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After Ashoka’s death, there were centuries of turmoil in India as competing states fought for power. Then a new Indian leader, Chandragupta (no relation to Chandragupta of the Mauryan Empire), rose to power and formed the Gupta Empire in 320 CE. He took the title “Great King of Kings” and consolidated his power in northern India. His son Samudragupta would then expand the empire over 40 years of conquest.
Building an Empire
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Building an Empire
The Gupta introduced several important military innovations. The importance of military strength is evidenced by Gupta coins like the one pictured to the left. Military strength allowed Gupta leaders to expand and bring neighboring regions into their tribute system: weaker regions and states would pay money and gifts to the Gupta in order to maintain the right to rule their territory and avoid invasion. Click the images to learn more.
Military Innovations
The five arms of the Gupta military included infantry, cavalry, chariot, elephants and ships. The Gupta introduced cavalry units (warriors on horseback) heavily clad in armor along with units of war elephants and infantry archers with longbows. The Gupta also built a navy in order to control regional waters and implemented siege engines (like towers and battering rams) to break through fortifications.
Chandragupta, his son Samudragupta, and his grandson Chandragupta II used powerful armies to dominate and expand across northern India, subduing smaller kingdoms as well as nomadic tribes. Samudragupta (335-375 CE) is sometimes called “the Napoleon of India” for his extensive conquests. He claimed to have uprooted 8 kings of northern India and to have subjugated all the kingdoms of central India. Numerous kings paid tribute to Samudragupta and even offered him their daughters in marriage.
While some regions were placed under direct Gupta control with appointed governors, the Gupta left other regions in a position of subordinate independence: they retained their rulers but pledged loyalty and tribute to the Gupta king. Many of these regions supplied troops for the Gupta army.
The Gupta Empire was the most prosperous Indian empire, in large part due to its extensive trade networks and government policies that facilitated economic activity. Click the images to learn more.
Room 2: Trade & Wealth
The Gupta government mass produced gold and silver coins adorned with images of archers, kings and queens, and Hindu deities. Merchants across the empire used these coins issued by the government, and the government also collected taxes in coinage. The standardized coins thus made trade easier. The widespread use of Gupta coins in Asia and in the Roman world indicates the empire’s integration into wider trade networks.
Sanjeev Kumar, who studies ancient coins, found that images of Hindu deities became solidified during this period (in the past, deities were often described in writing but not physically shown). Stories from Hindu scriptures like the Vedas were inscribed on the coins, and the coins underscore the high value of metallurgical and artistic skill. Many coins portray both rulers and deities, emphasizing rulers’ divine connections. They also showcase military achievements to highlight military prowess.
Trade Routes
Agriculture served as the basis of the Indian economy, but overland and maritime trade integrated India into larger trade networks and provided India with valuable imports such as precious metals, silk, horses, and ivory. India, for its part, exported large quantities of pepper, pearls, cotton textiles, and perfumes. And Despite commercial competition between China and India, the two countries maintained close links. Coins of Chinese emperors have been discovered in southern India, and Indian merchants formed communities in the Chinese port of Canton.
Interoceanic trade was one of the most important developments of this period. Trade between northern India and South-East Asia was conducted through the ports of the east coast. The west coast ports served as the link in India’s trade contacts with the Mediterranean region and Western Asia. Indian merchants established trade connections throughout Southeast Asia, spreading Indian influence and culture throughout the region. Pepper, pearls and cotton textiles continued to be important exports, and Gupta kings gave merchants special charters to operate freely. Because Hindu law declared it a sin for brahmans to engage in sea travel, many merchants were Buddhist, further spreading Buddhist influences abroad.
Room 3: Art & Architecture
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Temples
Caves
Sculptures
The Gupta dynasty was traditionally Hindu, but tolerance meant that Buddhism flourished as well. These temple designs would influence later Buddhist and Hindu temples.
Gupta Architecture
Left: The Mahabodhi Temple, marking the location where Buddha achieved enlightenment.
Right: Bhitargaon Hindu temple, with some of the first pointed arches in the world.
Gupta Caves
Some of the most well preserved and impressive Gupta artwork are reliefs carved out of caves. The Ajanta Caves (above) are masterpieces of Buddhist art, depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha. The Elephanta Caves (below) are dedicated the Hindu god Shiva and te main cave was a major place of Hindu worship until the 1500s CE. These caves are actually located on an island off the coast of Mumbai, India.
Sculptures during the Gupta era reflected both Hindu and Buddhist influences. The seated Buddha (left) holds his hands in what is known as the dharmachakra mudra, or the "teaching gesture." Hinduism gradually won out over Buddhism, but Gupta Buddhist styles spread to other regions. The other image to the left is a carving of the Hindu trimurti: the triple deity that represents Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in one.
Gupta Sculptures
Room 4: Science, Math & Literature
Science
Literature
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Math
Nalanda: the Center of Scholarship
Gupta Mathematics
Indian scholar Aryabhata is credited with first using the concept of zero and decimal place value notations. He also calculated pi and made advancements in trigonometry, including calculating the area of a triangle and calculating the summation of series of squares and cubes. Other scholars of the Golden Age helped create the first Indian numeral systems with a base of ten. The game of chess also likely originated during this period.
Right: Krishna and Radha playing Chaturang, an early form of chess.
Gupta Science
Aryabhata is believed to be the first of the Indian mathematician-astronomers who postulated the theory that the Earth moves round the Sun and is not flat, but instead is round and rotates on its own axis. He also may have discovered that the moon and planets shine due to reflected sunlight. These findings came hundreds of years before Europeans reached the same conclusions.
Varahamihira was an astronomer, astrologer, and mathematician, whose main work is a treatise on mathematical astronomy. Sushruta, a famed Indian physician of the Gupta period, wrote the Samhita, a Sanskrit text on all of the major concepts of ayurvedic [alternative] medicine, with innovative chapters on surgery.
A page from the Gupta Hindu calendar, calculated using astronomical observations. Below is an Indian stepwell, which held water to deal with seasonal fluctuations in water availability.
Nalanda
Founded by Emperor Kumaragupta in the 5th century, Nalanda was a Buddhist mahavihara (great monastery) that became one of the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world. The university curriculum included not only Buddhist philosophy, but also grammar, mathematics, astronomy, and logic. It was home to a vast library of Sanskrit texts that were translated and diffused to other parts of Asia, contributing to the spread of Buddhism and scholarship. At its height, Naanda attracted scholars from across Asia and was home to over 1500 teachers.
One of the most notable scholars during the Gupta period was Dignāga, who founded Indian logic and atomism (both similar to Greek philosophies). Much like Plato, Dignāga focused on valid means of knowledge. Dignāga said perception is direct experience, like seeing or hearing something without overthinking it. Inference is using logic to figure things out based on evidence, and he created a system to make sure reasoning is clear and accurate. His ideas became the foundation for later Buddhist and Indian philosophy.
Literature
A golden age of literature also flourished under the Gupta, benefiting from th patronage of Gupta rulers. Kalidasa, considered the greatest poet and dramatist of the Sanskrit language, wrote plays such as Shakuntala, which is said to have inspired the famed German writer Johann von Goethe centuries later. Kalidasa also became renowned for his study of the shringara, or romantic, element of literature; and many scholars regard him as the “Shakespeare of India. The Kama Sutra also appeared around this time, which became one of the most renowned texts on the philosophy of love. Finally, education in general expanded during this time, and the Buddhist university at Nalanda became one of the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world.
Kama refers to the Hindu goal of fulfilling pleasures. Kama-related arts are common in Hindu temples. These scenes include courtship, amorous couples in scenes of intimacy (mithuna), or a sexual position.
Room 5:
Decline of the Gupta
By the later fifth century c.e. the Gupta Empire was coming under pressure from the Huns. These nomadic invaders from the steppes of Central Asia poured into the northwest corridor of the empire. Defense of this distant frontier region eventually exhausted the imperial treasury, and over the next 100 years, the Gupta Empire broke into small kingdoms. The empire collapsed by 550 CE. Though India was not truly unified again for decades, the classical culture of the Guptas did not disappear. The flourishing arts of the region spread throughout India and beyond, inspiring future works of art and cultural traditions.
The Longmen Grottoes in China were inspired by Gupta era Buddhist statues.
Left: Gupta era standing Buddha
Right: a later Japanese Heian era standing Buddha