AGE OF THE GUPTAS

AGE OF THE GUPTAS

BY TIARA ALMEIDA
9B
Fa-Hien And His Accounts
Fa-Hien was the earliest Chinese pilgrim who visited
India on a religious mission during the reign of
Chandragutpa II.
He made many observations of the Kingdom such as:-
1. Magadha was a prosperious country with a wealthy
population.
2. Pataliputra was a flourishing city with numerous
charitable institutions.
3. Vaishnavism,Jainism,Buddhism and Shaivism were the
main religions.
4. Hindu Gods and Goddesses were depicted on coins,
sculptures and paintings.
5. The penal code was mild and the offences were
punished by fines only.
Allahabad Pillar Inscription:-
 Allahabad Pillar Inscriptions was composed by Harisena,
the court poet of Samudragupta.
 It is also called as Prayaga Prashasthi and is written in
praise of Samudragupta.
 Samudragupta was the most powerful of the Gupta
Rulers.
 It provides us with an impressive list of Kings and Tribal
republics that were conquered by Samudragupta.
 This inscription is also important as it provides us with
the names of the different Kings and people who
populated India in the first half of the 4th century AD.
 It describes the reign of the Guptas in ancient India.
Education System:-
There were many centers of learning in cities like
Pataliputra,Valabhi,Ujjain,Ayodhya and Nasik.
The teachers were the learned Brahamanas, who were
known as Acharyas and Upadhyayas, they were
sometimes also given the title of Bhattas.
The disciples were called shishyas and had to learn
fourteen sections of science.
In the Gupta period, the Jainism and Buddhism systems
of education prevailed.
The Buddhist monasteries admitted students for 10
years and taught by oral methods.
Two popular universities that provided higher education
were Takshila and Nalanda University.
NALANDA UNIVERSITY:-
Nalanda University is located at Nalanda in Rajagriha
in Bihar.
Information of Nalanda University is found in the
accounts of Hieun Tsang, a Chinese Scholar.
There were at least eight colleges built by different
patrons including one by Balaputradeva, King of
Sumatra.
There were 3 great libraries namely:-Ratnasagar,
Ratnodadhi and Ratnaranjak.
Students needed to give an examination before
admission in which hardly 20% students passed.
Nalanda was destroyed in 12th century AD by
Mohammad-Bin-Bakhtiyar Khilji.
 SCIENCE:-
 Varahamira was a great astronomer who
proved that the Moon rotates round the Earth
and the Earth rotates around the Sun.
 Brahmagupta was a mathematician and
astronomer, who described the Law of
Gravitation many centuries before Newton.
 Metallurgy or the scientific study of metals
had reached its zenith during the Gupta
Period.
 This is evident from the Iron Pillar at Mehrauli
near Qutub Minar in New Delhi.
 Charaka and Sushruta were famous scholars
Iron Pillar at Mehrauli of Ayurveda.
 ARYABHATTA
The great astronomer and mathematician
 He discovered the rule for finding the area of
a triangle.
 He said that the Earth moves round the Sun.
 He calculated the exact value of pi which was
equal to 3.1416.
 He even had a part in the development of
Trignometry.
 Aryabhatta was acquainted with the decimal
system and the use of ‘zero’.
 In his work Surya Sidhanta, he explains the
cause of solar and lunar eclipse.
The Vishnu Temple at Deogarh:-
 This temple is also called Dashavatara Temple.
 It is about 125km from Jhansi in Uttar
Pradesh.
 It was the first North Indian temple with a
Shikhara or tower.
 The temple was built on a 1.5 meter high
platform.
 Its exterior is decorated with scenes from
Ramayana.
 It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu,the god of
preservation, who is shown asleep on the coil
of the giant serpent called Sheshnaga.
LITERATURE:-
 Sanskrit became the language of the learned .
 It was used in official documents as well as
inscriptions.
 The classical Sanskrit literature consisted of
epics , poetry , drama , lyrics and prose.
 The Gupta Age was distinguished by a number
of writers.
 Some was the writers were Kalidasa , Sudraka ,
Bhasa , Harisena , Dandin , Subandhu and
Bharavi.
KALIDASA AND HIS WORKS
 Kalidasa is regarded as the greatest poet and
playwright India has ever seen.
 His four poetic works are:- Ritusamhara,
Raghuvamsa, Megaduta, Kumarasambhava.
 The three dramatic works of Kalidasa were:-
Vikramorvaishiyam, Malvikagnimitram and
Abhijnanashakuntalam.
 All Kalidasa’s works have been translated into
many major languages of the world.
 The subject matter of Kalidasa’s works is love,
nature and beauty.