The Guptas and Bihar

In the early fifth century CE, the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian (Fa-Hien) visited Pataliputra. He was struck by the ruins of Ashoka's palace — so grand, he thought, that it could not have been built by human hands — and by the city's free hospitals, where the poor and sick were cared for at the expense of wealthy families. The empire he travelled through was that of the Guptas, whose power had grown from the same Magadha region that had once produced the Mauryas.

Origins

• Sri Gupta and Ghatotkacha are named as early rulers, probably local chiefs in the Magadha–eastern Uttar Pradesh region.
• Chandragupta I (c. 319/320 CE) is regarded as the real founder of the empire. The Gupta era is generally counted from 319–320 CE.

Key rulers

Chandragupta I

• Married Kumaradevi, a Lichchhavi princess. The alliance was so important that coins show the royal couple together, with the legend "Lichchhavayah".
• The Lichchhavi connection — with its roots in Vaishali — likely strengthened his hold over Bihar.

Samudragupta (c. 335–375 CE)

• His achievements are recorded in the Prayag prashasti — an inscription on the Allahabad pillar (the same pillar that carries Ashokan edicts), composed by his court poet Harishena.
• Campaigns in the north (kings "uprooted") and the south (kings defeated and reinstated), and tributary relations with frontier states.
• Often called the "Napoleon of India" (a phrase from the historian V. A. Smith).
• Coins show him playing the veena, suggesting his interest in music; he also performed the Ashvamedha.

Chandragupta II (c. 375–415 CE)

• Title Vikramaditya.
• Defeated the Western Kshatrapas (Shakas), gaining control of western India and its ports.
• Married his daughter Prabhavatigupta to the Vakataka king Rudrasena II.
• His court is traditionally associated with the "navaratnas" (nine gems), including Kalidasa — though this tradition is later.
• Faxian visited India during his reign.

Kumaragupta I (c. 415–455 CE)

• Traditionally credited with founding the Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar.

Skandagupta (c. 455–467 CE)

• Repelled the Hunas (Huns); the Bhitari inscription records his achievements.

Pataliputra under the Guptas

Pataliputra remained an important city, though the Guptas also used other centres such as Ujjain and Ayodhya. Faxian's account describes:

• Ashoka's palace ruins;
• charitable hospitals;
• Buddhist monasteries;
• general prosperity and mild punishments.

Aryabhata of Kusumapura

• Aryabhata (born 476 CE) wrote the Aryabhatiya (499 CE), a landmark work in mathematics and astronomy.
• He is associated with Kusumapura, generally identified with Pataliputra.
• His contributions: an approximation of pi; the idea that the Earth rotates on its axis; explanations of eclipses as shadows rather than the work of demons; work on place-value notation and trigonometry.
• India's first satellite (1975) was named Aryabhata. Aryabhatta Knowledge University in Patna is named after him.

Administration

• The king held grand titles (Maharajadhiraja, Paramabhattaraka).
• Provinces (bhuktis) under uparikas; districts (vishayas) under vishayapatis.
• More decentralised than the Mauryas; local bodies of merchants and artisans had a role in town administration.
• Land grants to Brahmins and religious institutions increased — a process historians link to the growth of feudal tendencies.

Culture: the "classical age"

The label "golden age" is debated: prosperity and cultural achievement were real, but so were growing caste rigidity and the declining position of women in some respects.

Decline

• Huna invasions from the northwest.
• Weak successors and feudatories asserting independence (Maukharis, Later Guptas in Magadha, Vardhanas).
• Economic strain and decline of long-distance trade.

Practice

Prelims-style:

1. Whom did Chandragupta I marry, and why was the alliance important?
2. Who composed the Prayag prashasti?
3. Which Chinese pilgrim visited during Chandragupta II's reign?
4. Which Gupta ruler is traditionally credited with founding Nalanda?
5. Where did Aryabhata write, and what is his major work?

Mains-style:

• "The Gupta period is called the classical age of Indian culture." Critically examine.
• Discuss the contribution of Bihar to science and learning in ancient India, with reference to Aryabhata and Nalanda.