eLibrary: The Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire flourished in northern India from c. 320 to c. 550 CE. During this period, political stability supported major developments in literature, science, religion, and the arts whose influence spread across South and Southeast Asia.

This is the latest version of an electronic library of resources supporting the exhibition. It offers free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the museum’s artifacts.  As the museum develops, more resources, in more languages, will be added.

NOTE: Some of these links come from Academia.edu and Researchgate.net. These require a free one-time registration. To research further yourselves, you may consider registering with Jstore.org which gives limited but free monthly access to its collections

Articles

Akter, I., 2020. Economic systems of Ancient India: Maurya and Gupta empire. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research, 4(9), pp.218-229.

Cecil, E.A. and Bisschop, P.C., 2021. Idiom and innovation in the ‘Gupta Period’: revisiting Eran and Sondhni. The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 58(1), pp.29-71.

Chakrabarti, K., 1996. The Gupta Kingdom. History of Civilizations of Central Asia (The crossroads of civilizations: AD 250 to 750), 3, pp.188-203.

Deshwal, R. and Rani, N., 2025. Status of Women in Society During Gupta Period: Historical Context. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 10(4), p.629047.

Ferrier, C., 2018. Sri Lanka and North India during the Gupta Period: Facts and fancy. The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 55(2), pp.249-281.

Kamei, B. and Devi, S.J., A Critical Review of Gupta Administration and Its Key Role in Sustaining a Unified Empire.

Kartha, T.R., A Brief Discussion on Mauryan and Gupta Empires. Indian History, p.22.

Khan, B. and Ameta, P., Mauryan to Gupta Eras: Agrarian Foundations of Empire. The History of Indian Agriculture, 75, p.37.

Kumar, A., 2017. State formation and political integration: Subordinate rulers under the Guptas in central India. Studies in People’s History, 4(2), pp.130-145.

Kumar, P., 2025. Basic understanding of the Gupta period [online]

Kumar, S., 2017. Treasures of the Gupta Empire. The Shivlee Trust, USA, pp.221-231.

Mani, C., A Multifaceted Voyage into the Contributions of the Gupta Empire (320 CE to 550 CE): Disclosing the Significance of Cultural and Intellectual Dimensions.

McKnight, M.J., 1976. Kingship and religion in the Gupta age (Doctoral dissertation McMaster University).

Menon, A., Art and Architecture in Early Medieval India’s Gupta Period.

Neill, R.M., 2020. Empires, materials and entanglements: the power of material entanglements in the Gupta Political Formation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow).

Rao, G.T.V.D., 2023. Establishment of administration and achievements during the Gupta period.

Saini, S., 2025. Iconographic Evolution of Lord Shiva in the Gupta Empire: From Abstract to Anthropomorphic Forms. The Academic: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research.

Singh, A., 2018. Study and analysis of Gupta empire in the history of India. International Journal of Advanced Research and Development, 3(2).

Stojanovska, A.M.S., Ancient Indian Trade: Global Linkages and Economic-Cultural Dynamics of the Mauryan and Gupta Empires.

Stickler, T., 2015. The Gupta empire in the face of the Hunnic threat. Parallels to the late Roman empire?. The Complexity of Interaction along the Eurasian Steppe Zone in the first Millenium AD, Bonn.

Willis, M., 2005. Later Gupta history: inscriptions, coins and historical ideology. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 15(2), pp.131-150.

Gupta Empire – Golden Age of Classical India – Ancient Civilizations (Kings and Generals) 18.58mins