20. Life during the Guptas

System of Administration

• In contrast to Mauryas the Gupta kings adopted pompous titles such as paramesvara, maharajadhirja and paramabhattaraka signifying that they ruled over lesser kings in their empire.
• The throne didn't always go to the eldest son which created uncertainties of which the chiefs and high officials could take advantage.
• Evidently the king maintained a standing army supplemented by the forces occasionally supplied by the feudatories and cavalry became more prominent in military tactics.
• In the Gupta period, land taxes increased and those on trade and commerce decreased and the kings collected taxes varying from 1/4th to 1/6th of the produce.
• In central and western India the villagers were subjected to forced labour called vishti for serving the royal army and officials.
• The judicial system was far more developed under the Guptas than in earlier times. For the first time civil and criminal law were clearly defined and demarcated. Elaborate laws were laid down about inheritance.
• The king tried cases with the help of brahmana priests. The guilds of artisans, merchants and others were governed by their own laws.
• The Guptas bureaucracy was not as elaborate as Mauryas, the most important officers were known as kumaramatyas, appointed by the king in the home provinces and possibly paid in cash.
• Recruitment was not confined to the upper varnas only and several offices came to be combined in the hands of the same person and post became hereditary.
• During Gupta times, the empire was divided into divisions (bhuktis), and each bhukti was placed under the charge of an uparika.
• The bhuktis were divided into districts (vishayas), which were placed under the charge of vishayapati. In eastern India the vishayas were again divided into vithis and these vithis into villages.
• The village headman managed the village affairs with the assistance of the elders.
• There were numerous guilds of artisans, traders, bankers and merchants etc. At Bhita and Vaisali which enjoyed certain immunities and look after the affairs of their own members and punished those who violated the customs and laws of the guild.
• The major part of the empire was held by the feudatories chiefs living on the fringe of the empire and offered homage by personal attendance at royal court, paid tribute and presented daughters in marriage.
• The Guptas had several tributary princes in Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere which turned them into feudal vassals.
• Religious functionaries were granted land free of tax forever, and were also empowered to collect taxes from peasants working on these lands.
• Since most of the imperial administration was managed by feudatories and beneficiaries the Guptas didn't require as many officials as the Mauryas did.
• The participation of leading artists, merchants, elders etc. In rural and urban adminstration also lessened the need for maintaining a large retinue of officers.

 

Decline of Trade and Rise of Landed Classes

• During this period there was a decline in foreign trade. India carried on trade with Eastern Roman empire till 550 A.D. But after that the trade vanishes as they learnt from the Chinese the art of growing silk.
• As a result a group of silk weavers from Lata migrated to Mandasor and took to other professions.
• The striking development of Gupta period was the emergence of priestly landlords at the cost of local peasants. In central and western India, the peasants were also subjected to forced labour.

Social Developments

• During Gupta times the brahmana supremacy continued as lands were granted to them on large scale and the Guptas being vaisyas came to be looked upon as Kshatriyas.
• The castes proliferated into numerous sub-castes as a result of two factors, first is, a large number of foreigners who came as conquerors were assimilated into Indian society as Kshatriyas.
• Second is, the absorption of many tribal people into brahamanical society mainly of low origin by the way of land grants but ruling chiefs were ascribed a respectable origin.
• The position of sudras and women improved as they were permitted to listen to epics and worship a new god, Krishna and were mainly represented as agriculturists as compared to early period when they served the three higher varnas.
• But the number of the untouchables increased in number, especially the chandalas who lived outside the village and dealt in meat and flesh.

 

Buddhism and Brahmanism

• Buddhism no longer received royal patronage in Gupta period and Brahmanism had come to the forefront.
• Many texts were compiled in devotion of Vishnu such as Vishnupurana, Vishnusmriti and even Bhagavad-Gita was also completed around this time.
• A few Gupta kings were also worshippers of Siva. Idol worship became a common feature of Hinduism from the Gupta period.
• The Gupta kings followed the policy of tolerance towards the different religious sects such as Jainism and Buddhism which even acquired many of the features of the Hinduism.

 

Art

• In Gupta period, a bronze statue of Buddha has been recovered from Sultanganj near Bhagalpur and images of Buddha were also found in Mathura and Sarnath.
• But the greatest specimen of Buddhist art in Gupta times is provided by the Ajanta paintings though they covered the period from the first to the seventh century A.D.
• Since Guptas were supporters of Brahmanism, images of Siva, Vishnu and other gods are discovered.
• The Gupta period was poor in architecture with just a few brick temples of Bhitargaon in Kanpur, Bhitari in Gazipur and Deogarh in Jhansi.
• The Buddhist university of Nalanda was also set up in 5th century and its earlier structure made of brick belong to this period.

 

Literature

• The Gupta period was remarkable for the production of secular literature as 13 plays were written by Bhasa in this period and also Kalidasa wrote Abhijnanasakuntalam which was one of the earliest work to be translated into European languages, the other being Bhagavad-Gita.
• But there are two peculiarities, first is all work are comedies and second is characters of the higher and lower classes do not speak the same language; women and sudra featuring in these plays use Prakrit.
• Though religious work were also produced as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were compiled probably in 4th century A.D. And a lot of Smritis were also written in this period.
• The Gupta period saw the development of Sanskrit grammar based on Panini and Patanjali and also memorable for the compilation of Amarakosa by Amarasimha, one of the luminary in the court of Chandragupta II.
• The Gupta period was a bright phase in the history of classical literature and developed an ornate style as compared to old simple Sanskrit. From this period onwards, we find greater emphasis on verse than on prose.
• There is no doubt that Sanskrit was the court language of the Guptas.

Science and Technology

• In the field of Mathematics the work of Aryabhata, who belonged to Pataliputra compiled in Aryabhaitya belong to this period.
• A Gupta inscription of 448 in Allahabad suggests that decimal system was known in India at the beginning of 5th century A.D.
• In the field of astronomy a book called Romaka Sidhanta was compiled, influenced by Greek ideas.
• The Gupta craftsman distinguished themselves by their work in iron and bronze as there were several images of Buddha found belonging to this period.
• The iron pillar found in Delhi, manufactured in 4th century A.D., has not gathered any rust till now.