VEDIC LIFE

 The whole concept of race based on skeletal measurements & colour is now
regarded as of doubtful validity.
 The Aryan influx into India was not a single event.
o It covered several centuries & involved many Aryan tribes, often
considerably different from each other.
 The Vedic texts may chronologically be divided into 2 categories.
o Early Vedic (1500 – 1000 BC), when most of the hymns of the Rig Veda
were composed.
o Later Vedic (1000 – 600 BC), to which belong the remaining Vedas &
their branches.
 There were several inter-tribal wars among the Aryans.
 The chief opponents of the Aryans were the indigenous people of non-Aryan
origin.
o There was a general Aryan hostility towards the people known as Panis.
(Rig Veda)
 The Panis refused to patronize the Vedic priests & perform Vedic
rituals.
 They stole the cattle of the Aryans.
o More hated than the Panis were the Dasas or Dasyus. (Rig Veda)
 They may have been survivors of the late Harappan culture.
 They were ‘black-skinned’, ‘malignant’, ‘non-sacrificing’ & spoke
a language totally different from that of the Aryans.
o The Aryan war-god Indra is often invited to make good use of his
thunderbolt & to collect the heads of the enemies & crush them under his
wide foot. (Rig Veda)
o Owing to their superior military equipment the Aryans emerged victorious
in the protracted struggle against the indigenous tribes.
o The Aryan subjugation of the earlier inhabitants may be regarded as a
backward step.
 The Harappans were culturally far more advanced than their
conquerors who figure in the Rig Veda as destroyers of towns &
not their builders.
 The early Aryans did not have any advanced technology.
o Evidence for the use of bronze on any considerable scale is slight, & there
is no archaeological basis for the view that the early Aryan bronze-smiths
were highly skilled.
 The Aryans came to India as semi-nomadic people with mixed pastoral &
agricultural economy, in which cattle-rearing played a predominant role.
o Cattle formed their most valued possessions & the chief form of their
wealth.
o Prayers were made for the increase of cattle.
o The sacrificial priest was rewarded for his service with cattle, & the cow
was the chief medium of exchange.
 o Cattle were very often the cause of inter-tribal wars.
 Though cattle-breeding seems to have been the chief occupation of the early
Aryans, they also practised agriculture.
o The Rig Vedic Aryans cultivated land by means of the plough drawn by
oxen.
o References to ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing & winnowing occur
in the later portions of the Rig Veda.
o Agrarian economy therefore became more stable towards the end of the
early Vedic period.
 Early Aryans, who were essentially pastoral, did not develop any political
structure which could measure up to a state in either the ancient or the modern
sense.
o Kingship was a tribal institution.
o Primarily a military leader, the king fought for cows & not for territory.
o He ruled over his tribe (jana) & not over any specific area of land.
o The idea of territorial monarchy emerged towards the close of the Rig
Vedic period when the king came to be looked upon as an upholder of the
rashtra.
o However, his position was not beyond question & it is very likely that he
owed his office to the choice of the people, even though kingship was
perhaps confined to certain families.
o The principle of hereditary succession from father to son was not yet
established.
o The king’s authority was substantially limited by the tribal assemblies,
especially the sabha & the samiti, which discharged judicial & political
functions.
 Based on kinship, the early Aryan social organization was essentially tribal.
o The basic unit of the Aryan tribal society was the patriarchal family.
o In the hymns, desire is expressed for praja, including both boys & girls.
o But people seem to have been most keen on having brave sons (suvirah)
who might fight their wars.
o In spite of the patriarchal character of the family, the position of women
was much better in this period than in subsequent times.
 Girls normally married after puberty.
 In some cases a woman could freely mix with young men & carry
on love affairs.
 She could also take part in sacrifices with her husband.
 Some women were also said to have been authors of Rig Vedic
hymns.
 A childless widow could cohabit with her brother-in-law until the
birth of a son, a practice which was known as niyoga.
o When the Aryans came to India they were divided into 3 classes.
 The warriors or aristocracy.
 The priests.
 The common people.
 o The warrior class received the largest booty from tribal wars, but a
brahmana member of the tribe in the earliest stage had the same rights as
the common people.
o Evidence of the assimilation of the non-Aryans by the various sections of
the Aryan society is available.
 Several seers are described in the Rig Veda as black, which points
to their non-Aryan lineage.
 Like the non-Aryan priesthood, some conquered chiefs were also
assimilated & were given high status in Aryan society.
 Sudas seems to have had a Dasa origin.
 As the Aryans settled among them, they laid stress on purity of
blood & feared that their assimilation with dark-skinned local
inhabitants would lead to the loss of their Aryan identity, though
enough non-Aryan blood already flowed in their veins.
o The tribal classes tended to harden &, by the end of the Rig Vedic period,
society was divided into brahmana, kshatriya (known as rajanya in the
Vedic texts), vaishya & shudra classes.
 The Sanskrit word for class is varna (colour), which indicates the
origin of the 4 classes from the contact of the Aryans with the
people of different complexion & alien culture.
 The 4-fold division was given religious sanction.
o The consciousness of caste was as yet unknown.
 Professions were not hereditary, nor were there any rules limiting
marriage & inter-dining between various occupational classes f
society.
 The favour of the Rig Vedic gods could be won through sacrifices.
o But the real development of the sacrificial cult took place in the second
phase of Aryan expansion in India.
o The older gods may be traced back to the period when the Aryans had not
branched off from the Indo-European community.
o Non-Aryan influence on religion must have been felt very early; for some
of the Rig Vedic gods had a distinctly non-Aryan origin.
o A synthesis of Aryan & non-Aryan religious ideas was taking place
already.
 Great changes occurred in the Aryan mode of life during the later Vedic age.
o The later Vedic works show a wider knowledge of Indian geography than
is found in the Rig Veda.
 During the later Vedic period the Aryans shifted their scene of
activity to the region from the Yamuna to the western borders of
Bengal.
 Their old Aryan home in the Punjab seems to have been forgotten.
 References to it in later Vedic texts are rare; the few that we have
describe it as an impure land where the Vedic sacrifices were not
permitted.
o Land was cleared by means of fire, leading to the founding of new
settlements by migrating Aryan warrior-peasants.
 o Burning may have been supplemented by the use of the iron axe for
cutting the forests in some areas towards the end of the Vedic period.
 Excavations at Atranjikhera (UP) indicate the advent of iron in
western UP as early as 1000 BC.
 At many other sites in western UP & adjoining areas have been discovered
numerous shards of Painted Grey Ware.
o This pottery type has been generally associated with the later Vedic
Aryans, & from sites excavated so far one gets the impression that the
Aryan migrants were no longer nomads.
 They lived a settled life, domesticated animals & practised agriculture on a
greater scale than they had done earlier.
o Cattle still constituted the principal form of moveable property.
o Agriculture, however, became the chief means of livelihood.
o The idea of private possession of land gradually began to crystallize.
o The growing importance of agriculture undermines the earlier pastoral
economy, which could not feed the increasing population well enough.
 Simultaneously with the transition from pastoral to agricultural economy there
seem to have arisen several new arts & crafts.
o In place of the few occupations in the Rig Veda, many are enumerated in
the later Vedic literature.
o The rise of new arts & crafts may have led to rudimentary commodity
production & trade.
 Settled life led to a further crystallization of the 4-fold division of society.
o Brahmanas claimed both social & political privileges.
o Kshatriyas constituted the warrior class & came to be looked upon as
protectors of the people; the king was chosen from among them.
o Vaishyas devoted themselves to trade, agriculture & various crafts; they
were the tax-paying class.
o Shudras were meant to serve the 3 higher varnas & formed the bulk of the
labouring masses.
 With the emergence of the caste system certain social norms developed.
o Marriage between the members of the same gotra was not permitted.
 This applied especially to brahmanas.
o Members of the higher varna could marry shudra women.
o But marriage between men of the lower order & women of the higher
order was discountenanced.
o This was owing to the general strengthening of varna distinctions, which
began to appear in social life.
o A special position was claimed for the brahmins & the kshatriyas,
distinguishing them from the vaishyas & the shudras – a tendency which
became pronounced in the later centuries.
o But rules restricting inter-dining between higher & lower orders had not
yet evolved.
 The family tended to be more & more patriarchal: the birth of a son was more
welcome than that of a daughter who was often considered a source of misery.
 o Princes could take several wives.
o A reference to self-immolation is found.
o But it is certain that the practice of sati did not prevail on a considerable
scale, the sati was merely symbolic, for we hear of remarriage of widows
(niyoga).
o A good woman is one who does not talk back; & in this period women
ceased to participate in the deliberations of the tribal council called the
Sabha.
o All this considerably undermined their position.
o But early marriage of girls had not yet become customary, & here & there
they are found attending lectures by gurus & learning the Vedas.
 The material & social developments of the age were amply reflected in the
contemporary political system.
o Kingship was no longer tribal.
o Its territorial character came to be established.
o Unlike the earlier period, kings did not rule over nomadic tribes moving
from one place to another but over territories.
o Several kingdoms came to be established.
o Territorial monarchy derived strength form taxation, which started from
this period.
 Settled life & stable agriculture led to the production of
considerable surplus, & this could be collected by the king in the
form of taxes.
 This presents a contrast to the earlier period when he throve on
voluntary tributes & offerings.
 An official called bhagadugha, who collected the royal share of
the produce, is mentioned in the later Vedic texts.
o On account of an assured income from taxes the king could appoint many
officers.
 We hear of 12 ratnins (jewels).
 The officers were under the direct control of the king & were
maintained out of the taxes collected from the people.
 The royal entourage naturally enhanced the prestige & power of
the king.
o The increase in royal power owed considerably also to the gradual
weakening of the Sabha & the samiti, the 2 tribal councils which had
exercised an effective check on the king in the preceding period.
 In the emergent territorial states with jurisdiction over
comparatively larger areas, ordinary people could hardly afford to
travel long distances to attend the meetings of the popular
assemblies.
 Those who may have attended such meetings were either wealthy
members of society or residents of the capital.
 This in effect gave an aristocratic character to the Sabha & the
samiti & took away much of their effectiveness.
  They lost some of their activities to the new officials called
ratnins.
o What may have added substantially to royal authority was that kingship
ceased to be elective.
 Kingship became hereditary & gained in power.
 A glamour was created around the king by invoking various gods
at the consecration ceremony to endow him with their respective
qualities; in the rituals he was sometimes also represented as a god.
 The king derived much ideological support from the emerging
brahmana class.
 His position was that of a samrat, a monarch who owed allegiance
to none but controlled several kings.
 Elaborate sacrificial rites undermined the importance of the Rig Vedic gods, some
of whom faded into the background.
o The priests became the chief beneficiaries of the sacrifices & consequently
gained in power.
 Reaction to brahmanical dominance & the extremely ritualistic religion of the
Aryans can be seen in the Upanishads.
o The Upanishadic thought centres around the idea of soul (atman) & not
sacrifice (yajna).
 By the time of the Upanishads asceticism became fairly widespread.
o Ascetics lived either as solitary hermits or in small groups away from
society.
o Through self-training the hermits acquired magical power, formerly
ascribed to sacrifices.
o Asceticism thus challenged the supremacy of the Vedic sacrifice (yajna) &
hence of the brahmanas who chiefly profited from it.
o The brahmanas by way of compromise invented a formula by which the
life of an Aryan individual was divided into 4 stages (ashramas).
 First he was to be a brahmacharin, leading a celibate & austere life
as a student at his teacher’s house.
 Having learnt the Vedas or part of them, he was married, &
became a householder (grihastha).
 When well advanced in age, he withdrew from worldly life to
become an ascetic (vanaprastha).
 Finally in the ultimate phase of life, having freed his soul from
material ties by meditation & self torture, he became a wandering
ascetic (sanyasin).
o In this artificial scheme, asceticism was placed at the end of a man’s life.
o The 4 ashramas were not meant for the shudras.
 Education was not allowed to the members of the lower varnas.
o Education began with an investiture ceremony (upanayana).
o It was confined to brahmanas, kshatriyas & vaishyas.
o In Vedic times girls were also sometimes initiated.
 o Since the rite was thought of as accomplishing a second birth, members of
the 3 higher varnas were described by the epithet dvija (twice-born).
o Theoretically education was open to all dvijas, though the Vedas tended to
become an exclusive preserve of the brahmanas.
 The Aryans do not seem to have developed a system of writing.

JAINISM & BUDDHISM

 The basic factor that transformed the economic life of the people around 700 BC
in eastern UP & Bihar was the use of iron on a wider scale than in the preceding
period.
o As Aryan settlers moved eastward they spread the knowledge of iron.
 The use of iron tools & implements helped the clearance of woodland for bringing
the soil under the plough.
o The clearance of forests received scriptural sanction.
o The main initiative in the matter obviously came from the state, but
individual efforts at cutting down the forests & making the ground fit for
cultivation were not unknown.
 Improved knowledge of cultivation & the use of effective implements enabled the
peasants to produce more surplus, which helped the growth of towns.
o Many towns sprang up in northern India.
 An important factor that helped the growth of towns was the movement of
Alexander’s army from mainland Greece to India.
o It opened up a number of trade routes & revealed the possibilities of
mercantile relations between north-west India & western Asia.
o Besides, routes leading to the Deccan & south India offered new markets
for north Indian commodities.
o The discovery of Northern Black Polished Ware – the distinctive Gangetic
valley pottery - & iron objects assignable to the pre-Maurya period in the
northern Deccan, suggests some kind of commercial contact.
o But the main trade routes were along the Ganga, from Rajagriha to
Kaushambi which connected Ujjain (MP) with Broach, the chief port for
sea trade with the west; the route from Kaushambi leading across the
Punjab to Taxila was the outlet for India’s overland western trade.
 Trade was both the cause & effect of increasing urbanization.
 Trade received a great fillip from the use of metal coins in the post-Vedic period.
o These coins were issued by merchants & bore punch-marks, whence the
term punch-marked is used to describe them.
o The use of coins in this period seems fairly common, & even the price of a
dead mouse is stated in terms of money.
 The growth of towns, trade & money economy are closely linked up with the
development of diverse arts & crafts which had their beginnings in the earlier
period.
o The existence of so many crafts implies increasing specialization in the
field of commodity production.
 Artisans & craftsmen were very often organized into guilds.
o Each guild inhabited a particular section of the town.
o This led not only to the localization of crafts & industries but also to their
hereditary transmission from father to son.
o Every guild was presided over by a head (jetthaka).
o The setthis, who also sometimes headed the guilds, handled trade &
industries.
o The setthi was in some sense a financier or banker & sometimes also head
of a trade-guild.
o He was treated with respect even by absolute & despotic kings.
o All this implies that in towns artisans & setthis were emerging as
important social groups.
 In the countryside also a new social group was coming to the forefront by virtue
of its wealth.
o The greater part of land came to be owned by gahapatis (peasant-
proprietors).
o The emergence of the gahapati from the Vedic householder to a
comparatively wealthy head of the household may indicate the growing
disparity of wealth within society.
o Common people, slaves & labourers seem to have coveted his wealth &
wished him harm; often he is depicted as keeping a bodyguard to defend
himself.
 The rise of a new wealthy class in villages & towns caused economic inequalities,
which further liquidated tribal ideals of kinship & equality.
o Many tribes of the Vedic period were affected by the concentration of
private property in the hands of fewer persons.
o This naturally broke them into 4 orders.
o Social, legal & economic privileges, & disabilities were for the first time
defined in the post-Vedic brahmanical law books.
o Many aboriginal non-Aryan tribes, which remained unaffected by the
knowledge of iron technology, lived at a very low level of material
culture.
o The cultural lag of the aboriginals, living mainly as hunters & fowlers in
contrast to the varna-divided society which possessed the knowledge of
implements & agriculture, perhaps led in the post-Vedic period to the
growth of untouchability.
 The newly developed features of the social & economic life of the people did not
fit in with the Vedic ritualism & animal sacrifices, which had become a source of
senseless decimation of cattle wealth, the main basis of the new plough
agriculture.
o The conflict between the Vedic religious practices & the aspirations of the
rising social groups led to the search for new religious & philosophical
ideas which would fit with the basic changes in the material life of the
people.
 o Thus in the 6th century BC in the Gangetic valley there emerged many
religious teachers who preached against the Vedic religion.
 But of all the sects prevalent in northern India around the 6th century BC, only
Jainism & Buddhism came to stay in India as independent religions.
o The Jaina ideas were already circulated in the 7th century BC by Parshva.
 Jainism.
o Essentially aesthetic.
o Tirthankaras (prophets)- defied men
o Every mortal could become a tirthankara.
o Sole purpose of life was the purification of the soul.
 This could be achieved only through a long course of fasting,
rigorous practice of non-violence, truth, non-stealing, renunciation
& sexual continence.
o Their extreme practices could not win over a mass following.
 Buddhism.
o Eight-step path (astangamarga) – for nirvana.
 Proper vision.
 Right aim.
 Right speech.
 Proper action.
 Proper livelihood.
 Right effort.
 Correct awareness.
 Meditation.
 Common features between Jainism & Buddhism.
o The proponents of both sects had to put in considerable mental & physical
efforts.
o Denied authority of Vedas.
o Opposed animal sacrifices.
 The last 2 brought them into conflict with brahmanical orthodoxy.
 B & J – drawbacks.
o Neither waged any powerful struggle against the caste system or
untouchability. (B recognized untouchability)
o Did not try to abolish the existing social differentiations.

THE FIRST TERRITORIAL STATES

 Tribal political organization of Rig Vedic phase giving way to territorial state
towards end of Vedic period (strengthened in 6th century BC).
o 16 mahajanapadas existed – Gandhara, Kamboja, Assaka, Vatsa, Avanti,
Shurasena, Chedi, Malla, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Vajji (Vriji), Anga,
Kashi, Kosala & Magadha.
 Kashi was most important & lost its position to Magadha & Kosala.
o Vied with each other for control of the Ganga basin – riverine commercial
traffic – clear strategic & economic advantages.
 o Both patronized new religious preachers.
o Dynastic marriages used to promote good will.
o General monarchial antagonism against tribal organization.
o Real strength of tribes – in – well organized armies.
o One of the major tribes was Lichchhavis.
 Nandas sometimes described as the first empire builders of India.
 Alexander’s invasion opened up trade routes.
 Causes for the success of Magadha:
o Favourable geographical position.
o Rich alluvial soil providing a strong agricultural base.
o Thick forest near by provided timber and elephants.
o Richest deposits of Cu and Fe ore.
o Control of riverine traffic.
 Land taxes became the most favourable source of income for the state.
 New tax paying classes of artisans and traders.
 Oppressive taxation measures.
 Development of State machinery
 Large standing army
 Origin of legal and judicial system.
 Caste divided society.
o Sabha and samiti replaced by caste associations.
 Origin of territorial republics situated in the sub-Himalayan region as a reaction
against later Vedic pattern of life.
o Aimed at:
 Abolition of growing class and sex distinctions.
o Directed against
 Acceptance of superstitious religious practices.
 Hereditary kingship.
o Central feature - seemingly corporate character of govt.
o Neither democracy nor monarchy but oligarchy.

THE MAURYAN EMPIRE

 Chandragupta embraced Jainism towards the end of his life.

 Bindusara expanded the empire into south India.
 Ashoka expanded the empire to Kalinga.
 Ashoka embraced Buddhism but was never a monk.
 Huge army.
 Royal Order superseded all other sources of authority including Dharma.
 Vast bureaucracy.
 New settlements founded and shudras aided a settling down there as farmers in
order to bring virgin soil under the plough
o Fiscal exemptions and other concessions also granted.
 Exploited character of state demonstrated in Arthashastra.
 Elaborate system of taxes.
 Fairly common use of currency.
 Rigid control over trade and industry by a number of superintendents.
o Also direct involvement in trade and commodity production.
 State monopoly over mines and minerals.
 Social organization based on the varna system.
 Forced labour on shudras (vishthi)
 Arthashatra recommends recruitment of shudras and vaishyas in the army but
didn’t happen in reality.
 Slavery
o Megasthenes – “No slavery”
o However, did exist, because buying freedom allowed in India and not in
Greece.
 Social tensions
o Shudras and upper castes
o Heterodox sects and brahmanical religion.
 Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma to control social tension
o Aimed at building attitude of social responsibility among people.
o Emphasis on tolerance.
o Festive meetings or gatherings banned except those sponsored by the state.
o Included several measures related to social welfare.
o New class of officers called dhammamahamattas.
 Policy of Dhamma failed as social tensions continued.
 Decline of the Mauryan empire
o Economic consequences of Ashoka’s policy
 Too much money wasted on Buddhist missions and monasteries.
o Deforestation leading to decline in agriculture
o Gradual weakening of imperial finances.
 Failure to sustain vast bureaucracy and standing army.

FOREIGN INVASIONS & TRADE

 The Mauryas were succeeded by the Shungas in 180 BC.

o Pushyamitra Shunga, who assassinated the last Maurya king, Brihadratha,
was a brahmin.
o He is said to have been a persecutor of the Buddhists & destroyed several
Buddhist stupas. (Buddhist literature)
o Centre of administration was shifted to Vidisha in M.P. from Pataliputra.
 Shungas were succeeded by the Kanvas in about 80 BC.
o They were also brahmins.
o Didn’t last long & came to an end in 28 BC.
 Rise of independent principalities at Ayodhya, Kaushambi, Mathura &
Ahichchhatra.
 Onslaught of foreigners from the north-west.
o Bactrian Greeks, called Yavanas.
 Menander.
 Discussion with Buddhist philosopher Nagasena &
conversion to Buddhism.
o Pahlavas or Indo-Parthians.
 Gondopharnes.
 o Yueh-Chi tribe.
 Shakas – Moga or Maues.
o Kushanas.
 Kanishka.
 Buddhist convert.
 Convened 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir.
 Declined after death of Kanishka.
 Kalinga rose to prominence under Kharavela.
o Hatigumpha inscription.
o Was a Jain.
o Conquered Magadha.
 Satavahanas in the north-western Deccan.
o Also known as Andhras.
o Centre at Pratishtana.
o Simuka.
 Destroyed Shunga power.
o Succeeded by the Abhiras, Chutus & Kadambas.
o Later followed by the Ikshavakus.
 Pallavas.
 Vakatakas.
 Contact between Aryan north & Dravidian south began towards end of Vedic
period.
o Change from tribal chieftainship to kingship in south took longer.
o Cholas, Pandyas, Satiyaputras & Keralaputras (Cheras).
o Shangam literature.
 Result of assemblies held at Madurai.
 Tolkappiyam – Tamil grammar book.
 Ettuthogai – 8 anthologies.
o Contact with Rome & Egypt.
 Lack of rigid centralization.
o Practice of forging feudatory relationships with defeated kings.
 Kings came to be compared with gods.
 Satavahanas started the practice of donating land with fiscal & administrative
immunities to brahmins, Buddhists & monks.
o Inscriptional evidence.
o Made ostensibly on religious grounds but underlying idea was to extend
area of cultivation through private efforts.
 Thriving trade between India & the western world.
 Growth of money economy.
 Copper coins of Kushanas.
 Proliferation of arts & crafts.
o Formation of guilds by artisans.
 Guilds emerged as important factor in post-Maurya administration.
 Influx of foreigners threatened the varna order as they couldn’t classify the
foreigners into any varna.
o Their assimilation into Indian society was facilitated by Buddhism, which
did not have distinctions of caste.
 Buddhism flourished due to support from mercantile classes.
o Split into 2 sects.
 Hinayana – orthodox.
 Mahayana – bodhisattva doctrine.
 Jainism also split into 2 sects.
o Digambaras – orthodox.
o Shvetambaras – liberal.
 Hinduism.
o Split into 2 sects.
 Vaishnavites – followers of Vishnu.
 Shaivites – followers of Shiva.
o Assimilated a variety of popular cults.
o Shift from emphasis on ritual to devotion.
 Art.
o Mainly Buddhist.
o Also cave temples.
o Sculpture used as ornamentation.
o 2 schools of art.
 Gandhara school – influenced by Greek & Roman art – Buddhist.
 Mathura school – indigenous – founded by Jains – later Buddhist
too.
 Literature.
o Gathasaptashati – anthology of stanzas on love in a rural setting – in
Prakrit – written by Satavahana king Hala.
o Mahabhashya – commentary on earliest Sanskrit grammar.
o Manusmriti – legal text.
o Natyashastra – work on dramaturgy.
o Buddhacharita – life of Buddha – by Ashvaghosha.
 Ashvagosha first playwright in Sanskrit.

THE MYTH OF THE GOLDEN AGE

 The first Gupta ruler of consequence was Chandragupta I.

o He took the title of maharajadhiraja.
 He was succeeded by his son Samudragupta.
o His conquests are known from a lengthy eulogy composed by Harishena
& inscribed on an Ashokan pillar at Allahabad.
o Kings & tribes were conquered & brought under various degrees of
subjection.
o Kings are said to have been captured & then liberated & reinstated.
 o The forest states (atavirajyas) of central India & the Deccan, chiefs of the
5 border states & nine tribal republics in Rajasthan were forced to pay
tribute & taxes to him & obey his orders.
 The states which are stated to have succumbed to the power of Samudragupta
make a fairly long list & would cover a large part of the subcontinent.
o It is generally believed that he exercised direct administrative control only
over northern India.
o The kings of the Deccan & south India merely paid him homage; the
Shakas in western India seem to have remained unconquered.
o The tribal republican states of Rajasthan & the Punjab were not directly
administered by him, though he certainly finally broke their power.
 Chandragupta II’s campaign against the Shakas resulted in their final defeat & the
annexation of western India to the Gupta empire.
o The western boundaries of the empire became secure for some time, & the
Guptas gained control over the ports on the west coast.
o He entered into matrimonial alliance with a number of royal dynasties.
 He took the title of Vikramaditya or the Sun of Prowess.
 The Hun threat materialized in the reign of Kumaragupta’s successors, to whom
fell the real task of defending the empire.
o The situation became complicated owing to several domestic problems.
o His feudatories seem to have asserted themselves, & his debased coins
indicate a deep economic crisis in the empire.
 The disintegration of the Gupta power cannot be fully explained by the Hun
invasion.
o Perhaps it was the inevitable result of the manner in which the empire was
organized.
o Unlike the Mauryas, the Guptas adopted such pompous titles as
Parameshvara, maharajadhiraja, paramabhattaraka, etc., which imply
the existence of lesser kings with considerable authority within the empire.
o The major part of the territory conquered by the Guptas was ruled by such
feudatories.
o Only the nucleus of the empire was directly under the imperial rulers.
o As soon as the opportunity presented itself, they asserted their
independence reducing the empire to a mere shadow.
 In contrast to the Mauryas, the Guptas do not seem to have possessed a big
organized army.
o Probably troops supplied by the feudatories constituted the major portion
of the Gupta military strength.
o Also, the Guptas did not enjoy a monopoly of elephants & horses, which
were essential ingredients of military machinery.
o All this led to the increasing dependence on feudatories, who wielded
considerable authority at least on the fringes of the empire.
 Nor did the Guptas possess an elaborate & organized bureaucracy.
o The cadre which supplied superior officers was that of the kumaramatyas.
o Administrative posts also tended to become hereditary.
 o All this may have led to the weakening of the royal control over
administrative machinery.
 Decentralization of administrative authority was caused by increasing grants of
land & villages with fiscal & administrative immunities to priests & temples.
o Villages were granted in perpetuity with administrative rights.
 Land grants paved the way for feudal development.
o Emergence of serfdom.
o Grant of right of sub-infeudation.
o Forced labour (vishti).
 Guilds played an important role in administration of towns.
o Began to lose their importance due to decline in trade.
 Guptas issued largest number of gold coins in ancient India.
o Cowries were common medium of exchange. (Fa Hien)
 Decline of urban centres due to languishing trade.
 Status of women continued to decline.
o Denied right to property.
 Only stridhan.
 Varna system considerably modified due to proliferation of castes.
o Increase in number of shudras & untouchables due to absorption of forest
tribes.
 Feudalism well-established.
 Pronounced varna distinctions.
o Did not function smoothly.
 Bhakti movement.
o Final liberation only through devotion.
 Female deities incorporated.
o Growth of shakti cult.
 Vaishnavism most popular.
o Shaivism less popular due to extreme character.
 Buddhism & Jainism declined.
 6 schools of philosophical thought.
o Nyaya (analysis).
o Vaisheshika (individual characteristics).
o Sankhya (enumeration).
o Yoga (application).
o Mimansa (enquiry).
o Vedanta (end of the Vedas).
 Art, architecture, painting, sculpture & literature flourished.
 Described as period of Hindu renaissance.
o Not correct.
o Mostly Buddhist works.
o Mainly adoption of western scientific methods rather than development of
indigenous ones.
o Literature mainly continuance of earlier styles.
o Not seen as nationalists by contemporaries.