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Arthashastra:
Discovery: It was discovered in 1893 – 94
by H C Shastri. A curator in the museum
of Mysore. A person came to his office,
kept the manuscript on his table and left.
Later, when he saw that it is actually an
ancient manuscript, he tried to find the
man who brought that manuscript but he
was never found. So, we don’t have a
clue of where exactly it was kept all
these years.
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 In the book it is mentioned that it was

written by Kautilya. Historians have drawn
inference from the type of state authority
mentioned in the book matched with that of
the Mauryan rule, it is believed that
‘Kautilya’ might be ‘Chanakya’.
 Also since there is no mention of Mauryas,
Chandragupta and Bindusara, with whom
Chanakya was associated, it is still doubtful
whether Kautilaya and Chanakya are the
same person.
 Further the later part of book is written in a
form that was prevalent during the Gupta
period.
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Details of Arthashastra:
 The book is about state craft and general
administration.
 It is written in Sanskrit
 The theory of Saptang is mentioned in the
book. Saptang literally means seven limbs or
wings of a state. They are – King, ministers,
treasures, Army, Forts, Friends and
territory.
 Condition of a king and his duties.
 Officials at center and provincial to local level.
 Espionage system
 taxation
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Conditions required for becoming a King:

 Must belong to a noble family.
 Must have the knowledge of Artha (Economics) and Shastra
(war).

Duties of a King:
 Must be the protector of Dharma i.e. moral code of conduct.
 He must discharge his duties at all times. i.e. 24 * 7.

Ministers:
 For choosing Minister Arthashastra suggests that he
 Must have talent
 Must be loyal
But the king must have spies to check the activities of his
ministers.

Kautilya gave a list of top officials at the center. After the

king the most important officials were called the Tirthas
(18), followed by Adhyakshas (28).
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Some important Tirthas:

Post Work

Mantrim and Purohita Prime Minister and Chief

Priest
Samaharta Chief collector of revenue

Samvidhata Chief of treasury

Yuvaraj Crown Prince

Senapati Chief of the army

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Some important Adhyakshas:

Post Work

Sita Adhyaksha Incharge of crown’s agricultural

land
Lavana Adhaksha Incharge of salt

Mudra Adhyaksha Incharge of Passport

Maudra Adhyaksha Incharge of Currency

Rupdarshak Incharge of mint

Pautra Incharge of weights and

measures
Nauvna Incharge of boats
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Indica
 It was originally written by Megasthenes in Greek but
the original book has been lost.
 The book is available through the references of other
contemporary Greeco-Roman writers.
 Arian, Pliny, Justin, Diodorus, Plutarch and Strabo (
APJ, DPS)
 The author informs about the city of Patliputra and
wrote in praise that it was more beautiful than any
city of the west. The geographical description given
by Megasthanes matches the archeological findings
of the city.
 He wrote that Indian society was divided into seven
classes – Philosophers, peasants, herdsmen,
artisans, soldiers, inspectors and councilors.
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 He wrote in detail about Patliputra’s

administration which is not available in
other Indian sources.
 He wrote that Patliputra was administered
by six councils and each council had five
members. Each council was responsible
for different duties.
 He also mentions about similar
administration in armed forces. There
were councils for Navy, Commissariat,
Infantry, Cavalry, Elephants and Chariots.
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Mauryan Art:
Mauryan Art can be broadly divided into
two themes:
 Royal Art – Patronised by the throne
 Folk Art – taken by common people

Royal Art:
 Royal Art covers three aspects –
 Stupas and Chaityas
 Royal palace and city of Patliputra
 Ashokan pillars
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Patliputra City:
 The city was fortified with regular gates, the
remains of which have been found.
 Most of the construction in the city was of
wood.
 The remains of Chandragupta’s palace
have been found from ‘Kumhrar’, a place in
central Patna. It had a hall of 80 pillars. One
of these is still standing in the garden.
 Megasthenese and Fa-Hien, both have
mentioned about a wooden throne of
Chandragupta. Fa – Hien even wrote that
this throne was made in Heaven.
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Ashokan pillars:
 These pillars were made of sandstone, brought from Chunar
(Eastern UP)
 The pillars are monolithic i.e. made of a single stone except the
capital.
 The pillars were installed at different Buddhist holy place. Also
they were not a part of any structure but an independent
standing structure in themselves.
 Generally, these pillars were 50 – 60 feet tall and weighed 50 –
55 tonnes.
 These pillars are round in shape with a taper from bottom to
top.
 These pillars are shining because polishing art was well
developed in Magadhan empire.
 The ‘capital’ i.e. top of the pillar, was made with different
animals like bull, lion, elephant etc. depicting different aspects
of Buddha’s life.
 The pillar art of the Mauryan period was an independently and
indigenously developed art and not an extension of the Iranian
art as told by early British Historians.
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Folk Arts:
 Sculptural art was developed during the
Mauryan period but only few remains have
survived.
 The best specimen which have survived is
a Terracotta figurine of a female, popularly
known as Yakshini, a goddess popular in
all the three religions i.e. Hinduism,
Buddhism and Jainism.
 The Yakshini is kept in Patna Museum and
its one hand is broken.
 It is believed that it was an image of an
ideal women carrying ‘Chanwar’ in one
hand. A ‘Chanwar’ is a long soft brush
shaped fan.
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Pottery
 Potteries of Mauryan times have also
been found from different places mostly
of ‘Northern Black Painted Ware’ type
(NBPW).
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Decline of Mauryan Empire:

Several reasons are given to explain the
decline of the empire. Some of the
important once are:
 Over cenralisation of a vast empire.
 Spread of material knowledge outside
Magadhan Kingdom, which reduced their
dependence on Magadh and as such could
survive on their own.
 Lack of strong successors after Ashoka.
 The attacks of Shunga Dynasty over the
Mauryan territory. Pushyamitra Shunga
killed the last Mauryan ruler and founded a
new Shunga Dynasty.
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Post Mauryan Kingdoms

After The decline of Mauryan Empire, many

new foreign rulers arrived and had a deep
impact on the Indian society and culture.
Most important of them were –
 Indo – Greeks (Bactrian kings – Greeks –
2nd C BC)
 Shakas – Scythians – Central Asia – 1st C
BC
 Parthians – Pahalvas – Persia – 1st C AD
 Kushans – Yutchi tribe – Central Asia – 1st
C AD
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Indo – Greeks (Bactrians)

 They came 2nd C BC and got settled in
Northwestern India (Afghanistan) and made
Taxila their Capital.
 The first known king was Demetrius – 2nd C
BC.
 Their greatest king was Menander, known as
Milind in Indian literature.
 In his period, a great Buddhist scholar
Nagasena, also called Nagarjuna, wrote a
book ‘Milindpanho’ in Sanskrit.
 Milindpanho literally means questions of
Milind. It is a book on Buddhist philosophy,
where Milind is asking questions to a Buddhist
monk about life.
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Contribution of Bactrians:
 Coins: They were the first to use gold
coins in India. They were also the first to
use date and images on coins.
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Art:
They developed Gandhara school of sculptural art
also known as Hellenistic Art.
Hellenistic = Greek + Persian + Indian
 Themes – Buddha and his life were themes of
this art.
 These statues were found in Kabul – Banmiyan
(this was destroyed by Taliban few years ago),
Kandahar, Bagram, Heart and Taxila.
 They were mostly made of mud, schist,
sandstone and plaster.
 The statues were mostly made in standing
position.
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Greeco – Roman characteristics:

 Hairstyle – Curly (Greek)
 Ears – Long elongated (Roman)
 Eyes – Sharp (Greek)
 Faces – Flat and expressionless (Greek)
 Muscles – muscular (Roman and Greek
Gods like apolo and Zeus)
This art was developed most during the
Shakas and Kushans, during which the
tallest Buddhist statue was built in
Bamiyan. After it was destroyed, the tallest
is at China.
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Asia)
 Shakas came to India from Central Asia in 1st C AD
and settled in Punjab to Gujarat region. The wall of
China was built in the south to protect china from
Shaka attack in 3rd C.
 There were many dynasties in Shakas which ruled.
Shakas were a group of people and not a single
dynasty like Mauryas and Mughals.
 They had two major headquarters in India – Ujjain
and Mathura.
 They introduced the concept of ‘Kshatrapi’ system –
military governorship appointed by the king.
 They had a system of two rulers at a time, Father –
son, two brothers etc.
 Rudhradaman was the greatest king of Shakas in
2nd C AD.
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Junagarh inscription gives information

about him.
 The inscription is in Chaste Sanskrit.
 It informs about a dam repaired by
Rudradaman on Sudarshan lake in
Kathiawar Region.
 This dam was originally built under the
rule of Chandragupta Maurya in 4th C
BC.
 Rudradaman performed an
Ashwamegha yajna.
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Parthians (Phalvas) – Persia

 They came from Persia and settle in the
western part of India.
 Takht – e – Bahi inscription tells about
them.
 Most famous king is Gondopherous.
 It is believed that the first Christian
missionary, Saint Thomas, came to his
court around 52 AD. According to a
Christian tradition, Saint Thomas was
sent by the Christ himself.
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Asia
 They came from central Asia and
occupied area from Afghanistan,
Kashmir to Prayag (Allahabad).
 Amongst the foreigners they had the
largest empire.
 They had two headquartes – Peshawar
and Mathura.
 Kanishka was the most powerful king of
Kushans. And ruled in 1st – 2nd C.
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Important events:
 During his period the 4th Buddhist council
was held at Kashmir.
 The Buddhists were divided into Hinayana
and Mahayana.
 He preserved some holy relics of Buddha
including his tooth.
 He built several stupas.
 He was a follower of Mahayana.
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period:
Charak: ‘Charak Samhita’
 It is the first scientific book on medicine in
India. It describes in detail the symptoms,
causes, and cure of the diseases.
 Many surgical process and instruments are
also mentioned in the book.
 The book is known as the encyclopedia of
medicine in India.
Vasumitra and Ashvaghosha (Buddhist
Scholars)
 Asvaghosa wrote Buddha Charita. The first
biography of Buddha. It was written in
Sanskrit.
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Contribution of Kushans:
 They accepted Indian religion and language. As they
themselves were tribesmen they did not have an organized
religion before.
 They also followed Vaishnavism as it was more liberal than
Shaivism. For the first time there is a mention of ‘Vasudev
Krishna’ in Mathura.
 Horse riding was introduced by them. Use of stirrup,
saddle and reins was introduced. Chariots became
outdated.
 A new fashion and costumes were introduced. Hat,
leather boots, pants and overcoat.
 They patronized Mathura and Amravati school of art.
 They introduced the tradition of worshipping ancestors
called ‘Dev Kul’ tradition.
 They issued numerous gold coins. They metal was found
to be the purest amongst all gold coins even that of Gupta
period.
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Satavahanas/Andhras
 They ruled in the modern day Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh from 1st C BC to 3rd C
AD.
 They claimed that they were Brahmins.
 Gautamiputra Satkarni was their gratest ruler in 2nd C AD.
This society was probably matriarchal as their names
were prefixed by the names of their mother. Gautamiputra
means son of Gautami.
 Capital – Pratisthan/ Paithan
 Official language was Prakrit and they followed Vedic
Religion.
 They were the first in India who gave land grants to priest
class – both Brahmins and Buddhist.
 They patronized Amravati school of Arts.
 Two seaports were developed during their reign – Sopara
(Maharashtra) and Baruch (Gujarat).
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Mathura School of Art:

 A sculptural art.
 Related to all the three contemporary religions –
Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.
 The evidences came from Mathura and Kankalitila.
 The sculptures were mostly made of mud and red
sandstone.
 Buddha is depicted with hairlocks and better facial
expressions.
 Jain tirthankars – 23rd (Parsavnath) and 24th (Mahavira)
are found regularly.
 Vaishnavite deities were represented more than the
Shaivite – Vishnu, surya and Kuber are found regularly.
 The life of common people, costumes, flora and fauna
have been depicted in a better way in Mathura school of
Art.
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Amravati School of Arts:

 Main centers: Amravati, Goli, Ghantishila and
Guntur are the important centers from which the
remains have been found.
 Buddha and Bodhisatva were the most
important themes.
 Some of the statues were independently build
but some as a part of the building like stupas,
pillars, walls etc.
 The depiction of common life is much better than
Gandhara and Mathura art.
 This was patronized by Satavahanas and
Ishkavakus after them.
 They used sandstone and marble.
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The above sculptor depicts a heroic story in a narrative form. An

elephant goes berserk and people are running for safety, then
Buddha enters and elephant kneels before Buddha.
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Sangam Period:
 Sangam literally means ‘union’. It was an
assembly or Union of Tamil Poets.
 Although it was compiled/written in 6-7th C
AD, it depicts the society of 1st – 4th AD.
 Three types of Tamil Literary pieces are
found – Grammar, Poems and Epics.
 It describes the period of Pandyas, Cheras
and Cholas, The three important rival
kingdoms of South India. Detailed coverage
of these kingdoms will be done later.
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According to Legend (not history)

 There were 3 sangams which took more
than 10000 years to complete.
 They were patronized by 197 kings.
 6598 poets participated.
According to the legend, the three sangams
were held at:
 Madurai – Presided by Saint Agastya
 Kapatpuram – Presided by Tolkappiyar
 Madurai – Presided by Nakkhiran
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Important Literary pieces:

Tolkappiyam – By tolkappiyar
 It is a treatise on Grammar.

Collection of 18 Anthologies (collection of

poems):
 Ettitugai – 8 anthologies
 Padipattu – 10 anthologies
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Two great Epics:

Shilapaddigram (Jeweled Anklet): by Ilango Idigal
Main characters –
 Kovlan
 Kannagi (wife of Kovalan)
 Madhavi (lover of Kovalan)

Story
 First half of novel covers love affair between Kovalan and
Madhavi. In second half Kovalan is executed falsely with a
charge that he has stolen a jeweled anklet. Kannagi proves
the innocence of her husband and curses the village. The
village asks for forgiveness and she retreats to the jungle.
 Kannagi was worshipped throughout the South up to
Srilanka as a Goddess of Chastity.
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Manimekalai – by Sattanar
 It can be considered a sequel to Silapadigram.
 Manimekalai was the daughter of Kovalan and
Madhavi.
 She was chased by the local prince for
marriage. She refuses and runs away. Since all
the cities are mentioned in the epic, we get to
know about the condition of the cities,
occupation of people, dressing sense, trade
and other habits of contemporary society.
 Finally she takes shelter in a Buddhist
monastery and becomes a monk.
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Sangam Literature:
 In Sangam literature, three kingdoms are mentioned –
Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas.
 The literature informs us about the contemporary
economy, like agriculture was well developed and land
was fertile.
 Cotton cloth industry was also well developed. Main
center was Uraiyur.
 They had well developed port cities like Muziri in Kerala.
 Roman coins have been found at Arikamedu
(Pondicherry) and a Roman Colony was also found
there. Showing trade relations with Europe.
 They used animal pulled carts for transportation.
 Traders used to take their female folks with them unlike
the traders of the north.
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Society
 There were certain similarities and
dissimilarities from the north.
 The Varna ‘Kshatriya’ is almost missing in the
south.
 The Brahmins enjoyed the highest position in
the South as in the north but second highest
social significance was that of Vaishya.
 Similar Vedic rituals were prevalent here like
that of North.
 The Brahmins of South Ate non – vegetarian
and also took wine. It was not a taboo here like
it was in North India.
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 Gupta Dynasty was started by SriGupta. He

was a feudatory of Kushans and not a
sovereign ruler. The true independent ruler of
Guptas was Chandragupta I.
 Kings:
 Srigupta – 270-300 AD
 Ghatotkacha – 300 – 319 AD
 Chandragupta I – 319 – 335 AD
 Samudragupta – 335 – 375 AD
 Ramgupta – 375 380 AD
 Chandragupta II – 380 – 415 AD
 Skandgupta – 455 – 467 AD
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 Chandragupta I was the first

independent ruler of Gupta Dynasty. He
married a Lichchavi Princess.
Two of the Greatest kings of Guptas were
–
 Samudragupta
 Chandragupta II
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Samudragupta:
 The best source to know about
Samudragupta is the Prayag Prashasti
in Allahabad. It is written on an Ashokan
piller. It is of great historical importance
as details of three kings are engraved
on it. First, Ashoka, who initially
established it. Samudragupta, who got
his account written on it in Sanskrit and
finally, Jehangir, who got his account
inscribed in Persian.
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According to Prayag prashasti:

Samudragupta defeated
 Nine kings of Aryavrata, the most
famous of them being Nag dynasty.
 Eighteen kings of central India – most
famous being Atvika (a forest tribe)
 Twelve kings of Southern India – most
famous of them being Pallavas.
 Vincent Arthur Smith called him the
Napoleon of India.
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According to the Prayag Prashasti he

returned the kingdoms of most of the
kings on three conditions:
 The defeated king had to pay tribute to
Samudragupta.
 The defeated king had to come
personally to his court at least once in a
year, generally on his birthday.
 They had to get their daughter married to
Samudragupta.
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Coins
 He minted several type of gold coins with
different images. His own image with
goddess Lakshmi as he claimed he is an
Avatar of Vishnu on earth.
 Images of ‘Garuda’ were also minted.
 Images showing him playing Veena and
doing Ashvameghayajna.
 He was also known as Kaviraja.
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Chandragupta II: (350 – 415 AD)

 He adopted the title of Vikramaditya.

 He issued Silver coins. He was the first
Gupta king to do so.
 He made Ujjain his second Capital.
 He was a great patron of Art and literature.
It is believed that he had Navratnas in his
court. It is a matter of debate whether
Aryabhatta and Kalidasa were in his court
or not.
 ChandraGupta’s inscription has been found
in Udaigiri and Khandgiri.
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Fa hien: the first Chinese pilgrim came to India

during 399 – 412 AD.
 He came through land and returned through sea
route via Srilanka.
 He came to collect the Holy Buddhist texts.
 He visited several important Buddhist sites and cities,
including Patliputra and praised the beauty of the
throne of Chandragupta Maurya.
 He wrote about different Buddhist sects in India.
 He wrote about Indian society, there were things that
he praised like Cultural diversity and certain things
that he criticized like untouchability.
 He did not write about any king of India or prevalent
political conditions.
 However he did write about the moral character of
Indians which he thought was good.
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Kumaragupta:

 His inscription have been found from

several of UP and MP like Mathura and
Mandsor.
 During his period, the Huns (Central
Asian tribe) made their first attack in
India.
 During his period the famous Nalanda
Buddhist monastery and University was
built. He donated one village to it.
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 Skandgupta:
 His famous inscription has been found in
Junagarh.
 This inscription informs us of the victory
of Skandgupta over the Huns.
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Gupta Administration:
 King was considered as divine. In ancient
time, this theory was accepted in China and
Persia as well. Samudragupta claimed he
was the avatar of Vishnu on earth.
 Kingship was hereditary.
 There was no fixed rule for succession.
 King was an absolute monarch.
 The ministers could hold more than one
post unlike the mauryan administration.
 The post of some ministers and officers
was also hereditary.
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 The officers were also paid in land. This was the first time
in history when officers were paid in the form of land. This
led to the rise of feudalism. (Note: Satavahanas granted
land to priests, not officers.)
 The Brahmins got land grants with power to punish the
people to maintain law and order. These villages were
called Agrahara village or Brahmandeya Village.
 The Guptas as compared to Mauryas had small size
bureaucracy and the administration was more central.
 During this period autonomous trading bodies called
‘guilds’ were active.
 Rules were made by the guilds for the member of the
guilds like fixing the price, quality of goods and
obligations of the members. Guilds used to interfere in
some personal issues as well.
 Largest number of gold coins is found from this period.
 The violators of guild were punished by fine or
excommunication.
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Literature:
Gupta age was a golden period of literature. Gupta
literature can be broadly classified into
 Religious literature
 Secular literature

Religious Literature:
 Puranas
 Smritis
 Ramayana
 Mahabharata
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Puranas:
 It literally means the ‘Past’.
 There are 18 puranas written in ancient period some
before Guptas, some during Guptas and some post
Guptas.
 They are written in Chaste Sanskrit and are tales of Gods
and Goddesses.
 Through these books we get the chronology of the ancient
rulers/dynasties, including that of ‘Mahajanapadas’.
 These literature are a good source to know the
contemporary society and culture and to understand
different social institutions like marriage.
 The books are written in future tense.
 The modern Hindus treat them as holy books whereas
reformers like Raja Rammohun Roy and Dayanand
Saraswati condemned the Puranas and said that many
social evils of Hindu society has their roots in Puranas.
Dayanand Saraswati said, ‘Go back to the Vedas’.
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Smritis:
 Literally it means ‘Memory’.
 These are the law books written in Gupta and pre- Gupta
period.
 Manu Smriti – the oldest Smriti written during post Mauryan
period. It is the most comprehensive law book of the ancient
time.
 Narada Smriti – it gives a list of various privileges of Brahmans.
 These smritis made or fixed laws for individual and society
based on Varna system or caste heritage.
 In general most important rights were reserved for the upper
caste male and most duties especially physical duties were
assigned to people of lower Varnas and females of all Varnas.
 Most smritis assigned legalized property rights only to the male
members of the family. Some smriti writers gave ‘Stree dhan’ a
right of female but it was given only at the time of marriage and
in the form of cash and jewelry.
 In 18th C the British Government codified some laws of
Manusmriti under the title, ‘ A code of Gentoo laws’. It was
drafted in 1776.
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Ramayana:
 It is believed by linguistic analysis that it was written
in different phases between 2nd C and 4th C AD.
 Broadly it was written in two phases:
 In the first phase 12000 shlokas were written, then
again in second phase 12000 more shlokas were
written. Totally there are 24000 shlokas.
 It is believed that it was written by Valmiki.
 This was one of the most famous epics written in
long poetic style in Sanskrit. Many other versions of
Ramayana were written in different cultures and
periods. Two most popular ones are Kamban’s
Ramayana in Tamil and Ramcharitramanas in
Awadhi by Tulsidas.
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The epic gives some important messages

based on the contemporary value
system:
 Truth shall prevail.
 Father must be obeyed – Dashrath sent
Ram for vanvas and Ram went without a
protest.
 Elders must be respected – Laksman
voluntarily accompanied Ram.
 Women must obey their husband –
Agnipariksha
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Mahabharat:
Written in different phases, but finally compiled during Gupta
period i.e. 4th – 5th C AD.
 Broadly it was in three phases:
 1st phase: 8800 shlokas – known as Jai Samhita
 2nd phase: 16000 shlokas – known as Tav Samhita
 3rd phase: 1,00,000 shlokas – known as Shat Sahastra
Samhita
Longest epic in the world.
 The story is set in Later vedic period to Gupta period.
Kingdoms and cities that are mentioned are of Post Mauryan
times.
 Two stories are told parallel. There is a clan clash for kingdom
in the story between Kauravas and Pandavas. The other story
is of Vasudev Krishna of Mathura, believed to be the 8th
incarnation of Vishnu. (Ram is 7th incarnation)
 During Gupta period, Ram and Krishna avatars of Vishnu were
not that popular. Matsya avatar was more popular.
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Dramas
 Daridracharudatta – By Bhasa (It is the
oldest drama written in India)
 Mrichchakatikam (A little clay cart) – by
Shudrak
 Devichandraguptam – by Vishakhadutta
 Mudrarakshas – by Vishakhadutta
Note: Chanakya Niti is mentioned in
Mudrarakshas. In order to get the work
done, one need to use the following
tools – Sam (agreement), Dam (bribe),
Dand (attack) and Bheda(divide).
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Kalidasa’s wok:
 Dramas –
 Abhijyan Shakuntala – this is the most
famous of his works and his last work as
well.
 Malvikaagnimitra
 Vikramurvashi
Epics: (Mahakavya)
 Raghuvansham
 Kumarsambhav
Poetic Collection:
 Ritu Sambhav
 Meghadootam
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Scientific Literature:
Aryabhattika: On astronomy and mathematics – By Aryabhatta
 Aryabhatta was the first person to use ‘zero’. A person who
invented zero is an unknown Indian. ( Note: this question
have been asked in UPSC. That who of the following have
invented zero? And the answer given was an Unknown
Indian.)
 Aryabhatta was the first in India to treat mathematics and
Astronomy as the separate branches.

Panchasiddhantika: by Vrahamihir
 The book deals with astronomy and astrology.

Panchatantra : by Vishnu Sharma

 They short animal stories to build social values and morals.

Kamasutra – by Vatsyana
 Book on 64 different arts and crafts it includes – music, sculptor,
drama and lovemaking.
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Architecture:

Art of temple making started during this time. Most

important temples attributed to this period are:
 Sanchi’s temple – Sanchi
 Dashavatar temple – Devgarhi, Jhansi (UP) – first
pyramidal shaped temple in India.
 Nachnakuthar temple – MP
 Bhitargaon’s temple – near Kanpur

 Sanchi’s Temple:
 It is found near the great Sanchi stupa. It is regarded
as the oldest existing temple.
 It is small and has a flat roof.
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Dasavtar Temple:
 It is the first pyramidal shaped temple in
India. It is the first temple with a Shikhar
(Tower).
 It is the first temple to have a mandapa
 Garbha griha (the room where chief diety is
kept) – was generally made dark and
narrow to keep its mystical value intact.
 Devdassi Culture: Devdasis were the girls
married to Gods. They devoted their lives to
upkeep of temples. Later on they were
exploited by the priest and merchants.
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 Bhitargaon’s temple: It is the first brick

temple of India.
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Paintings during Gupta period:

 They are found from Ajnata and Bagh caves.
 Ajanta’s Rock cut caves were built during 2nd C – 7th
C AD. They were patronized by different rulers and
followers of Buddhism.
 25 caves are Vihara type (Where monks could live
and pray) and 4 are Chaitya type.
 The paintings are found on the walls and ceilings of
these caves.
 Most famous paintings have been found from caves
16, 17 and 19.
 Natural colours from vegetation were used.
 The themes were taken from Jataka tales and
various shades of Buddha’s life.
 Amongst the most famous paintings the ‘Apsara’ of
Ajanta had attracted the attention of the critics the
most.
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Harshavardhan: (606 – 647 AD)

Important points regarding
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Harshavardhan:
 He belonged to Pushyabhati dynasti.
 His elder brother, Rajya Vardhan, was
killed by Shashank,
 Harsha took revenge and defeated
Shashank. the king of Bengal.
 Harsha made Kannauj as his capital.
 The main source of Harsha is
‘Harshacharita’ his biography written by
Banbhatta. It’s the first biography of an
Indian king. Banbhatta also wrote
‘Kadambri’ a Sanskrit play.
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Harsha himself wrote three dramas:

 Priyadarshika (P)
 Nagananda (N)
 Ratnavali (R)

 According to the Aihole Inscription,

Pulakesin II (A chalukyan king) defeated
Harsha on the banks of river Narmada.
This is the first instance when a South
Indian king had defeated a north Indian
king.
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Huin Tsang visited his kingdom. According

to Huin Tsang, Harsha divided his
income into 4 equal parts:
 Army and administration
 Royal expenditure
 Religious grants
 Poor and destitudes
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 He conducted an all religion conference at

Kannauj which was presided by Huin Tsang.
 A fire burnt the conclave and 500 brahmins
were exiled by Harsha in this charge, this is
regarded as one of his intolerant acts.
 A festival called ‘Mahamokshaparishad’ held at
every 5 years at Prayag (Allahabad) in which
Shiva, Ganesha and Buddha were worshipped.
The fourth day was reserved for donations.
 Note: Harshavardhan was a follower of
Shiva and Buddha Both. He was a Shaivite
and later converted to Buddhist by Huin
Tsang.
 He is regarded as the last great king of the
Ancient Indian History.
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Huin Tsang:
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 He came through the land route and returned

from the same route (unlike Fa hien).
 He came to study at Nalanda, where he studied
‘Yogashastra’ and also taught for 9 years. He
wrote in detail about Nalanda.
 There was an entrance test for Nalanda.
 10,000 monks lived there, included teachers and
students. (based on archeological findings,
modern historians believe that this was an
exaggerated number.)
 200 villages were assigned for the maintenance
of Nalanda.
 This institution attracted large number of
scholars from SE Asia.
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 He also describes the ruined city of Patliputra

which was burnt before his arrival. Hence the
importance of Kannauj politically increased.
 Huin Tsang also met Pulakesin II at Badami and
Narsimha Varman of Pallava dynasty at Kanchi
Tamil Nadu.
 He wrote about Indian society and people. He
praised the moral character of the general
public but complained against regular robbery.
He himself was robbed four times.
 He also wrote about various sects of Buddhism
(18) which suggests that Buddhism was still
flourishing in India.
 He wrote his account under the name ‘Shi – Yu
– Qui’ (The world of the West).