Welcome dear students! Today we are going to learn about The Guptas and Vardhanas from Class 8 Social_Science. After studying this chapter, you will learn about the famous rulers of the Gupta empire and their political achievements. You will also learn about their contribution to literature and science. We will study the growth of the Vardhana empire and their contributions to literature and education. Finally, you will learn to know the extent of the Gupta empire in the map of India, noting the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
After centuries of political instability, the Gupta Empire rose in the 4th century C.E. Sanskrit language and its vast literature bear a mirror to this age. The Guptas probably came over from Magadha. Srigupta was the founder of this dynasty. Chandragupta I married a Licchavi princess and strengthened his kingdom. It is believed that the Gupta era began with his reign in 320 C.E. He was called the Maharajadhiraja. We see his son Samudragupta after him. His achievements have been commemorated in the Allahabad Prashati written by Harisena. This is in Sanskrit language and has been inscribed on Ashoka’s pillar. Most part of India was under the rule of the Guptas during the time of Samudragupta. His Aswamedhayaga brings to mind the Vedic rituals and traditions. Samudragupta was not just a conquerer, but a great poet and a lover of music too. His passion for music can be seen in the gold coins which depict him playing the veena.
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Do you know this? The Iron Pillar at Mehrauli in Delhi near Qutb Minar is important. It is 23 feet and eight inches in height and weighs 6,000 kg. It is one of the finest examples of the technical skill of the time. It has not become rusty till now. That shows in those days Indians had a sound knowledge about metallurgy.
Do you know this? Meghadoota. This is a poetic creation of Kalidasa, and is one among his very famous works. Yaksha is exiled by King Kubera for neglecting his duties. In this situation, the yaksha stops a passing cloud and persuades it to carry a message of love to his wife who lives near the Kailash mountain. He describes the beautiful scenery on the route to his wife’s place. Even today this poem is famous all over the world. It has been translated to all the Indian languages and major languages of the world. People have been enjoying the theatre adaptations of the Meghadoota till today.
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Chandragupta II expanded the kingdom of Samudragupta and brought stability. He defeated the Sakas and made Western India a part of the Gupta Empire. He developed relationships with many Indian royal families through matrimonial alliance and became very influential. He earned the title of Vikramaditya. His reign is memorable more for the encouragement given to literature and art, rather than battles. The famous Sanskrit poet and dramatist, Kalidasa, belonged to this age. Meghadoota, Raghuvamsha, Kumarasambhava and Ritu Samhara are his lyrical contributions. Abhijnana Shakuntala is one of his noteworthy plays. Sudraka’s Mricchakatika and Vishakhadatta’s Mudrarakshasa are the other literary works of this period.
Abhijnana Shakuntala is considered as the best drama of Kalidasa. The story of Shakuntala is in the Mahabharata. In the story, King Dushyanta while hunting in the forest, happens to come to Sage Kanva’s ashram. There he sees Shakuntala, falls in love with her and both get married in Gandharva style. All this takes place in the absence of Sage Kanva. After some time, Dushyanta leaves Shakuntala in the ashram and returns to his capital. During this period of separation, Sage Durvasa arrives at Kanva’s ashram. Seeing Shakuntala lost in the memory of Dushyanta and finding none to attend him was enraged. Sage Durvasa lost his temper and cursed her saying, “Let the one in whose memory you are, forget you”. When he realised his own harshness, Sage Durvasa suggested a way to be free from the curse. He says that an object given to her would ultimately bring back his memories of her. The object was a ring that Dushyanta had given to Shakuntala. As per Durvasa’s curse, Dushyanta forgets Shakuntala. After a period of time the disciples of sage Kanva took Shakuntala to the court of Dushyanta to unite them. She was pregnant at that time. On the way, Shakuntala lost the ring which would have brought back Dushyanta’s memory. Thus Dushyanta was unable to recognize her. Shakuntala leaves the palace in humiliation. After a few days, the ring was found in the stomach of a fish, and on seeing it, Dushyanta recalled everything. He was filled with remorse.
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Some time later, while he was returning from a journey, he pays a visit to Sage Maricha’s ashram. There he sees a small boy playing with lion cubs, and when he enquires about his background, he comes to know that the boy is his own son, Sarvadamana. In this manner, Dushyanta is united with his wife, Shakuntala, and son. Abhijnana Shakuntala is one of the greatest plays in the world. It has earned great acclaim all over the world.
The Gupta Empire was subjected to continuous attacks of the Huns and thus, declined soon. The Guptas did not have a fully equipped large army. The vassal kings would fulfil the requirements during times of war. Hence, the vassals had become very powerful. The bureaucracy consisted of Kumar Amatyas. They head various positions. The administration was decentralized. The priests received many grants. They would be granted many villages. Many temples saw development due to this. These areas not only enjoyed financial and administrative concessions and also became independent in all the matters. However, over a period of time, the local people, farmers and artisans began to be controlled by the landlords. In this way, society grew more and more complex. During this period, the trade that the Guptas had with the westerners collapsed. Consequently, their economic system suffered. The restrictions imposed on their empire obstructed their internal trade too. Trade was limited to villages. The collapse of trade led to the decline of the trade centres. Pataliputra got reduced to the size of a village. Based on the sentiment of bhakthi, this period witnessed creation of various religious texts like the Puranas and the Dharmashastras.
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Varahamihira, Bhaskara-I, Aryabhata, Charaka and Sushruta were the great scientists of this time. Varahamihira, Bhaskara-I and Aryabhata made significant contributions to the study of astrology, astronomy and mathematics. Charaka wrote Charaka Samhita. Sushruta wrote Sushruta Samhita which deals with surgery.
Scientists of the Gupta Period: Number one: Dhanwantari. He was a famous scholar in the field of medicine. He was a specialist in Ayurveda. He is the father of Indian Medicine. His chief contribution to the medical field is the Ayurvedic dictionary. Number two: Charaka. He was a medical scientist. His major contribution to the field of medicine is the Charaka Samhita. Number three: Sushruta. He was a surgeon. He was the first Indian to explain the process of surgery. He has recorded that in those days, there used to be a separate wing to treat soldiers. Like modern surgeons Sushruta was a wellknown surgeon of yester years and contributed significantly to the field of surgery. Number four: Aryabhata. He was a famous astronomer and mathematician. He is the prominent scientist who came after Varahamihira. His contribution to Astronomy and Mathematics is highly significant. This is the reason that the Aryabhata award is being presented by the Indian Government to great scientists. The first Indian satellite has been named after Aryabhata. He is believed to have invented ‘the zero’. He was the first Indian to master algebra. He reiterated the fact that solar and lunar eclipses happen not due to Rahu but solar eclipse is caused when the moon is between the sun and the earth. Lunar eclipse happens when the earth is between the sun and the moon. Number five: Varahamihira. He was a famous astronomer. He wrote a book on astronomy named Panchasiddhantika. In addition to this, he wrote Bruhat Samhita, Bruhat Jataka and Laghu Jataka. He was a scholar in many fields like astronomy, astrology, geography, and meteorology.
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The Vardhans. The Gupta Empire which had flourished for two centuries, disintegrated around 6th century C.E. Many small kingdoms sprang up at this time. The kingdom of the Vardhanas was one of them. They ruled from Thaneswar in 6th century. Some inscriptions, Bana’s Harshacharita and the Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang’s writings throw light upon this period. Pushyabhuti is the founder of this dynasty. Prabhakaravardhana and Harshavardhana are the prominent kings of the dynasty. After the death of his father, Prabhakaravardhana, and his brother, Rajyavardhana, Harsha became the king of Thaneswar. His sister Rajyashree was married to the king of kanauj Grahavarma. The king of Bengal Sashanka killed the king of Kanauj. Then Harsha defeated Shashanka, captured kanauj and attacked the king of Bengal. Bengal and Magadha came under his rule. But he could not advance beyond the Narmada river in the south. The Kannada king of the Chalukyas, Pulikeshi II, halted his progress, and forced him to go back. This achievement of Pulikeshi II has been immortalized in the Aihole inscription written by the court poet, Ravikirti. Harsha lost his Harsh, meaning joy, due to his defeat. The king’s rule was assisted by the council of ministers. The bureaucracy consisted of the Mahasandhivigraha (the negotiator), Mahabaladhikruta (military general), Bhogapati (tax official) and Doota. The kingdom had been divided into provinces. Land tax was the major source of income for the kingdom. Feudatory chiefs paid tribute to the king. The king gave them land, grants and in return, got the help of their armies. When the king became weak, the feudatory chiefs became independent. Land grants were given to other communities and religious people as well. Harsha gave prominence to Buddhism. We get details of the popularity of Buddhism from Hiuen Tsang’s writing. The Buddhist wing, Nalanda University, was full of activity during this period. It enjoyed royal patronage.
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Nalanda University. This is famous as an ancient university. Buddha had visited Nalanda. Mention has been made of the 25 metre tall bronze image of Buddha that Harshavardhana gifted to Nalanda. Kumaragupta had made contributions to a fine arts school here. Nagarjuna the Chief exponent of middle path, and Dharmapala were the other famous scholars who taught here. The Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang, visited this place and stayed for some time. He has given a detailed description of this place. There were stupas, chaityas, viharas, rest houses, benches here and there to sit and rest awhile, meditation rooms, lecture rooms and many other structures reveal the glory of this place. The Gupta kings and Harshavardhana have been the famous patrons of this place. An accidental fire destroyed many texts at Nalanda.
Now let us move on to the exercises to test your understanding. Exercise one: Fill in the blanks with suitable words. Question one: The Guptas began their reign from the place ____________. The answer is Magadha. Question two: Chandragupta I was called __________. The answer is Maharajadhiraja. Question three: One of the great plays of Kalidasa is ____________. The answer is Abhijnana Shakuntala. Question four: Vishakadatta’s literary work is _______. The answer is Mudrarakshasa. Question five: The literary work written by Sudraka is _________. The answer is Mricchakatika. Question six: The founder of Vardhana dynasty was _________. The answer is Pushyabhuti.
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Exercise two: Answer in brief the following questions. Question seven: Write about Chandragupta II. Answer: He expanded the kingdom of Samudragupta and brought stability. He defeated the Sakas and made Western India a part of the Gupta Empire. He developed relationships with many Indian royal families through matrimonial alliance and became very influential. He earned the title of Vikramaditya. His reign is memorable more for the encouragement given to literature and art, rather than battles. Question eight: What were the reasons for the downfall of the Gupta Empire? Answer: The empire was subjected to continuous attacks of the Huns. The Guptas did not have a fully equipped large army, so vassal kings fulfilled war requirements and became very powerful. The administration was decentralized. Priests received many village grants, making areas independent. Local people, farmers, and artisans came under landlord control, making society complex. Trade with westerners collapsed, internal trade was restricted to villages, trade centres declined, and Pataliputra reduced to village size. Question nine: Name the great scientists of the Gupta Age. Answer: Varahamihira, Bhaskara-I, Aryabhata, Charaka, and Sushruta. Question ten: How was the administration during the Vardhana rule? Answer: The king’s rule was assisted by a council of ministers. The bureaucracy consisted of the Mahasandhivigraha, Mahabaladhikruta, Bhogapati, and Doota. The kingdom was divided into provinces. Land tax was the major income. Feudatory chiefs paid tribute and provided armies for land grants. They became independent when the king weakened. Land grants were also given to other communities and religious people. Question eleven: Write a note on Nalanda University. Answer: It is a famous ancient university visited by Buddha. Harshavardhana gifted a 25 metre tall bronze image of Buddha to it. Kumaragupta contributed to a fine arts school. Scholars like Nagarjuna and Dharmapala taught here. Hiuen Tsang visited and described its stupas, chaityas, viharas, rest houses, benches, meditation rooms, and lecture rooms. It enjoyed royal patronage from Gupta kings and Harshavardhana until an accidental fire destroyed many texts.
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Exercise three: Activities. Activity one: Collect details about the works of Kalidasa. Activity two: Collect information and pictures of the scientists of the Gupta period.
Thank you for listening! Keep revising and practicing. Goodbye! [CHAPTER_COMPLETE]