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Gupta Origin and Sources

The document discusses the origin theory of the Gupta dynasty. There are no clear details about their background. It is believed by many historians that the Guptas belonged to a wealthy landowning family in Magadha who gradually gained political control of the region. Some historians assert that the Guptas were likely of Vaishya origin based on recommendations in texts like the Manusmriti that the suffix "Gupta" was appropriate for members of that varna. However, others argue the evidence is not conclusive either way regarding their precise social status.

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Bhanu Pratap Singh
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504 views3 pages

Gupta Origin and Sources

The document discusses the origin theory of the Gupta dynasty. There are no clear details about their background. It is believed by many historians that the Guptas belonged to a wealthy landowning family in Magadha who gradually gained political control of the region. Some historians assert that the Guptas were likely of Vaishya origin based on recommendations in texts like the Manusmriti that the suffix "Gupta" was appropriate for members of that varna. However, others argue the evidence is not conclusive either way regarding their precise social status.

Uploaded by

Bhanu Pratap Singh
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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History by Dr Yogesh Moral

Gupta Empire
Sources:

There are plenty of source materials to reconstruct the history of the


Gupta period. They include literary works, Inscriptions, Coins and
Monuments.

Literary sources: The Puranas like Vayu, Vishnu, Matsya,


Bhagavata, Skanda and Markandeya throw light on the royal
genealogy of Gupta kings.
The contemporary literary works like Devichandraguptam and
Mudrarakshasa written by Visakhadatta provide information
regarding the rise of the Guptas.
Kalidasa’s works Abhijnanasakuntalam, Meghadootam,
Raghuvamsam, Malavikagnimitram, Ritusamhara and
Kumarasambhava provide reliable information about the
government, society and religion of the Gupta period.
The Chinese Traveler Fahien, who visited India during the reign of
Chandragupta II has left a valuable account of the social,
economic and religious conditions of the Gupta empire. The
accounts of other Chinese Buddhist pilgrims to India like Hiuen
Tsang and I-tsing also gave us information about the popularity
of Buddhism during the Gupta period.

Inscriptions: The inscriptions are important sources for the reliable


history of the Guptas. They are incised mostly on stone, and some
on metal [copper plates]. Gupta epigraphs may broadly be divided
into two groups – Official records and Private records.

Official records: The Royal land grant inscriptions represent social


and economic process of the period and provide information about
the administrative structures and agrarian relations. Some
inscriptions of the period were in the nature of Prasastis or
describing the chronicles of events. The Prasasti of royal grants
mention details on royal genealogy and political events. The
History by Dr Yogesh Moral

epithets and descriptions of kings reflect prevailing hierarchies of


power and ideals of kingship. Allahabad stone pillar inscription of
Samudragupta, Mehrauli iron pillar inscription of Chandragupta II
and Junagarh rock inscription of Skandagupta fall under the
category. The most important source for the reign of Samudragupta
is the Allahabad pillar inscription. It describes Samudragupta’s
accession, military campaign, relationship with other contemporary
rulers and accomplishments as a poet and scholar. This inscription
engraved on an Ashokan pillar, written in Sanskrit language, using
Nagari script was composed by Harisena. These inscriptions furnish
valuable information about the polity, religion, society and economy
of the Gupta period.

Private records: The inscriptions of private individuals also offered


glimpses into social history and patronage to religious
establishments of the period

Numismatic evidence: The Gupta kings issued a large number of


gold and silver coins. Majority of the Gupta coins contain legends
and symbols. In design, execution and in artistic composition they
closely resemble the Greek and Kushan coins. The Kumaradevi
type coins of Chandragupta I are the earliest coins of the Guptas,
The coins issued by Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta
II, Kumaragupta, Skandagupta and Budhagupta were of inestimable
value for the reconstruction of the social,economic, political,
religious and artistic achievements of the Guptas.

Monuments are also a source of both artistic and religious history.


They illustrate (different schools of) Art and Architecture of the age.
History by Dr Yogesh Moral

Gupta Empire
Origin theory:

The origin of the Gupta dynasty is shrouded in mystery and often


controversial. There are no specific details about the origin or social
background of the Guptas. It is probable that the Guptas belonged
to a family of wealthy landowners who gradually gained political
control over the region of Magadha. It is mostly believed that the
Guptas were of Vaisya origin. The assertion that they were Vaisyas
is based on the recommendations in the contemporary literary texts
such as Manusmriti and Vishnu Purana that the name suffix ‘Gupta’
was appropriate for members of this varna.

Rama Shankar Tripathi wrote: When we enter upon the Gupta


period, we find ourselves on firmer ground owing to the discovery of
a series of contemporary inscriptions, and the history of India
regains interest and unity to a large extent. The origin of the Guptas
is shrouded in mystery, but on a consideration of the termination of
their names it has been contended with some plausibility that they
belonged to the Vaisya caste. Much stress should not, however, be
laid on this argument, and to give just one example to the contrary
we may cite Brahmagupta as the time of a celebrated Brahman
astronomer. Dr. Jayasval, on the other hand, suggested that the
Guptas were Caraskara Jats — originally from the Punjab. But the
evidence he relied on is hardly conclusive, as its pery basis, the
identification of Chandragupta I with Candasena of the Kaumudi
Mahotsava, is far from certain. Romila Thapar states that the
Gupta rulers may have been Vaishyas. And this argument is mostly
accepted by the mainstream historians.

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