GUPTA EMPIRE

AD 320 - AD 550

The Golden Age of India

Kalidasa

Kalidasa was the greatest writer during the Gupta Empire. His classical Sanskrit writings were fables and folk tales. Some of his famous plays are Mālavikāgnimitram, Abhijñānaśākuntalam and Vikramōrvaśīyam.

During the Golden Age of the Gupta Empire, the entire Indian subcontinent was united. Hinduism had a big influence on society

There was a rigid class system and people were locked into their caste. Although some people did not like this, it created a stable society. In villages, the houses were made of earth and fields for crops surrounded the areas. Wealthier people lived in joint families with several generations. These families were patriarchal and had men controlling their families. The children of these families learn the family business or trade but worked in fields when they are young. When they grew up arrange marriages were very common. These marriages took place only within their castes. When women got married they payed a dowry to the husbands family. Lower class women worked while wealthier women stayed home. All women, however, covered their bodies from head to toe in clothing

Society

People in the Golden Age made great scientific and artistic achievements. Also, in mathematics, people made great progress by developing the number zero and the decimal system. In medicine, doctors started to use herbs for treatments and were very skilled at setting bones. The people in this age were using vaccination for small pox 1000 years before Europe.

Achievements