Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas is based of the entire source material that has come to light since 1888 when Dr. H.F. Fleet`s epoch-making work was published as Vol. III of the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. Far reachinf changes in our knowledge of the history of the Guptas have been taking place in consequence of such discoveries as the Bhitari-Silver Copper Seal of Kumaragupta (1889) the Sarnath Inscriptions on Buddhs Images.

The present work describes the material and moral progress which India had achieved during the paramount sovereignty of the Gupta emperors in the fourth and fifth centuries a.d. It traces the origin and rise of the ruling family to Srigupta (240-280 a.d.) and concludes with the reign of Kumaragupta III (543 a.d.). It discusses the spirit of the age and the various trends in the sphere of Religion, Economy, Society, Education, Administration, Art and Architecture. It seeks to bring together all the facts and data derivable from different sources--literary, epigraphic and numismatic, the accounts of foreign visitors, particularly of the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien who has left a detached and valuable record of India`s civilization during the reign of Chandragupta II. Herein we get an accurate picture of India`s golden age, the growth of her various institutions, her activities of expansion, colonization and her intercourse with Indonesia, China and other countries. The work is divided into sixteen chapters. It has an index of proper names and an addenda on the hoard of new Imperial Gupta coins discovered at Bayana in Bharatpur. The work is very interesting and instructive and is designed to meet the requirements of the academic student of history and the general reader alike.

The work is divided into sixteen chapters. It has an index of proper names and an addenda on the board of new Imperial Gupta coins discovered at Bayana in Bharatpur, The work is very interesting and instruction and is designed to meet the requirements of the academic student of history and the general reader alike.

Description: Sachindra Kumar Maity's The Imperial Guptas and their Times is an in-depth study of the most important epoch of ancient India. Marked by fresh approach and based on a study of the original sources and latest published material, the book focuses the attention of the scholars towards the achievements of the Gupta age, which has rightly been called the 'Classical' or the 'Golden Age' of Indian history. The present study, covering all the aspects of the Gupta period, is divided into ten chapters, Introduction; Foundation of the Gupta Empire and their rise to success; Skandagupta and his successors and the Decline of the Empire; The Gupta Administration; Social Life; Economic Life; Religion; Education; Language, Literature, Scripts; Scientific and other Cultural Achievements; and Gupta Art, besides an Appendix, 'Brahmi Script Through the Ages,' a detailed Bibliography and Index. A book of great merit, it should prove to be useful to students, research scholars and all others interested in the history of India.

The Encyclopedia of Empire provides exceptional in-depth, comparative coverage of empires throughout human history and across the globe.