Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v2.c16.324

v2.c16.324

We now see that it was not until the time of the Imperial Gupta dynasty that the kind of empire implied in such a work as the *Mānasāra* came into existence. It is not our intention to say indeed that before or after this there had been nothing in the shape of an empire. It cannot certainly be gainsaid that there was a flourishing empire under king Asoka. It cannot be denied either that there was an empire flourishing in the south independent of the Aryans, that of the Andhras, so far back as about the beginning of the Christian era. The Chālukyas also built up an empire after the fall of the early Guptas and remained powerful till about the middle of the eighth century, when the Government of the country passed into the hands of the Rāshtrakūtas for more than two hundred years. Harshavardhana of Kanauj also built an empire which, however, did not include within itself the Dravidian countries. What appears clear to us is that not till the reign of Samudragupta (326—375) or until Chandragupta II (375—413) was there any one empire which comprised the whole land, including the Telugu and the Tamil speaking places. It is further clear from the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta that some of his subordinated kings belonged to the Śūdra caste.