Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire, a geographically-extensive empire based in Magadha. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Magadha kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Ashoka the Great, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE. The nature of the political formation that existed in Chandragupta's time is not certain. The Mauryan empire was a loose-knit one with large autonomous regions within its limits.
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to early 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by some historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta, and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Skandagupta. The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.
Chandragupta II, also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was the third ruler of the Gupta Empire in India.
Samudragupta (Gupta script: Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta, was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of India. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Licchavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty's political and military power.
Kumaragupta I was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and Queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
Gupta was the founder of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to, who, according to the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing, built a temple near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (Mṛgaśikhāvana) for Chinese pilgrims.
Ramagupta, according to the Sanskrit play Devichandraguptam, was an emperor of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. The surviving fragments of the play, combined with other literary evidence, suggest that he agreed to surrender his wife Dhruvadevi to a Shaka enemy: However, his brother Chandragupta II killed the Shaka enemy, and later dethroned him, marrying Dhruvadevi.
The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh primarily denoted to Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva from the early years of the 3rd century CE to 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India. They are the only site that can be verifiably associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions. One of India's most important archaeological sites, the Udayagiri hills and its caves are protected monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Maukhari dynasty was a post-Gupta dynasty who controlled the vast plains of Ganga-Yamuna for over six generations from their capital at Kanyakubja. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later of Harsha's Vardhana dynasty. The Maukharis established their independence during the mid 6th century. The dynasty ruled over much of Uttar Pradesh and Magadha. Around 606 CE, a large area of their empire was reconquered by the Later Guptas. According to Hieun-Tsang, the territory may have been lost to King Shashanka of the Gauda Kingdom, who declared independence circa 600CE.
Kumaragupta IIKramaditya was an emperor of the Gupta Empire. An image of Gautama Buddha at Sarnath notes that he succeeded Purugupta who was most likely his father. He was succeeded by Budhagupta.
Nachna Hindu temples, also referred to as Nachana temples or Hindu temples at Nachna-Kuthara, in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, India are some of the earliest surviving stone temples in central India along with those at Bhumara and Deogarh. Their dating is uncertain, but comparing their style to structures that can be dated, some of the Nachna temples are variously dated to the 5th- or 6th-century Gupta Empire era. The Chaturmukha temple is dated to the 9th century. These temples illustrate a North Indian style of Hindu temple architecture.
The iron pillar of Delhi is a structure 7.21 metres high with a 41-centimetre (16 in) diameter that was constructed by Chandragupta II, and now stands in the Qutub complex at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. The metals used in its construction have a rust-resistant composition. The pillar weighs more than six tonnes and is thought to have been erected elsewhere, perhaps outside the Udayagiri Caves, and moved to its present location by Anangpal Tomar in the 11th century.
The Gupta era is a historical calendar era that begins from c. 318–319 CE. It was used by the Gupta emperors, as well as their vassals and their successors in present-day northern India and Nepal. It is identical to the Vallabhi era, which was used in the Saurashtra region of western India, although regional differences lead to a slightly different calculation for the conversion of Vallabhi era years to Common Era (CE).
The Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription is a 4th-century CE Sanskrit inscription in early Gupta script related to the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. Discovered near a Mathura well in north India, the damaged inscription is one of the earliest evidences of murti (statue) consecration in a temple made to celebrate gurus. It is, according to the Indologist Michael Willis, crucial to understanding the "history of Pashupata Shaivism" and a floruit for the antiquity of its practices. The Lakulisha Mathura inscription is one of the earliest epigraphical evidence of a developed Shaiva initiation tradition.
The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district Bihar. The inscription is notable for including symbol for Om in Gupta era. It marks the dedication of the cave to a statue of Bhutapati (Shiva) and Devi (Parvati). The statue was likely of Ardhanarishvara that was missing when the caves came to the attention of archaeologists in the 18th-century.
The Gopika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription II of Anantavarman or formerly the Gya inscription, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Late Brahmi found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya district, Bihar, India.
Govindagupta was a Gupta prince of ancient India. He was a son of Chandragupta II and Dhruvadevi, and a brother of Kumaragupta.
Gupta art is the art of the Gupta Empire, which ruled most of northern India, with its peak between about 300 and 480 CE, surviving in much reduced form until c. 550. The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak and golden age of North Indian art for all the major religious groups. Gupta art is characterized by its "Classical decorum", in contrast to the subsequent Indian medieval art, which "subordinated the figure to the larger religious purpose".
The Sanakanikas were a tribe, who were subjugated by the powerful Gupta emperor Samudragupta along with other numerous tribes and clans. The Sanakanikas possibly lived in the neighbourhood of Bhilsa.
Dharasena was a Traikutaka ruler of the Konkan coast. He was the son of the Traikutaka ruler Indradatta and succeeded him as king. He is known to have performed an ashwamedha horse sacrifice and was succeeded by his son Vyaghrasena.
