SUPTA PERIOD (320 CE-750 BC) The Gupta empire was founded in northern India at the beginning of the fourth century AD after along period of chaos which ensued when the Kushan empire ended in the middle of the third century. It is only with the foundation of Gupta Empire, that there was once again unity and peace over almost the whole of North India. The Gupta empire lasted for more than two centurie: and was vast: it stretched over the major part of north India and to Balkh in the east. Known as the ‘Golden Age’ and the ‘Classical Period’, in the age of the Guptas a degree of balance and harmony in all the arts and an efficient system of administration was achieved. Most probably the Guptas is that the Guptas came from Bengal. At the beginning of the 4th century the Guptas ruléd'a few small Hindu kingdoms in Magacha and around modern-day Uttar Pradesh.Gupta Empire Clothing Male Clothing: + Clothing in Gupta period was mainly cut and sewn garments. + Along sleeved brocaded tunic became the main costume for privileged people like the nobles and courtiers. * The main costume for the king was most often a blue closely woven. antariya, perhaps with a block printed pattern + In order to tighten the antariya, a plain belt took the position of kayabandh. * Mukatavati (necklace which has a string with pearls), kayura (armband), kundala (earring), kinkini (small anklet with bells), mekhala (pendant hung at the centre, also known as katisutra), nupura (anklet made of beads) were some of the ornaments made of gold, used in that time. + There was an extensive use of ivory during that period for jewellery and ornaments._ Female Clothing: Stitched garments became very popular in this period only. Stitched garments became the sign of royalty. But antariya, uttariya, and other clothes still were in use. Gradually, the antariya worn by the women turned into gagri, which has many swirling effects exalted by its many folds. That's why, dancers used to wear it alot. As it is evident from many Ajanta paintings, women used to wear only the lower garment in those times, leaving the bust part bar Later on, various kinds of blouses (Cholis) evolved. Some of them had strings attached leaving the back open w others was used to tie from front side, exposing the midriff. Calanika was an antariya which could be worn as kachcha and lehnga style together. Women sometimes wore antariya in saree style, throwingone end prINCESS of it over the shoulder, but the main feature is that they did not use it to cover their heads as it was prominent in earlier periods.Military Clothing: * In early period the Gupta soldier had worn the antariya with his bare chest inadequately covered by the six jewel-striped channavira. This evolved into the more efficient foreign-influenced kancuka with trousers or short drawers, jhangia, and high boots, with a helmet or ‘cap, and sometimes a fillet to tie back the h + Later the soldier’s uniform was either a short-or-long-sleeved knee- length tunic, kancuka, which had a centre front opening with V- shaped or round neck. * The tunics were sometimes spotted with black aloe wood paste, which could be a type of tie-dye, or bandhni as known today. + This may have been their version of the camouflage on military uniforms. = The leaders or chieftains of the various contingents in the army were decked in pearl-embroidered tunics made from the famous stavarkha cloth of Sassanian origin and chaddars of many colors, or in the complete Central Asian outfit consisting of a dark blue quilted tunics with a V-shaped neck and long full sleeves with soft dark trousers and a saffron turban of Indian origin instead of Central Asian conical cap.Armour was worn as further protection. It was known as the cinacola, probably of Chinese origin. It was sleeveless covering the front and back, and was made of metal. A helmet for soldiers was known as sirastrajala. Bows were of two kinds: the simple one-piece bow and the classic double- curved bow probably made of three pieces.Gupta Period Headgear & Hairstyles Female Headgear & Hairstyles: + Female h worn with a centre parting which is covered by a decorative ornament attached to the mukuta (tiara) at the forehead and the jewelled braid at the left side of the nape; the braid then continues like a fillet around the crown of the head. + Highly decorative in embossed gold or silver, has little pendants suspended from it at the forehead. + Female votary's hair is worn in a large pompadour style on the crown of the head with tiny curls along the forehead. + From the elaborate tiara-like ornament around the head, strands of pearls form a net over the hair-style; there is a central ornament at the forehead from which are suspended strands of pearls. + Large flowers above the ears are used as further ornament: to the hairs‘Male Headgear & Hairstyles: For men, a tiara or crown with a band inset with pearls and something festooned with garlands replaced the turban. This slowly became more\common for the king when informally dressed in indigenous garments; attendants wore this as well with shoulder-length hair. In royal entourage, the turban continued to be worn by high officials, like the chamberlain, ministers, military officers, civic officials and so on, where it had become a distinctive symbol of their respective ranks. It could be of fine muslin tied over a large knot of hair at the centre of the forehead or a striped turban worn flat and twisted giving a rope-like effect to the cloth when wound. The ministers were often Brahmins with all their hi keeping only the ritual top knot. Generally, hair was worn loose by men, shoulder-length and curled, in the gurnakuntala style, sometimes with a head band to hold it in place, or adorned with a strand of pearls. shorn Young men‘Gupta Empire Jwellery Gold or hirana was more commonly used than ever before, especially in the Deccan where there were gold mines. Gold ornaments for both men and women were exquisitely made, acquiring a new delicacy as beaten work, filigree work and twisted wire was skillfully combined with jewels-particularly pearls. Kundala was the general term for earrings, which were mainly for two types, both of which were circular. One was a large ring type and other was a button type, karnaphul, with a plain or decorated surface. The sutra was a chain for the neck. When made of gold with precious stones in the centre, it was called hemasutra. But this was the era of the pearls necklaces or muktavali a single strand of small pearls was the haravsti, one of big pearls, the tarahara, and one with gem in the centre of the pearl was known as. sudha ekavali.The mekhala or girdle was worn by women quite low on the hips and suspended from the katisutra. The latter was probably a string tied at the waist and hidden under the upper edge of the antariya, in which it was rolled. The mekhala hung ina seductive clasp at the centre from this string, over or under which hung a small pleated frill of cloth. This is still seen in the Bharata Natyam dancer's costume of today. Men to hold the antariya used a simple straight belt or sometimes above it, which could have a buckle either square, round, rosette-shaped, or rectangular. On the women’s ankles the kinkini, with its small bells, tinkled as they moved, or there nupura (anklet) could be made from jewelled beads, maninupura. Although women of all classes wore anklets, they are not Seen on the feet of goddesses in sculpture Flowers in the form of necklaces, mala, were worn on the head, entwined in the hair, and looped around the neck or waist or worn crosswise in garlands on the chest.Textiles And Dyes * In the Gupta age the finest textiles were available, printed, painted, dyed, and richly patterned in weaves or embroidery the art of calico printing improved considerably and many of the traditional prints of today originated in this period. * There were checks, stripes, and bird and animal motifs, for example geese, swans, deer, elephants, and so on. * Delicate embroidery on muslins, consisting of hundreds on. * Delicate embroidery on muslins, consisting of hundreds of different varieties of flowers and birds, was skillfully executed, along with intricately woven brocades, which continued to be in vogue. * These brocades with floral designs from the Deccan and Paithan were like the Jamiwar andHimru fabrics of today. * The former is a silk floral, design on a wool background and the latter has cotton for its. main wrap. * Gauze from Decca was noted for its transparency and was said to be so fine that the only evidence of its presence was the delicate gold edging of cloth. This had led to the further sophistication of wearing a transparent garment over a brightly colored one. + Before this, the transparency of the cloth had only accentuated the nudity below.Gold and silver woven brocades of Benares, which had a very ancient tradition, were still used, and in the north and the north-west the art of embroidery reached the highest peak of development. was woven in black and white check patterns especially for cushions, which had handsome covers of, gold, silver or dark-colored cloth embroidered or patterned in silver stars or four-petalled flowers, or of striped materials with chess-patterned bands. Special bedeovers known as nicola and pracchadapata, and rugs or floor carpets known as rallaka and kambala were made. Dyeing too was very sophisticated and the diagonal stripes, which were popular, merged in each other in places as soft and dark tones. This beautiful effect was created by the resist dye technique Tie dying of Gujarat and Rajasthan, in many different patterns, was called pulakabandha and was used a great deal in the upper garments of women. The process of bleaching was perfected, and all thin brocades, which had been the prerogative of rich now, percolated to form the festive and bridal attire of the poorer classes, for which a special cheaper variety known, as rasimal was available. Special costly silken fabric known as stavaraka was originally manufactured in Persia and is known to have been imported into India. This was a cloth studded with clusters of bright pearls and worn by royalty.