Page 83 - SST Class 06

Quiz Time Ashoka and Kanishka. Like them, he also
patronised Buddhism and helped to spread it. He
Fill in the blanks :
built new monasteries and also helped to repair
1. ____________ has admired Harashavardhana for the old ones. He also gave them liberal grants. He
his administration. followed the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. He
2. The people during Harshavardhana’s rule were used to call annual Buddhist conference every
simple in ____________ ____________ and year in order to propagate it.
,
____________ . It is said that every five years, he used to attend
3. Higher education was imparted at the the Magh Mela at Prayag where he used to donate
____________ . all his personal belongings, after which he would
wear the clothes given by her sister, Rajyashri.
4. ____________ was the most powerful ruler of
the north. The two branches of Hinduism prevalent were
Vaishnavism in the northern India and Shaivism in
5. ____________ visited India and stayed here for
14 years. the southern India. A new sect of Buddhism,
Vajrayana , too had started to come into being.
Occupations Conclusion

Besides agriculture, many other occupations were Both Hiuen-Tsang and Banabhatta have described
in vogue. Generally, a son followed his family Harshavardhana as a liberal king, a great general,
occupation. an able administrator and a great patron of
education and arts. He died in 647 AD. With this,
Religion
India once again fell in disorder as several small
In the beginning, Harshavardhana worshipped kingdoms arose and started to fight with one
Shiva, but later he turned to Buddhism much like another.

v The Gupta dynasty was founded by Sri Gupta and the first prominent king was Chandragupta I.

v Due to his successful military campaigns, Samudragupta is called the Napoleon of India.
v Samudragupta divided his territories into two types—the territories under his direct control and the
territorries under his indirect control.
v The chief source of information about the Gupta period are the accounts of Fa-Hien, other literary works,
coins and inscriptions.
v Science touched new heights during the Gupta period.
v The Gupta period declined due to the land grants and repeated attacks by the Hunas.
v Two chief sources of information about Harshavardhana’s rule are the books written by Hiuen-Tsang and
Banabhatta.
v Harshavardhana brought in his control the entire northern India, but his advance to the Deccan was
checked by Pulakeshin II.
v Harshavardhana’s administration was well-organised and he paid attention to different aspects well.

v Harshavardhana spent a large part of his income on education; the Nalanda University rose to glory during
his rule.

Political Developments (AD 300 TO 700)
83