The Guptas (c. 320-540 AD) and the Empire of Harsha 606-647
Overview
The Classical Age or imperial age of India is a period when the norms of Indian literature, art, architecture, and philosophy were established. It is also a period of political decentralization.
History
Candra Gupta I, the third king, married a Licchavi princess--an event celebrated in a series of gold coins, thus gained political control in the region of Magadha (east part of India near Calcutta). He took the title of great king of kings.
Samudragupta (ca. 335-375 AD) His military campaign was the final blow to the declining tribal system. Samudragupta also revived some Vedic practices such as horse sacrifice to assert imperial claim.
Chandra Gupta II ca. 375-415. Of all the Gupta kings, Chandra Gupta II is reputed to have shown the most chivalrous and heroic qualities.
Fa-hsien, a Chinese pilgrim, was in India from 399 to 414.
Kalidasa and his Play Sakuntala
The Harsha Kingdom 606-648
The king was credited with a grammatical work, poems, and three Sanskrit plays (two comedies and a Buddhist drama).
Hsuan Tsang, the Chinese monk, spent eight years in Harsha's dominions.
Political System and Administration
l More decentralized administratively.
l Harsha divided the national income into a quarter for government expenses, another quarter for the pay of publlic servants, a third quarter for the reward of intellectual attainments, and the last quarter for gifts.
Economy
l Land granted as salaries of government officials.
l Local village self-government
l Crops Sugar-cane and wheat were grown in the northwest and rice in Magadha and further east. Water-wheels which were used for irrigation had become a familiar part of the rural landscape.
l Taxation from various categories of produce at various stages fo production. The later Gupta coinage indicates an economic crisis.
l Commercial activities
Gupta Society
l Merchants, craftsman and their guilds (sreni)
l Caste system hardened
l Sati First in 510.
Education
l Major centers of studies
l Local schools
l Education of women
Gupta Culture
l Kamasutra
l Sciences
n Mathematics Sine, Decimal system [ Aryabhata I (b. 476)], Pi, numerical square and cube roots, arithmetical progressions, factors, positive and negative quantities. For at least 1,500 years Indians have led the world in understanding pure numbers and their characteristics.
n Medicine Ayurveda (the art of longevity), Caraka, Susruta, humours (wind, gall and mucus, and blood), spinal cord, nervous system, but lack of knowledge of brain, empirical surgery (rhinoplasty), Indian pharmacopoeia, the code of professional behavior.
n Logic