Gupta empire TOP 10

1. Chandragupta-Married into the Lichchhavi family and was given a city-state as a dowry. He then set out to conquer northern india. First to be known as king of kings or Maharajadhiraja.

2. Samudragupta-coenquered over twenty kingdoms by his death. He was very strict with his rule but also loved poetry and art which flourished under him.

3.Chandragupta II-Extended the empire from coast to coast used aliances to get ahead. He also was very tolerant of religions and during his reign a distinctive style of hindu art was created.

4.Used elephants in battle to scare enemy horses. they also used them because just the smell of them could scare enemy horses.

5.Used longbows made of bamboo or metal that didn't warp in wet weather and had great range that allowed the Indians to attack from longer distances

6.Chandragupta II married his daughter to the king of deccan to create an alliance that helped him destroy the kingdoms in his way of control of both sides of trade.

7. Tolerant of other religions allowing them to fight enemies rather than fighting for control of the oppressed population

8.Chandragupta marrying the Lichchavi princess was one of the best moves because it allowed him to control an area and its army and gave him more money and prestige.

9.Indian scholars come up with the original 10 numeral system. Samudragupta standardized weights and measures to make trade easier with nations like Rome and china.

10.Chandrgupta II beat Scythian rulers and absorbed their kingdoms. This brought more territory and the expansion of the kingdom from coast to coast.

Quotes:
In India I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth. but not adhering to it. Inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything but possessed by nothing. (Apollonius Tyanaeus, Greek Thinker and Traveller 1st Century AD)

Medical Science was one area were surprising advances had been made in ancient times in India. Specifically these advances were in the areas of plastic surgery, extraction of catracts, dental surgery, etc., These are not just tall claims. There is documentary evidence to prove the existence of these practices. (Sudheer Birodhkar)

Kalaripayat from Kerala was transmitted to China by a sage named Boddhidharma in the 5th century. The Chinese called him Po-ti-tama. He taught this art in a temple. This temple is today known as  the Shaolin temple. Thus Judo, Karate, Kung Fu and other similar marshal arts which are today identified with the far-east actually originated from India. (Sudheer Birodhkar)

Summary Paragraph
The Gupta empire was important to later eras because it created a numerical system, brought new art to the forefront, and were one of the few that thought the earth wasn't flat but round. They created the numerical system from 1-9 and also invented zero to hold the place of nothing. They brought new art by letting all the religions do what they wanted but also the kings themselves were heavily into the arts and helped them evoleve. Lastly astronomers found that the earth wasn't flat allowing for one of the first times that what others think could be wrong.

By Alison Irish, 2006