Gupta Empire Research Paper

Josseline Acevedo
9-17-13
1st period
Gupta Empire Around 320 to 550 B.C.E., an ancient Indian empire called the Gupta Empire was formed and maintained by powerful leaders and its court, a strong military, religion, and technology. The Gupta Empire was founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta and created the Gupta dynasty. The Gupta Empire grew out of the kingdom of Magadha on the Ganges Plain and had its capital at Pataliputra (Bulliet 177). This period was called the Golden Age of India and was marked by inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is known as Hindu culture (Gupta Empire). After Sri Gupta
The Hindu version of the longbow was composed of metal or more bamboo and fired a long bamboo cane arrow with a metal head. The Indian longbow a powerful weapon capable of great range and penetration and was an effective tool when invading horse archers. Iron shafts were used against armored elephants and fire arrows. Indians were known for having steel weapons and one of them was a steel bow. It was capable of long range and penetration of exceptionally thick armor. Archers were frequently protected by infantry equipped with shields, javelins, and long swords. Great leaders like Samudragupta and Chandragupta II understood the need for combined armed tactics and proper logical organization which is why Gupta’s army was powerful and dominant. Gupta military success came from the constant use of elephants, armored cavalry, and foot archers against both Hindu kingdoms and foreign armies. The Guptas also maintained a navy, allowing them to control regional waters. During the reign of Chandragupta II, Gupta Empire maintained a large army consisting of 500,000 infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 20,000 charioteers and 10,000 elephants along with a powerful navy with more than 1200 ships. Chandragupta II controlled the whole of the Indian subcontinent; the Gupta Empire was the most powerful empire in the world during his reign, at a time when the Roman Empire in the west was in
Skandagupta was followed by weak rulers Purugupta (467–473C.E.), Kumaragupta II (473–476C.E.), Budhagupta (476–495 C.E.), Narasimhagupta, Kumaragupta III, Vishnugupta, Vainyagupta and Bhanugupta. The line of the sixth-century Gupta leaders is unclear, but the last recognized ruler of the dynasty 's main line was king Vishnugupta, who reigned from 540 to 550 C.E. In the 480 C.E., the White Huns broke through the Gupta defenses in the northwest, and much of the empire in northwest was overrun by the Hun by 500. (Gupta Empire). The Huns were defeated and driven out of India in 528 C.E. The collapse of the Gupta Empire was because of the Hun onslaught which was due not directly to the inherent defects of the Gupta army, which after all had initially defeated these people under Skandagupta (Gupta