The Gupta Empire describes the material and moral progress which India had achieved during the paramount sovereignty of the Gupta emperors in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. It traces the origin and rise of the ruling family to Srigupta (A.D. 240-280) and concludes with the reign of Kumaragupta III (A.D. 543). It discusses the spirit of the age and the various trends in the sphere of religion, economy, society, education, administration, are and architecture. It seeks to bring together all the facts and date derivable from different sources-literary, epigraphic and numismatic, the accounts of foreign visitors, particularly of the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien who has left a detached and valuable record of India-s civilization during the reign of Chandragupta II. Herein we get an accurate picture of India-s golden age, the growth of her various institutions, here activities of expansion, colonization and her intercourse with Indonesia, China and other countries.
