The Guptas and the Vakatakas Administration, economy and Society

Guptas and the Vakatakas Administrative Organization

The king was the focus of administration and Gupta kings adopted pompous titles like parameshwara, maharajadhiraja, parama-bhattaraka, para ma-daivata (the foremost worshipper of gods) and paramabhagavata (foremost worshipper of Vasudeva Krishna). The Gupta kings also tried to exalt their status by comparing them with gods. The Allahabad prashasti thus which describes Samudragupta as a god dwelling on earth, equal to the gods Dhanada (Kuber), Varuna (god of waters), Indra and Antaka (Yama), who had no antagonist of equal power in the world. Unlike the Mauryan period, where the political authority was concentrated in the hands of the king, the Gupta administration was decentralised in nature and contained many feudatories like local kings and smaller chiefs, who ruled over large parts of their empire. These lesser rulers adorned their names with titles like raja and maharaja. The kingship was normally hereditary but there was an absence of the practice of primogeniture (that is, throne always going to the eldest son). 

The Gupta bureaucracy was less elaborate as compared to that of the Mauryas. The most important officers under the Guptas were called the kumaramatyas, with an office of their own called the adhikarana. They were appointed by the king and were possibly paid in cash. All the important functionaries like the mantri and senapati were recruited from this cadre. Administrative posts were not only hereditary, but often several offices were combined in the hands of the same person. For instance, Harisena, the composer of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, was a mahadandanayaka (chief judicial officer) as well as a mahasandhivigrahika (minister for war and peace), and also the son of mahadandanayaka Dhruvabhuti. Similarly, in the Vakataka empire, both father Hasthibhoja and son Varahadeva served as ministers under Devasena and Harisena, respectively. The hereditary nature of the post naturally weakened the royal control over the administration. 

The Gupta empire was divided into provinces known as deshas, rashtra or bhuktis and their head was called uparika. Sometimes, crown princes were also made the viceroys of the provinces. The uparika was appointed directly by the king and he had the authority to appoint the head of the district administration and district town board. The provinces were further divided into a number of districts called pradeshas or vishayas, which were placed under the charge of vishayapati. In eastern India, the vishayas were divided into vithis, which were further divided into villages. The village headman called

gramadhyaksha/gramika looked after the affairs of the villages with the help of village elders. The position of village headman strengthened during Gupta times as no land transactions could be affected without his consent. In the case of the Vakatakas, less information is available about their administrative structure. However, it was very similar to the Guptas. Their empire was also divided into provinces called rashtras of rajyas, which were administered by governors known as rajyadhikritas. The provinces were further divided into vishayas, which were again divided into aharas and bhogas/bhuktis. An officer called sarvadhyaksha presumably appointed and directed subordinate officers known as kulaputras. 

The urban administration included the additional feature of organised Professional bodies. For instance, the Damodarpur copper-plates of the reign of Kumaragupta indicate that in the district of Kotivarsha (north Bengal), the uparika was assisted in his administrative duties by a corporate council including prominent members of the town - an adhishthana adhikarana (a board of five members). These members were : the uparika, the Niagara-sreshthin (chief merchant), sarthavaha (chief caravan trader), prathama-kulika (chief artisan or merchant) and prathama-kayastha (chief in-charge of revenue collection). 

The judicial system was far more developed under the Gupta rulers than in earlier times. For the first time, civil and criminal laws were clearly demarcated. Theft and adultery were subjects law. Elaborate laws were laid down about inheritance. However, like earlier periods, laws were based on the varna hierarchy. The supreme judicial power rested with king and he tried cases with the help of the brahmana priests. There was the office of mahanadanyaka, who probably functioned as chief justice. Uparikas and Vishyapatis in their respective territorial jurisdiction dispensed the judicial function. Interestingly, the guilds of merchants and artisans were governed by their own laws and capital punishment was not at all given (as reported by Fa- Hien). 

The numerical strength of the Gupta army is not known, but it is accepted that the emperor had a standing army which must have been supplemented by the feudatories' forces in times of need. Thus, military organisation was feudal in character. Suprisingly, the standard term of senapati is not found in the Gupta inscriptions though it is mentioned in some Vakataka epigraphs. The commander-in-chief of the army was known as mahabaladhikrita. Horse chariots receded into the background and cavalry came to the forefront in this period. There is mention of the bhatashvapati (commander of infantry and cavalry). In case of the Vakatakas, chhatras denoted irregular troops while batas referred to regular troops who were not only responsible for maintaining law and order but also extracted revenue due to the state. 

Guptas and the Vakatakas Economy

The Gupta period witnessed an increase in land taxes but a decrease in trade and commerce taxes. The period from c. 4th century to 8th century was a period of agricultural expansion. Due to the practice of granting lands to brahmanas and to some other officers, vast areas of virgin land were brought under cultivation and major improvements were made in the existing methods of production to attain higher yield. The king collected taxes varying from one-fourth to one-sixth of the produce. Two new agricultural taxes that appear in Gupta inscriptions are uparikara (probably a tax imposed on temporary tenants) and udranga (its exact nature is  not clear, but might be water tax or a sort of police tax). There is also mention of vata-bhuta tax, which probably refers to cesses for the maintenance of rites performed for the winds and spirits, and halirakara, probably plough tax. In addition to these taxes, peasants were also subjected to vishti for serving the royal army and officials. Villagers were obliged to provide the royal officials on tour with food grains, items of daily maintenance such as grass for animals, hide for seats, charcoal for cooking, etc. Since most of the administration was managed by the feudatories and beneficiaries, so unlike the Mauryas, the Guptas did not regulate economic activities on a big scale. Vakataka inscriptions mention of klipta (purchase tax or sales tax) and upaklipta (additional minor tax).

The Gupta and post-Gupta period witnessed a comparative decline in the country's trade and commerce. Till 500 CE, India continued to have some trade with the Eastern Roman empire, to which it exported silk and spices. Around the sixth century, the Romans learnt the art of rearing silk worms, which adversely affected Indian's export foreign trade. The Mandasor inscription is testimony to the fact that a guild of silk weavers left their original home at Lata in western Gujarat and migrated to Mandasor, where they gave up their original occupation and took to other professions. The disruption of the north-western trade route by the Huns was another factor for this decline. India tried to make up for the loss by carrying on trade with South-East Asian countries, but it did not help revive the economy substantially. The loss in trade lessened the inflow of gold and silver into the country. It is confirmed by a general scarcity of gold coins after the Guptas. In ancient India, the Guptas issued a large number of gold coins called dinaras through the gold content is not as pure as Kushan ones. However, the gold coins of each successive Gupta ruler, after Chandragupta II, contained less gold and more alloy. After the conquest of the western satraps of Gujarat, they issued a large number of silver coins mainly for local exchange and very few copper coins. 

There is frequent mention of artisans, merchants and guilds in different inscriptions and seals of both Guptas and Vakatakas, which point towards thriving urban crafts and trade. There is also mention of the flourishing conditions and philanthropic activities of guilds. For instance, the Indore plates of the Vakataka king Pravarasena mention of a vanijaka (merchant) named Chandra who bought half of the village that was gifted by the king to the brahmanas. Other inscriptions mention the construction of temples, shelter homes, assembly houses and garderns by merchants. In fact, they also took an active part in the town administration during the Gupta period. 

Guptas and the Vakatakas Society

The structure of the society underwent change in the Gupta period. The brahmana supremacy not only continued but rather increased in Gupta times, as evident from the large number of land grants to the brahmanas not only from the rulers but from certain categories of other people too. In return of this favour and support, btahmanas presented the Gupta kings as possessing attributes of gods and tried to legitimise the position of the Guptas. The Guptas, who were originally vaishyas, came to be looked upon as kshatriyas by the brahmanas. Since the brahmadeya land was given along with administrative rights and tax exemptions, it resulted in creation of a new class of brahmana landlords. The castes proliferated into numerous sub-castes in this period due to primarily two reasons:

(I)  Assimilation of large number of foreigners: A large number of foreigners had been assimilated into the Indian society and each foreigner was assigned a sub-caste. For instance, he various foreign ruling families of pre-Gupta period were given semi-kshatriya status. Similarly, the Huns who invaded India during the early 5th century were also assimilated in Indian society as one of the 36 Rajput clans.

(II) Absorption of tribal communities into Brahminical society: With the extension of Brahminical culture in distant and different areas, a large number of tribal communities were assimilated in the Brahminical social structure of the varna system. It is rather interesting to note that while the foreigners and tribal heads were included as kshatriyas, the ordinary tribals were given the status of shudras.

The social and economic status of shudras improved during this period. They were allowed to listen to the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. They could also perform some domestic rituals that were earlier prohibited for them and could now even worship a new god called Krishna. From the 7th century onwards they were generally represented as agriculturists. Now a distinction was made between shudras and untouchables, the latter being treated lower in status than the shudras. The practice of untouchability intensified. The Chinese traveler Fa-Hien mentions in his memories that the chandalas lived outside the village and had to maintain distance from the upper castes. The chandalas suffered such glaring lack of privilege that whenever they entered towns or market places they would strike a piece of wood to announce their arrival, so that the others might not touch them and get polluted. In south India, the notion of untouchability seems to have arrived in the late Sangam age. For instance, in a famous text Acharakkovai, water touched by a pulaiya is seen as unfit for consumption by higher caste people, and even glancing at a pulaiya pollutes the upper caste people.

The status of women deteriorated further in the Gupta period. The main reason for the subordination of women was their complete dependence on men for their livelihood. It is rather ironical that the women from two lower varnas were free to earn thie livelihood, which probably gave them some freedom, but the women from the two upper varnas were even denied this liberty too. The women lacked property rights. However, they had full right of their stridhana (the presents received by the bride at the time of her marriage). The free representation of females in art suggest that there was no purdah system in the society. However, the first evidence  of sati around c. 510 CE is found in an inscription at Eran in Madhya Pradesh. In the Harshacharita of Banabhata, the queen performs sati on the death of her husband, king Prabhakaravardhana. Dharamshastra (law books) texts belonging to the period reflect a tendency towards lowering the age of marriage for girls and advocating a celibate and austere life for widows. The Sanskrit kavya literature refers to the courtesans as ganikas, who were admired for their beauty but could never attain social respectability. 

References to slaves are found in the dharamashastra texts as well as the Narada Smriti, which mentions fifteen types of slaves. These include mainly the prisoners of war reduced to slavery, debt bondsmen and voluntary enslavement. Slaves are generally referred to as domestic servants or personal attendants. 

Guptas and the Vakatakas Religion Policy

The period c. 300-600 CE is often considered as the phase of consolidation of Brahmanical ideology as temple-based sectarian cults became popular and Sanskrit was firmly established as the language of royal inscriptions. In the Gupta period, smarta religious practices became popular. Sectarian symbols such as the linga, trishula, bull, Gaja-lakshmi, chakra and shankha (conch shell) appeared on the royal prashastis, coins and seals. Hinduism acquired its present shape during Gupta age only. 

The Gupta rulers gave patronage to Bhagvatism, which was centred around the worship of Bhagvat or Vishnu and his incarnations. Later, Vishnu came to be identified with Krishna Vasudeva, a legendary hero of the Vrishni tribe who gave the historic sermon of Bhagvat Gita in the epic of Mahabharata. So Bhagavatism was also identified with Vaishnavism. It put emphasis on bhakti (loving devotion) and ahimsa (non-killing of animals, which is why it stresses more on vegetarianism) rather than Vedic rituals and sacrifices. The new religion was quite liberal, and assimilated the lower classes in its fold. According to the Bhagvat Gita, the chief text of Bhagavatism, whenever there was a social crisis, Vishnu would appear in a human form and save the people. Thus, ten incarnations of Vishnu were envisioned. The Puranas were written to popularise the virtues of each one of these incarnations. Thus, by the end of the Gupta period, Mahayana Buddhism was overshadowed by Bhagavatism and VIshnu became a member of the trinity of gods along with Shiva and Brahma. Idol worship became a common feature and the idols of different incarnations of Vishnu were housed in the temples constructed in the Gupta period. Many festivals also came to be celebrated. Interestingly, some of the Gupta kings proclaimed themselves as Bhagavatas (worshippers of Lord Krishna) and Garuda was their emblem, while most of the Vakatakas claimed to be devotees of Shiva and adopted the boar as their emblem. However, both Gupta and Vakatakas claimed  to be devotees of Vishnu. There was also an emergence of worship of composite deities such as Hari-hara, who is a part VIshnu and part Shiva, and religious syncretism (for instance, the incorporation of the Buddha as one of the ten Vishnu avatars). This phase also saw the competitive relationship between various cults, as expressed graphically in the representations of the Devi trampling on the other Hindu gods, or Buddhist deities trampling Hindu ones, mostly Shiva. 

This period also saw a myriad of local cults, beliefs and practices. The popular devotional worship included worship of stone and terracotta images of various demi-gods and demi-goddesses such as yakshas, yakshini, nagas, Gandharvas and apsaras, but with one major difference. Even though the independent worship of yakshas and nagas continued, the colossal sculptures of these yakshas and nagas as found in earlier times disappeared and they now appeared more often as subsidiary figures and more as dvarapalas (gate keepers of the great gods). This phenomenon clearly establishes the attempts of the dominant religious traditions to not only establish links with the popular cults but also points towards thier efforts to subordinate them. 

The Gupta kings were devout Hindus, but they followed a policy of tolerance towards other religious sects. The Chinese pilgrims Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang, who came to India during the reign of Chandragupta II and Harsha respectively, clearly give the impression that Buddhism was also flourishing. Though it is also true that Buddhism no longer received royal patronage, and its glory as in the days of Ashoka and Kanishka was nowhere to be found. However, some stupas and viharas were constructed and Nalanda developed as a great centre of education for Mahayana Buddhism during his time. Students from other countries also came to study in this university. According to Hiuen Tsang, the revenues of one hundred villages supported it.

There was also spread of Tantrism in India in this period. As we have discussed earlier, from the 5th century, the brahmanas had started receiving land in the tribal areas of Nepal, Assam, Bengal, Orissa, central India and Deccan. As a consequence, both tribal and Brahminical culture influenced each other. The tribals were assimilated in the Brahminical fold as shudras, and simultaneously, the tribal elements came to be assimilated in the Brahminical society. The brahmanas also adopted their rituals, gods and goddesses. It is this assimilation of Brahminical religion and tribal practices which resulted in the development of Tantrism. Some general features of Tantrism include the important attached to rituals, yogic practices, terrifying deities, sexual rites and an emphasis on 'shakti' (energy), which was conceived to be feminine. The Tantric path was supposed to be a secret one, which was divulged by preceptors to select initiates only, and involved the attainment of supernatural powers and a state of liberation. Certain diagrams known as yantras, mandalas or chakras and mudras (symbolic gestures) ply an important role in Tantric rituals. It did not believe in any caste or gender bias and admitted both women and shudras in its ranks. The Tantric concepts affected Shaivism and Vaishnavism as well as Buddhism and Jainism. It resulted in the introduction of the worship of female deities in these religions. 

Guptas and the Vakatakas Literature

The Gupta period is considered as the Golden Age of Art and literature in ancient India. The literature in this period was written in Sanskrit. A huge body of religious and secular literature was compiled in this period. The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, were finally compiled in the 4th century CE. The stories of both the epics symbolize the victory of good over evil. Both Rama and Krishna came to be considered incarnations of Vishnu. It also marks the beginning of the writing of the Puranas. The major Puranas written in this period are the Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana and the Matsya Purana. For the worship of Shiva, Shiv Purana was composed, whereas the various incarnations of Vishnu are glorified in the Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana and the Narasimha Purana. Some Smritis or law books were also compiled in the Gupta period. One of these, the Narada Smriti throws light on the general social and economic rules and regulations of the period. Several dharamashastras such as Yajnavalkya, Narada, Katyayana and Brihaspati Smritis were composed in this period. Kamandaka's Nitisara, which is a book on statecraft and Vatsayayana's Kamasutra which is a treatise on sensual pleasure, belong to this period.