The Gupta polity ran from 320-514 CE, with its peak considered to be around 400 CE during the reign of Skanda-Gupta.
[1]
At its largest, the Gupta empire spanned up to 900,000 square kilometres across north and south India, which it had full and direct control over, as well as southern India indirectly. The cities of Ujjain and Pataliputra seem to have both served as capital cities. While the total population is not known, the largest settlement, Pataliputra, is thought to have had a population of 150,000 people in 360 CE.
[2]
, Kulke and Rothermund (2004)
[3]
and Stein (2010)
[4]
.
Trade flourished under the Gupta Empire both internally across India as well as through overseas trading routes with China and the Roman Empire. Among their exports were pearls, gems, diamonds and precious metals.
[1]
Common religions practiced in this polity included Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism from both the Vaisnava and Saiva Traditions, though none claimed to be the exclusive or ‘correct’ religion.
[5]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
[2]: (Agrawal 1989)
[3]: (Kulke and Rothermund 2004)
[4]: (Stein 2010)
[5]: (Bisschop 2010, 478) Bisschop, Peter. 2010. “Saivism in the Gupta-Vakataka Age.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 20 (4):477-88.Seshat URL: .https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/M52PA8IW/itemKey/BHH5W2PV
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| Year Range | Gupta Empire (in_gupta_emp) was in: |
|---|---|
| (320 CE 514 CE) | Middle Ganga |
"[...] Pataliputra, which along with Ujjain seems to have served as the Gupta capital[...]".
[1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"[...] Pataliputra, which along with Ujjain seems to have served as the Gupta capital[...]".
[1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"’Perfection had been attained’, declares the last of the three Junagadh inscriptions. ’While he [Skanda-Gupta] is reigning, verily no man among his subjects falls away from dharma; there is no one who is distressed, in poverty, in misery, avaricious, or who, worthy of punishment, is over-much put to torture’. Such a glowing depiction of Gupta society is to be expected from a royal panegyric. It is, however, corroborated by an alien and presumably impartial eye-witness.//’The people are very well off, without poll tax or official restrictions . . . The kings govern without corporal punishment; criminals are fined according to circumstance, lightly or heavily. Even in cases of repeated rebellion they only cut off the right hand. The king’s personal attendants, who guard him on the right and the left, have fixed salaries. Throughout the country the people kill no living thing nor drink wine, nor do they eat garlic or onions, with the exception of the Chandalas only’.//"To Fa Hian (Fa-hsien, Faxian, etc.), a Buddhist pilgrim from China who visited India in c. 400-410, Chandra-Gupta II’s realm was indeed something of a utopia. [...] Only the lot of the Chandalas he found unenviable; outcastes by reason of their degrading work as disposers of the dead, they were universally shunned and had to give warning of their approach so that fastudious caste-members could take cover. But no other sections of the population were notably disadvantaged, no other caste distinctions attracted comment from the Chinese pilgrim, and no oppressive caste ’system’ drew forth his surprised censure. Peace and order prevailed. [...] Trade continued to flourish, both within India and overseas."
[1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"The kings with whom the Gupta golden age was to be identfiied arose from such modest origins that the founder of the ruling line appears to have adopted the name of the Mauryan founder, Chandragupta, when he began his own reign in 320 CE, and married a daughter of the ancient Licchavi clan." [1] "Skandagupta died around 467, and there was a long drawn-out war of succession between his sons and the sons of his half-brother, Purugupta. The winner of this war was Budhagupta, the son of Purugupta and the last of the great Gupta rulers. During his long reign (467 to 497) the empire remained more or less intact, but the war of succession had obviously sapped its vitality. The successors of Budhagupta, his brother Narasimha and Narasimha’s son and grandson, who ruled until about 570, controlled only small parts of the empire. In east Bengal a King Vainyagupta is mentioned in an inscription of 507 and in the west one Bhanugupta left an inscription of 510. It is not known whether these rulers were related to the Gupta dynasty or not, but they were obviously independent of the Guptas of Magadha whose power declined very rapidly.//"The Huns must have noted this decline as they attacked India once more under their leader, Toramana. They conquered large parts of northwestern India up to Gwalior and Malwa. In 510 they clashed with Bhanugupta’s army at Eran (Madhya Pradesh). Bhanugupta’s general, Goparaja, lost his life in this battle. Coins provide evidence for the fact that Toramana controlled the Panjab, Kashmir, Rajasthan and presumably also the western part of what is now Uttar Pradesh. About 515 Toramana’s son, Mihirakula, succeeded his father and established his capital at Sakala (Sialkot). [...] The Huns destroyed what was left of the Gupta empire in the northwest and the centrifugal forces were set free. They destroyed the cities and trading centres of northern India." [2]
[1]: (Stein 2010, 95) Burton Stein. 2010. A History of India. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
[2]: (Kulke & Rothermund 1998, 90-91) Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund. 1998. A History of India. London: Routledge.
"In the case of distant rulers a nominal submission looks to have been sufficient, while of those nearer at hand regular attendance on the cakravartin was also required." [1] "[...] the Guptas became involved with the Vakatakas, the dynasty which had succeded the Shatavahanas as the dominant power in the Deccan.//"For once, war was not the outcome; perhaps the campaign against the Satraps were taking their toll. Instead, the Guptas opted for a dynastic alliance whereby Chandra-Gupta II’s daughter was married to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king. The latter soon died and during the ensuing regency (c. 390-410) it was Prabhavati, this Gupta queen, who as regent controlled the Vakataka state in accordance with Gupta policy. Thereafter the Vakatakas continued as allies and associates of the imperial Guptas." [2]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 139-140) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
[2]: (Keay 2010, 142) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"In the case of distant rulers a nominal submission looks to have been sufficient, while of those nearer at hand regular attendance on the cakravartin was also required." [1] "[...] the Guptas became involved with the Vakatakas, the dynasty which had succeded the Shatavahanas as the dominant power in the Deccan.//"For once, war was not the outcome; perhaps the campaign against the Satraps were taking their toll. Instead, the Guptas opted for a dynastic alliance whereby Chandra-Gupta II’s daughter was married to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king. The latter soon died and during the ensuing regency (c. 390-410) it was Prabhavati, this Gupta queen, who as regent controlled the Vakataka state in accordance with Gupta policy. Thereafter the Vakatakas continued as allies and associates of the imperial Guptas." [2]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 139-140) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
[2]: (Keay 2010, 142) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"In the Deccan and elsewhere beyond the frontiers of his Gangetic arya-varta, [Samudra-Gupta] had made no attempt at annexation. ’Uprooted’ kings were reinstated, their territories restored, and the Gupta forces withdrawn. A one-off tribute was exacted and on this the Gupta court waxed wealthy[...]. But unlike the directly administered empire of the Mauryas, this was at best a web of feudatory arrangements and one which, lacking an obvious bureaucratic structure, left the sovereignty of the feudatories intact. [...] In the case of distant rulers a nominal submission looks to have been sufficient, while of those nearer at hand regular attendance on the cakravartin was also required." [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 139-140) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"Fa-hein’s record, inscriptions and literature all are testimony to the fact that the language of the cultured classes was Sanskrit while the lower classes spoke Prakrit." [1]
[1]: (Khosla 1982, 103) Sarla Khosla. 1982. Gupta Civilization. New Delhi: Intellectual Press.
in squared kilometers. The polity’s borders changed over the course of the fifth century CE, but it would appear that losses in the South-Eastern territories were compensated with gains in the North-West. The estimate, then, roughly corresponds with the combined areas of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha for the earlier period, and Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and the northenmost Indian states for the later period. Based on maps found in Agrawal (1989)
[1]
, Kulke and Rothermund (2004)
[2]
and Stein (2010)
[3]
.
"The Gupta Empire at its height controlled north and central India directly and exercised indirect control over south India. So the Gupta Empire was a smaller entity compared to the Maurya Empire."
[4]
[1]: (Agrawal 1989)
[2]: (Kulke and Rothermund 2004)
[3]: (Stein 2010)
[4]: (Roy 2016, 21) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
levels.
_Hinduism_
There are no official priestly hierarchies in Hinduism
[1]
. However, several sources allude to the importance, at least for some branches of the religion, of the relationship between student and teacher or guru (e.g.
[2]
), which suggests that perhaps it would not be entirely inappropriate to say that there is indeed a Hindu religious hierarchy, and that it is composed of two levels.
_Jainism_
NOTE: I have found two equally authoritative sources on Jain hierarchy:
(1)
[3]
1. Arihants (ones who have conquered their inner enemies)2. Siddhas (Liberated Ones)3. Acharyas (who head the Order)4. Upadhyays (who teach the message)5. Sadhus (Monks/Seekers)
(2)
[4]
1. Guru (teacher)2. Monks
2. Male figure (not specified by author whether a monk) in charge of nuns3. Pravartini or ganini (aides to the male figure in charge of nuns)4. Nuns
_Buddhism_
"Buddhist monastic communities replaced the caste system with one based on year of ordination. Previously ordained monks enjoyed rights and privileges higher in status than monks ordained later, and monks were categorically of higher status and privilege than nuns. In effect seniority and gender provided criteria for social status and increased access to ’pure’ teachings and exemption from ’impure’ duties."
[5]
.
[1]: http://ezinearticles.com/?Religious-Hierarchy-in-Hinduism&id=1864556
[2]: G. Flood, Introduction, in G. Flood (ed), The Blackwell Comapnion to Hinduism (2003), p. 4
[3]: Singh, Upinder. A History of Ancient and Early medieval India, pp 312-319
[4]: M. Adiga, The Making of Southern Karnataka (2006), pp. 269-276
[5]: P. Nietupsky, Hygiene: Buddhist Perspective, in W.M. Johnson, Encyclopedia of Monasticism (2000), p. 628
levels.
1. King
2. Sandhivigrahika (minister of war and peace)
[1]
3. Mahabaladhikrta
[2]
4. Mahadandanayaka
[2]
5. Senapati
[2]
[1]: (Devahuti 1970: 173) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[2]: (Higham 2004, 121) Charles Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. New York: Facts on File.
levels. NB: Though many of the following codes are taken from a book about Harsha’s empire in the seventh century, the author reconstructed the latter polity’s administration based on what is known or inferred about Gupta administration, as well as smritis, contemporary general texts on law, conduct and polity; moreover, Gupta administration was taken as a model for seventh-century governments
[1]
1. King
__Central government__
2. Rahasi-niyukta"In the inscriptions of the Gupta period we meet an officer called the rahasi-niyukta. [...] The kings gave oral orders which were taken down by rahasi-niyuktas or private secretaries, who passed them on for recording and execution to the appropriate departments."
[2]
2. Sarv-adhyaksha"There appears to have been a general superintendent of the offices who with his various assistants carried out multiple liaison tasks. He maintained rapport among various departments, between the King and the departments, between the centre and the directly administered provinces, and between the centre and the various close and distant members of the mandala. South-Indian inscriptions mention an officer by the title of sarv-adhyaksha, over-all supervisor, whose duty was to convey orders of the central government to the provincial and district officers through ’carriers of royal commands’."
[3]
2. Central council of ministers"While most members of the central ministry may also have been heads of departments such as army, revenue, public welfare, etc., some, esteemed for their experience, learning, or wisdom, may have acted only as mantrins or counsellors."
[4]
2. DauvanikaSuperintendent of pratiharas
[5]
.
3. Assistants to the sarv-adhyaksha"There appears to have been a general superintendent of the offices who with his various assistants carried out multiple liaison tasks."
[3]
3. Sandhi-vigrahikasAssistants to the heads of departments
[6]
.
3. Maha-pratiharasHigh-ranking pratiharas. Officers of high status
[5]
.
4. PratiharasLesser pratiharas. Officers of high status
[5]
.
5. Scribes?"The kings gave oral orders which were taken down by rahasi-niyuktas or private secretaries, who passed them on for recording and execution to the appropriate departments. [...] although we do not come across the designation in contemporary records, the familiar Gupta office associated with such tasks is very likely to have existed in Harsha’s time as well."
[2]
__Provincial government__
3. UparikaRoyal officers in charge of core area
[7]
3. Border kings"These border kings paid tribute and were obliged to attend Samudragupta’s court. In contrast with medieval European vassals they were obviously not obliged to join Samudragupta’s army in a war. Thus they were not real vassals but, at the most tributary princes. In subsequent centuries these tributary neighbours were called Samantas and rose to high positions at the imperial court thus coming closer to the ideal type of a feudal vassal."
[8]
4. VishayapatisOfficers in charge of smaller territorial subdivisions
[9]
.
5. Ayuktakas"Bigger cities had Ayuktakas at their head who were appointed by the governor."
[9]
6. Pustapala, nagarashreshthin, kulika
"These Ayuktas were assisted by town clerks (pustapala). The head of the city guilds (nagarashreshthin) and the heads of families of artisans (kulika) advised the Ayuktaka
[9]
.
7. GramikaVillage headman
[9]
.
8. Scribes and heads of peasant families
[9]
[1]: (Devahuti 1970: 2, 169-170) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[2]: (Devahuti 1970: 176-177) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[3]: (Devahuti 1970: 171) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[4]: (Devahuti 1970: 173) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[5]: (Devahuti 1970: 177) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[6]: (Devahuti 1970: 174) Deva Devahuti. 1970. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
[7]: (Kulke & Rothermund 1998, 83, 89) Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund. 1998. A History of India. London: Routledge.
[8]: (Kulke & Rothermund 1998, 83-84) Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund. 1998. A History of India. London: Routledge.
[9]: (Kulke & Rothermund 1998, 89) Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund. 1998. A History of India. London: Routledge.
"As in Maurya times, the maula (hereditary soldiers who were Kshartiyas) constituted the core personnel of the Gupta Army. The next best were the mercenaries who were hired on a temporary basis." [1]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 21) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
"Buddhist monasteries were usually located outside the main centres of population and influence, near enough for collecting alms and instructing the laity but far enough for tranquillity and seclusion." [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 147) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
"The significant aspect of Gupta bureaucracy was that, since it was less organized and elaborate than the Mauryan administration of the third century b.c. (seen in Kautilya’s Arthasastra),it allowed several offices to be combined in the hands of the same person and posts tended to become hereditary. In the absence of close supervision by the state, village affairs were now managed by leading local elements who conducted land transactions without consulting the government.
"Similarly in urban administration, organized professional bodies enjoyed considerable autonomy. The law-codes of the Gupta period, which provide detailed information about the functioning of the guilds, even entrusted these corporate bodies with an important share in the administration of justice. With the innumerable ja ̄tis (which were systematized and legalized during this period) governing a large part of the activities of their members, very little was left for central government. Finally, the Gupta kings had to take account of the brahman donees, who enjoyed absolute administrative privileges over the inhabitants of the donated villages. Thus in spite of the strength of the Gupta kings, institutional factors working for decentralization were far stronger during this period. This Gupta admini tration provided the model for the basic administrative structure, both in theory and in practice, throughout the early medieval period."
[1]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 1996: 199) Chakrabarti, K. 1996. The Gupta Kingdom. In History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 3: The Crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 pp. 188-210. UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S8ZACV8X/library
In the below quote, Rocher argues that professional lawyers did not exist in India for much of its history. Unhelpfully, Rocher does not provide dates or much in the way of temporal boundaries. However, the use of the word “ever” in the sentence “no written source allows us to draw the conclusion that the experts on legal matters ever developed into a professional group whose regular activities consisted in representing parties in the court” may perhaps be taken to mean that professional lawyers did not exist in India before the colonial era.
“Thus, we believe that at an early date—let us roughly say at the time of the dharmasutras—professional lawyers or, to be more precise, specialized dharmasastrins could not exist. The Indian sage in those days was a specialist in all of the texts related to a particular Vedic school. His specialized knowledge concentrated on a specific version of the Vedic samhita and all its related texts: brahmana, aranyaka, upanisad, srautasutra, grhyasutra, dharmasutra, etc. There were no specialists on dharmasastra, and, a fortiori, no specialists on law that were part of it.
“But the situation changed. The texts on dharma grew away from the Vedic schools. Gradually there may have come into being a specialized group of learned men whose main interest was dharma, and the various dharmasastras as such.
“Finally, as the amount of textual material increased, we may assume that certain experts, without detaching themselves completely from aspects of dharmasastra and from Hindu learning generally, accumulated a very specialized knowledge of one aspect of dharma: vivada and vyavahara, or, in modern terminology, law. It is very possible that at this stage the nature of legal representation (niyoga) also underwent a certain change. We do not want to exclude the possibility that, at that moment, in a number of cases legal competence played a role in the choice of a representative. We are even willing to accept that Vyasa refers to the very special circumstance in which the representative was paid for his services. However, no written source allows us to draw the conclusion that the experts on legal matters ever developed into a professional group whose regular activities consisted in representing parties in the court. The impression which we gather from the texts is that, even in cases where the representative was chosen because of his special competence on legal matters, and, a fortiori, in all other cases, the necessary condition for a person to represent a party was the existence, between the former and the latter, of a certain form of close personal relationship.”
[1]
[1]: (Rocher 1969: 399-400) Rocher, L. 1969. "Lawyers" in Classical Hindu Law. Law & Society Review 3 (2/3): 383-402. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QKMEMIHW/library
"Similarly in urban administration, organized professional bodies enjoyed considerable autonomy. The law-codes of the Gupta period, which provide detailed information about the functioning of the guilds, even entrusted these corporate bodies with an important share in the administration of justice."
[1]
From the account of Fa Hian, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited India around 400 CE: "[...] The kings govern without corporal punishment; criminals are fined according to circumstance, lightly or heavily. Even in cases of repeated rebellion they only cut off the right hand[...]’."
[2]
[1]: (Chakrabarti 1996: 199) Chakrabarti, K. 1996. The Gupta Kingdom. In History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 3: The Crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 pp. 188-210. UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S8ZACV8X/library
[2]: (Keay 2010, 146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"Though rains were the main source of irrigation, government also constructed canals from rivers, tanks and wells to take water to distant fields. [...] All these artificial means of irrigation were adopted by the state to improve agriculture. Considering the importance of irrigation, the State spent much money and imposed heavy fines and punishment on those who caused damage to them." [1]
[1]: (Khosla 1982, 64) Sarla Khosla. 1982. Gupta Civilization. New Delhi: Intellectual Press.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
"Trade continued to flourish, both within India and overseas. When [Chinese pilgrim] returned to China he did so not by the long overland route but aboard an Indian vessel sailing from Tamralipti in Bengal." [1] Port at Tamralipti on the Bay of Bengal. East Indian coast traded with the Eastern Roman Empire. [2]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 145-146) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
[2]: (Roy 2016, 21) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
"Kalidasa mentions mines frequently and refers to Vajra (diamond), Padamaraga (ruby), Pushparaga (topaz), Markata (emerald), Sphatika (crystals), Mani-sila, Suryakanta and Chanderkanta (moonglass) etc. The mines yielded gold, silver, copper, and Iron. All these metals were utilised for making ornaments, swords and arrows, spades, sickles, ploughshares, hammers etc." [1]
[1]: (Khosla 1982, 64-65) Sarla Khosla. 1982. Gupta Civilization. New Delhi: Intellectual Press.
For example: "Only under their son Samudra-Gupta does the dynasty emerge from obscurity. Once again this is mostly thanks to the survival of a single inscription", on what is known as the "Allahabad pillar". [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 136-137) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
For example: "Only under their son Samudra-Gupta does the dynasty emerge from obscurity. Once again this is mostly thanks to the survival of a single inscription", on what is known as the "Allahabad pillar". [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 136-137) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
The Ajanta frescoes "covered great areas of wall and ceiling and, displaying an incredible brilliance of colour and form, preserved courtly scenes of opulence and sophistication far more convincing than anything conjectured by Sanskrit scholars or culled by archaeological research." [1] These frescoes lay in Vakataka territory but "Gupta society regarded painting as both a respected profession and a desirable social accomplishment", so "the art of Ajanta was not exceptional" [1] .
[1]: (Keay 2010, 150) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"The Charaka Samhita and Susruta Samhita assumed the present form by the end of the 2nd century AD and were reputed works in the Gupta period. [...] Navanitakam is another work on medicine composed in the Gupta period. It gives formulae and prescriptions for the practitioner." [1]
[1]: (Khosla 1982, 148) Sarla Khosla. 1982. Gupta Civilization. New Delhi: Intellectual Press.
"Whatever their genesis, sanction for this accretion and fusion of cults was provided by the Puranas and the epics as they were recast, expanded and written down during and after the Guptas." [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 148) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
The Arthaśāstra, which "probably arose in the first half of the first millennium AD" but probably largely "derive[s] from older handbooks" includes instructions for the proper layout of cities, including "public edifices such as treasuries, storehouses for material and food, arsenals, and prisons". [1] Referring to other practical texts: "Yet the works which embodied these findings were framed with such Sanskritic refinement as to make them incomprehensible to all but the initiated. The craftsman remained ignorant of them, and the mathematician remained jealous of them. [...] Clearly ’the artists and masons went their own way’." [2]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 15) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
[2]: (Keay 2010, 154) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"The most important sections [of the Allahabad inscription] consist of long lists of kings and regions subdued by ’the prowess of [Skanda-Gupta’s] arm in battle’, otherwise ’the arm that rose up so as to pass all bounds’; indeed the pillar itself ’is, as it were, an arm of the earth’ extended in a gesture of command. Some historians take these strong-arm conquests to be arranged in chronological order and, on that basis, have divided them into separate ’campaigns’." [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 137) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"The length of the solar year was calculated with a precision which even the Greeks had not yet achieved". [1]
[1]: (Keay 2010, 153) Keay, John. 2010. India: A History. New Updated Edition. London: HarperPress. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HSHAKZ3X.
"Until today sixteen hoards of Gupta coins have been discovered in different parts of the country. All the coins, whether of gold, silver or copper, are of standard value, depict artistic taste and maintain uniformity in weight and value. [...] When Guptas came to power, they issued their own coinage while adhering to the Roman standard and Indo-Scythian types." [1]
[1]: (Khosla 1982, 67-68) Sarla Khosla. 1982. Gupta Civilization. New Delhi: Intellectual Press.
No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones.
No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones.
No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
Referring to a period of time that appears to begin with the Mauryan era and include the first millennium CE:"The royal residence is designated with an old name the “interior city” (antaḥpura) and is described as being just as fortified as the city itself. There are even expressions where the palace wall is confused with the city wall and the castle gate with the city gate. Nonetheless, it would be a false conclusion were one to consider the royal residence, on the strength of this description, to be a citadel. We know from the narrative literature that it was easy to negotiate the moat and wall of the king’s palace by means of a pole or rope. The palace wall formed a police and not a military protection. Once besiegers had breached the city wall, the city lay at their feet. There was no last stand for the palace."". [1]
[1]: (Schlingloff 2013: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DAMFF2NV.
Indian iron smiths invented the ’wootz’ method of steel creation between 550-450 BCE. The Greek physician Ctesias of Cnidus commented on an Indian steel sword in the possession of Artaxerxes II of Persia (c400 BCE). [1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 102) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi.
Ancient Indian armies had siege engines that could "fling stones and lead balls wrapped up in burning materials. The Mahabharata mentions an Asma-yantra (a stone-throwing machine) in the battle with Jarasandha and we have further records that such engines were used in later periods to set enemy fortifications alight and that ’liquid fires’ containing naphtha were in use in ancient India." [1]
[1]: (Forbes 1959, 88-89) Robert James Forbes. 1959. More studies in early petroleum history. Brill Archive.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] The Kushans had used slings. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO.
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows." [1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.
"The hand crossbow was used on Indian battlefields probably from the third century A.D. It was mainly used as an infantry weapon and occasionally as a cavalry weapon. A Sanskrit inscription at Avanthipuram, in South India, reads: ’... Of him who has the name of Ananta impelled with speed and skillfully discharged from the machines of his bow fitted with the well stretched string....’ Obviously, the machine referred to was a hand crossbow." [1] Reads like a general reference that also applies to northern India.
[1]: (Phillips 2016) Henry Pratap Phillips. 2016. The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons (c.1000 to 1850). Notion Press.
"The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows." [1] The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India." [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] The Kushans had used spears. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] The Kushans had used polearms. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] The Kushans had used battle-axes. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] In Central Asia the 5th-6th CE Hephthalites used shields made of leather. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.29.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] Contemporary Sassanid elite cavalry (Savaran) wore various types of limb armour. [2] Gupta coins show monarchs wearing "skin tight trousers or breeches and boots laced up to the knees." [3]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Roy 2016, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[3]: (Roy 2016, 24) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] In Central Asia the 5th-6th CE Hephthalites used shields made of leather. [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.29.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] Gupta coins show "peaked Kushana caps or close fitting caps". [2] Kushan caps also referred to as "cap-like helmets" [3] and picture evidence at Orlat in Sogdia of earlier Saka warriors wearing "domed helmets". [3]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Roy 2016, 24) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[3]: (McLaughlin 2016, 77) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley.
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads." [1] Chainmail referenced here: "Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea." [2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing.
"Tamralipti Port Under the Guptas remained the centre of maritime trade of Bay of Bengal. While coastal areas of east India carried on maritime trade with South-East Asia, from the west coast of India, trade occurred with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 21) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon.