The Gupta Golden Age

The decline of the Maurya empire led to what is known as the 'Middle Period' or 'Middle Kingdoms' period in S Asia, roughly 200 BCE to 1200 CE. The period can be subdivided further into Classical (200BCE - 500 CE) and Medieval (500-1200 CE). The region fragmented into several empires and kingdoms.

 Circa 240CE, Sri Gupta received lands from the Kushan Empire in the north and east (near modern day Nepal and Bengal), and began the creation of a small Hindu kingdom. Traditionally, the Gupta rulers, who were Hindu, came from the Vaishya (farmer & merchant) caste, which would make their rise significant and a challenge to the traditional Hindu social structure; but as so often seems the case, this attribution was made for political reasons and scholars think they likely came from the Brahmin caste.

Sri Gupta's grandson, Chandragupta I, came to power in 320 and through marriage and other alliances began expanding his power in the region; his son, Samudragupta, ruled from 335-80 and continued expanding the empire by conquering numerous small kingdoms and what is now Kashmir and Afghanistan, while also support arts and culture. This began what is known as the Gupta Golden Age. A series of strong rulers who were both capable militarily and adept administrators and patrons kept the empire strong and flourishing until circa 600, when it collapsed due to internal conflict and pressure from the Huns.

 

The Gupta Golden Age

The Gupta Golden Age occurred during a time of political unification under a Hindu dynasty, with significant developments in art, literature, science, medicine and more. Chess was created at this time, although a different game from what we know now; and Indian thinkers developed ideas critical to modern mathematics.

Sanskrit reemerged as the common literary language, and the courts of the Gupta rulers became centers of patronage and production. The famous (or infamous) Kama Sutra reached its final form in this period. Although westerners think of it primarily as a sex manual, taken as a whole it is more about love and pleasure generally through good living. Large numbers of plays and poems were created. One notable playwright was Vishakhadatta, who likely was a statesman who turned to plays; his Mudrarakshasa (the Signet/Seal of the Minister) tells the story of Chandragupta Maurya.

Indian science and medicine thrived at this time. The Sushruta Samhita is and important collection and redaction on medicine and surgery surgery, discussing diagnosis, pathology, pharmaceutical drugs, and surgery. The text noted different opinions about medicine and biology, and collectively it is one of the great classic texts of medicine. Aryabhata (476-550) was a mathematician and astronomer who is credited with devising the concept (though not the numeral) of 'zero'. He also werote on geometry, approximating Pi and devising the concepts of sine and cosine, all of which would be critical to the later development of algebra and trigonometry. Varahamihira (505-587) was another astronomer and mathematician, who improved Aryabhata's tables and worked on optics and the movement of the planets. Perhaps ones of the greatest contributions was the development of Indian numerals - what are known in the west as Arabic numerals - but they originated in South Asia, before being adopted by the Persians and then in the west. These numerals, along with the decimal place system, allowed more extensive and easier calculations (have you every tried multiplying or dividing using Roman numerals?).

The Gupta rulers supported Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina monasteries and temples, and the architecture of the period is what people most associate with South Asia; Mathura and Gandhara were major centers of artistic and architectural development.

 

Caves at Ajanta:

 

Ellora

 

Elephanta:

 

 

Dashavatara temple, Deogarh

 

Mahabodhi temple

 

 

South Asia and the Wider World

South Asia was by no means isolated during this period. Buddhist missionaries traveled east and west,and had had at least some success in the Eastern Mediterranean as there are accounts of Greek Buddhist priests and Buddhist texts written in Greek date back at least to the 2nd century CE and early Christian writers of the same century knew of the existence of Buddhism. Christian missionaries arrived in India as well; the Saint Thomas Syro-Indian Christians of Kerala, India trace their conversion back to St. Thomas the Apostle who arrived in Kerala in 52 CE, and Roman writers spoke of the community in the 3rd and 4th centuries; additional Christians from Syria arrived around that time as well. South Asia had connections with the East as well; Buddhist missionaries spread far and wide in East and SE Asia. Fa Xian (or Faxian) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled from China to India in the late 4th to early 5th c. CE and who wrote about his journeys.

 

(I'd hope to add more on art and literature, but there is already a lot of material here.)