From 300 to 750 ce

Question 1

The Guptas

Answer 1

• Historians once regarded the Gupta period (c. 320–540) as the classical age of India, the period during which the norms of Indian literature, art, architecture, and philosophy were established
• also thought to have been an age of material prosperity, particularly among the urban elite, and of renascent Hinduism
• Guptas came from either Magadha or eastern Uttar Prades
• third king, Chandra Gupta I (reigned c. 320–c. 330), took the title of maharajadhiraja. He married a Licchavi princess
• Gupta era began in 320, but it is not clear whether this date commemorated the accession of Chandra Gupta or the assumption of the status of independence
• Chandra Gupta appointed his son Samudra Gupta (reigned c. 330–c. 380) to succeed him about 330
• domains brought within Samudra Gupta’s orbit were regarded as subordinate
• The Ganges valley and central India were the areas under direct administrative control.
• Samudra Gupta was succeeded about 380 by his son Chandra Gupta II
• Chandra Gupta II’s major campaign was against the Shaka rulers of Ujjain, the success of which was celebrated in a series of silver coins
• the Gupta kingdom was divided into provinces called deshas or bhuktis, and these in turn into smaller units, the pradeshas or vishayas
• The provinces were governed by kumaramatyas, high imperial officers or members of the royal family
• invasion from the northwest comes in the reign of Chandra Gupta’s son and successor, Kumara Gupta (reigned c. 415–455)
• By the mid-6th century, when the dynasty apparently came to an end, the kingdom had dwindled to a small size. Northern India and parts of central India were in the hands of the Hunas.
• The first Huna king in India was Toramana
• the coming of the Hunas brought northern India once more into close contact with Central Asia

Question 2

Successor states

Answer 2

• Puspabhuti dynasty aspired to imperial status during the reign of Harsha
• In the 8th century the rising power in western India was that of the Gurjara-Pratiharas
• In the early 8th century a new power base was established briefly with the arrival of the Arabs in Sind.

Question 3

The Deccan

Answer 3

• In the Deccan the Vakataka dynasty was closely tied to the Guptas.
• founder of the dynasty, Vindhyashakti, extended his power northward as far as Vidisha
• Of the myriad ruling families of the Deccan between the 4th and 7th centuries the most significant were the Calukyas
• Calukyas controlled large parts of the Deccan for two centuries
• Control over both coasts enhanced the Calukya king’s already firm hold on the Deccan
• control of the west coast trade with western Asia and the Kalinga and Andhra trade on the east coast with Southeast Asia

Question 4

Southern India

Answer 4

• southern part of the peninsula split into many kingdoms, each fighting for supremacy
• origin of the Pallava dynasty is obscure. It is not even clear whether the early Pallavas of the 3rd century were the ancestors of the later Pallavas of the 6th century
• Pallava naval interests laid the foundation for extensive reliance on the navy by the succeeding dynasty, the Colas
• Toward the end of the 8th century, the Gangas and the Pandyas joined coalitions against the Pallavas

Question 5

Society and Culture

Answer 5

• Tamil devotional cult and similar movements elsewhere were in a sense competitive with Buddhism and Jainism, both of which suffered a gradual decline in most areas
• Buddhism flourished in eastern India
• Tibetan and eastern Indian cults, particularly the Tantric cults, influenced the development of Vajrayana (“Thunderbolt Vehicle”) Buddhism
• Shakti cult associated with Hindu practice was based on the notion that the male can be activated only by union with the female
• orthodox Brahmanism received encouragement, especially from the royal families
• As temples and monasteries became larger and more complex, the decorative arts of mural painting and sculpture flourished
• Temples were richly endowed with wealth and land, and the larger institutions could accommodate colleges of higher learning (ghatikas and mathas), primarily for priests
• flowering of classical Sanskrit literature is indicated by the plays and poems of Kalidasa
• monasteries and temples were centres of formal learning, and the guilds were centres of technical knowledge
• post-Gupta period saw considerable and lasting social change, which resulted not only from outside influences but also from the interaction of the elite Sanskritic culture with more-parochial non-Sanskritic cultures.
• expanding village economy opened up new areas geographically, and the increasing importance of guilds in the towns indicated fresh perspectives on social life