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The Gupta Empire

The Gupta Period of India was not charac- EMPIRE OF GUPTA 400 CE THE GUPTA EMPIRE
terised by enormous material wealth or by 320 CE ............ Chandragupta I
335 CE ............ Samudragupta
elaborate trade activity. Bamiyana 380 CE ............ CHANDRAGUPTA II
Kapisi KUSHANAS AND SAKA
GANDHARA 415 CE ............ Kumaragupta I
It was defined by creativity. Flourishing arts, Purusapura Srinagari
Takasasila 455 CE ............ Skandagupta
Varana Sakala
fabulous literature and stupendous scholars HUNAS KARTRIPURA 467 CE ............ Purugupta
are just a few of the things that marked the Mulashthanapura Sthanvisvara 477 CE ............ Buddhagupta
540 CE ............ End of the Gupta dynasty
period. SINDHU YAUDHEYAS Hastinapura
Sindhu
Indraprastha
In 185 BCE, the Mauryan empire collapsed ARJUNAYANAS Ahicchatra Kapilavastu
Sravasti
G Vairata Mathura KAMRUPA
Ayodhya Kusinagara Lauhitya
when the last of the Mauryan kings was U Kanyakubja Vaisali
Puskara P T A KOSALA Nalanda Pataliputra PUNDRA Pragiyotisapura
S
Ganga
assassinated. In its place, small kingdoms ABHIRAS Prayaga Varanasi Rajagrha VARDHANA Davaka
Kajangala
Padmavati
Pundravardhana
arose throughout India. I N Vidisa D I A Buddha Gaya Karnasuvarna
Dvaraka Mahismati Narmada DAKSINA VANGA
KOSALA
For nearly 500 years, the various states Girinagara Bharukaccha Nandivardhana Mahanadi Tamralipti SAMATATA
SURASTRA Padmapura
warred with each other. In the northern Prabhasa Nasikya Ajanta Pravarapura Sripura
VIDARBHA
Surparaka Vatsagulma
territories, a new empire arose when a ruler Pratisthana Godavari Simhapura
Kalinganagara
VAKATAKAS
O F
B A Y
named Chandragupta I ascended the throne ASMAKA Krsna KALINGA B E N G A L
Vijayadurga KUNTALA
in 320 CE. He revived many principles of A R A B I A N Aegidi Vatapi Kandarapura REFERENCES
Mauryan government and paved the way S E A Vanavasi KADAMBAS Present external KALINGA
boundaries
States/Kingdoms
for his son, Samudragupta, to develop an Nandagiri PALLAVAS Place names Kancipuram
Temples
Talavanapura Kancipuram Stupa
extensive empire. Kaveri Buddhist shrines
Buddhist temples & Monuments ANDMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS
Uraiyur
POLITICAL HISTORY (INDIA) Vanci Madurai Capital (INDIA)
CHERAS
Cave temples
PANDYAS Ramesvaram Approximate boundary
Chandragupta I (AD 320-335) of Gupta empire
LAKSHADWEEP
Kumari Korkai Independent states
From the Kushans, the Gupta kings learned SIMHALA
the benefit of maintaining a cavalry and INDIAN OCEAN
Chandragupta I, son of Ghatotkacha, made
effective use of his strong army. Through his
marriage with Licchhavi Princess Kumaradevi,
Chandragupta I received the ownership of rich
mines full of iron ore adjacent to his kingdom.
Metallurgy was already at an advanced stage and
forged iron was not only used to meet the inter-
nal demands, but also became a valuable trade
commodity. The territorial heads ruling over
various parts of India could not counter the
superior armed forces of Chandragupta I and
Chandragupta I
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