[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c29.107 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.107 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.107 - **Language:** English ### [c29.107](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29.107) Whatever may have been the causes, the fact is abundantly established that the restoration of the Brahmanical religion to popular favour, and the associated revival of the Sanskrit language, became noticeable in the second century, were fostered by the satraps of Gujarāt and Surāshtra during the third, and made a success by the Gupta emperors in the fourth and fifth centuries. These princes, although perfectly tolerant of both Buddhism and Jainism, and in at least three cases personally interested in the former, were themselves beyond question officially orthodox Hindus, usually guided by Brahman advisers, and skilled in Sanskrit, the language of the pundits.² An early stage in the reaction against Buddhist condemnation of sacrifice had been marked by Pushyamitra's celebration of the horse-sacrifice towards the close of the second century. In the fourth, Samudragupta revived the same ancient rite with added splendour; and in the fifth, his grandson repeated the solemnity. Without going further into detail, the matter may be summed up in the remark that coins, inscriptions, and monuments agree in furnishing abundant evidence of the recrudescence during the Gupta period of Brahmanical Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism, and of the favour shown by the ruling powers to 'classical' Sanskrit at the expense of the more popular literary dialects, which had enjoyed the patronage of the Āndhra kings. - [Previous: c29.106](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29.106) - [Next: c29.108](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29.108) - [Up: c29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29.107](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c29.107) · Pramāṇa