Gupta Period History UPSC ¦ Ancient History for UPSC

In the last video, we saw that Kanishka ruled from 78 AD to 120 AD. But he was not the founder of Kushan Empire. Kushan Empire was founded in 50 AD by the Kajula Catphises. And after them, the Bhima Catphises ruled till 78 AD. And in fact, after Kanishka's rule, his successors continued the Kushan Empire for about 150 years. Kanishka's immediate successor was Huwishka. Huwishka was Kanishka's son. And during his rule, the territorial area of Kushan Empire remained intact. No new territory was added to it. And none of the existing territories were lost. And the last ruler of Kushan Empire was Vasudev. During his rule, the Kushan Empire was completely disintegrated. And thus, the Kushan Empire was sealed. And after that, the period which is known as the Golden Age in the history of India began. This period is from 4th century AD to 5th century AD. Actually, this period is also known as the Gupta Period. And this period did not start immediately after the disintegration of the Kushan Empire. You can see a gap in the middle. You can see it as a period of chaos. Where no centralized power was ruling India. Similarly, we saw a similar period after the 5th century. But in today's video, we are focusing on this period. During this period, India had great wealth. It had the best universities in the world. And along with it, there was peace, prosperity, law and order. And this was the period when India's art, architecture and science reached new heights. We will discuss all these things in detail in the coming videos. But for now, it is important to know that this was the period when big empires like the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire wanted to trade with us. The Chinese wanted to learn from us. The Southeast Asians wanted to become like us. And we used to be an attractive place for big travelers. So let's talk about the details of the Gupta Period. In 240 AD, Shri Gupta founded the Gupta Dynasty. He ruled from 240 AD to 280 AD. After him, his son Ghatotkach ruled. And he ruled from 280 AD to 320 AD. But he was not a big king. He was a ruler of a small kingdom of Magadh. And if you look at the timeline, you can see that this period from 50 AD to 270 AD was the period when the Kushan Empire used to rule. So it is possible that these two rulers of the Gupta Dynasty were only a fudatory of the Kushan Empire. That is, they were subordinates of the Kushan Empire. That's why they took small titles. For example, they gave themselves the title of Maharaja. So this was up to 320 AD. After him, Ghatotkach's son Chandragupta I ruled. And his rule lasted only 10 years. From 320 AD to 330 AD. To improve his position, he formed a matrimonial alliance with the Lichchavis. Where he married Princess Kumardevi of the prestigious Lichchavi kingdom. And the benefit of this to Chandragupta I was that this increased the power and prestige of the Guptas. And because of this, he minted some coins. Which are called Kumardevi type of coins. Because he had inscribed the name of Princess Kumardevi on these coins. Chandragupta I, along with his matrimonial alliance, And now his territorial area was not limited to Magadh. Now apart from Magadh, some parts of Eastern UP were also included in his territorial area. Like Saket and Prayag. Prayag is the same place which was later called Allahabad. And after this territorial expansion, he gave himself the title of Maharaja Dhiraj. Which means Great Kings of Kings. So this was an introductory video of the Gupta Empire. In the coming videos, we will cover the Gupta period in more detail. To cover the ancient history in detail, follow the Bookstava playlist. You will find the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching and supporting Bookstava.