Maxim and Nicolas

We are using P.E.R.S.I.A to find out more about Gupta Culture.

P – Power -How Power is distributed and how decision are made  One of the most notable leaders was Chandra Gupta after he got his power in the Ganges Valley, then conquered Northern India.  Also, he is the creator of the Indian Empire.  Other notable leaders were Samudragupta and Chandra Gupta II

Power  The Gupta’s Empire political system was based on peace and prosperity.  The power of a leader was transferred through family relation  The lower class mostly were farmers and agricultures  The ruling class were composed of Merchants, Artists, Leaders and his family relations.  One of the enemies was a tribe called Pushyamitra, which attacked Gupta empire, but was repulsed.

E – Economic -The making and distributing of money/wealth.  The Gupta Empire’s trading partners were mainly located in East Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia.  They traded for essentials such as salt and spices.  They traded mostly crops of wheat, rice and sugar canes.

Economic  They used golden and silver coins as their currency.  Pack animals and ox carts were used to transport their goods on the road.  By the sea they used ships to transport their goods.  Silk, muslin, calico, linen were sought resources from the Gupta Empire.

R - Religion -How a society describes the supernatural.  The dominant belief system in the Gupta Empire was Hinduism, which started in India.  Hinduism was the polytheistic religion which made them believe in 3 gods.  Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva were the 3 gods.  At the time when the Gupta Empire arrived, Hinduism was already spread out by Asoka who sent missionaries to other countries.

Religion  The religion influenced the society by stopping them from eating most meats.  Buddhism influenced a society by being very rich and participated in commercial activities.  They had a lot of Buddhists and Hindu temples.

S - Social -How individuals in a society interact with each other.  The man was dominating in a Gupta Empire and even though he was limited by sacred laws he was still making all decisions in a family.  So women had a few rights and they had to follow the primary duties such as: marrying and raising children.

Social  They gather in weddings planned by their parents.  Also they gathered for the passage of worldly time from past to present.  A good leader in a Gupta empire was a leader who gives a good things to people. For example lowering taxes or giving more freedom.

I – Intellectual How a society tends to solve problems  One major accomplishment of the Gupta Empire was inventing a decimal system.  Gupta doctors were the first to use injections, this shows how evolved they were in medicine.  The Gupta empire recorded and transferred their ideas by writing long poems in Sanskrit.

Intellectual  They originated the number zero.  The Gupta Empire is known for its knowledge in many domains; inventing and learning were the biggest.  Another major accomplishment is the founding of universities of higher learning, such as Nolanda university.  During Chandra Gupta dynasty Takshila was the first center of higher learning in the world.

A – Artistic What a society sees as beautiful, how it defines beauty, and how it entertains itself  One focus in Gupta Empire’s art was drama and its 8 emotions.  Also another focus were sculptures which were carved on temples.  In sculpture they focused on religious themes like Budda, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma.

Artistic  Also they had architecture shown by temples that were carved of mostly religious subjects.  Artists were in the middle class, but they had a lot respects from the people of the higher classes.  In painting their focus was cave painting and one of the most famous paintings was the Ajanta caves.

Summary. We talked about the Gupta Empire main facts in each of the six categories in the P.E.R.S.I.A. cultural analysis. They show that the Gupta Empire had a higher kevel of learning and that they invented very important things, like medical injections and the decimal system, that every countries use even nowadays. It also showed that the religion belief played a huge role in their social lives. After this cultural analysis we can see that the Gupta Empire made strong impact in the World we live in today.

Thanks for listening.