The classical Age - Gupta Empire and Harsha

The classical Age - Gupta Empire and Harsha-

Gupta age - Under Chandragupta I (320-335), empire was revived in the north. Like Chandragupta Maurya, he first conquered Magadha, set up his capital where the Mauryan capital had stood (Patna), and from this base consolidated a kingdom over the eastern portion of northern India. In addition, Chandragupta revived many of Asoka's principles of government. It was his son, however, Samudragupta (335-376), and later his grandson, Chandragupta II (376-415), who extended the kingdom into an empire over the whole of the north and the western Deccan. Chandragupta II was the greatest of the Gupta kings; called Vikramaditya ("The Sun of Power"), he presided over the greatest cultural age in India. From Pataliputra, their capital, they sought to retain political preeminence as much by pragmatism and judicious marriage alliances as by military strength. The greatest writer of the time was Kalidasa. Poetry in the Gupta age tended towards a few genres: religious and meditative poetry, lyric poetry, narrative histories (the most popular of the secular literatures), and drama. Kalidasa excelled at lyric poetry, but he is best known for his dramas. The Indian numeral system--sometimes erroneously attributed to the Arabs, who took it from India to Europe where it replaced the Roman system--and the decimal system are Indian inventions of this period. Aryabhatta's expositions on astronomy in 499 A.D, moreover, gave calculations of the solar year and the shape and movement of astral bodies with remarkable accuracy. In medicine, Charaka and Sushruta wrote about a fully evolved system. Indian physicians excelled in pharmacopoeia, caesarean section, bone setting, and skin grafting.

The Guptas fell prey, however, to a wave of migrations by the Huns, a people who originally lived north of China. Beginning in the 400's, the Huns began to put pressure on the Guptas. In 480 AD they conquered the Guptas and took over northern India. Western India was overrun by 500 A.D., and the last of the Gupta kings, presiding over a vastly diminished kingdom, perished in 550 A.D. A strange thing happened to the Huns in India as well as in Europe. Over the decades they gradually assimilated into the indigenous population and their state weakened.

Harsha Vardhana :

The northern and western regions of India passed into the hands of a dozen or more feudatories. Gradually, one of them, Prabhakar Vardhana, the ruler of Thanesar, who belonged to the Pushabhukti family, extended his control over all other feudatories. Prabhakar Vardhan was the first king of the Vardhan dynasty with his capital at Thanesar now a small town in the vicinity of Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana. After the death of Prabahakar Vardhan in 606 A.D., his eldest son, RajyaVardhan, became king of Kananuj. Harsha ascended the throne at the age of 16 after his brother Rajya Vardhana was killed in a battle against Malwa King Devigupta and Gauda King Sasanka..

Harsha, quickly reestablished an Indian empire. From 606-647 AD, he ruled over an empire in northern India. Harsha was perhaps one of the greatest conquerors of Indian history, and unlike all of his conquering predecessors, he was a brilliant administrator. He was also a great patron of culture. His capital city, Kanauj, extended for four or five miles along the Ganges River and was filled with magnificent buildings. Only one fourth of the taxes he collected went to administration of the government. The remainder went to charity, rewards, and especially to culture: art, literature, music, and religion.
The most significant achievements of this period, however, were in religion, education, mathematics, art, and Sanskrit literature and drama. The religion that later developed into modern Hinduism witnessed a crystallization of its components: major sectarian deities, image worship, bhakti (devotion), and the importance of the temple. Education included grammar, composition, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, medicine, and astronomy. These subjects became highly specialized and reached an advanced level.

Because of extensive trade, the culture of India became the dominant culture around the Bay of Bengal, profoundly and deeply influencing the cultures of Burma, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka. In many ways, the period during and following the Gupta dynasty was the period of "Greater India," a period of cultural activity in India and surrounding countries building off of the base of Indian culture.

The history of the Kingdom of Kanauj after the death of Harshavardhana can be said to have been uncertain till the year 730 AD, when Yashovarman is said to have ruled till 752 AD. This was followed by the Ayudha dynasty which comprised three kings. The first was Yajrayudha who is said to have ruled in about 770 AD. After Ayudhs, Prathihara King Nagabhatta II annexed Kannauj. North and north west part of India after Harsha Vardhana was mostly controlled by Pratihara Kings while Central India and part of South was mostly under Rashtrakutas dynasty (753-973 AD ). Pala Kings (750-1161 AD) ruled the Eastern part of India (present Bengal and Bihar).

Pala and Sena: 730-1197 A.D.

The Pala empire was founded in 730 AD. They ruled over parts of Bengal and Bihar. Dharmapala (780-812 AD) was one of the greatest kings of the Pala dynasty. He did much to restore the greatness of Pataliputra. The Nalanda university was revived under their rule. The Palas had close trade contacts and cultural links with South-East Asia.

In the early twelfth century, they were replaced by the Sena dynasty. In early 13th century, Tughan Khan defeated the Sena king, Laxman. After this defeat the Nalanda University was destroyed.

Pratiharas 750-920 AD

The greatest ruler of the Pratihara dynasty was Mihir Bhoja. He recovered Kanauj (Kanyakubja) by 836, and it remained the capital of the Pratiharas for almost a century. He built the city Bhojpal (Bhopal). Raja Bhoja and other valiant Gujara kings, faced and defeated many attacks of the Arabs from west. Between 915-918AD, attack by a Rashtrakuta king, to the weakening of the Pratihara Empire and also who devastated the city of Kannauj. In 1018 AD, Mahmud of Gazni sacked Kannauj then ruled by Rajyapala Pratihara. The empire broke into independent Rajput states.

Rashtrakutas 753-973A.D.

Dantidurga laid the foundation of Rashtrakuta empire. The Rashtrakuta's empire was the most powerful of the time. They ruled from Lattaluru (Latur), and later shifted the capital to Manyaketa (Malkhed).

Amoghavarsha (814-880AD) is the most famous Rashtrakuta kings. His long reign was distinguished for its royal patronage of Jainism and the flourishing of regional literature. Indra III, great-grandson of Amoghvarsha defeated the Pratihar king Mahipala. Krishana III was the last great king of Rashtrakuta dynasty. Rashtrakutas were great patrons of art and architecture. Krishana I, built the Kailasa Temple at Ellora. The caves at Gharapuri (Elephanta near Mumbai) were also built by this dynasty.