IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D - Rise and Growth of Guptas

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

Rise and Growth of Guptas

Structure

32.0 Objectives
32.1 Introduction
32.2 Political Background
32.2.1 North-western and Northern India
32.2.2 Western and Central lndia
32.2.3 The Deccan and South lndia
32.3 The Rise of the Guptas
32.3.1 Samudragupts
32.3.2 Expansion and Consolidation
32.4 Chandragupta-I1
32.5 Kumaragupta-I
32.6 Skandagupta
32.7 Disintegration of the Gupta Empire
32.8 Let us Sum Up
32.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

32.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you shall be able to:
know about the political conditions in India at the beginning of the fourth century A.D.,
familiarise yourself with the circumstances that led to the rise of Gupta power,
know about the expansion and consolidation of the Gupta empire. ' understand the order of succession of the Gupta rulers and their military exploits, and
understand the process that led to the decline of Guptas.

32.1 INTRODUCTION

In this Unit, after briefly discussing the political situation of the fourth century A.D. we go
on to analyse the historical situation which led to the rise of the Gupta dynasty. The attempt
here will be to give you a political outline of the period. We take into account the
controversies relating to the succession of Gupta kings and at the same time discuss some of
their achievements which made possible the formation and consolidation of the empire.
Kings like Samudragupta, Chandragupta-11, Kumaragupta and Skandagupta figure very
prominently in the history of the empire. The Unit also takes into account some of the
problems faced by the Gupta kings and the factors responsible for the decline of Gupta rule.

32.2 POLITICAL BACKGROUND

In the beginning of the fourth century A.D. no large state structure existed in lndia. You
have read in Blocks VI and VII that in the post-Mauryan period two large state structures
had emerged in north India and in the Deccan. These were the Kushana state of the north
and the Satavahana state of the Deccan. But although the Kushanas and Saka chiefs
continued to rule even in early fourth century A.D., their power had become considerably
weak, and the Satavahana state had disappeared before the middle of the third century A.D.
This does not however mean that there was complete political vacuum. There was no major
political power but there were minor powers and new families of rulers were emerging. It
was in this situation that the Guytas, a family of uncertain origins, began to build up an
empire from the beginning of the fourth century A.D. Before we take up the history of this
empire, we present an outline of the political situation of this period by taking up different
regions separately.