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A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35: Chapter 29. The Age of the Guptas

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35

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Chapter 29. The Age of the Guptas

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RENAISSANCE IN ART, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE, HIGH LEVEL OF IRON TECHNOLOGY AND PROGRESSIVE AGRICULTURE

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The Gupta Dynasty was founded A.D. 300. The first king is known as Gupta. His grandson was Chandragupta I (A.D. 320-335), who married a Lichchhavi princess, Kumaradevi, from Nepal. Some gold coins bear the figures of both Chandragupta I and Kumaradevi. On the reverse is goddess Durga seated on a lion.

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Samudragupta (A.D. 335-380), the son and successor of Chandragupta I, was proud of his matrilineal ancestry and described himself as Lichchhavi-dauhtra, the son of the daughter of the Lichchhavis. This indicates that the Lichchhavis were held in high esteem in that age. Samudragupta was a warrior who greatly extended his empire. It included Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, the Punjab, Sind, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh north of the Narmada (Fig. 193). He also invaded South India, and captured twelve kings, who were however treated generously and liberated. In his South India campaign Samudragupta reached Kanchi, the Pallava capital. This campaign brought the southerners in touch with the northerners and there was intermingling of cultures to the advantage of both. In Samudragupts’s army, horses, which are fast and more easily manoeuvrable, became more important than elephants. This is a lesson which was learnt from the Kushans. He also performed an ashvamedha or horse sacrifice to proclaim his imperial power. A gold coin issued by him bears an effigy of a horse standing in front of an altar (Fig. 183, second row, right). Samudragupta partonized learning and was a musician, and in some of his coins he is shown playing a lute. A Buddhist scholar, Vasubandhu, was his minister.

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Chandragupta Vikramaditya (A.D. 380-412), the next ruler, conquered Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra. He married his daughter Prabhavati with Rudrasena II, the Vakataka king of Deccan. In his gold coins he is represented as a warrior standing, holding a long bow. On the reverse is a goddess seated on a lion (Fig. 183, first row, right). It was during his rule that the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa-hsien visited India.

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Kumaragupta I (A.D. 414-455), who succeeded Chandragupta Vikramaditya, also won many victories and performed an ashvamedha. In his gold coins he is shown feeding a peacock. On the reverse Karttikeya or Kumara is shown riding a peacock (Fig. 185, second row, left). The Mandasor inscription of Kumaragupta and Bandhuvarman, his governor Fig. 193. Map showing the Gupta Empire at the close of the fourth century

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INDIA THE GUPTA EMPIRE AT THE CLOSE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY

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at Dasapura, records the building of a temple in Dasapura (Mandasor) by the local guild of silk weavers in A.D. 437-438. This indicates the use of silk in that age by the richer classes.

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During the reign of Kumaragupta, Nalanda became a great Buddhist University which, apart from provinces of India, attracted scholars from other countries also.

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Skandagupta (A.D. 455-467) succeeded Kumaragupta I. During his reign northern India was threatened by the Huns, and he fought many battles with the Hun hordes. Huns were expert horsemen and excellent archers, and plagued northern India by their incursions.

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The Gupta age was one of a great Brahmanical revival, though Buddhism also flourished. From the Bhitari inscription we learn about the installation of an image of Vishnu by Skandagupta. The Gupta coins bear the images of Hindu deities Durga and Skanda. Gupta seals bear the image of Nandi bull (Fig. 183). Nandi is a humped zebu. Apart from its religious significance, it indicates the esteem in which cattle were held in the Gupta age.

Indian Influence over East Asia

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During the Gupta age, the cultural influence of India reached East Asia. In Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Bali, flourishing Hindu States arose. The fifth century of the Christian Era witnessed the golden age of the Gupta Buddhist art in north Burma. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata became popular in Java. Indian missionaries were active in China. It was not a physical invasion, but a spiritual conquest.

Life in the Gupta Age

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The seals and inscriptions of the Gupta age as well as the coinage of that age indicate a well-organized Government, which maintained law and order and people lived peacefully. Both trade and agriculture flourished.

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Fa-hsien, the Chinese scholar, travelled in India from A.D. 401 to 410. He entered India via the Valley of the Swat and, after passing through Peshawar and Taxila, travelled through the Gangetic plain and reached Pataliputra. On his route from the frontier to Pataliputra, he found Buddhism flourishing in the Indo-Gangetic plain. At Mathura, he found twenty monasteries, with three thousand monks. The government appeared to him to be lenient. The people moved about freely without passports. Taxes were based on the richness of each locality. Soldiers and officials received their salaries regularly. Offences were punished only by fines; capital punishment was rare, and even mutilation was confined only to cases of obstinate rebellion. Public morality was high. Fa-hsien was not molested anywhere in the course of his long journey in India. In Magadha, he found many rich towns and there were lodging-houses for travellers. There were hospitals maintained by the rich. About Indians, he writes, ‘They do not kill animals, and do not drink wine or eat onions or garlic, there are neither butchers’ shops nor taverns in the market place.’

A Renaissance in Art, Literature and Science

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If the degree of development of a culture is judged by the aesthetic level of the people, we can safely say that the Hindu culture reached its hey-day in the Gupta age. It is rightly called the Golden Age of India. The art of sculpture and Sanskrit literature reached high level of development. During the Gupta period, the Buddha image reached its perfection at Mathura and Sarnath, and people could see and feel the Divine in human form. The elegant Greek drapery was combined with the spiritual calm of India and a unique synthesis of the West and East was achieved. It also indicates that it was a period of tolerance and of coexistence between Buddhism and Hinduism.

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The Laws of Manu, and the tales of *Panchatantra* were written in this period. During this period, a number of outstanding men flourished who added lustre to the annals of India. Varahamihira, the astronomer, lived at about the close of this period. Aryabhata (b. A.D. 476), the mathematician and author of the *Aryabhatiya*, flourished in this age. He explained the true causes of eclipses of the sun and the moon, and could calculate them precisely. He was the first to discover that the earth rotates on its axis and moves round the sun. The decimal place-value notation and zero was in use in India by the fifth century of the Christian Era.

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Of the poets and authors of this period, Dandin, Subandhu, Banabhatta and Kalidasa deserve particular mention. Kalidasa in his *Ritusamhara*, ‘The Pageant of the Seasons’, gives charming descriptions of indigenous beautiful trees of India which flower from month to month. In his description of spring, he describes the mango-tree bent with clusters of coppery-red leaves, and their branches covered with light-yellow fragrant blossoms shaken by the March breezes, which kindle the flame of love in the hearts of women. He describes the *asoka*-trees, with their graceful drooping young leaves hanging, like tassels of silk, covered with coral-red blossoms which make the hearts of young women *sasoka* (sorrowful). He describes the jungles of *dhak* (*kimsuka*) resembling a blazing fire, making the earth appear like a newly-wedded bride, with red garments. He aptly compares the scarlet flowers of *dhak* with the bright-red beaks of parrots! In his description of women’s toilet, he mentions that they paint their bodies with the fragrant paste of white sandal and cover their breasts with garlands of white jasmines, and perfume their hair with *champak* blossoms. In the rainy season, they decorate their heads with garlands of *kadamba*, *kesara*, *kakubha* and *ketak* flowers.

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The murals in the Ajanta caves, the quintessence of the Buddhist art, which date from 200 B.C. to A.D. 600 (Caves XVI and XVII are attributed to the last quarter of the fifth century of the Christian Era), not only show the high level of the art of painting and sculpture attained in that period but also give us a glimpse of the life of the common people in those times.

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Some of these paintings show wreaths of flowers in the hair of women. They wore garlands round their necks and bracelets of flowers round their arms. In fact, flowers formed an integral part of their toilet.

Seasonal Festivals

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India enjoyed a long spell of peace under the rule of the Guptas. People led a happy life and celebrated seasonal festivals with much merriment. The *Salabhanjika* (Women and Tree) festival was celebrated with great zeal in the ancient city of Sravasti, which flourished in the present-day District of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. The *sal*-tree in flower is a sight never to be forgotten. The tree gets covered with scented cream-coloured flowers in the last week of March, and they fill the forest with fragrance.

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The merriest festival in ancient India was the *Suvasantaka*, the spring festival celebrated in honour of Kama Deva, the god of love. Dancing, singing and merry-making were organized in every village, and both men and women participated. Even princesses and the ladies of the aristocracy used to dance in public places, and the god Kama Deva was worshipped. *Suvasantaka* survives in the form of *Vasant panchami*, which usually falls in the first week of February, when the *sarson* flowers.

Gardens

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In the Gupta age, Indians led a happy life. Vatsyayana in his *Kamasutra*, the great book of Hindu aesthetics, written about A.D. 300-400, describes how they enjoyed civic life. The book has a happy materialistic outlook with none of the other-worldly pessimism.

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Four kinds of gardens are described by Vatsyayana: *Pramododyan*, for the enjoyment of kings and queens; *Udyan*, where the kings passed their time playing chess with their courtiers, enjoying the dance of danseuses and the jokes of court jesters; *brikshvatika*, where the ministers and courtiers made merry with courtesans; and *nandanvan*, dedicated to Lord Indra.

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Vatsyayana recommends the building of a house close to a pond with an *udyan* (garden) outside. Lilies and lotuses were grown in the pond. Geese, ducks and swans were also kept in these ponds. In the garden attached to the house, a swing was invariably set up from the thick branches of a shady *neem* or a *pipal* and in the stifling monsoon weather when there was oppressive heat before the coming of the rains and there was not a breath of air, these swings were especially popular. The dry and hot May and June were spent in darkened rooms inside houses, and during the rains, from July to September, people mostly lived, worked and enjoyed life in the shade of trees.

A Kitchen-Garden

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Describing the duties of a loyal wife and a kitchen-garden, Vatsyayana writes: "A virtuous woman, who has affection for her husband, should act in conformity with his wishes as if he were a divine being, and with his consent should take upon herself the whole care of his family. She should keep the whole house well cleaned, and arrange flowers of various kinds in different parts of it, and make the floor smooth and polished so as to give the whole a neat and becoming appearance. She should surround the house with a garden. In the garden she should plant beds of green vegetables, bunches of the sugarcane, and clumps of the fig tree, the mustard plant, the parsley plant, the fennel plant. Clusters of various flowers such as Trapa bispinosa, the jasmine, Jasminum grandiflorum, the yellow amaranth, the wild jasmine, Ervatamia [Tabernaemontana] coronaria, the nadyaworta, the China rose and others, should likewise be planted, together with the fragrant grass Cymbopogon [Andropogon] schoenathus, and the fragrant root of the plant Vetiveria zizanioides [Andropogon muricatus]. She should also have seats and arbours made in the garden, in the middle of which a well, tank, or pool should be dug.¹ The gardens were kept alive with parrots, mynas and chakoras swinging in cages from the branches of trees.

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¹ The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana translated by Sir Richard Burton and F.F. Arbuthnot, p. 197

Rural Economy

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R.S. Sharma states that in the Gupta period, land taxes increased in number, and those on trade and commerce decreased. Probably, the king collected taxes varying from one-fourth to one-sixth of the produce. In addition to this, whenever the royal army passed through the countryside, the local people had to feed it. The peasants had to supply animals, foodgrains, furniture, etc., for the maintenance of royal officers on duty in the rural areas. In central and western India, the villagers were also subjected to forced labour called vishti for serving the royal army and officials.

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The village headman managed the village affairs with the assistance of the elders. With the administration of a village or a small town leading local elements were associated. No land transactions could be effected without their consent.

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A striking development of the Gupta period, according to Sharma, was the emergence of the Brahman landlords at the cost of local peasants. Land grants made to the Brahmans brought virgin lands under cultivation. But these landlords were imposed from above on the local tribal peasants, who were reduced to a lower status. In central and western India, the peasants were also subjected to forced labour. The Brahmans were granted land free from tax for ever, and they were authorized to collect from the peasants all the taxes which could have otherwise gone to the emperor. Royal agents were not permitted to enter the villages granted to the Brahmans. The Brahman land-owners were also empowered to punish criminals.²

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² Sharma, R.S., Ancient India, pp. 130, 131, 132

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Our sources of information about the life of the people and their agriculture and horticulture in the Gupta age are Vatsyayana’s *Kamasutra*, Varahamihira’s *Brhatsamhita*, and Amarsimha’s *Amarakosha*. Vatsyayana’s *Kamasutra* is not only a text on sexology, but also provides information on gardens. Winternitz suggests its date as the fourth century of the Christian Era.

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Varahamihira was an astronomer, astrologer, and encyclopaedist. He flourished in the period A.D. 505-587. His *Brhatsamhita* provides information on agriculture, botany and zoology, apart from astronomy, medicine, metallurgy and geography. It describes specific characteristics of animals and the treatment of plant diseases. The *Brhatsamhita*, and the *Puranas*, particularly the *Agnipurana*, incidentally deal with the selection of land, manuring, cultivation, collection and the treatment of seeds, sowing, planting, reaping and grafting.

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The *Amarakosha* of Amarasimha, a scholar in the court of Chandragupta II, contains information on soil, irrigation and agricultural implements.

Soil Classification and Land Use

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The *Amarakosha* describes 12 types of land in its chapter on *Bhumivarga*, depending upon the fertility of the soil, irrigation and physical characteristics. These are: *urvara* (fertile), *usara* (barren), *maru* (desert), *aprahata* (fallow), *sadvala* (grassy), *pankila* (muddy), *jalaprayamanupa* (watery), *kaccha* (land contiguous to water), *sarkara* (land full of pebbles and pieces of limestone), *sarkaravati* (sandy), *nadimatrka* (land watered from a river), and *devamatrka* (rain-fed). In the *Vaisyavarga* are mentioned different kinds of soils and their suitability for the cultivation of specific crops, e.g., *ksetram*—rice and corn; *yavya*—barley; *tailinam*—sesamum; *maudginam*—green-gram, etc. There are also different names for lands ploughed once, two times and three times, and at several stages.

Use of Manure

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The *Brhatsamhita* prescribes that seeds which have been properly treated are to be sown with the addition of pork or venison into the soil (where previously the sesame crop was raised, dug up and trodden) and sprinkled daily with water mixed with milk (*ksira*). It says further, ‘To promote inflorescence and fructification, a mixture of one *adhaka* (64 *palas*) of barley powder, one *tola* of beef thrown into one *drona* (256 *palas*) of water and standing over seven nights should be poured round the roots of the plant.’ To ensure sprouting, and to promote the luxuriant growth of the stem and the foliage, the seed should be soaked in an infusion made of paddy powder, urad, sesame and barley mixed with decomposing flesh, and the whole mass steamed with the addition of turmeric. For the growth of kapittha (Feronia limonia), the seeds should be soaked for a short time in a decoction of asphota (jasmine), amalaki (Emblica officinalis), dhava (Grislea tomentosa), vasaka (Justicia adhatoda), vetula (Calamus rotang), suryavalli (Gynandropsis gynandra), syama (Echites fructescens) and atimuktaka (Aganosma dichotoma) boiled in milk. The soaked seeds should be dried in the sun and the process is to be repeated for a month. A circular hole is to be made in the ground (1 cubit in diameter and 2 cubits in depth), and the milky decoction poured into it. When it dries up, it is burnt and pasted over with ashes mixed with ghee and honey. Three inches of soil should now be thrown into it along with the powder of bean, sesame and barley, and then again three inches of soil. Finally, washings of fish are to be sprinkled and the mud beaten to a thick consistency. Now the treated seeds should be placed in the hole.

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According to the Agnipurana, a tree becomes laden with flowers and fruits by manuring the soil with powdered barley, sesamum and the offal of a goat mixed together, and soaked in washings of beef for seven consecutive nights. A good growth of these is secured by sprinkling the washings of fish on them.

Advanced Iron Technology and Manufacture of Agricultural Tools

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The iron-pillar standing near the Qutab Minar in Delhi was erected by Kumaragupta I, A.D. 415, in honour of his father. In spite of the lapse of so many centuries, the iron of this pillar has not rusted. This pillar measures 7.21 metres (23 feet 8 inches) from the top of the bell capital to the bottom of the base; and the diameter diminishes from 41.6 cm (16.4 inches) below to 36.6 cm (12.05 inches) above. The material is pure, rustless, malleable iron. It was made by some sort of welding process, and the weight is estimated to exceed six tonnes. V. Ball in his Economic Geology of India, p. 338, 1st ed., 1881, remarked: ‘It is not many years since the production of such a pillar would have been an impossibility in the largest foundries of the world, and even now there are comparatively few where a similar mass of metal could be turned out.’³ Its size and contents indicate that iron technology had reached a high level in Gupta rule. The iron ore from southern Bihar and central India was exploited for the manufacture of iron. From iron, weapons as well as agricultural tools were manufactured on a large scale. It is these agricultural tools and their use in the cultivation of land which provided the base for the prosperity of the people, and ushered in the so-called Golden Age. This also shows that Golden Ages are the products of iron tools and a progressive agriculture.

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³ Garratt, G.T. (Ed.), The Legacy of India, 1967, p. 338

Agricultural Implements and Accessories

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The *Amarakosha* lists a number of agricultural implements, such as plough (*langala, hala*), pin of yoke (*yugakilaka*), shaft of the plough (*langala-danda*), goad (*prajana, todana*), harrow (*kotisa*), spade or hoe (*khanitra*), sickle (*datra, lavitra*), tie for fastening the yoke to the plough (*yotra*), post for threshing grain on the floor (*medhi*), winnowing-basket (*surpa*) and sieve (*chhalani*).

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There is enough evidence to indicate that due recognition was given to irrigation. Land known as *nadi-matrka* depended on irrigation from river water. Water in tanks and pools was used for irrigation in the central and southern parts of India.

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The *Naradasmrti* states that the erection of a dyke in the middle of another man's fields was not prohibited in view of the fact that it would be advantageous for irrigation, whereas the loss is trifling. It states further that a man with the permission of the owner can restore a decayed dyke, although without the owner's consent he cannot use it. Narada classifies the dykes into *kheya* (which is dug into the soil to drain off excess water) and *bandhya* (which is constructed to prevent the water from flowing out)¹.

Crops

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A number of crops were grown during this period, such as rice, wheat, barley, peas, lentil, pulses, spices and vegetables. Kalidasa in his *Raghu-vamsa* refers to paddy being grown in the fields of Bengal. The varieties of rice grown included *sali, kamala, nivara, unccha-paddy* and *syamaka-paddy*, red rice, yellow rice and hog's rice.... *Sali*-paddy was grown by transplanting seedlings. This means that the technique of transplanting was known to the cultivators. Wheat was grown in the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India and Rajasthan as a winter crop. Of the vegetables grown, the *Amarakosha* mentions cucumber, onion, pumpkin and gourd. Sugarcane was grown in fields close to rice fields, and harvested in winter. Cotton was grown mainly in Saurashtra or Kathiawar. The cultivation of silk-cotton, flax and hemp was also known. Pepper and cardamom were grown principally in the southern parts of India, particularly in the valleys of the Nilgiris. The other spices grown included mustard, cloves, ginger and turmeric. Saffron, betel-nut, tamarind, sesamum, linseed, *priyangu*, aloe, indigo were also grown. Of the number of fruits grown, mango was the most popular. Coconut was extensively cultivated in the coastal areas of Bengal, Orissa and Madras.⁴

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⁴ *A Concise History of Science in India*, pp. 358, 359, 360, 361 and 362

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The Bṛhatsaṃhita mentions the names of some plants and method of their propagaion. ‘Kathal (Jack-fruit tree), Asoka, Kadali (plantain), Jambu, Lakoocha, Dadima, Drakshya, Palivata, Vijapura (Matulanga), Atimukhtaka—these are the plants to be propagated by means of cuttings besmeared with cowdung.’

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Bose, D.M. and others *A Concise History of Science in India*, INSA, New Delhi, 1971 Burton, Sir R. and Arbuthnot, F.F. (Trans.), *The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana*, London, 1963 Dodwell, H.H. (Ed.). *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, Cambridge, 1943 Garratt, G.T. (Ed.). *The Legacy of India*, Oxford, 1937 Gode, P.K. *Studies in Indian Cultural History*, Vol. I Majumdar, R.C. *History and Culture of the Indian People*, Vol. III, Bombay, 1970 Reginald Le May. *The Culture of South-East Asia*, New Delhi, 1962 Sastri, K.A.N. *Advanced History of India*, New Delhi, 1970

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