Gupta emperors patronized Sanskrit as the court language which was spoken by the higher classes while the lower classes and women spoke Prakrit.

(i) Secular literature
(ii) Religious literature
(iii) Scientific literature

(a) Kalidas: He was the court poet of Chandragupta Vikramaditya ll. He was a great poet and dramatist. Considered as Shakespeare of the East His work include.

• Abhijanasakuntalam considered to be one of the 100 best literary work in the world. Love story of king Dushyanta and Shakuntala whose son Bharatha became a famous ruler. William Jones translated this book into English and it filled the romantic imagination of Europe.
• Malvikagnimitram- Pushyamitra Sunga’s son Agnimitra was viceroy of Vidisha. Mentions the defeat of a yavana ruler by Vasumitra, the son of Agnimitra on the banks of a river Sind (Kalisind).
• Raghuvamsa- speaks of the allround victories of Rama, and may indirectly refer to some gupta conquests.
• Kumarasambhav- deals with the courtship of shiva and parvati and the birth of their son skanda.
• Meghadutam- lyrical poem containing the message from the love – lorn yaksha to his wife pining across the northern mountains in Alaka.
• Ritusamhara- describes the six seasons in relation to Shringara.

(b) Sudraka: worte the Mrichchakatika (the little clay cart) the plot of which centers around the love of a poor brahmana Charudatta for the wealthy, beautiful and cultured courtesan vasantasena.

(c) Visakhadatta: Wrote Mudrarakshasa which deals with the strategies of Kautilya and mentions Chandragupta Maurya as being of lowly origin. Visakhadatta also wrote Devichandraguptam which is the story of Chandragupta ll’s accession to the thorne after killing Basana (the saka king), Ramagupta (Chandragupta ll’s brother) and his subsequent marriage to Dhruvadevi.

(d) Bhasa: Thirteen plays written by Bhasa belong to this period, most famous of which is Svapnavasavadattam.

(e) Magha: Wrote Sisupalvadh and Bhattikavya

(f) Kamandaka: Wrote Nitisara belonging to Chandragupta I’s period, is the gupta equivalent of Kautiluya’s arthasatra.

(g) Vajjika: Wrote Kaumudimahotsava. It talks about accession of Chandragupta I to the throne.

(h) Amarsimha: Wrote Amarkosha which is a dictionary in Sanskrit

(i) Vatsyayana: Wrote Kamasutra which is the first systematic enunciation of the art of love.

(ii) Law Texts: Such as Brihaspati smriti and Narada smriti were written which influenced Gupta emperors in the administration of justice.

(a) Hindu Works: Ramayana

• Balakanda and Uttarakhand were added to it.
• Mahabharata - Anusasana Parva, Vana Parva and Santiparva added to it.
• Puranas such as Markandeya Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Vishnu Purana, Bhagvata Purana and Matsya Purana were written down.

(b) Buddhist Works:

• Accounts of Fahien, the Chinese traveler in times of Chandragupta II.
• Tilsya Pannati of Yati Vrishaba contains information about Buddhism in gupta age.
• Aryamanjusri moolkapa, though compiled later contains references to the guptas.

(c) Jain Works:

• Jinasena Suri’s Harivamsapurana though belongs to later period contains references to Guptas.

Consisted of the work of Aryabhatta and Varahamihira.

(a) Aryabhatta: In the book ‘Suryasiddanta’,Aryabhatta examines and explains the true cause of the solar and lunar eclipses. His calculation of the size of the earth is very near to the modern estimation. He was the first India astronomer to discover and declare that the earth rotates round its axis. He was also the author of Aryabhattiyam, which deals with arithmetic’s, geometry, algebra and probably trigonometry.

(b) Varahamihira: His book ‘Brihatsamhita’ is an encyclopedia of astronomy, botany, physical geography and natural history. His other works are Pancha Siddhantika, Brihat Jataka etc.

Inscriptions

(i) Total of 42 inscriptions are known from the gupta empire. Out of them 27 are engraved on stone.

(ii) History of Chandragupta Vikamaditya can be known from Iron pillar inscription in Sanskrit at Mehrauli Which gives a good account of a ruler “Chandra” as having conquered area from Bengal to the Indus. It mentions of him as a Vaishnavaite.

(iii) Most number of gupta inscriptions were issued by Kumaragupta who is known for his Mandasor stone inscription authored by Vatsabhatta.

(iv) Bhanugupta’s inscription at Eran (Airana), dated 510 AD gives the first inscriptional evidence of Sati. It mentions that Goparaja, the general of Bhanugupta died in war and his widow committed sati.

Coins

(a) Samudragupta issued gold and copper coins. He issued gold coins of the lion-slayer-type, archer- type, horse- rider type and Veena-player type.

(b) Kumaragupta issued coins known for their purity.

Epics

(1) Mahabharata: It is the longest single poem in the world’s literature.

• The Mahabharata is attributed to Saga Vyasa.
• Aryabhatta gives 3102 BC as the date of Mahabharata war.
• Many Historians say the war took place in 900 BC.

(2) Ramayana: Ramayana is known as adikavya.
Ramayana of valmiki originally consisted of 6000 verses which were raised to 12000 verses and finally to 24000. The composition of Ramayana started in the 5th century BC.

1. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(a) Rig Veda - earliest prose
(b) Sama Veda - Origin of Indian music
(c) Yajur Veda - Origins of rituals
(d) Atharva Veda - Origin of Indian Medicine

2. Which of the following are correctly matched?

	List I 				List II 
(1) Kollam era 				825 AD
(2) Kalchuri era 			248 AD
(3) Vikram era 				78 AD
(4) Kaliyuga era 			3102 BC

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 1, 2
(c) 1, 4
(d) 1, 2, 3, & 4

3. Which of the following are true about the Rig Veda?
(1) Rig Veda has 10 mandals
(2) Mandals II to VII are the earliest and are called as family books
(3) Mandals I and X are the latest
(4) Purushasukta hymn which talks about the chaturvarna scheme is in IX mandala.
Choose the answer from the codes below:
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 1, 2, 3
(c) 2, 3, 4
(d) All the above

4. Which of the following are true about Punch-marked coins?
(1) They appeared in the later Vedic age
(2) They were mostly made of silver
(3) They contained the images of kings and inscriptions
(4) They were issued by traders, bankers and kings.
Choose the answer from the codes below:
(a) 1, 3, 4
(b) 1, 3
(c) 2, 4
(d) 1, 2, 3, and 4

5. The earliest epigraphic evidence of Visthi or Force lalour is found in?
(a) Junagarh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman I
(b) Nagarjuna hill cave inscription of Helidorus
(c) Besnagar pillar inscription of Helidorus.
(d) Sohagura and Mahasthangarh inscriptions of Chandragupta Maurya.

6. Which of the following are true about Besnagar pillar inscription at Vidisa?
(1) It was issued by Heliodorus, the ambassador of Antialcidas.
(2) Heliodorus was appointed to the court of Sunga ruler Bhagabhadra
(3) The inscription is recorded in favour of god of gods Vasudeva
(4) Antialcidas was a Saka ruler of Taxila who converted to Bhagavatism.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 1, 2, 3, 4
(c) 1, 4
(d) 1, 2, 3

7. Which of the following are correctly matched?
List I List II
(1) Early Vedic period Ochre coloured pottery
(2) Pre- Mauryan age Red Ware
(3) Later Vedic period Painted Gray ware
(4) Mauryan age Northern Black polished ware
Select the correct answer from the codes given below
(a) 1, 3, 4
(b) 1, 2, 4
(c) 1, 2, 3
(d) All the above

8. Which of the following statements are true about Gupta coins?
(1) The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins in the Gupta period.
(2) Chandragupta I issued Kaumaradevi types of coins
(3) Chandragupta II issued silver coins for the first time among the Gupta.
(4) Samudragupta coins are known for their purity.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below
(a) 1, 2, 3
(b) 2, 3, 4
(c) 1, 2, 3, 4
(d) 1, 2