Political condition – In the third century A. D. the political scene changed and India lacked political unity, giving way to a number of independent states. In the fourth century A. D. our country regained unity and interest with the rise of the Guptas and the fusion of Gupta and Lichchhavi states. The emergence of the Guptas marks the beginging of a new phase in the history of India. After the decline of the kushans a dark period set in and we do not know much about the political developments in the country except that serval states made their appearance and there was no strong central authority to keep them under their control. At that time the Kushanas still ruled over the western Punjab. The Sakas  over Gujrat and a part of Malwa. The lower Indus valley was under the control of Bahram-II (276-293), the Sassanian emperor of Persia. The Sassanian supremacy was also established over the Kushana principalities in Balkh and the neighbouring regions. During the reign of Shapur-I (A. D. 241-72) his younger brother Peroz was the governor with the title Kushan-shah (king of the Kushanas). The Kushana king still ruled over Peshawar and N. W. Frontier region. The Sassanian king Hormiza (302-9) married a daughter of the Kushana king of the Kabul valley. Later on, the Kabul valley also came into possession of the Sassanid emperors sometime before 356 A. D. Western and Central Punjab was ruled by Scythian houses known as Sakas, Shiladas and Gadaharas. Their rule was ended by the rise of the Little Kushana or Kidara Kushanas about 340 A.D. Kidara, the founder of the new Kushana dynasty, was at first a subordinate ruler of the Sassanians. When he extended his rule from Peshawar to Kashmir and Central Punjab, he declared his independence, but Shapur-II, the Sassanian emperor, invaded his territory in 356-57 A. D. and defeated him, thereafter he submitted and again became a subordinate ruler of the Sassanian emperor. But a decade later, Kidara who maintained friendly relations with Samudragupta, the Gupta ruler, rebelled once again against Shapur-II, declared his independence and appointed Satraps in Gandhara, Kashmir and Western and Central Punjab. He was succeeded by his son Piro (A. D. 375) who fought the Sassanian emperor, Shapur-III and the Guptas only to lose his kingdom. The Yaudheyas and Arjunayanas ruled over East Punjab, the Madrakas (Madras) over the Central Punjab between the Ravi and the Chenab; the Malavas ruled over the Ajmer-Udaipur region. Yaudheyas as Ayudhajivi Kshatriyas. Their stronghold was in East Panjab but they also dominated parts of U.P and Rajputana. Their tutelary deity was Bramanyadeva.  They grew into power after the Indo- Greek only to be subdued by the Sakas and the Kushanas. They were strong enough to challenge Rudradama’s authority. After the Kushanas, they made their power felt like the Kardamakas and the Malawas while all the three were subdued by the Guptas. The Nagas spread themselves in different parts of India as testified to by epigraphic, numismatic and literary records and also by localities named after them such asNagapura or Uragapura. The Puranas mention seats of Naga power at Vidisa, Kantipuri, Mathura and Padmavati. Some of the Naga rulers of Vidisa are named Sisha, Bhogin and Sadchandra Chandramsa supposed to be Nahapana. The Naga rulers held way over the Uttar Pradesh (U. P.) their capitals were Padmavati in old Gwalior state, Vidisa (Bhilsa) and Mathura. Ahichchhatra, the capital of North Panchala, and Kausambi were independent kingdoms. Samudra Gupta uprooted two Naga rulers named Ganapati Naga and Nagasena but he married his son Chandra Gupta II with Kubernaga. A Naga chief Sarvangaga ruled ashis governor of the Antarvedi-vishaya under Skand Gupta. The rulers of Kaushambi were Nava and Pushpasri whose successor was ousted by Samudra Gupta. As ususal, its rulers are known mostly from their coins. Some coins of 1st century B.C. mention king Sudeva, and Brihatsvamitra. Other coins name rulers such as Asvaghosha, Agnimitra, Jyeshtramitra, and Devamitra kings like Dhanadeva. Incriptions also mame some kings of Kausambi e.g., the Pabhosa Incriptions. The Vakatakas were another rival power which attened its zeith under Prithivisena-I who ruled over a large empire extending from Bundelkhand to Kuntala in KaraIn the Deccan the Vakatakas ruled over Berar and the old Central provinces. In the extreme south the Pallavas ruled over the Tamil region. The Brihatphalayanas ruled over the city of Pithunda or Kadura in the Andhra region. The Anandas ruled over the Guntur district in Andhra region. The South Kosala kingdom in Eastern Deccan was ruled by Mahendra who was defeated by Samudragupta. In Kalinga there were several ruling dynasties who were weak. Some of the rulers in the time of Samudragupta were Svamidatta of Kottura, Mahendra-giri of Pishtapura, Damana of Erandapala and Kubera of Devarashtra. Kottura and Erandapalla were in Ganjam District. Pishtapura is identified with the modern state of Pithapuram in the Godavari District, and Devarashtra with that of Yellamanchili taluka of the Vizagapatam District. Some of the kings of these kingdoms are known from the copper-plate grants of about the fifth century A.D. Another capital city of Kalinga was Singhapura, whose kingdom flourished after the middle of the fourth century A. D. The Rise of the Guptas- The Gupta were another local power which emerged into prominence and established their supremacy over all the controlling power.  Rich Literary, Archaeological sources provide us important information about the Gupta age. But we do not know much about the origin and the early history of Guptas. K. P. Jaiswal however is of the opinion that they were Punjabi Jats. We learn from the Vishnu Purana that the Gupta were Vaishyas. Dr Romilla Thapar is of the view that they were wealthy land-lords who gradually captured political power. Dr Dodwell says that the Guptas were people of humble origen, while Dr H. C. Raychoudhary says that they they were Brahmins. Dr Majumdar asserts that the Guptas were positively Kashatriyas.  Gupta families existed in India from very early  times,  the names of the...

There was great development in the three branches of fine art- architecture, sculpture, and painting. The period of Gupta art lies between 300-600 or 650 A. D. and is “an age of combination and ultimate exhaustion of the earlier tendencies and movements in architectural types and forms”.The Gupta age is connected with the growth and development of the temple.The small antiquities and the various forms of pottery are the evidence of the prosperity and high culture of Gupta Age. In the Pre-Gupta period the artistic centres were Mathura, Peshawar, Amaravati, Nagarjunikonda. Ghantasala, Goli and Ajanta. Scenes from the life of Buddha like Renunciation, Enlightenment, Birth and Temptation were depicted. The Jataka. stories also supply many of the themes.The visit of India and of Ajatasatru to the Buddha are found in the sculptures of South India at places like Bharhut and Nagarjunikonda. In the Gupta age there was unprecedented artistic activity all over India. The various forms of art attained a maturity, perfection, balance and naturalness of expression. The immortal Ajanta frescoes are a cultural heritage of the Gupta period The important art centres were Mathura, Banaras and Pataliputra (Patna) in Northern India. A Cave architecture: The rock-cut architecture of the Buddhist consists of the Chairya hall and the sangharama or the vihara (monastery); they are found at Ajanta: Ellora and Aurangabad. Ajanta has twenty- eight caves, five of the caves belong to the earlier period, the remaining 23 were excavated between 300 and 650 A. D. The caves XIX and XXVI are Chaitya caves and the rest are Viharas. The cave XIX discards wood and shows Buddha figures. The caves XVI and XVII were excavated at the instance of a minister of Harishena, a Vakataka ruler. These caves strike a new line by the great beauty of their pillar of various design and the fine paintings. The Vihara became a place of worship as well as of residence. The pillars within the Chaitya are fluted columns richly ornamented. The wealth of carving was intended not only for decoration but also for lighting the whole structure. There are large number of figure sculptures. On the votive Chaitya the figures of the Buddha are standing or seated, carved in bold relief. Fergusson says, “From a pure atheism, we have passed to an overwhelming idolatry”. The cave No. XIX consists of a nave separated from aisles by a row of pillars. The rail ornament disappears from the facade and is replaced by a double row of cornice decorated with Chaitya window motifs. The entrance is flat-roofed, supported by four pillars with a huge Chaitya window above it separated by a cornice. The pillars inside have fitted columns with pot and foliage capitals. The figure of Buddha can be seen at the facade in the frieze of niches above the brackets, and carved on the monolithic stupa inside. The rock-out stupa of the Chaitya consists of a high cylindrical drum decorated with the figure of Buddha between plasters crowned by graceful arches.. The Vihara cave  No. XVI and XVII are famous for their paintings. The cave No. XVI is a twenty pillared cave, 19.6 metres (65 feet) square having six, residential halls on either side, two at either end of the verandah and two at the back. There is a rectangular sanctuary with a big figure of Buddha. The beauty of the pillars is remarkable. No two pillars are exactly similar. The cave No. XVII is similar to cave No. XVI. The Wheel of Life is painted on the walls of its verandah. The walls were covered with painted scenes from the life of the Buddha or the Jatakas. The ornamental designs of the pillars are in bold outline.. The caves at Mogulrajapuram, Undavalli and Akkannamadanna were excavated under the Vishnukundins. Their plan is based on that of the Udayagiri caves in Central India. The Undavalli caves are three-storied. The caves at Ajanta and Ellora are among the best artistic monuments of the Gupta Age. Their pillars are beautiful and of varied designs. The Brahmanical cave temple at Udayagiri near Bhopal is the earliest Hindu temple having an inscription dated 401 A. D. The temple is partly rock-out and partly stone-built. The rock-out monasteries and Chaitya halls were excavated at Ellora. There are halls, each comprising a prayer hall with monasteries. The “lines are straighter, angles more correct and surfaces more true than in any other example”. The technique reached its culmination in some vihars. The cave No. X at Ellora (Visvakarama cave) is the latest example of a Chaitya hall of the excavated type. It resembles the shrine at Ajanta. The apsidal end of the hall is blocked up by the votive Chaitya which has been completely relegated to a background for a big image of the Buddha that “serves as the frontispiece and the principal object of veneration”. At Ajanta there is an excess of figure sculptures which are made to cover every possible space in the exterior facade as well as in the interior, while the earlier caves are of plainer architectural pattern. Sangharama or Vihara- The Viharas were planned in the form of rows of cells round a central court. In the excavated examples it took the shape of a central hall approached from one side and with cells leading out of it on the other three sides. Twenty Vihara caves at Ajanta belong to this period. Cave No. XI, is the oldest of the series. In this cave the hall is small in area and four pillars are introduced in the centre of the hall as supports for the roof. It belongs to a date about 400 A. D. Cave No. VII  shows two groups of four pillars each, placed side by side. The cave No. VI is a two-storeyed one. Its upper storey has a harmonious and unified design of the pillars or all the four sides of the halls. The ordered design and rich decorative embellishments of the pillars created an effect of magnificience. The important...