Gupta and its contemporaries
The political history of north india during 300-600ce was dominated by the gupta dynasty. Indian historians portrayed the gupta period as a golden age. The features were the political unification of large part of the subcontinent under what was presumed to be a centralized government , the production of exceptionally fine works of Sanskrit literature, developments in the field of sculpture and arts, economic prosperity and social harmony etc. r s Sharma argued that main features of feudalism existed in the gupta period. Royal grants of land, transfer of fiscal and judicial rights to the beneficiaries , grant of rights over peasants, artisans and merchants, an increased incidence of forced labor, a decline in trade and coinage, growth of obligations of subordinates etc were the features.
The political history of 300-600—was reconstructed largely on the basis of coins and inscriptions. There were no specific details about the origin or social background of guptas. Evidence on origin of Gupta family is limited. The name could indicate that they were of the Vaishya caste but some historians give them Brahmana status. The dynasty started with the accession of Chandra Gupta I. He has the title ‘maharajadhiraja’. He married a Lichchhavi princess and this set a stamp of acceptability on the Guptas and also was politically advantageous to them. The Gupta period from 319-20 is thought to commemorate this accession.
information regarding samudragupta , the successor of Chandra gupta I is based on inscriptions and coins. His initial military campaigns were directed towards extending his control over territories lying immediately beyond this area Samudra Gupta claimed that he was appointed by his father to succeed him, but trouble over succession to Chandra Gupta I and the coins of a prince Kacha suggests that Samudra Gupta had a rival. A lengthy eulogy on him was inscribed at an Ashokan pillar in Allahabad. Is provides a list of kings and regions captured by him and his march across the subcontinent. Samudragupta emerges from the Allahabad prashasti as a restless conqueror. He is also described as an able and compassionate ruler concerned about the welfare of his subjects The emphasis was on paying tribute rather than annexing territories. Four northern kings were conquered and the kings of the south and east were forced to pay tribute. At the end of his reign samudraguptas empire seems to have comprised much of north india with the exception of Kashmir, western Punjab, rajasthan, sind and Gujarat. It included the highlands of central india to the east of Jabalpur, chattisgarh, orrisa and area on the eastern coast upto chingleput. still further south lay the island of sri lanka also acknowledged gupta suzerainty. The guptas did not create an all india empire under their direct control. But through their successful military campaign they, did establish a network of political relations of paramountcy and subordination that extended over a large part of the subcontinent.
The prashasti or eulogy is praise of the kings and therefore cannot be considered literally always, although it has a historical core. His direct political control was confined to the Ganges plains since the Shakas of western India remained unconquered. Samudra gupta broke the power of the chiefdoms in Rajasthan which was unfortunate for later Gupta kings as there was no buffer zone present when the Huns invaded north India. A Chinese source presents that a Sinhala king from Srilanka sent presents and requested the Gupta kings permission to build a Buddhist monastery at Gaya.
Chandra Gupta II, his successor is reputed to have shown chivalric and heroic qualities. The peak of territorial expansion of Gupta Empire was reached during the reign of Chandragupta II. He had a reign of 40 years which had a mysterious beginning. It has been said that he killed his older brother and married his wife Dhruvadevi, after Rama Gupta had lost to the Shakas and had to surrender his wife. Chandra Gupta II’s major campaigns were against the Shakas. It gave the Guptas access to the pots of western India thus increasing trade. A marriage between Chandra Gupta II’s daughter and a Vakataka prince strengthened the relations between the two kingdoms. The meharauli inscription suggests that Chandragupta fought against a confederacy of enemies in Bengal and also led a campaign into Punjab. His coins and inscriptions showed that his rule extended into malwa and western India. Chandragupta 2nd was succeded by kumaragupta to perform the ashvametha sacrifice It was during the reign of his son Kumara Gupta that the first signs of the Hun invasions began. They were a branch of the white Huns, the hephthalites from central Asia. Their threat continued for the next hundred years. The Guptas managed to hold them off up to a point and were fairly successful. When the Huns had finally broken through they had been sufficiently weakened which prevented India from meeting the fate of the Roman Empire. Kumara Guptas successors could not defend the kingdom and his son Skanda Gupta battled against the Mlechchhas and also faces internal problems involving court rivalries and breaking away of feudatories. Fiscal problems and crisis is also suggested. After his death, Gupta power decreased at an increasing pace. A major blow was when the Huns broke in at the end of the 5th century. The potential for an imperial structure in northern India had been demolished. The Hun invasions did not die out till the end of the 6th century when the Persians attacked them at Bactria.
The guptas assumed imperial titles such as maharajadhiraja, parameshvara, parama-bhattaraka etc. they also connected themselves with the gods through epithets such as parama daivatha and parama bhagavatha. Some historians suggest that they claimed divine status.
Harsha
He began his reign in 606A.D. his biography written by Banabhatta was called the Harshacharita. In the course of the 41 years that he ruled, his tributary rulers included those of Nepal, Kashmir, Jalandhar and Valabhi. Harsha was unable to extend his power to the west as Shashanka was hostile to him. He suffered one major defeat to Pulikeshin II, a Chalukya king. Harsha realised the weakness of a cluster of small kingdoms and had conquered his neighbours to weld them into a larger structure. However, this did not last long owing to the political and economic conditions of the time. The kingdom of Harsha rapidly disintegrated into small states after his death.
Economy and administration
In the Ganges plains, under the direct control of the Guptas, the king was the centre of focus of administration assisted by princes, ministers and advisors. The officers in charge of districts were intermediaries and the link between local and central administration. Gupta empire was divided into provinces known as deshas , administered by officers known as uparikas who was directly appointed by king.
The provinces of gupta empire was divided into several districts known as vishayas under officers known as vishayapatis. Villages came under the control of rural bodies consisting of a headman and village elders. Gupta kings were assisted by a council of mantrins(ministers). Allahabad prasasti refers to council of ministers known as sabha. Mahasandhivigrahikas were in charge of relations with other states , initiating wars and concluding with treaties and alliances.
The Gupta state and its contemporaries made attempts at restructuring the agrarian economy. This took the form of land grants to individuals. They were made to religious institutions and Brahmanas or to officers. Brahmanas became proficient in supervising agrarian activities. Commercial enterprise was encouraged through donations to guilds. Thus the range of taxes coming to the state from commerce expanded. Grant land beneficiaries also became intermediaries in addition to the tributary rulers. Soon land grants superseded monetary donations to religious institutions. In the initial stages they were moderate, but in later times they became frequent. Officers were also given land instead of salaries for military and administrative services.
The granting of land changed the political economy through conversion to peasant cultivation in new areas. The price of land varied in different areas. The purchase of land for donation purpose to religious beneficiaries is recorded in inscriptions.
Pallavas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas
With the passing of the Guptas, historical interests shift southward to the Deccan. The polity of chiefships and small kingdoms from earlier times gave way to large kingdoms. The kingdoms of the Deccan maintained their historical role of bridging the north and the south.
For 300 years after mid 6th century three major kingdoms were in conflict. The Vakatakas in western Deccan gave way to the chalukyas. The chalukyas base was in northern Karnataka in Vapti. The power from the north was contained by the defeat of Harsha by Pulikeshin II. The origin of pallavas remains a matter of debate. Some suggest that they were a variant of Pahlava and the Pallavas were originally Parthians who had moved from western India to eastern peninsula. It has also been said that the original Pallava was the ancestor of Ashkoa the Mauryan king. The Pallava kingdom was regarded as rich and therefore much targeted. Mahendra Varman I was responsible for the growing strength of the Pallavas.
A long series of Chalukya-Pallava wars were wages with certain periods of no wars. Pulikeshin attacked the Kadambas and Gangas to the south and also led a successful attack on Andhra. After the death of Mahendra Varman his son, Narasimha Varman swept into the Chalukya capital and occupied it. A 12 year interregnum in the Chalukya dynasty led to a respite from war. The Pallavas meanwhile were also involved in naval warfare to support their ally the king of Srilanka.
In 655 one of the sons of Pulikeshin II managed to bring about a semblance of unity and Chalukya power was gradually restored. The wars began once again and both the sides suffered heavy losses. Both the armies were equally matched so victory was achieved only by a narrow margin. This period of war ended in 731 when the chalukyas and the Ganagas united in an attack against the Pallavas. The southern neighbours of the Pallavas, the Pandyas of Madurai also joined in the attack.
In the 7th century the Arabs had invaded Persia and some Zoroastrians migrated to India. The Arabs occupied Sindh in the 8th century and established footholds in western deccan in order to control the ports of the coast. The chalukyas had managed to hold them off so long, but Dantidurga, one of their subordinates and high official in the administration declared his independence and overthrew the chalukyas and established the rasktrakuta dynasty.
The rashtrakutas battened on the weakness of other kingdoms. They also had the advantage of controlling a large part of the seaboard and therefore trade. Dantidurga established the kindom in 753 and was succeded by Krishna I. The 10th ruler krsihna III was the last of major rashtrakuta rulers.
Economy
A relatively less obtrusive governmental system encouraged local autonomy in village and strict administrations without too much interference from the capital. There were assemblies of many varieties and levels and some of them were, those of merchants guilds, craftsmen artisans, weavers etc. and they had frequent meetings. There was a hierarchy of officials incharge of provincial administration. In the village the basic assembly was the sabha.
There was a gradual shift from ruling through chiefs to ruling through landed intermediaries. Grants were usually in perpetuity and their frequency increased over time. In some instances, by converting social groups into castes and slotting them into a hierarchy they were made more functional. There was an expansion of agriculture, however, this did not terminate other activities. Some of the royal revenue went in to maintain the army with the cavalry being the most expensive. The navy also assisted in maritime trade and continuing trade was one of the factors of urbanisations.
The location of vakataka’s original home is a subject of debate and some scholars place it in south india. Inscriptions and puranas indicate that this dynasty was initially established in the vindhian region, north of narmada. Vindhyashakti I was the founder of this dynasty. Harisena’s ajantha inscription deals with his military achievements and the describes the power of his cavalry and his army. The second king of this dynasty was pravarasena . he extended the empire southwards to vidharbha and areas of deccan. His capital was kanchanaka. The puranas mention him as performing 4 ashvamedhas, social vajipeya and vajimedha sacrifices accompanied by distribution of gifts. He was the only vakataka king with the title samrat. The successors of him was divided into at least two branches which on the basis of political centres refered to as padmapura-nandivardhana-pravarapura line and vastagulma line.. prithvisena 1 was his successor who was known as the righteous conqueror.he is compared to yudhishtra . his son rudrasena 2 was married to gupta princess daughter of Chandragupta 2. Pravarasena 2 was another important vakataka king. His death followed by a succession struggle in which narendrasena emerged successful. The last known king of this line was pritvisena 2. Vakataka inscriptions give only less information regarding administrative structure. Empire was divided into provinces known as rashtras or rajyas which were goverened by rajyadhikritas. The rajuka was connected with revenue assessment. The inscriptions of feudatories of vakatakas refer to some additional administrative terms. The rahasika seems to have been a confidential officer attached to the king.
In 4th century dynasties like pitribhakta’s matharas and vashishthas rose into power in southern Orissa. 5th century saw the rise of eastern gangas in southern kalinga .