Gupta dynasty Flashcards
theme
- Trade
ex. impacts of hun invasion on trade
ex. which port handled the north Indian trade
ex. various systems : hundi
ex. imp ports ->Ghantashala, Kadura and chaul - social life
ex. vishti(i.e.forced labour)
ex. feudal system during the Gupta - Art
ex. 2 cave paintings of the Gupta
ex. book ‘Mrichhakatikam’ -> topic?
ex. terms mentioned in different inscriptions ->“Kulyavpa” and “ dronavapa”
ex. pillar inscription & it’s subject -> Allahabad - religion
ex. reasons of decline of buddhism in early medeival - King & important court members
ex. kalidasa & chandra-gupta 2
books
- Kamandaka’s Nitisara, a work on polity addressed to the king (400 CE)
- Devichandraguptam and Mudrarakshasam by Vishakadutta provide details about the rise of the Guptas.
- kalidasa also wrote about them
- Fa-hien also wrote about them
Pillars
-Mehrauli Iron Pillar inscription
– achievements of Chandragupta I.
-Allahabad Pillar inscription – d e s c r i b i n g Samudragupta’s personality and
achievements by Harisena.
Gupta Kings -> features
- Sri Gupta (240–280 CE) -> 1st king
- Ghatotkacha (280–319 CE). ->2nd
- Chandragupta I, the son of Ghatotkacha, ruled from 319 to 335 CE
- first great king of gupta empire
4.Samudragupta (335-375 CE)
-the Napoleon of India.
-The southern kings paid tribute, while the northern kingdoms were annexed to
the Gupta Empire under Samudragupta
-tribes of Rajasthan paid tribute, but the Punjab was outside the limits
-Lanka ruler sent presents
-Screenshot : 295
-the title “Kaviraja”.
-His coins bear the insignia of him playing the vina (lute).
5.Chandragupta II (375-415)
-married off his daughter Prabhavati to a Vakataka prince
-conquered western Malwa and Gujarat by
defeating the Saka
-its trade links with Roman Empire
-defeated northern rulers like the Huns, Kambojas and Kiratas.
-His court had nine jewels or navaratnas, that -> Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, the Sanskrit scholar Harisena, the lexicographer Amarasimha, and the physician
Dhanvantari.
-Fahien, the Buddhist scholar
from China, visited India during his reign.
-first to issue silver coin
- Kumargupta 1
- founded nalanda university
7.The last great king of the Gupta
dynasty, Skanda Gupta, was the son of
Kumara Gupta I.
King & important court members
- Samudragupta
- patron to harisena(sanskrit poet)
- patron to Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu -> even after himself shaivite
Fahien’s account on Mathura and Pataliputra
- Mathura
- happy
- those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the grain from it.
- criminals fined lightly/heavily -> scenario based
- repeated rebellion -> right hand cut
- no killing creature ; intoxicants - Pataliputra
- benevolent people
- vaishyas creating houses for charity , medicine
- everyone helped one’s in need
who were huns
barbarian tribe living near Caspian
Sea
Gupta’s Administrative System
1.titles taken by kings? did they claim divine status?
2.about the term kumaramatya?
3,Who was harisena ? what were his designations?
- function of ministers namely sandhivigrahika or mahasandhivigrahika ?
- who were dandanayakas, and mahadandanayakas ?
- who was mahashvapati ?
- how was the gupta empire divided?
- administrative units below districts ?
- Who was mahattara?
1.maharajadhiraja, parama-bhattaraka
and parameshvara ; Yes,they did ->
Samudragupta is compared to Purusha (Supreme Being) in the Allahabad inscription.
- term occurs in 6 vaishali seals -> Kumaramatyas were attached to the king, crown prince, revenue department or a province.
- Harisena, composer of the Allahabad prashasti (inscriptions of praise), was a Kumaramatya, Sandhivigrahika and Mahadandanayaka.
- minister for peace and war
- high-ranking judicial or military officers.
- commander of the cavalry
7.Empire divided into provinces known as deshas or bhuktis -> administered by governors called as uparikas ->Provinces divided into districts known as visayas uparikas appointed appointed the head of the district administration and the district
board
- The administrative units below the district -> vithi, bhumi, pathaka and peta.
- Village level functionaries : gramika & gramadhyaksha.
9.Mahattara has a range of meanings including village elder, village headman, and head of a family community.
Economic Conditions
1.who wrote nitisara ? it emphasises on what ?
- who was The akshapataladhikrita ?
- what is meaning of iranyavesti?
- who was sole properiter of land ? according to which inscription?
- who maintained records of all the land transactions?
- classification of land in gupta period?
7.which was most famous lake of times ?
where?
- Position of Peasantry?
- Location of iron & copper mining?
- Types of taxes?
- Example of development of metallurgy?
1.Kamandaka wrote Nitisara. It emphasises
the importance of the royal treasury and mentions sources of revenue
- was the keeper of royal records.
- forced labour
- The Paharpur copper plate inscription
- > king sole proprietor
5.an officer called ustapala
6. Kshetra : Cultivatable land Khila : Waste land Aprahata : Jungle or waste land Vasti : Habitable land Gapata Saraha : Pastoral land
- Sudarsana lake at the foot of Girnar Hills in Gujarat.
- means tenants could be evicted without notice. The farmers were required to pay various taxes.
- Iron = Bihar ; Copper = Rajsthan
- Bhaga = 1/6th ofproduce paid by cultivators
- Bhoga = supply of fruits, firewood, flowers to king
- Kara = periodic tax on villages
- Bali = initially voluntary ; later compulsory
- Udianga = for maintaining polic station or water
- Hiranya = share of certain crops paid in kind
- Vata-bhuta = cess for maintenance of rites for the winds (vata) and the spirits (bhuta)
- Halivakara : tax by everyone having plough
- Sulka = A royal share of merchandise brought into a town
- Klipta and Upakilpta : sell & buying of land related
11.the Mehrauli Iron Pillar of Chandragupta II in the Qutb Minar Complex in Delhi, identified with Chandragupta II.
Trade & commerce
1.which were types of traders?
- Trade items?
- what is guild
- what is described by The Narada and Brihaspati Smritis?
- what is usuary?
- Important trade centres?
- goods traded from india were? indians imported what from china?
- Sresti: settled at one place ; The sarthavaha was a caravan trader
- included pepper, sandalwood, ivory, elephants, horses, gold, copper, iron and mica.
- Guild is a society or other organisation of people with common interests or an association of merchants.
- organisation and activities of guilds ; The Brihaspati Smriti refers to guilds rendering justice
- the lending of money at an exorbitant rate of interest
6.western coast of India had ports
such as Calliena (Kalyan), Chaul port and the markets of Mabar (Malabar), Mangarouth (Mangalore), Salopatana, Nalopatana and Pandopatana on the Malabar coast. Fahien refers to Tamralipti in Bengal as an important centre of trade
7.The goods traded from India were rare gems, pearls, fine textiles and aromatics. Indians imported silk and other articles from China.
Rock-cut and Structural Temples
1.what changes in rock cut caves were seen ? example of changed style?
- attributes of structural temples?
- Best stupas of period?
- Example of stone sculpture?
- remarkable examples of Gupta metal sculpture?
- Famous painting found @?belong to which school of painting ?
- ajanta paintings frescos ahet ki nahi?
- ornamentation of the facade and in the designs of the pillars in the interior.
- Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra) and Bagh (Madhya Pradesh). The Udayagiri caves (Odisha) are also of this type - (1)flat-roofed square temples; (ii)vimana added (iii)square temple + shikhara (iv)rectangular temple (v)Circular temple
- Samat (Uttar Pradesh), Ratnagiri (Odisha) and Mirpur Khas (Sind).
- erect Buddha from Sarnath
- the great Boar (Varaha) -> udaygiri cave - (1) a copper image of the Buddha about eighteen feet high at Nalanda in Bihar and (2) the Sultanganj Buddha of seven-and-a-half feet in height.
- found at Ajanta, Bagh, Badami -> belongs to the Madhyadesa School of painting.
7.for frescoes is painted while the plaster is still damp and the murals of Ajanta
were made after it had set -> hence ajanta is not true frescoes
Sanskrit literature & grammer
1.Official language of guptas?
- what are smritis?
- books wrote on sanskrit grammer by panini & patanjali?
- who wrote Amarakosa? what is it?
- Puranas were composed during which period ? who originally compiled them?
- Sanskrit the official language
- Smritis are religious texts covering a wide range of subjects such as ethics, politics,
- Panini -> Ashtadhyayi & Patanjali who wrote Mahabhashya.
- a thesaurus in Sanskrit, by Amarasimha
- puranas composed during gupta period
- were originally composed by bards (professional storytellers) -> then redesigned by priestly class
- The Mahabharata and the Ramayana also got their final touches and received their present shape during this period.
Buddhist literature
0.Language used
- Who were the most notable buddhist writers of gupta period?
- first regular Buddhist work on logic was written by ? which Vasubandhu’s disciple has authored many learned works?
- Initially in pali -> then sanskrit
- Arya Deva and Arya Asanga
- Vasubandhu.
- Dignaga
Jaina literature
1.Language used?
2.who produced a Jaina version of Ramayana?
3.Who laid the foundation of logic
among the Jainas.?
- initially prakrit then sanskrit
- Vimala
- Divakara
Secular Literature
1.which king was called as kaviraja?
- samudragupta’s court is believed to have which important personalities?
- Kalidasa’s famous works are?their storyline is?
- works of sudraka ,their storyline?
- works of visakhdatta,their storyline ?
- what’s the interesting feature of dramas of this period?
- Samudragupta
- celebrated navaratnas like Kalidasa, Amarasimha, Visakadatta and Dhanvantri.
- dramas are
- .Sakunthalam or abhidnyanshakuntalam =
- > seduction of the nymph Shakuntala by King Dushyanta, his rejection of the girl and his child, and their subsequent reunion in heaven.
- .Malavikagnimitram : comical mood throughout. It concerns the machinations of King Agnimitra to win Malavika, a female dance student with whom he is in love.
- Vikramaurvashiyam : love of a mortal for a divine maiden ; play has well-known “mad scene” (Act IV) in which the king, grief-stricken, wanders through a lovely forest apostrophizing various flowers and trees as though they were his love.
4. Sudraka Mrichchhakatika : Translation (“Little Clay Cart”), the story of an impoverished merchant and a courtesan who love each other but are thwarted by a powerful rival who tries to kill the woman and place the blame on the hero, Cārudatta.
- Visakhadatta
- Mudraraksasa : Amatya rakshsachi angathi & whole toppling of nanda government thing
- Devichandraguptam :king Ramagupta decides to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi (“Devi”) to a Shaka enemy when besieged. Ramagupta’s younger brother Chandragupta enters the enemy camp disguised as the queen, and kills the enemy ruler -> later chandragupta dethrones ramagupta & becomes king
- An interesting feature of the dramas of this period is that while the elite spoke in Sanskrit, the common people spoke Prakrit.
