Gupta dynasty: The golden age versus the age of feudalism

The Gupta Age was a dynamic period in ancient Indian history, which lasted for two centuries, and left a powerful impact on India’s cultural heritage to earn the tag of ‘Golden Age’ conferred upon it by pre-independence Indian historians.

However, this terminology was soon contested by a number of Marxist historians who highlighted the inequities of the period caused by the rise of caste-based hierarchy in favour of the ‘twice-born’ Brahmans and Kshatriyas. The Marxist historians have thus derided the period’s achievements in art, literature, architecture and metallurgy as benefitting only the upper caste elite and thus not worthy of the sobriquet of a golden age.

The Gupta Age has thus been a matter of unending debate in academic circles between the ‘nationalist’ and ‘Marxist’ historians with diametrically-opposite views of this classical period which saw ‘perfection’ as the keyword in all its activities. This perfection is seen through the legacy of the Gupta period whether it is the ‘unrustable’ Delhi Iron Pillar,  Kalidas’ unmatchable poetical compositions in Classical Sanskrit or the gold coins of the Gupta dynasty.

The Gupta Age began in 320 C. E. under Chandra Gupta I who raised his obscure family’s profile by marrying into the well-established political clan of Licchavis. He thus set into motion a mechanism which aided his son and successor, Samudra Gupta’s expansion of the Pataliputra-based kingdom into an empire. Samudra Gupta’s reign saw massive military expansion (his gold coins hail him as ‘Parakramah’, the all-conquering one) but was soon followed by peaceful conditions in northern India after his all-conquering Ashwamedha ended with an all-round victory.

Samudra Gupta was initially succeeded by his eldest son, Rama Gupta who was soon deposed by his younger brother, Chandra Gupta II due to inefficiency. It was under this ruler whose coins proclaim him as Vikramaditya ‘the Shining Sun’ that the Gupta Empire expanded into western India by the conquest of Malwa and Gujarat from the last of the Shakas. This feat of Chandra Gupta II has led to his identification with the legendary Vikramaditya or at least seen as the inspiration for the tales of the mythical brave king who dares the unknown. Chandra Gupta II also made peace with his Deccan contemporaries, the Vakatakas by marrying his daughter, Prabhavati to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king. This indirect expansion ensured external peace as well for the Gupta realm. Chandra Gupta II’s reign thus saw the creation of the unrustable Iron Pillar as ‘a lofty standard to Lord Vishnu’, the rise of Kalidas, a contemporary Sanskrit poet whose Raghuvamsa depicts the feats of Raghu, an ancestor of Rama which are uncannily similar to those of Samudra Gupta and his illustrious son. Raghuvamsa depicts the king’s ultimate goal as the welfare of one and all.  

Furthermore, according to Fa Hien, Pataliputra was indeed a utopian city with a cosmopolitan culture encouraging both Buddhist and Brahmanical practices with magnificent stupas and an annual Buddhist festival though the Emperor declares himself as ‘Paramabhagavata’ ‘the foremost devotee of Vishnu’ on his coins. This account demolishes another Marxist claim of strife between ‘Buddhism’ and Brahmanism. Fa Hien does go on to describe the caste-based hierarchy prevalent in the period in which the Chandalas were the lowest in stature. Thus, the Gupta Age presents us a mixed picture of perfection with rise of caste-based hierarchical divisions. The latter becomes more acute especially when viewed from modern perceptions which needn’t have been the case, as in practice, harmony seemed to dominate the scenario on the ground as evident by Fa Hien’s unbiased accounts of the period when gold literally flowed through the land.