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THE GOLDEN PERIOD

ACHIEVEMENTS OF KANISHKA
The greatest king of the Kushana was Kanishka. The date of his accession to throne has been the subject
matter of much controversy. According to some his reign began in A.D. 78 and his era is known in history
as Sakaera. According to the other view he ascended the throne in about A.D. 120.

Kanishka’s relation with the previous Kushana rulers, such as, Kadphises I and 11 is not definitely known.
But Kanishka was undoubtedly a great conqueror and a successful warrior.Chinese, Tibetan, and Indian
sources alike bear testimony to wide conquests affected by Kanishka. Kanishka led various expeditions.
The Saka Satraps in Gujrat and Malwa in Rajputana offered their loyalty to him. He warred with the
Parthians on the west and led an army across the Pamirs. His coins have been found in Mathura and
Benaras. Kashmir was also a part of his territory. His Central Asian possessions included Bactria,
Afghanistan, Kashgarh, Yearkhand and Khoan.

In the latter part of his reign Kanishka came into conflict with the Chinese emperor. It has been said that
Kanishka suffered reverses in the north-west and the north-east because of the victorious progress of
Pan-chao, a famous general of the Chinese emperor. However, HiuenTsang speaks of a Chinese prince
detained as a hostage at Kanishka’s court. Hence it is not definitely known which side actually suffered
reverses. In any case there was no diminution of his empire in India during his life time. His capital was
Purushapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara.

The fame of Kanishka rests not so such on his military conquest as on the patronage of Buddhism. His
personal faith was Buddhism. The Buddhists claim that Kanishka was almost like a second Asoka to their
religion. He convoked the last Buddhist Council and prepared authorized commentaries of the
scriptures. This Council was held at Kashmir (or Jullundur) and gave its seal of ascent to the Mahayana
doctrine. His court was graced by well-known scholars like Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Parsva, Vasumitra
and Charaka.

Though a great patron of Buddhism, Kanishka was tolerant to other creeds. He was also a liberal patron
of Indian art and literature. The famous Gandhara School of arts and the Mathura style of art and the
relic tower monastery built at Purushapura provide ample evidences of his notable artistic
achievements. Above all, the dynasty of Kanishka opened the way for Indian civilization to Central and
Eastern Asia.

ACHIVEMENTS OF SAMUDRAGUPTA
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Samudragupta (reigned 350-375) was the second emperor of the Gupta dynasty of India. His reign
ushered in the Golden Age in India and he is remembered both as a benevolent imperial conqueror and
a patron of arts and letters. During his ascension to the Indian throne, the Guptas existed as the local
powers in the Gangetic valley. Samudragupta, through his conquests expanded the territory of the
Gupta Empire to a vast extent, both in northern and southern India. The total extermination of the nine
kings of the north, testifies his uncommon military skills. His brilliant power of leadership is proved by
his southern conquests. The dazzling campaigns and the organisational skills of Samudragupta has led
Dr. Smith to describe him as "Indian Napoleon".

Samudragupta was an imperialist by every inch of his body. Smith has remarked about him that though
usurping a kingdom is the business of a king, yet Samudragupta did not act as a naked imperialist.
Political unification of India, establishment of peace and order were the fruits of his imperialism. His
Empire led to a revival of art and culture to unprecedented heights. Economic motives of trade and
tribute and political motives of fortifying India's frontier against foreign invasion lay far behind his policy
of expansionism.

Harishena in Allahabad Prasasti adores Samudragupta as a man of versatile genius. Samudragupta

himself was gifted with the skills of poetry and music. The mighty conqueror Samudragupta earned a
thriving prosperity as a poet. Due to his composition of beautiful verses, Samudragupta was given the
epithet, the "king of poets". Samudragupta's virtue as a poet and musician stands on solid ground.
Moreover in the Prasasti he is eulogised as the 'shining example of philanthropy'. He patronised poets
and worked for the promotion of education and learning in his Empire. Himself a great musician,
Samudragupta's passion for music is testified by his figure in his coins, carrying a lyre on his knees. He
was an accomplished scholar, well versed in Shastras, and a great patron of art and letters. The Buddhist
records also refer to his patronage of learning. As an administrator, he was very just and kind. Removing
all discrepancies from his kingdom, Samudragupta had worked for the promotion of equality and equal
opportunity of people in his Empire. He made liberal help to the poor and the downtrodden. The mighty
conqueror Samudragupta was no less an administrator, with sound intellect, unusual benevolence and
taste for culture.

Samudragupta ushered in a new age in the history of ancient India. He revived the Brahmanical
Hinduism from relative obscurity, by the performance of horse sacrifice, which he restored again. It was
also the beginning of the neo-Brahmanical doctrine, which upheld the principle of considering the king
as the divine incarnation in earth. This doctrine of neo-Brahmanism is

evident from the coins of Samudragupta. Moreover in two copper plates Samudragupta is referred to as
"Parama Bhagavata", showing that he was a devotee of Vishnu. However Dr. Majumdar thinks that
these copper plates are spurious. His reign marked the beginning of the new era, with unprecedented

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intellectual and material progress. Samudragupta was a pioneer among the Guptas, who initiated the
"Golden Age" in the ancient history of India. As a whole, the spirit of Renaissance, which was the key
feature of the age, was started during the reign of Samudragupta.

Samudragupta, the successor of Chandragupta I, was the ruler under whom the Guptas emerged the
vast Imperial power, ruling the entire northern and southern India with thriving prosperity. It was
Samudragupta who brought the Gupta Empire under the limelight of ancient Indian history. While
describing the achievements of Samudragupta, the pioneer of Gupta Renaissance, Dr. H.C
Roychowdhury has drawn an interesting comparison between Ashoka and Samudragupta. According to
Dr. Roychowdhury, Samudragupta was more versatile than Ashoka. Ashoka was proficient in scriptures
only, but the versatility of Samudragupta lies in the fact that Samudragupta was adept in all branches of
art and culture. While Ashoka had worked for the spiritual upliftment of his subjects, Samudragupta had
worked for the material welfare of the subjects, because according to Samudragupta unless the people
are materially established, spiritual upliftment would do no good to them. Moreover Samudragupta, no
less than Ashoka had fortified the rampart of "True Law". Samudragupta is famous in the history of
ancient India, not only as a mighty conqueror, but also as a just and benevolent administrator.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF CHANDRAGUPTA II
Born into a family of warriors, Chandragupta Maurya grew up with a cowherd's family after his own
father died. He attracted the attention of a powerful Brahman politician, Kautilya, who groomed him in
the ways of war. After shattering the power of the Nanda Empire at the tender age of 20, Chandragupta
took the throne of Magadha, a kingdom in what is now northeastern India, around 325 B.C. After
consolidating his power, Chandragupta began to conquer the satrapies created by Alexander the Great,
who had recently died.

After conquering much of north India, he pushed into the Seleucid Empire, taking its eastern provinces.
With his rule secure in the north, Chandragupta then began pushing south into the Deccan Plateau in
central and south India. In his early 40s, he became interested in Jainism, an acetic religion, and he
eventually abdicated the throne of the Mauryan Empire in favor of his son Bindusara. He spent his last
days practicing sallekhana, a Jainist form of suicide by fasting. The dynasty he founded ruled until 185
B.C. and produced one of the most revered rulers in India's history, Ashoka the Great.

THE GUPTA ADMINISTRATION

1. Monarchs took high sounding titles - Supreme Lord and Great King of Kings - the empire had a
philosophy called imperialism but unfortunately it only touched the social and cultural fields it had no
political objectives.

2. King was at the apex - princes often Viceroys. Queens were learned. Kumaradevi of Chandragupta I
and Dhruvadevi of Chandragupta II appear o the coins.

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3. Council of Ministers were often hereditary - Harisena and saba of Chandragupta II were military
generals. Very often, ministers combined many offices - some ministers accompanied the king to the
battles. Chief Ministers headed the Ministry.

4. Central Government - each department had its own seal - number of Mahasenapatis to watch over
feudatories - foreign ministers like Sandhi proably supervised the foreign policy towards the feudastory
states.

5.The whole organization was bureaucratic as in the case of Mauryas. To some extent, the adminstration
mellowed with the Guptas - Police regulations were less severe - capital punishments rare. Glowing
tributes were paid to the Gupta administration by Fahien. There was no needless intereference of the
government in the lives of people. It was temperate in the repression of crime and tolerant in matters of
religion. Fahien could claim that he pursued his studies in peace wherever he chose to reside.

6.Provincial administration - known as Bhuktis or Deshes. Officers very often of royal blood - maintained
law and order and protected people against external aggression - also looked after public utility services.

7.Bhuktis were divided into groups of districts called Pradeshes. Pradeshas were divided into Vishyas or
districts. The head of the districts was Vishayapati. Probably the provincial head was assisted by various
officials.

8.Damdoar plate inscription mentions number of functionaries - chief banker, Chief Merchants, Chief
Artisan, Chief of the writer class etc. Whether they formed part of the non-official council of the districts
or were elected is not known.

9.Districts divided into number of villages - villages being the last unit. Villages looked after houses,
streets, tmples banks etc. - each village had its own weavers, black-smits and goldsmiths, carpentaers
etc.

10.Village headmen known as gramike was assisted by a council called Panchamandali. Each village had
its own seal. Towns looked after by Purapalas - town councils. A very revealing feature of the
administration was the payment of grants in land instead of salaries. Only personnel of the military
service were paid cash salaries. The grants in land were of two kinds. The agrahara grant was only to
brahmins and it was tax-free. The second variety of land grant was given to secular officials either as
salary or as reward for services. Both these practices

were widely used as the time passed by. These grants definitely weakened the authority of the king.
Although technically the king could cancel the grants, he could not do so as the time passed by.

11. Not enough evidence on taxation. Officials on tour were provided free rice, curd, milk, flowers,
transport, etc. Perhaps they were like modern day officials at the districts level, Local people paid the
expenses for apprehending criminals.

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 12. Three varieties of land - waste land belonging to State which was donated very often. The crown
land war rarely donated. The third was the private land. Land revenue and various taxes from the land
and from various categories of produce at various stages of production.

13. Administration was highly decentralized - police, control of military stores, chief justice, etc.
Probably, recruitment ceased to be based on merit.

14. Parallelism of power - highest concentration and extensive decentralization. Such an administration
required a good standing army and complicated system of checks and counter checks

DECLINE OF GUPTA DYNASTY

The causes of downfall of the Guptas may be summed up as follows:

First, forces of disintegration became once again powerful in India after the death of Skandagupta.In
fact, the bid towards imperial unity centering Magadha that had started with the reign of Bimbisara of
the Haryanka dynasty came to an end with Skandagupta of the Gupta Empire.The fall of the Gupta
Empire, however, was not due to the Huna invasion alone. The forces of disintegration had already been
at work.

Second, factor that was responsible for the collapse of the Gupta Empire was the weakness of the Gupta
rulers who succeeded Skandagupta.In those days of monarchical absolutism the strength and security of
the empire depended mainly on the personality a.id efficiency of the rulers themselves.But the Gupta
kings who succeeded Skandagupta were weak personalities having no capability to bear the burden of
the empire.

Third, taking advantage of the weakness of the central power the provincial governors had been trying
to assert their independence.The independence declared by Yasodharman of Mandosar dealt a servers
blow to the Gupta Empire. Besides, the breakaway provinces became independent resulting in the
breakdown of the Gupta imperial authority.

Fourth, the collapse of the Gupta Empire can never be explained without a reference to the economic
decline.The revenue income of the Government was considerably reduced under the later Gupta rulers
as a result of the large scale land grants made by the Gupta emperors.As a consequence it was
becoming increasingly difficult for the Gupta rulers to meet the

administrative expenses.Further, with the decline of export market in Roman Empire for Indian goods,
the inflow of gold and silver almost came to a stop. Languishing foreign trade thus explains the fall of the
Gupta Empire.

MAIN FEATURES OF THE GOLDEN ERA

Gupta empire is the longest of major Indian empires extending for nearly three centuries. Mauryan
empire lasted about 150 years; Mughal and British Raj each lasted slightly less than 200 years each. It

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had among the strongest of militaries and most efficient of administration among any Indian empire. It
is in Gupta dynasty in which India had some of its greatest achievements. From chess to sex (kamasutra),
from zero to Shakuntala, from Panchatantra to ayurvedha, the key elements that defined Indian history
were made then. Aryabhatta developed 0 and the number system in this period. Varahamihira built the
greatest works on Indian astronomy. Kamasutra was written by Vatsayana, Kalidasa brought the
greatest of Indian drama that impacts Indian art to this day while Vishnu Sharma's Panchatantra stories
entertain Indian kids to this day. In visual arts, we see stunning elements of Gupta art in UNESCO world
heritage sites such as the Ajanta & Ellora caves [part of the caves were developed in Satvahana period
though]. It was under the Gupta, Indian education went to great heights with the establishment of the
Nalanda University among others. It is fascinating to see that even after 1500 years their works are as
good as new to us. We are continued to be fascinated by Shakuntala, Chess, zero, Panchatantra and
Kamasutra. And Nalanda stands as a great inspiration for what can achieve. Literature, mathematics,
physics, painting, medicine and religion were all in their glorious heights, while there was social stability,
peace and economic prosperity. It is easily the golden age. If I had a time machine, 400 AD Ujjain would
be my destination followed by 1000 AD Thanjavur [Chola Empire].

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