Gupta Empire#Origin

{{Main|Origin of the Gupta dynasty}}

{{Gupta Empire}}

The homeland of the Guptas is uncertain.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=79}} According to one theory, they originated in the present-day lower-Doab region of Uttar Pradesh,{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarti |first1=K. |editor1-last=Guand-da |editor1-first=Zhang |editor2-last=Litvinsky |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Shabani Samghabadi |editor3-first=R. |chapter=The Gupta Kingdom |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000104612?posInSet=1&queryId=a6dad7c3-cad4-47e1-a5ef-49a1cd6d31f9 |year=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |volume=III |page=188 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |quote=On the basis of ... historians have now come to accept the lower doab region as the original homeland of the Guptas |access-date=24 July 2017}} where most of the inscriptions and coin hoards of the early Gupta emperors have been discovered.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=14}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=39}} This theory is also supported by the Purana, as argued by the proponents, that mention the territory of the early Gupta emperors as Prayaga, Saketa, and Magadha areas in the Ganges basin.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=2}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=2}} The recently found silver coin of Sri Gupta in Uttar Pradesh further attest the origin of Guptas around Kāśī–Kannauj region and his rule was only limited to Kāśī (present day Varanasi).

Another theory locates the Gupta homeland in the present-day Bengal region in Ganges basin, based on the account of the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing. According to Yijing, king Che-li-ki-to (identified with the dynasty's founder Shri Gupta) built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (apparently a transcription of Mriga-shikha-vana). Yijing states that this temple was located more than 40 yojanas east of Nalanda, which would mean it was situated somewhere in the modern Bengal region.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|pp=7–11}} Another proposal is that the early Gupta kingdom extended from Prayaga in the west to northern Bengal in the east.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1987|p=12}}

The Gupta records do not mention the dynasty's varna (social class).{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=44}} Some historians, such as A.S. Altekar, have theorised that they were of Vaishya origin, as certain ancient Indian texts prescribe the name "Gupta" for the members of the Vaishya varna.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=82}}{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=42}} According to historian R. S. Sharma, the Vaishyas – who were traditionally associated with trade – may have become rulers after resisting oppressive taxation by the previous rulers.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA69 |title=Early Medieval Indian Society: A Study in Feudalisation |last=R. S. Sharma |publisher=Orient Longman |year=2003 |isbn=9788125025238 |access-date=26 June 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326214745/https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }} Critics of the Vaishya-origin theory point out that the suffix Gupta features in the names of several non-Vaishyas before as well as during the Gupta period,{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=4}} and the dynastic name "Gupta" may have simply derived from the name of the dynasty's first king Gupta.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=40}} Some scholars, such as S. R. Goyal, theorise that the Guptas were Brahmins, because they had matrimonial relations with Brahmins, but others reject this evidence as inconclusive.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=43–44}} Based on the Pune and Riddhapur inscriptions of the Gupta princess Prabhavatigupta, some scholars believe that the name of her paternal gotra (clan) was "Dharana", but an alternative reading of these inscriptions suggests that Dharana was the gotra of her mother Kuberanaga.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=83}}

{{For|historical calendar era|Gupta era}}

File:Garuda emblem.png emblem of the Gupta Empire.}}]]

File:Gupta Empire at peak.jpg

Gupta (Gupta script: 14px_12px gu-pta, {{fl|late 3rd century CE}}) is the earliest known king of the Gupta dynasty. Different historians variously date the beginning of his reign from the mid-to-late 3rd century CE.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=49–55}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=86}} Gupta founded the Gupta Empire {{Circa|240}}-280 CE, and was succeeded by his son, Ghatotkacha, {{Circa|280}}-319 CE, followed by Ghatotkacha's son, Chandragupta I, {{Circa|319}}-335 CE.{{Cite web|title=The Gupta Empire {{!}} Boundless World History|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-gupta-empire/|access-date=30 January 2021|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228034701/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-gupta-empire/|url-status=live}} "Che-li-ki-to", the name of a king mentioned by the 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing, is believed to be a transcription of "Shri-Gupta" (IAST: Śrigupta), "Shri" being an honorific prefix.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=84–85}} According to Yijing, this king built a temple for Chinese Buddhist pilgrims near "Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no" (believed to be a transcription of Mṛgaśikhāvana).{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=79–81}}{{Relevance inline|date=December 2024}}

File:Queen Kumaradevi and King Chandragupta I on a coin of their son Samudragupta 350 380 CE.jpg, depicted on a gold coin|left]]

In the Allahabad Pillar inscription, Gupta and his successor Ghatotkacha are described as Maharaja ("Great King"), while the next king Chandragupta I is called a Maharajadhiraja ("King of Great Kings"). In the later period, the title Maharaja was used by feudatory rulers, which has led to suggestions that Gupta and Ghatotkacha were vassals (possibly of the Kushan Empire).{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=85}} However, there are several instances of paramount sovereigns using the title Maharaja, in both pre-Gupta and post-Gupta periods, so this cannot be said with certainty. That said, there is no doubt that Gupta and Ghatotkacha held a lower status and were less powerful than Chandragupta I.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|pp=6–7}}

Chandragupta I married the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, which may have helped him extend his political power and dominions, enabling him to adopt the prestigious title Maharajadhiraja.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=10}} According to the dynasty's official records, he was succeeded by his son Samudragupta. However, the discovery of the coins issued by a Gupta emperor named Kacha have led to some debate on this topic: according to one theory, Kacha was another name for Samudragupta; another possibility is that Kacha was a rival claimant to the throne.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=71}}

{{Main article|Samudragupta}}

File:Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg inscription Maharaja Sri Gupta 11px 11px 11px 12px 14px 14px_12px ("Great King, Lord Gupta"), mentioning the first ruler of the dynasty, king Gupta. Inscription by Samudragupta on the Allahabad Pillar, where Samudragupta presents king Gupta as his great-grandfather. Dated circa 350 CE.Full inscription, {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403 |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3 |last=Fleet |first=John Faithfull |date=1888 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n197 1]–17}}|left]]

Samudragupta succeeded his father around 335 or 350 CE, and ruled until {{Circa|375}}.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=51–52}} The Allahabad Pillar inscription, composed by his courtier Harisena, credits him with extensive conquests.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=106–07}} The inscription asserts that Samudragupta uprooted 8 kings of Āryāvarta, the northern region, including the Nagas.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=114}} It further claims that he subjugated all the kings of the forest region, which was most probably located in central India.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=117}} It also credits him with defeating 12 rulers of Dakshinapatha, the southern region: the exact identification of several of these kings is debated among modern scholars,{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=107}} but it is clear that these kings ruled areas located on the eastern coast of India.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=112}} The inscription suggests that Samudragupta advanced as far as the Pallava kingdom in the south, and defeated Vishnugopa, the Pallava regent of Kanchi.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=110}} During this southern campaign, Samudragupta most probably passed through the forest tract of central India, reached the eastern coast in present-day Odisha, and then marched south along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=80–81}}

The Allahabad Pillar inscription mentions that rulers of several frontier kingdoms and tribal aristocracies paid Samudragupta tributes, obeyed his orders, and performed obeisance before him.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=84}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2017|p=343}} These polities and tribes included Samatata, Davaka, Kamarupa, Nepal, Karttripura,{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=112–18}} Malavas, Arjunayanas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, and Abhiras.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2017|p=343}}

The inscription also mentions that several foreign kings tried to please Samudragupta by personal attendance, offered him their daughters in marriage (or according to another interpretation, gifted him maidens{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=125}}), and sought the use of the Garuda-depicting Gupta seal for administering their own territories.{{sfn|Shankar Goyal|2001|p=168}} However, this is likely an exaggeration, and Samudragupta's panegyrist appears to have described acts of diplomacy as ones of subservience. For example, the King of Simhala is listed among these foreign rulers, but it is known that from Chinese sources that the Simhala king Meghavarna merely sent presents to the Gupta emperor requesting his permission to build a Buddhist monastery; he did not express subservience.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=90}}

Samudragupta appears to have been Vaishnavite, as attested by his Eran inscription,{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=68}}{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=32}} and performed several Brahmanical ceremonies.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=91}} The Gupta records credit him with making generous donations of cows and gold.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=68}} He performed the Ashvamedha ritual (horse sacrifice), which was used by the ancient Indian kings and emperors to prove their imperial sovereignty, and issued gold coins (see Coinage below) to mark this performance.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=125–26}}

The Allahabad Pillar inscription presents Samudragupta as a wise king and strict administrator, who was also compassionate enough to help the poor and the helpless.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|pp=91, 94}} It also alludes to the king's talents as a musician and a poet, and calls him the "king of poets".{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=31}} Such claims are corroborated by Samudragupta's gold coins, which depict him playing a veena.{{sfn|Tej Ram Sharma|1989|p=94}}

Samudragupta appears to have directly controlled a large part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in present-day India, as well as a substantial part of central India.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|pp=23, 27}} His empire comprised a number of monarchical and tribal tributary states of northern India, and of the south-eastern coastal region of India.{{sfn|R.C. Majumdar|1981|p=22}}{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|p=112}}

File:Standing_Buddha_Installed_by_Buddist_Monk_Yasadinna_-_Circa_5th_Century_CE_-_Jamalpur_Mound_-_ACCN_00-A-5_-_Government_Museum_Mathura_Golden_background.jpg in red sandstone, Art of Mathura, Gupta period {{circa|5th century CE}}. Mathura Museum{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Vincent Arthur |title=A history of fine art in India and Ceylon, from the earliest times to the present day |date=1911 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffineart00smit/page/170 170]–171 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffineart00smit}}]]

{{Main|Ramagupta}}

Ramagupta is known from a sixth-century play, the Devichandragupta, in which he surrenders his queen to the enemy Sakas, forcing his brother Chandragupta to sneak into the enemy camp to rescue her and kill the Saka king. The historicity of these events is unclear, but Ramagupta's existence is confirmed by three Jain statues found at Durjanpur, with inscriptions referring to him as the Maharajadhiraja. A large number of his copper coins also have been found from the Eran-Vidisha region and classified in five distinct types, which include the Garuda,{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=153–59}} Garudadhvaja, lion and border legend types. The Brahmi legends on these coins are written in the early Gupta style.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA120 |title=Indian Numismatic Studies |last=Bajpai |first=K.D. |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-7017-035-8 |location=New Delhi |pages=120–21 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=4 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504160827/https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA120 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Chandragupta II}}

According to the Gupta records, among his sons, Samudragupta nominated prince Chandragupta II, born of queen Dattadevi, as his successor. Chandragupta II, Vikramaditya (Brave as the Sun), ruled from 375 until 415. He married a Kadamba princess of Kuntala and of Naga lineage (Nāgakulotpannnā), Kuberanaga. His daughter Prabhavatigupta from this Naga queen was married to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king of Deccan.{{sfn|H.C. Raychaudhuri|1923|p=489}} His son Kumaragupta I was married to a Kadamba princess of the Karnataka region. Chandragupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409. His main opponent Rudrasimha III was defeated by 395, and he crushed the Bengal chiefdoms. This extended his control from coast to coast, established a second capital at Ujjain and was the high point of the empire.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Kuntala inscriptions indicate rule of Chandragupta II in Kuntala country of Karnataka.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107941|title=Annual Report Of Mysore 1886 To 1903|via=Internet Archive}} Hunza inscription also indicate that Chandragupta was able to rule north western Indian subcontinent and proceeded to conquer Balkh, although some scholars have also disputed the identity of the Gupta emperor.{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=upinder+singh|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|pages=480|language=en|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=18 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318043350/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=upinder+singh|url-status=live}} Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) mentions Chandragupta with his title and states: "Why should the glory of the Kings Vikramaditya and Nanda be a hindrance any longer? He with a loud command abolished that (era), which has the name of Saka, and made that (era) which has the Chalukya counting".{{Cite book|last=Barua|first=Benimadhab|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.103481|title=Old Brahmi Inscriptions In The Udayagiri And Khandagiri Caves|date=1929}}

Image:Two Gold coins of Chandragupta II.jpg]]

Despite the creation of the empire through war, his reign is remembered for its very influential style of Hindu art, literature, culture and science. Some excellent works of Hindu art such as the panels at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh serve to illustrate the magnificence of Gupta art during his reign. Above all, it was the synthesis of elements that gave Gupta art its distinctive flavour. During this period, the Guptas were supportive of thriving Buddhist and Jain cultures as well, and for this reason, there is also a long history of non-Hindu Gupta period art. In particular, Gupta period Buddhist art was to be influential in most of East and Southeast Asia. Many advances were recorded by the Chinese scholar and traveller Faxian in his diary and published afterwards.

The court of Chandragupta II was made even more illustrious by the fact that it was graced by the Navaratna (Nine Jewels), a group of nine who excelled in the literary arts. Among these men was Kālidāsa, whose works dwarfed the works of many other literary geniuses, not only in his own age but in the years to come. Kalidasa was mainly known for his subtle exploitation of the shringara (romantic) element in his verse.

File:Vishnu sculpture.jpg

The 4th century Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits Chandragupta Vikramaditya with conquering about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India. After finishing his campaign in East and West India, Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II) proceeded northwards, subjugated the Parasika, then the Huna and Kamboja tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys respectively. Thereafter, the king proceeded into the Himalaya mountains to reduce the mountain tribes of the Kinnaras, Kiratas, as well as India proper.Raghu Vamsa v 4.60–75{{primary source inline|date=August 2016}} In one of his works Kalidasa also credits him with the removal of the Sakas from the country. He wrote 'Wasn't it Vikramaditya who drove the Sakas out from the lovely city of Ujjain?'.{{Cite book|last=Wolpert|first=Stanley|title=India|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1993}}

The Brihatkathamanjari of the Kashmiri writer Kshemendra states, King Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the barbarians like the Sakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Greeks, Tusharas, Saka-Greeks, Hunas, and others, by annihilating these sinful Mlecchas completely".ata shrivikramadityo helya nirjitakhilah Mlechchana Kamboja. Yavanan neechan Hunan Sabarbran Tushara. Parsikaanshcha tayakatacharan vishrankhalan hatya bhrubhangamatreyanah bhuvo bharamavarayate (Brahata Katha, 10/1/285-86, Kshmendra).{{primary source inline|date=August 2016}}Kathasritsagara 18.1.76–78Cf:"In the story contained in Kathasarit-sagara, king Vikarmaditya is said to have destroyed all the barbarous tribes such as the Kambojas, Yavanas, Hunas, Tokharas and the, National Council of Teachers of English Committee on Recreational Reading – Sanskrit language.{{unreliable source?|date=August 2016}}

Faxian, a Chinese Buddhist monk, was one of the pilgrims who visited India during the reign of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. He started his journey from China in 399 CE and reached India in 405 CE. During his stay in India up to 411 CE, he went on a pilgrimage to Mathura, Kannauj, Kapilavastu, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashi, and Rajagriha, and made careful observations about the empire's conditions. Faxian was pleased with the mildness of administration. The penal code was mild, and offences were punished by fines only. From his accounts, the Gupta Empire was a prosperous period. His writings form one of the most important sources for the history of this period.{{Cite book|last1=Fa-hsien|url=http://archive.org/details/recordofbuddhist00fahsuoft|title=A record of Buddhistic kingdoms; being an account by the Chinese monk Fâ-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon, A.D. 399–414, in search of the Buddhist books of discipline. Translated and annotated with a Corean recension of the Chinese text|translator-last1=Legge|translator-first1=James|date=1886|publisher=Oxford Clarendon Press}}

Faxian on reaching Mathura comments––

"The snow and heat are finely tempered, and there is neither hoarfrost nor snow. The people are numerous and happy. They have not to register their households. Only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay (a portion of) the gain from it. If they want to go, they go. If they want to stay on, they stay on. The king governs without decapitation or (other) corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined according to circumstances. Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion, they only have their right-hand cut off. The king's bodyguards & attendants all have salaries. Throughout the whole country, the people do not kill any living creature, not drink any intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic."

{{Main|Kumaragupta I}}

File:Silver Coin of Kumaragupta I.jpg (Coin of his Western territories, design derived from the Western Satraps).

Obv: Bust of king with crescents, with traces of corrupt Greek script."Evidence of the conquest of Saurastra during the reign of Chandragupta II is to be seen in his rare silver coins which are more directly imitated from those of the Western Satraps... they retain some traces of the old inscriptions in Greek characters, while on the reverse, they substitute the Gupta type (a peacock) for the chaitya with crescent and star." in Rapson "A catalogue of Indian coins in the British Museum. The Andhras etc...", p. cli

Rev: Garuda standing facing with spread wings. Brahmi legend: Parama-bhagavata rajadhiraja Sri Kumaragupta Mahendraditya.{{cite book |last1=Virji |first1=krishnakumari J. |title=Ancient History Of Saurashtra |date=1952 |page=225 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.57287/page/n249/mode/2up}}]]

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his second son Kumaragupta I, born of Mahadevi Dhruvasvamini. Kumaragupta I assumed the title, Mahendraditya.{{sfn|Ashvini Agrawal|1989|pp=191–200}} He ruled until 455. Towards the end of his reign a tribe in the Narmada valley, the Pushyamitras, rose in power to threaten the empire. The Kidarites as well probably confronted the Gupta Empire towards the end of the rule of Kumaragupta I, as his son Skandagupta mentions in the Bhitari pillar inscription his efforts at reshaping a country in disarray, through reorganisation and military victories over the Pushyamitras and the Hunas.{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarti |first1=K. |editor1-last=Guand-da |editor1-first=Zhang |editor2-last=Litvinsky |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Shabani Samghabadi |editor3-first=R. |chapter=The Gupta Kingdom |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000104612?posInSet=1&queryId=a6dad7c3-cad4-47e1-a5ef-49a1cd6d31f9 |year=1996 |publisher=UNESCO |volume=III |page=191 |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0}}

He was the founder of Nalanda University which on 15 July 2016 was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site.{{Cite news |url=http://travelnewsindia.com/nalanda-university-ruins/ |title=Nalanda University Ruins {{!}} Nalanda Travel Guide {{!}} Ancient Nalanda Site |date=5 October 2016 |work=Travel News India |access-date=20 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211075258/http://travelnewsindia.com/nalanda-university-ruins/ |archive-date=11 February 2017 |language=en-US |url-status=live}} Kumaragupta I was also a worshipper of Kartikeya.

{{Main|Skandagupta}}

Skandagupta, son and successor of Kumaragupta I is generally considered to be the last of the great Gupta emperors. He assumed the titles of Vikramaditya and Kramaditya.{{sfn|H.C. Raychaudhuri|1923|p=510}} He defeated the Pushyamitra threat, but then was faced with invading Kidarites (sometimes described as the Hephthalites or "White Huns", known in India as the Sweta Huna), from the northwest.

He repelled a Huna attack around 455 CE, but the expense of the wars drained the empire's resources and contributed to its decline. The Bhitari Pillar inscription of Skandagupta, the successor of Chandragupta, recalls the near annihilation of the Gupta Empire following the attacks of the Kidarites.The Huns, Hyun Jin Kim, Routledge, 2015 [https://books.google.com/books?id=mcf4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT50 pp. 50–] The Kidarites seem to have retained the western part of the Gupta Empire.

Skandagupta died in 467 and was succeeded by his agnate brother Purugupta.{{sfn|H.C. Raychaudhuri|1923|p=516}}

File:Kakandi.jpg tirthankara relief Parshvanatha on Kahaum pillar erected by person named Madra during the reign of Skandagupta{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Tej Ram |title=Personal and Geographic Names in Gupta Inscriptions |date=1978 |page=93 |url=https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/196174216674_10151812362491675.pdf}}]]

Following Skandagupta's death, the empire was clearly in decline,Sachchidananda Bhattacharya, Gupta dynasty, A dictionary of Indian history, (George Braziller, Inc., 1967), 393. and the later Gupta coinage indicates their loss of control over much of western India after 467–469. Skandagupta was followed by Purugupta (467–473), Kumaragupta II (473–476), Budhagupta (476–495), Narasimhagupta (495–530), Kumaragupta III (530–540), Vishnugupta (540–550), two lesser known kings namely, Vainyagupta and Bhanugupta.

In the late 490's the Alchon Huns under Toramana and Mihirakula broke through the Gupta defences in the northwest, and much of the empire in the northwest was overrun by the Huns by 500. According to some scholars the empire disintegrated under the attacks of Toramana and his successor Mihirakula."The Alchon Huns....established themselves as overlords of northwestern India, and directly contributed to the downfall of the Guptas" in {{Cite book|last=Neelis|first=Jason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC&pg=PA162|title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of India|date=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004181595|page=162|language=en|access-date=20 May 2019|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103112749/https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC&pg=PA162|url-status=live}}{{Citation|last=Bakker|first=Hans|title=Monuments of Hope, Gloom and Glory in the Age of the Hunnic Wars: 50 years that changed India (484–534)|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/news/publications/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory|year=2017|at=Section 4|publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|isbn=978-90-6984-715-3|access-date=20 May 2019|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111041719/https://www.knaw.nl/en/news/publications/monuments-of-hope-gloom-and-glory|url-status=live}} It appears from inscriptions that the Guptas, although their power was much diminished, continued to resist the Huns. The Hun invader Toramana was defeated by Bhanugupta in 510.Ancient Indian History and Civilization by Sailendra Nath Sen p. 220Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates by S B. Bhattacherje p. A15 The Huns were defeated and driven out of India in 528 by King Yashodharman from Malwa, and possibly Gupta emperor Narasimhagupta.Columbia Encyclopedia

These invasions, although only spanning a few decades, had long term effects on India, and in a sense brought an end to Classical Indian civilisation.The First Spring: The Golden Age of India by Abraham Eraly [https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA48 pp. 48–] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105092116/https://books.google.com/books?id=te1sqTzTxD8C&pg=PA48 |date=5 January 2020 }} Soon after the invasions, the Gupta Empire, already weakened by these invasions and the rise of local rulers such as Yashodharman, ended as well.Ancient Indian History and Civilization by Sailendra Nath Sen [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA221 p. 221] Following the invasions, northern India was left in disarray, with numerous smaller Indian powers emerging after the crumbling of the Guptas.A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India [https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA174 p. 174] The Huna invasions are said to have seriously damaged India's trade with Europe and Central Asia. In particular, Indo-Roman trade relations, which the Gupta Empire had greatly benefited from. The Guptas had been exporting numerous luxury products such as silk, leather goods, fur, iron products, ivory, pearl, and pepper from centres such as Nasik, Paithan, Pataliputra, and Benares. The Huna invasion probably disrupted these trade relations and the tax revenues that came with them.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Furthermore, Indian urban culture was left in decline, and Buddhism, gravely weakened by the destruction of monasteries and the killing of monks by the hand of the vehemently anti-Buddhist Shaivist Huna king Mihirakula, started to collapse. Great centres of learning were destroyed, such as the city of Taxila, bringing cultural regression. During their rule of 60 years, the Alchons are said to have altered the hierarchy of ruling families and the Indian caste system. For example, the Hunas are often said to have become the precursors of the Rajputs.

{{South Asia in 600 CE||{{center|1=Political fragmentation of South Asia after the retreat of the Alchon Huns to the northwest and the end of the Gupta Empire, {{Circa|600 CE}}{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=26, 146 |isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=063 |access-date=18 April 2022 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206162650/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=063 |url-status=live }}}}}}

The succession of the 6th-century Guptas is not entirely clear, but the tail end recognised ruler of the dynasty's main line was King Vishnugupta, reigning from 540 to 550. In addition to the Huna invasion, the factors, which contribute to the decline of the empire include competition from the Vakatakas and the rise of Yashodharman in Malwa.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |last=Singh |first=Upinder |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 |location=New Delhi |page=480 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220004242/https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC |url-status=live }}

The last known inscription by a Gupta emperor is from the reign of Vishnugupta (the Damudarpur copper-plate inscription),Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol.3 (inscriptions of the Early Gupta emperors) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108395 p. 362] in which he makes a land grant in the area of Kotivarsha (Bangarh in West Bengal) in 542/543 CE.Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the Tantric Movement by Ronald M. Davidson [https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC&pg=PA31 p. 31] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107154342/https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC&pg=PA31 |date=7 January 2020 }} This follows the occupation of most of northern and central India by the Aulikara King Yashodharman {{Circa|532 CE}}.

Archaeologist Shanker Sharma concluded, based on a 2019 study, that the cause of the Gupta Empire's downfall was a devastating flood which happened around the middle of the 6th century in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In the heart of the former Gupta Empire, in the Gangetic region, the Guptas were succeeded by the Maukhari dynasty and the Pushyabhuti dynasty.{{cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Himanshu Prabha |title=Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History |date=2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000227932 |pages=161–164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkyfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT163 |language=en |access-date=27 September 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520170328/https://books.google.com/books?id=qkyfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT163 |url-status=live }} The coinage of the Maukharis and Pushyabhutis followed the silver coin type of the Guptas, with portrait of the ruler in profile (although facing in the reverse direction compared to the Guptas, a possible symbol of antagonism){{cite book |last1=Tripathi |first1=Rama S. |title=History of Kanauj: To the Moslem Conquest |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120804043 |page=45 Note 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Tnh2QjGhMQC&pg=PA45 |language=en |access-date=27 September 2022 |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417230246/https://books.google.com/books?id=2Tnh2QjGhMQC&pg=PA45 |url-status=live }} and the peacock on the reverse, the Brahmi legend being kept except for the name of the ruler.

In the western regions, they were succeeded by Gurjaradesa, the Gurjara-Pratiharas, and later the Chaulukya-Paramara dynasties, who issued so-called Indo-Sasanian coinage, on the model of the coinage of the Sasanian Empire, which had been introduced in India by the Alchon Huns.

File: ChandraguptaIIOnHorse.jpg astride a caparisoned horse with a bow in his left hand*{{British-Museum-db|1910,0403.26|3137724}}]]

In contrast to the Maurya Empire, the Guptas introduced several military innovations to Indian warfare. Chief among these was the use of siege engines, heavy cavalry archers and heavy sword cavalry. Heavy cavalry formed the core of the Gupta Army and were supported by the traditional Indian Army elements of war elephants and light infantry.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |title=Warfare in Pre-British India, 1500 BCE to 1740 CE |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-74270-0 |page=56 |access-date=8 August 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184256/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |url-status=live }}

The utilisation of horse archers in the Gupta period is evidenced on the coinage of Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Prakasaditya (postulated to be Purugupta){{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C |title=The Imperial Guptas and Their Times |last=Ganguly |first=Dilip Kumar |date=1987 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170172222 |page=92 |access-date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814151215/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C |url-status=live }} that depicts the kings as horse-archers.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |title=Warfare in Pre-British India, 1500 BCE to 1740 CE |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-74270-0 |page=57 |access-date=8 August 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184256/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.110150/2015.110150.The-Military-System-In-Ancient-India_djvu.txt |title=The military system in ancient India |last=Majumdar |first=Bimal Kanti |date=1960 |publisher=Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay |edition=2 |page=118}}

There is a paucity of contemporary sources detailing the tactical operations of the Imperial Gupta Army. The best extant information comes from the Sanskrit mahakavya (epic poem) Raghuvaṃśa written by the Classical Sanskrit writer and dramatist Kalidasa. Many modern scholars put forward the view that Kalidasa lived from the reign of Chandragupta II to the reign of Skandagupta{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sueiThBrP4gC&pg=PA1 |title=Kālidāsa; Date, Life, and Works |last=Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi and Narayan Raghunath Navlekar |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1969 |isbn=9788171544684 |pages=1–35}}Ram Gopal. p.14{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8fBQ5vH34gC&pg=PR7 |title=Works of Kālidāsa |last=C. R. Devadhar |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1999 |isbn=9788120800236 |volume=1 |pages=vii–viii}}{{cite book |author=Gaurīnātha Śāstrī |year=1987 |title=A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |pages=77–78 |isbn=978-81-208-0027-4}} and that the campaigns of Raghu – his protagonist in the Raghuvaṃśa – reflect those of Chandragupta II.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |title=Warfare in Pre-British India, 1500 BCE to 1740 CE |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-74270-0 |page=58 |access-date=8 August 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184256/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu7ZoAEACAAJ |url-status=live }} In Canto IV of the Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa relates how the king's forces clash against the powerful, cavalry-centric, forces of the Persians and later the Yavanas (probably Huns) in the North-West. Here he makes special mention of the use horse-archers in the king's army and that the horses needed much rest after the hotly contested battles.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/raghuvamsaofkali00kliduoft/page/112 |title=The Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa |last=Kale |first=Moreshwar Ramchandra |date=1922 |publisher=P.S. Rege |location=Canto IV}} The five arms of the Gupta military included infantry, cavalry, chariotry, elephantry and ships. Gunaighar copper plate inscription of Vainya Gupta mentions ships but not chariots.{{Cite journal |author=Bimal Kanti Majumdar |year=1949 |title=Military Pursuits and National Defence Under the Second Magadhan Empire |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=12 |pages=105–109 |jstor=44140516}}

File:Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra).jpg from the Gupta era, 5th century CE]]

The Guptas were traditionally a Hindu dynasty.A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upinder Singh [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA521 p. 521] They were patronizers of Brahmanism{{Cite book |last=St-pierre |first=Paul |title=In Translation – Reflections, Refractions, Transformations |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=2007 |page=159}}{{Cite book |last=Wangu |first=Madhu Bazaz |title=Images of Indian Goddesses |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=2003 |page=97}}{{Cite book |last=O'Brien-Kop |first=Karen |title=Rethinking 'Classical Yoga' and Buddhism |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |page=151}}{{Cite book |last=Bala |first=Poonam |title=Medicine and Medical Policies in India |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2007 |page=37}} and allowed followers of Buddhism and Jainism to practice their religions.The Gupta Empire by Radhakumud Mookerji [https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA133 pp. 133–] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217042651/https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC&pg=PA133 |date=17 December 2019 }} Sanchi remained an important centre of Buddhism. Kumaragupta I (455 CE) is said to have founded Nalanda. Modern genetic studies indicate that it was during the Gupta period that Indian caste groups ceased to intermarry (started practising/enforcing endogamy).{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/the-caste-system-has-left-its-mark-on-indians-genomes/|title=The caste system has left its mark on Indians' genomes|first=Annalee|last=Newitz|date=25 January 2016|website=Ars Technica|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608015347/https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/the-caste-system-has-left-its-mark-on-indians-genomes/|url-status=live}}

Some later rulers however seem to have especially promoted Buddhism. Narasimhagupta Baladitya ({{Circa|495}}–?), according to contemporary writer Paramartha, was brought up under the influence of the Mahayanist philosopher, Vasubandhu. He built a sangharama at Nalanda and also a {{convert|300|feet|abbr=on}} high vihara with a Buddha statue within which, according to Xuanzang, resembled the "great Vihara built under the Bodhi tree". According to the Manjushrimulakalpa ({{Circa|800 CE}}), King Narasimhsagupta became a Buddhist monk, and left the world through meditation (Dhyana). The Chinese monk Xuanzang also noted that Narasimhagupta Baladitya's son, Vajra, who commissioned a sangharama as well, "possessed a heart firm in faith".{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOVtAAAAMAAJ |title=The University of Nālandā |last=Sankalia |first=Hasmukhlal Dhirajlal |publisher=B.G. Paul & Co. |year=1934 |author-link=Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia |oclc=30352807 |access-date=27 July 2017 |archive-date=10 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310231324/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOVtAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}{{rp|45}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxRHYFd0fB4C |title=Buddhist Monks And Monasteries of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture |last=Sukumar Dutt |publisher=George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London |year=1988 |isbn=978-81-208-0498-2 |orig-year=First published in 1962 |access-date=27 July 2017 |archive-date=10 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310232744/https://books.google.com/books?id=lxRHYFd0fB4C |url-status=live }}{{rp|330}}

{{Continental Asia in 420 CE|left|The Gupta Empire and other polities {{Circa|420 CE}}.||Map of the Gupta Empire circa 420 CE.png}}

A study of the epigraphical records of the Gupta Empire shows that there was a hierarchy of administrative divisions from top to bottom. It was divided into 26 provinces, which were called Bhukti, Desha or Rajya. Provinces were also divided into vishayas or pradeshas (districts) and put under the control of Vishayapatis (district lords). A Vishayapati administered the Vishaya with the help of the Adhikarana (council of representatives), which comprised four representatives: Nagarasreshesthi, Sarthavaha, Prathamakulika and Prathama Kayastha. A part of the Vishaya was called Vithi.{{sfn|Vidya Dhar Mahajan|1990|pp=530–31}} The Gupta also had trading links with the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}} The four-fold varna system was observed under the Gupta period but occupations were not rigidly constrained by caste. Some Brahmins followed non-Brahmanical professions. Kshatriyas were often involved in trade and commerce.{{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Sailendra Nath |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PG235#v=onepage&q&f=false |year=1999 |orig-year=First published 1988 |edition=2nd |publisher=New Age International |isbn=978-81-224-1198-0 |page=235}}

Gupta administration proved to be highly conducive for the rapid growth of urban centres. The principal and original capital of the Gupta Empire is regarded to be Prayag.{{cite book|quote=UP therefore seems to have been the place from where the Guptas operated and fanned out in different directions. Probably with their centre of power at Prayag, they spread into the neighbouring regions.|first=R. S.|last=Sharma|url=https://archive.org/details/indiaancientpastbyrssharma/page/n271/mode/1up|title=India's Ancient Past|date=2005}}{{cite book|quote=The original kingdom of the Guptas comprised Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The early Gupta coins and inscriptions have been mainly found in Uttar Pradesh. It seems that the Guptas found out in different directions from Uttar Pradesh. The centre of their power was Prayag.|first=Radhey Shyam|last= Chaurasia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWmsQQ2smXIC|title=History of Ancient India|page=160|date=2002|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0027-5 }} In the fifth century, the capital was moved to Ayodhya under either Kumaragupta or Skandagupta.{{cite book|quote=The importance of this identification lies in the fact that it proves that the immediate successors of Skanda Gupta had a capital at Ayodhyā probably till the rise of the Maukharis. If the spurious Gayā plate is to be believed Ayodhyā was the seat of a Gupta jaya-skandhāvāra, or 'camp of victory,' as early as the time of Samudra Gupta. The principal capital of Bālāditya and his successors appears to have been Kāśī.|first=Hemchandra|last=Raychaudhuri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1KObc_qaXYC|title=Political History of Ancient India|page=496|date=2006|publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-307-0291-9 }}{{cite book|quote=the successors of Chandra Gupta II set up their capital at Ayodhyā. It also appears from the Sarnath Stone inscription of Prakațāditya (Fleet, No. 79) that they had another capital at Kāśī.|first=Radhakumud |last=Mookerji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYXDB2gIYbwC|title=The Gupta Empire|page=52|date=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0089-2 }}{{cite journal |author=Hans T. Bakker |author-link=Hans T. Bakker |title=The rise of Ayodhya as a place of pilgrimage |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |volume=24 |number=2 |year=1982 |doi=10.1163/000000082790081267 |s2cid=161957449 |page=105 |quote=During the reign of either the emperor Kumāragupta or, more probably, that of his successor Skandagupta (AD 455–467), the capital of the empire was moved from Pāțaliputra to Ayodhyā...}} Chandragupta Vikramaditya took personal interest in the development of Ujjain as a major cultural center after its conquest.{{Cite journal |last=Dandekar |first=R. N. |date=1960 |title=Some Aspects of the Gupta Civilization: Economic Conditions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42929739 |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |volume=20 |issue=1/4 |pages=108–115 |jstor=42929739 |issn=0045-9801}} Kāśī is sometimes considered by some scholars to have been a capital, either as the original capital,{{Cite book |last=Kumar |first=Sanjeev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mN0UEQAAQBAJ |title=Treasures of the Gupta Empire: A Numismatic History of the Golden Age of India |date=18 July 2024 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-80327-796-7 |edition=2nd |page=196 |language=en |quote=In the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, line 28, Śrīgupta is referred to as "the prosperous Mahārāja Śrīgupta." As a minor ruler of a small territory primarily centered around Kāśī (present day Vārāņasī), it is possible that he would have issued only coins in silver for local consumption.}} the principal late 6th-century capital or a minor later capital. The Chinese author Faxian described Magadha as a prosperous country with rich towns and large populations.

Indian mathematics flourished in the Gupta Empire.{{Cite journal |last=Yau |first=Shing-Tung |date=2013 |title=The Past, Present and Future of Mathematics in China and India |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4310/iccm.2013.v1.n2.a11 |journal=Notices of the International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=95–108 |doi=10.4310/iccm.2013.v1.n2.a11 |issn=2326-4810}} The Indian numerals which were the first positional base 10 numeral systems in the world originated from Gupta India. The Surya Siddhanta contains the Sine table.{{Cite book |last=Deva Shastri |first=Pundit Bapu |title=Translation of the Surya Siddhanta |year=1861 |pages=15–16}} Aryabhata wrote the Aryabhatiya, making significant contributions to mathematics including developing a Place value system, an approximation of π of 4 decimal places, trigonometric functions, and Squared triangular numbers.{{cite book |author=George. Ifrah |title=A Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer |date=1998 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=London}}{{cite book |last=Boyer |first=Carl B. |author-link=Carl Benjamin Boyer |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00boye/page/207 |title=A History of Mathematics |date=1991 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |isbn=0-471-54397-7 |edition=Second |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00boye/page/207 207] |chapter=The Mathematics of the Hindus |quote=He gave more elegant rules for the sum of the squares and cubes of an initial segment of the positive integers. The sixth part of the product of three quantities consisting of the number of terms, the number of terms plus one, and twice the number of terms plus one is the sum of the squares. The square of the sum of the series is the sum of the cubes. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00boye}} Varāhamihira wrote the Pancha Siddhanta developing various formulas relating sine and cosine functions.{{sfn|A.M. Shastri|1991|p=4}} Yativṛṣabha made contributions on units of measurement.{{Citation |last=Ikeyama |first=Setsuro |title=Yativṛṣabha |date=2007 |pages=1251 |editor-last=Hockey |editor-first=Thomas |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1513 |access-date=5 May 2021 |place=New York, NY |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1513 |isbn=978-0-387-30400-7 |editor2-last=Trimble |editor2-first=Virginia |editor3-last=Williams |editor3-first=Thomas R. |editor4-last=Bracher |editor4-first=Katherine |encyclopedia=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers}} Virahanka described Fibonacci numbers.{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Parmanand |date=1985 |title=The so-called fibonacci numbers in ancient and medieval India |journal=Historia Mathematica |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=229–244 |doi=10.1016/0315-0860(85)90021-7 |doi-access=free}}

Indian astronomy also saw progress in this era. The names of the seven days in a week appeared at the start of the Gupta period based on Hindu deities and planets corresponding to the Roman names.{{cite book |author=Roshen Dalal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=89}} Aryabhata made several contributions such as assigning the start of each day to midnight.Hayashi (2008), Aryabhata I the earth's rotation on its axis, westward motion of the stars. Aryabhata also mentioned that reflected sunlight is the cause behind the shining of the Moon. In his book, Aryabhata, he suggested that the Earth was sphere, containing a circumference of 24,835 miles (39,967 km).Indian Astronomy. (2013). In D. Leverington, Encyclopedia of the history of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/cupaaa/indian_astronomy/0 Varāhamihira approximates the method for determination of the meridian direction from any three positions of the shadow using a gnomon.Abraham (2008)

The Sushruta Samhita, which is a Sanskrit redaction text on all of the major concepts of Ayurveda medicine with innovative chapters on surgery, dates to the Gupta period.{{cite journal |last1=Champaneria |first1=Manish C. |last2=Workman |first2=Adrienne D. |last3=Gupta |first3=Subhas C. |date=July 2014 |title=Sushruta: Father of Plastic Surgery |journal=Annals of Plastic Surgery |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=2–7 |doi=10.1097/SAP.0b013e31827ae9f5 |pmid=23788147}}

The Iron Pillar of Delhi high resistance to corrosion .[http://home.iitk.ac.in/%7Ebala/journalpaper/journal/journalpaper_17.pdf On the Corrosion Resistance of the Delhi Iron Pillar], R. Balasubramaniam, Corrosion Science, Volume 42 (2000) pp. 2103 to 2129. Corrosion Science is a publication specialized in corrosion science and engineering.{{cite book |author1=Yoshio Waseda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_clmVK12YsC&q=iron+pillar+not+corrosive&pg=PR7 |title=Characterization of corrosion products on steel surfaces |author2=Shigeru Suzuki |publisher=Springer |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-540-35177-1 |page=vii}} The corrosion resistance results from an even layer of crystalline iron(III) hydrogen phosphate hydrate forming on the high-phosphorus-content iron, which serves to protect it from the effects of the corrosion The earliest evidence of the cotton gin was found in the fifth century, in the form of Buddhist paintings depicting a single-roller gin in the Ajanta Caves.Lakwete, 1–6. The gins consisted of a single roller made of iron or wood and a flat piece of stone or wood.

Various Mahavihara operated throughout the Gupta Empire serving as centuries of education.Buddhist Monks And Monasteries Of India: Their History And Contribution To Indian Culture. by Dutt, Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London 1962. pg 352-3 Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE.{{Cite journal |last=Ingalls |first=Daniel H. H. |date=1976 |title=Kālidāsa and the Attitudes of the Golden Age |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599886 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=15–26 |doi=10.2307/599886 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=599886}}

The highest point of Sanskrit literature is also said to have belonged to this period.{{cite book |author=Chandra Rajan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v0RWnRKTWp0C&pg=PT267 |title=The Loom Of Time |publisher=Penguin UK |year=2005 |isbn=9789351180104 |pages=268–274}} Harisena was an early writer of Kāvya poetry.{{cite book |last=Keith |first=Arthur Berriedale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2uiAAAAAIAAJ |title=A History of Sanskrit literature |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1966 |pages=76–7}} his works include Apabramsa Dharmapariksa, Karpuraprakara (Suktavall), the medical treatise Jagatsundari-Yogamaladhikara, Yasodharacanta, Astahnikakatha and Brhatkathakosa.{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Tej Ram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWVZWjNAcAgC&pg=PA90 |title=A Political History of the Imperial Guptas: From Gupta to Skandagupta |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-7022-251-4 |page=90}} Amarasimha wrote various on Sanskrit grammar.Amarakosha compiled by B. L. Rice, edited by N. Balasubramanya, 1970, page X Kalidasa, a playwright, wrote plays such as the Abhijnanashakuntalam and Shakuntala.{{cite book |last=Kālidāsa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6miC3HNB90oC |title=The Recognition of Sakuntala: A Play In Seven Acts |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780191606090 |pages=ix |access-date=14 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022174122/https://books.google.com/books?id=6miC3HNB90oC |archive-date=22 October 2020 |url-status=live}} Bhartṛhari published major works including the Trikāṇḍī and Śatakatraya.{{Cite book |last=Cornille |first=Catherine |url= |title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue |date=8 June 2020 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-57259-6 |pages=199 |language=en}}

Chess is said to have developed in this period.{{cite book

| last=Murray

| first=H.J.R.

| author-link=H. J. R. Murray

| title=A History of Chess

| publisher=Oxford University Press

| year=1962

| orig-year=First published 1913

| oclc=13472872

| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchess00murr

}} Its early form in the 6th century, chaturanga, which translates as "four divisions [of the military]" (infantry, cavalry, chariotry, and elephantry), was represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, rook, and bishop respectively. Doctors also invented several medical instruments, and even performed surgical operations. The ancient Gupta text Kama Sutra by the Indian scholar Vatsyayana is widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behaviour in Sanskrit literature.

{{Main|Gupta art}}

Sanchi_temple_17.jpg|A tetrastyle prostyle Gupta period temple at Sanchi besides the Apsidal hall with Maurya foundation, an example of Buddhist architecture and Hindu architecture.Harle, 111;{{failed verification|date=March 2023}}{{sfn|Rowland|1967|pp=219-220}}{{sfn|Michell|1988|p=94}} 5th century CE.

File:KITLV 87946 - Unknown - Pataini temple in British India - 1897.tif|Pataini temple is a Jain temple built during the Gupta period.

The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak of North Indian art for all the major religious groups. Although painting was evidently widespread, the surviving works are almost all religious sculptures. The period saw the emergence of the iconic carved stone deity in Hindu art, as well as the Buddha-figure and Jain tirthankara figures, the latter often on a very large scale. The two great centres of sculpture were Mathura and Gandhara, the latter the centre of Greco-Buddhist art. Both exported sculpture to other parts of northern India.

The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the caves at Ajanta, Elephanta, and Ellora (respectively Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed including Jain) were in fact produced under later dynasties, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance of Gupta style. Ajanta contains by far the most significant survivals of painting from this and the surrounding periods, showing a mature form which had probably had a long development, mainly in painting palaces.{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=118–22, 123–26, 129–35}} The Hindu Udayagiri Caves actually record connections with the dynasty and its ministers,{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=92–97}} and the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh is a major temple, one of the earliest to survive, with important sculpture.{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=113–14}}

File:Vishnu Hood2 Deogarh.jpg|Vishnu reclining on the serpent Shesha (Ananta), Dashavatara Temple 5th century

File:SFEC BritMus Asia 030.JPG|Buddha from Sarnath, 5–6th century CE

File:Elephanta tourists.jpg|The Colossal trimurti at the Elephanta Caves

File:Ajanta Padmapani.jpg|Painting of Padmapani Cave 1 at Ajanta

File:Mukhalinga.JPG|The Shiva mukhalinga (faced-lingam) from the Bhumara Temple

File:Nalraja fort chilapata.jpg|Nalrajar Garh fortification wall in Chilapata Forests, West Bengal, is one of the last surviving fortification remains from the Gupta period, currently 5–7 m high

File:Nalanda University India ruins.jpg|Nalanda University was first established under Gupta Empire

File:Gupt kalin mandir bhitargaon.jpg|Bitargaon temple from the Gupta period provide one of the earliest examples of pointed arches anywhere in the world

File:Ajanta-3-aurangabad.jpg|Ajanta caves from Gupta era

File:MET DT5237 (cropped).jpg|Krishna fighting the horse demon Keshi, 5th century

{{main|List of Gupta emperors}}

{{Portal|India}}

{{History of India|File:Meister_des_Mahâjanaka_Jâtaka_001.jpg}}

• Abhira-Gupta dynasty (Nepal)
• Uchchhakalpa dynasty
• Pax Gupta

{{clear}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{notelist|group=lower-alpha|35em|refs=

Gupta's origin:

• Uttar Pradesh :
• {{harvtxt|Agrawal|2016|p=1}}: "The origin has been variously traced to Magadha in Bihar, Murshidabad in West Bengal, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. [....] The last two identifications are based on the account of the travels of the Chinese pilgrim Yijing (I-Tsing), who visited India in the last quarter of the 7th century. He states that a king named Che-li-ki-to (Shri-Gupta) built a temple for the Chinese pilgrims at a place called Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no. According to the translation given by S. Beal, it was located 40 stages east of Nalanda when traveling along the Ganges, which would bring one to the Murshidabad district of West Bengal. However, this can easily be ruled out as the Puranas do not include West Bengal in early possessions of the Guptas. In the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta, Bengal is described as a frontier kingdom. There is no evidence of Gupta rule in Bengal before the beginning of the 5th century. On the basis of the same account of the Chinese traveler, Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no has been identified with Mrigashikhavana (Sarnath), [....] This is vouched for by the recent discovery of an inscribed image of the Buddhist goddess Hariti from Sarnath, installed by King Gupta."
• {{harvtxt|Goyal|1967|pp=44–52}}: "We ourselves have tackled the problem of the original home of the Guptas from an entirely different angle, and out approach has led us to conclude that they originally belonged to the eastern part of the U. P. [...] This conclusion is consonant with the facts that at least two hoards of the Gupta gold coins and five out of the eight inscriptions of the early Gupta period including the famous prasasti of Samudragupta, have been found crowded at or in the vicinity of Prayaga alone."
• {{harvtxt|Kumar|2024|p=1}}: "The original home of the Guptas was the Kāśī–Kannauj region, Uttar Pradesh. Sealings and coins attributed to Śrīgupta have been found mostly in the Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjāb region."
• {{harvtxt|Khandalavala|1991|p=1}}: "The progenitor of this dynasty was one named Gupta whose territory probably existed in the districts of Varanasi and Ghazipur."
• {{harvtxt|Sharma|1989|pp=39–40}}: "The cumulative evidence so far available supports the theory that some region in Uttar Pradesh, most probably Eastern Uttar Pradesh, was the original home of the Guptas."
• {{harvtxt|Sharma|2007|p=242}}: "UP therefore seems to have been the place from where the Guptas operated and fanned out in different directions. Probably with their centre of power at Prayag."
• {{harvtxt|Zhang|1996|p=26}}: "Many authorities on Gupta history believe that they came from Magadha or northern Bengal... historians have now come to accept the lower Doab region as the original home of the Guptas."
• Uttar Pradesh or Bihar :
• {{harvtxt|Chaurasia|2002|p=160}}: "The original kingdom of the Guptas comprised Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The early Gupta coins and inscriptions have been mainly found in Uttar Pradesh. The centre of their power was Prayag."
• {{harvtxt|Bemmann|2015|p=659}}: "The royal dynasty of the Gupta had its origin in the central Ganges plain."
• Bengal :
• {{harvtxt|Ganguly|1987|p=19}}: "The Guptas, as is evident from the aforesaid discussion, laid the foundation of their kingdom in what was called the Magadha-Varendra region in ancient times."

}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{Cite book |last=Agrawal |first=Ashvini |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0592-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC }}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Agrawal |first=Ashvini |title=Gupta Empire |date=2016 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Empire |pages=1–11 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |isbn=978-1-118-45507-4 |doi=10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe251 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe251 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Khandalavala |first=Karl J. |title=The Golden Age Gupta Art: Empire, Province, and Influence |date=1991 |publisher=Marg Publications |isbn=978-81-85026-14-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_HVAAAAMAAJ }}
• {{Cite book |last=Bemmann |first=Jan |title=Complexity of Interaction Along the Eurasian Steppe Zone in the First Millennium CE |date=2015 |publisher=Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie |chapter=The Gupta Empire in the Face of the Hun Threat: Parallels to the Late Roman Empire? |pages=659–669 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34556231 }}
• {{cite book |author=Ashvini Agrawal |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA315 |year=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0592-7 |access-date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=8 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108040744/https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&pg=PA315 |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Dilip Kumar Ganguly |title=The Imperial Guptas and Their Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C&pg=PP1 |year=1987 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-81-7017-222-2 |access-date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=8 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108201608/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hud2_Ie3T94C&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=H.C. Raychaudhuri |author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalhistory00raycuoft |publisher=University of Calcutta |year=1923}}
• {{cite book |author=J.C. Harle |title=The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent |url=https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo00harl |url-access=registration |year=1994 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-06217-5 }}
• {{cite book |author=R.C. Majumdar |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=A Comprehensive History of India |volume=3, Part I: A.D. 300-985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRBuAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |oclc=34008529 |pages=17–52 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Michell |first1=George |title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms |url=https://archive.org/details/hindutempleintro0000mich |url-access=registration |year=1988 |orig-year=First published 1977 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-53230-1}}
• {{cite book |last1=Pletcher |first1=Kenneth |title=The History of India |year=2011 |publisher= Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-61530-201-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdmcAAAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book |last1=Rowland |first1=Benjamin |title=The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain |url=https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo0000rowl_r2z2/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration |year=1967 |orig-year=First published 1953 |edition=3rd |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-056102-9}}
• {{cite book |author=Shankar Goyal |title=Problems of Ancient Indian History: New Perspectives and Perceptions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSVuAAAAMAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Book Enclave |isbn=978-81-87036-66-1 |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=11 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111224901/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSVuAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=A.M. Shastri |author-link=Ajay Mitra Shastri |title=Varāhamihira and His Times |year=1991 |publisher=Kusumanjali |oclc=28644897 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mf0MAQAAMAAJ }}
• {{cite book |author=Tej Ram Sharma |title=A Political History of the Imperial Guptas: From Gupta to Skandagupta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWVZWjNAcAgC&pg=PA50 |year=1989 |publisher=Concept |isbn=978-81-7022-251-4 |access-date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113155014/https://books.google.com/books?id=fWVZWjNAcAgC&pg=PA50 |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Vidya Dhar Mahajan |author-link=Vidya Dhar Mahajan |year=1990 |title=A History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJ2UAAAACAAJ |publisher=State Mutual Book & Periodical Service |isbn=978-0-7855-1191-5 |access-date=29 August 2018 |archive-date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110060325/https://books.google.com/books?id=CJ2UAAAACAAJ |url-status=live }}
• {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=Political Violence in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYM4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA343 |year=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-98128-7 |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=10 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110123751/https://books.google.com/books?id=dYM4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA343 |url-status=live }}
• {{citation|last=Stein|first=B.|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|year=2010 |title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC}}
• {{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Guang-da |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Crossroads of Civilization: A.D. 250 to 750 |date=31 December 1996 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-103211-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC }}

{{Refend}}

{{EB1911 poster|Gupta}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Gupta Empire}}
• [http://coinindia.com/galleries-gupta.html Coins of Gupta Empire]

{{Middle kingdoms of India}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta Empire}}

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Category:History of Uttar Pradesh

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