period.

LITERATURE
In literature, the Gupta period witnessed an efflorescence.
Important developments took place in the sphere of
Sanskrit literature during this period. This is one of the
major reasons why the nationalists chose the Gupta age to
represent the golden age because it is supposed to have
established the roots of Hinduism and propagate it.
Sanskrit language and literature, after centuries of evolution
and through lavish royal patronage reached what has been
described as classical excellence, with some scholars even
going to the extent of calling the Gupta age as the Classical
age.

Among the known Sanskrit poets of this period, the greatest

name is that of Kalidasa, who has written Meghaduta and
Raghuvamsha and one of the most popular plays,
Abhijnanashakuntala. Several other dramatists also
flourished during this period like Shudraka. Erotica became
a prominent feature of the gupta period, of which the
Kamasutra is a relevant example. This period also saw an
increase in religious literature. The epics and majors of
Puranas were given final shape and form and these texts
form important sources for religious and cultural processes
of those times. Some important Astronomical works like
aryabhatiyam authored by Aryabhata were written.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

In the history of Indian art and architecture, the Gupta
period occupies an important place. Both Samudra Gupta
and Chandra Gupta were great patrons of art and
literature. Both the Nagara and Dravidian styles of art
evolved during this period. But most of the architecture of
this period had been lost due to foreign invasions like that of
Huns. Yet, the remaining temples, sculptures and cave
paintings provide an idea about the grandeur of the Gupta
art. This period is also consider a pioneer for it was
supposed to be in this period that the images of various
Hindu gods like Vishnu, Shiva were fashioned for the very
first time.

The temple at Deogarh near Jhansi and the sculptures in the

temple at Garhwas near Allahabad remain important
specimen of the Gupta art. There was no influence of
Gandhara style. But the beautiful statue of standing Buddha
at Mathura reveals a little Greek style. The Buddha statue
unearthed at Saranath was unique piece of Gupta art. The
Bhitari monolithic pillar of Skandagupta is also
remarkable.

Metallurgy had also made a wonderful progress during the

Gupta period. The craftsmen were efficient in the art of
casting metal statues and pillars. The gigantic copper statue
of Buddha, originally found at Sultanganj was about seven and
a half feet height and nearly a ton weight. The Delhi Iron
pillar of the Gupta period is still free from rust though
completely exposed to sun and rain for so many centuries.

The paintings of the Gupta period are seen at Bagh caves near
Gwalior. The mural paintings of Ajantha mostly illustrate the life
of the Buddha as depicted in the Jataka stories. The paintings
at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka were highly influenced by the Ajantha
style. Decorations on ceilings, pedestals of columns and door
and window frames speak of the artists extraordinary
powers of conception and technique.

The Gupta coinage was also remarkable. Samudragupta

issued eight types of gold coins. The legends on them throw
much light on the achievements of that marvellous king. The
figures inscribed on them are illustrative of the skill and
greatness of Gupta numismatic art. Chandragupta II and his
successors had also issued gold, silver and copper coins of
different varieties. The handling of metal working is seen at
its best in the coins and seals. Coins were finely stuck and dies
carefully engraved. Seals attached to copper-plates are also of
fine workmanship.

Music was also considered a necessary accomplishment,

specially the playing of the lute (vina).

PHILOSHOPHIES
The Gupta period is said to be a landmark in the development
of philosophical ideas. Six schools of thought were
developed which became the chief feature of Indian
philosophy. Female divinities came to be worshipped and
attained a level of importance they had never enjoyed before.
Vaishnavism and Shaivism bloomed in the gupta period.
Buddhism and Jainism also spread rapidly but the
nationalist historians have chosen to only emphasis on the
Hinduism aspect of this period and so, most of the foucs is on
the developments in image worship and the rise of
Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

Also, it is important to point out here that the Guptas were

highly tolerant towards other religious sects and there were
no instances of Buddhists or Jainas being persecuted.

Now that we have fully understood all the accomplishments

of the Gupta period, it isn’t difficult to see why it was seen as
the Golden Age, but what we fail to see are the various
shortcomings in various spheres that prove that the Gupta
period was not an ideal period at all. In an emotionally
surcharged multi volume work we are told in a vein of
romantic lamentation that “life was never happier” than in the
Gupta age. But as the Marxist historians point out, one should
not forget that the Gupta age was also the beginning of the
feudal age. Land grants became important and ownership of
land was favoured. There was a lot of class differentiation, and
it was only the rich who enjoyed. Serfdom was born and the
poor peasantry suffered under debts and the burden of caste.
Caste differentiation was further strengthened and
stressed upon and some people, considered outsiders like the
chandals came into existence who were considered even
lower than the shudras. The peasantry was led into economic
bondage. They had no bureaucracy, and not even a
professional strong army (depending on the fiduciaries to
provide military support) and the law almost always favoured
the richer and the more powerful, i.e, the higher castes.
Women became an item of property and came to live in
perpetual tutelage of men, even though they were idealized in
art and literature. The practise of Sati was initiated, they
were given no proprietary rights and they had to dependent
on men for their livelihood.
Even if we look at trade carefully, we notice that long
distance trade actually declined during this period. It is
true that gold coins were used but it might be that gold would
have been so easily available that they did not consider as
precious a metal as it is considered now. The modern
historians also question the cultural achievements of this
period, saying that the cultural achievements of the Mauryan
period are easily comparable to those of the Guptas, yet why
is the Gupta period only highlighted? Picking up on the
literature aspect, enough stress has been given on Sanskrit
literature but people often forget to notice the great
achievements made in Prakrit literature. Why is Sanskrit
given supremacy? It is only given supremacy for the
convenience of the nationalist historians. The entire labelling
of the gupta period as a golden age has been more of less done
only for the convenience of the Gupta period.

CONCLUSION
The Gupta period could have been a golden age, but only for
the rich people, but then one can easily argue that each and
every age is a golden age for the rich and few, but not for the
masses. The fact that India had a golden past might have
provided comfort to the nationalists and provided them
something to fight for but this need is no longer there in the
present century. We should carefully question the factors that
make the Gupta period the golden age and think whether it
should truly be labelled as one. More or less, the truly golden
age of the people does not lie in history. It is not in our past,
but in our future and we should work towards it.