RAS question
The Gupta period is often referred to as the:
Correct answer: (A) Golden Age of India.
The Gupta period is often referred to as the Golden Age of India because it is associated with exceptional achievements in literature, art, architecture, science, medicine, administration, trade, temple architecture and the Ajanta paintings.
Explanation
The Gupta period, dated to 320-550 AD, is remembered as the Golden Age of India because it marks a high point in cultural and intellectual achievement. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the Gupta period as once being regarded by historians as India's classical age, when norms of Indian literature, art, architecture and philosophy were established. Literature flourished with Kalidasa, science with Aryabhata and Varahamihira, medicine with Sushruta, and administration, trade, temple architecture and the Ajanta paintings also advanced. The phrase "Golden Age" therefore points to the period's broad civilisational output, not merely to political expansion.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Silver Age of India is not the standard historical term used for the Gupta period and does not capture the recognised peak in cultural and intellectual achievements.
- (C) Bronze Age of India refers to the Indus Valley Civilisation context, so it belongs to a much earlier technological and urban phase, not the Gupta period.
- (D) Iron Age of India is linked to the Vedic period, so it cannot describe the Gupta age of literature, science, art and administration.
Concept
This tests the Ancient Indian History convention of associating major dynasties with their cultural and intellectual significance. It recurs in RAS because Gupta achievements are a compact way to test chronology, art, literature, science and statecraft together.