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.c16.380

v2.c16.380

On the other hand, the history of the early Gupta dynasty has all the necessary features. The empire of the Guptas comprised all the countries and divisions indicated in the *Mānasāra*. Brahmanical Hinduism was the leading religion, but Buddhism and Jainism were tolerated. King Meghavarṇa of Ceylon was allowed to despatch a mission with valuable presents to king Samudragupta for permission to build a monastery near the sacred Bo-tree at Gaya. The reign of Chandragupta II, the son and successor of Samudragupta, is noted for the visit of the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien who, being a Buddhist pilgrim, necessarily saw everything through Buddhist spectacles. In his account mention is made of a number of monasteries along his journey from the Indus to Mathura in which neighbourhood he found twenty of these buildings. "It is evident that, with a Brahminical supreme Government, Hinduism of the orthodox kind must have been far more prominent than his account would lead the reader to suppose."\1 Fa-hien was never "stripped by brigands, a misfortune which befell his successor Hiuen Tsang. Probably India has never been governed better. The Government did not attempt to do too much but let the people alone, and was accordingly popular." Though "the sovereign was a Brahminical Hindu, the tendency to the harassing kind of persecution, which a Buddhist or Jain government is apt to display, was kept in check, and liberty of conscience was assured."