The Gupta Empire

 

The Gupta Empire

Geography

Dominating the northern region of modern day India, the Gupta Empire stretched from the Ganges River, to Prayaga(Modern day Allahabad).

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Religion

After an uproar of violence came about after the decline of the Mauryan Empire, the people of India often turned to religion to reach stability. This is where we begin to see the start and spread of Hinduism. Even though it was seen to be as the most predominate belief system for them at the time, Buddhism was also practiced and "tolerated" by some. 

Arts

A majority of the art work of the time, was metallurgy, mainly Iron and copper. Expert crafts men were needed in order to create such intricate detailing within the moldings. 

Credit to dilipchandra12.hubpages.com

Credit to  dilipchandra12.hubpages.com

Credit to en.wikipedia.org

Social Developments 

Like the many other civilizations during this era, there occurred an inequality between men and women. Per usual, men owned the property, and the women were married off in  whilst still in their prepubescent stages, and shared a "husband" with multiple other young women. Although the women were allowed to get an education, they prominent use was to create a population. Men who received an education were, much like today, usually higher in power or authority. They did have a caste system, but it was not followed rigidly, as one could slowly "move up", in society if the effort was put in. 

Politics

Kings ran the society, and were the epicenter of the administration. Under the king, the responsibilities were split up, the power being given to those called, "viceroys". The viceroys were appointed into power by the royal family, and served as mayors, so to speak to the sub-divided districts of the empire. 

Economics

Credit to icollector.com. 

With wheat being the main crop export of the Gupta Empire, there was a plethora of farmers and laborers, which was their main source of income. Since they were masters of metallurgy, they had elaborate coinage that they used along side a bartering system. 

Demography 

The Gupta population was not as massive as some of the others, such as the Mauryan, during this time period. These people consisted of laborers, craftsmen, farmers, and such of the like. They practiced similar traditions that occur in India today, such as vegetarianism, using their cows mainly for milk. Another similarity that the Gupta Empire and modern day India share are their way of dress, being the women dressed in bright colors, the males in dark, of similar style. 

Intellectual Developments 

During this time, citizens had a very intellectual mindset, meaning it was a time of logical thinking and useful developments. We begin to see the emergence of brilliant scientists and mathematicians, who hypothesized that Earth was a sphere, and gave us the very same decimal system we use today. It is also said that they used the same nine digit system including a zero, as well. 

 Technology

Credit to ian.umces.edu

As previously stated, the Gupta Empire was occurring during a logical age of thinking. It is considered to be the "Golden Age" of Indian history. That being said, there aren't very many tangible items that were developed from them. But the discovery of infinity did help lead to a great deal of intellectual advances, which in the long term went on to create monumental technological advances.