Gupta Empire Contributions

320A.D — 550A.D

Mathematics

• Indian mathematicians developed the concept of zero & the decimal system
• Gupta mathematicians developed the system of writing numerals we use today called Arabic numerals (Arabs brought them from India to the Middle East)

Medicine

• Used herbs to treat illnesses
• Able to set bones and treat facial injuries with a type of plastic surgery
• Vaccinated people against small pox 1,000 years before it came to Europe

Architecture

• Architects built stone temples for Hindu worship— a square — which represented the earth inside a circle — which represented eternity (temples were filled with carvings of gods and goddesses
• Buddhists created plain shrines (stupas) with gateways with carvings
• The gateways = beginning of life of the Buddha

Literature

• Fables and folk tales in the Sanskirt language were collected and carried as far as Persia, Egypt, & Greece
• Most famous writer: Kalidasa
• Kalkdasa wrote Shakuntala: A king falls in love and marries an orphan, he loses his memory from an evil spell, then recovers his memory and live happily ever after with his bride