On the other hand, luxury goods formed the principal articles of long distance trade. This information is known because of the circulation of gold dinara, as well as the images depicted on the coins. Provinces, Districts and Villages : The provinces or divisions called bhuktis were governed by Uparikas directly appointed by the kings. By defeating the satrap of Saurashtra, he further expanded his kingdom to the coastline of the Arabian Sea. The most important contribution of Gupta sculpture is the evolution of the perfect types of divinities, both BudÂdhist and Brahmanical. Gupta art is regarded as the high point of classical Indian art, and the coinage is equally regarded as among the most beautiful of ancient India.
Coinage of the Guptas: An Introduction: The flourishing state of the economy was ascertained by a large number of gold coins circulated by different Gupta rulers. The study of these imageries is very interesting. The average rate was now twenty percent per annum as against two hundred and forty of the earlier period. Circular temple with shallow rectangular projections at the four cardinal faces. Gupta inscriptions from Bengal shows that the Municipal board — Adhisthanadhikarana associated with itself renresentation from major local communities: the Nagarasresthi guild president , the chief merchant Sarthavaha, the chief artisan — Prathama Kulika and the chief scribe — Prathama Kayastha. The last known date of Skandagupta is 467 A. The caves at Mogulrajapuram, Undavalli and Akkannamadanna in the Andhra country beiong to the Gupta period.
The Ayuktas were entrusted with the task of restoring the wealth of kings conquered by the emperor and sometimes placed in charge of districts or metropolitan towns. The Vakatakas may have supported Chandragupta during his conflict with the Western Kshatrapas. But, according to some scholars, Samudragupta who died shortly before A. Commercial decline is indicated by the paucity of coins of common use. The Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, which may be assigned to the Gupta period, contains at least nine verses which stress the need of combinaÂtion of the brahmanas and the kshatriyas; these may indicate some kind of concerted opposition from the vaishyas and shudras.
In the Gupta period, like shudras, women were also allowed tolisten to epics and the Puranas, and advised to worship Krishna. He also succeeded in preventing the invasion of the Hephthalites. Highly evolved steelcraft led everyone to a belief that Indian iron was not subject to corrosion. This matrimonial alliance may have helped Chandragupta consolidate the Gupta empire, and the Nagas may have helped him in his war against the Western Kshatrapas. Princes and richer people could divert a part of their income for the support of those engaged in art and literature. A link between the central and the provincial administration under the Guptas is furnished by the class of officers called Kumaramatyas and Ayuktas.
Rev: Nimbate Goddess seated on a high-backed throne, holding cornucopia in one hand and diadem in the other; Brahmi legend Parakramah in the right field and Tamgha to the left. Buddhist and Jaina literature in Sanskrit were also written during the Gupta period Buddhist scholars Arya Deva, Arya Asanga and Vasubandhu of the Gupta period were the most notable writers. Guttas of Guttavalal, a minor dynasty based in present-day Karnataka, claimed descent from the imperial Guptas. Gupta art is regarded as the high point of classical Indian art, and their coinage as among the most beautiful of ancient India. An inscription records the construciton of a cave temple by Chandragupta's feudatory Maharaja Sanakanika, in year 82 of the c. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Pottery remained a basic part of industrial production, though the elegant black — polished ware was no longer used, instead an ordinary red ware with a brownish slip was produced in large quantities, some of it being made to look more opulent by the addition of mica in the clay which gave the vessels a metallic finish.
This may be a reference to Chandragupta's extension of the Gupta rule to the after his conquest of the Western Kshatrapa territory. The lowest unit of administration was the village. The territorial heads ruling over various parts of India could not counter the superior armed forces of Chandragupta I and had to surrender before him. The commercial prosperity of the Gupta era was the concluding phase of the economic momentum which began in the preceding period. In some cases, the Garuda is replaced by a peacock. The rulers lacked the capabilities of the earlier emperors to rule over such a large kingdom.
The Basarh clay seal mentions Dhruva-svamini as a queen of Chandragupta, and the mother of Govindagupta. Sharma, who studied the Buddhist image pedestal inscription, speculated that the scribe had mistakenly interchanged the years 121 and 15, but Falk calls this assumption unnecessary. This resulted in a decline in law and order. The Gupta inscriptions from north Bengal show that there were other units higher than the villages such as the Rural Board — Asthakuladhikarana which comprised of the village elders — Mahattaras and also included the village headman — Gramika and the householders Kutumbins. In course of time this kingdom became an all-India empire. Therefore, in quite a few cases, he returned the kingdom to the original kings and was satisfied only with collecting taxes from them. Eight out of the nine types known to have been struck by him have a figure of Garuda and the name of the King on it.
Samudragupta also believed in promoting goodwill among various religious communities. Religious grants were of two types: Agrahara grants were meant for the Brahmanas which meant to be perpetual, hereditary and tax-free, accompanied with the assignment of all land revenue. The Gupta gold coins, once an ultimate example of numismatic art, now began to lose their lustre and the political strain became evident in coin designs and its execution. Instead agricultural and craft production had shown substantial increase. Samudragupta became the ruler after subduing his rival Kacha, an obscure prince of the dynasty. In the general markets, there were no butchers' shops or alcohol dealers, and the people did not keep pigs or fowl.
The coins of this type reappear in the second decade of the 5th century, and are dated in the Gupta era, which suggests that Chandragupta subjugated the Western Kshatrapas. Similar coins issued by his father Samudragupta depict the king slaying a tiger, and bear the legend vyaghra-parakramaha. The importance of this group lies in the innovation of a shikhara or tower that caps the sanctum, the main feature of the nagara style. Penance was provided to remove the sin arising out of touching a chandala. Samudra Gupta: Samudragupta, a legendary king by the virtue of his military prowess and administrative efficiency, was an important ruler of the Gupta Empire.
The period also saw the compilation of various Smritis or the law-books written in verse. The clothes worn by the king resemble more the clothes in the later Sceptre type coins of Samudragupta see the second through the fourth coins above rather than the fully Kushan style clothes in the earliest Sceptre type coins, such as the first coin above. The Varna system did not always function smoothly. The coins depicted the ruling monarch on the obverse and carried legends with the figure of a goddess on the reverse. Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta Caves, too, are based on the Gupta style of architecture.