Gupta Empire
▶ Explore on the mapThe Gupta empire ruled much of northern and central India from the early fourth to the mid-sixth century, a stretch often called the golden age of India. Chandragupta I took the title of maharajadhiraja around 320 and married a Licchavi princess, and his son Samudragupta campaigned from the Himalayas to the Deccan, recording his victories on the Allahabad pillar. Under Chandragupta II the court of Pataliputra was rich from trade with Rome and Southeast Asia, and Kalidasa wrote his plays and poetry at that time. The period produced the decimal place-value system and the concept of zero in mathematics, the astronomer Aryabhata's estimate of the length of the year, and advances in metallurgy such as the iron pillar of Delhi. Sanskrit served administration and literature, and the rock-cut caves at Ajanta and Ellora were extended. Hinduism took the temple-centred form still practised today, while Buddhism and Jainism received patronage as well; the Chinese pilgrim Faxian visited around 405 and praised the security of the roads. The empire fragmented after the Hunas and other incursions in the sixth century, and by 550 no central authority remained, though Gupta coinage and dynasties imitating it persisted for centuries. Contact with Rome brought glass, wine and new styles of sculpture.